#nfb26

Munchkinbear @munchkinbear@mastodon.stickbear.me · Jul 13, 2026

I apparently don't get away this year without coming down with convention crud. I blame those that came to convention knowingly sick. What a door prize to win! lol! #nfb26

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Tristan @tristan@hachyderm.io · Jul 07, 2026

As a resident of Austin, Waymos aren’t new to me. For a while now, they’ve been part of the roulette of using Uber. But this week—save for a single morning—I’ve gotten Waymos every single time leaving my house to the hotel! I’m not saying there’s a conspiracy or anything, it’s likely just happenstance. Either way, it’s been quite enjoyable and I’ll take it! There is nothing more empowering than being the only one in the car and doing whatever the hell you want with the windows down. #nfb26

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Jonathan Mosen @JonathanMosen@caneandable.social · Jul 06, 2026

Totally unexpected things that can happen in our Federation family. I’m sitting here in general session and just got handed a note in Braille from someone, saying “thank you for all you do”. How really kind. #nfb26

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Munchkinbear @munchkinbear@mastodon.stickbear.me · Jul 06, 2026

the copilot key on surface, and the chage of the right control or removal of the context menu key on OEM machines was stupid, it should never have happened, neal, lol. #nfb26

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Joe G @wmj1102@tweesecake.social · Jul 05, 2026

Anyone want to know what it sounds like to zip line? Well, here is the sound of it. This happened on July 2, so this last Thursday. Me, my wife, and a few students from our center went to Travis Lake, zip line adventures. We took the longest line down, which was around almost 2000 feet I believe. Anyway, I used my Meta glasses to record this. I was determined to not scream, so I could get the best sound possible! All the screaming and stuff happens at the end. Enjoy. #Audio #NFB26 @ShariRockz@tweesecake.social

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Munchkinbear @munchkinbear@mastodon.stickbear.me · Jul 05, 2026

my manager goes, do you want to touch a bat? a live one? me, hell no! him, actually, it's a 3-d printed one. me, flips him off. lol. Him, I earned that. Other manager, stop screwing with the blind guy. lol. #nfb26

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Munchkinbear @munchkinbear@mastodon.stickbear.me · Jul 05, 2026

braille monitor the first publication available in E-braille. #nfb26

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Pneuma Solutions @pneumasolutions@social.pneumasolutions.com · Jul 04, 2026

As Independence Day approaches in the United States, many of us are also preparing for some of the biggest blindness-related gatherings of the year, including the #ACB and #NFB26 national conventions in the United States and the UK’s #SightVillage Exhibition. At Pneuma Solutions, we can’t think of a better time to celebrate a new level of independence for blind and low-vision technology professionals and consumers. For a blind technician, trainer, teacher, or support specialist, independence is not just about using your own computer. It is also about being able to help someone else use theirs. That is where #RemoteIncidentManager changes the game. With RIM, a blind user can connect to a sighted end user’s computer, even when that computer does not already have a screen reader installed, and still perform a fully accessible remote support or training session. Whether the user is on Windows or Mac, RIM gives blind professionals the ability to work directly, efficiently, and independently. To celebrate this milestone, Pneuma Solutions is offering unlimited access to Remote Incident Manager completely free for the next 27 days. Whether you are at convention and get asked to help a friend, colleague, or family member with a computer problem, or you are traveling and need to reach back to your own machine at home, RIM is ready to make the process quick, painless, and accessible. For the rest of the month, it will not cost you a dime! Download Remote Incident Manager, start a session, and experience remote desktop access built for the independence of blind people from the ground up. Visit GetRim.app to get started.

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Elijah Massey @emassey0135@caneandable.social · Jul 04, 2026

NLS announced that sometime in the future they will add synced reading positions to BARD Mobile and the DA2 and other BARD platforms, so that you can stop a book on one and start it again on another from where you left off. #NFB26

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Elijah Massey @emassey0135@caneandable.social · Jul 04, 2026

I went to the non-24 session, which is hosted by Vanda Pharmaceuticals. They had a lot of good information about how non-24 works and its symptoms and they answered people's questions about it. However, there were some odd things about the session. First, they didn't talk about treatment at all, and were forbidden from talking about that. They said it was a legal requirement that they can only talk to groups about the condition itself and not treatment, and it seems that they don't advise individuals one on one on treatment either, although the company develops Tasimelteon, one of the treatments for non-24. Also, they were telling people not to self-diagnose and to talk to your doctor about it and about treatment. But I think exactly the opposite advice should be given; when I told my doctor about my issues with sleep and tiredness during the day and how it seemed to be on a cycle where my sleep and wake times shifted forward over time until it was back to normal and then repeated, and described all of this in detail, he didn't seem to think any of it was a big deal and suggested techniques for better sleep hygene like going to bed at the same time every day and stuff like that. Even after last year's convention, when I talked to him again about it saying I thought I had non-24 and told him about Tasimelteon, he still didn't seem to take it very seriously. He perscribed it to me because I asked him too not because he thought it was necessary, but didn't try to diagnose me or suggest other treatments or anything like that. And my grandparents said he is a good doctor. So if that's how a good doctor reacts to non-24 and its symptoms, I think most doctors would not know about it and would be likely to be dismissive of reported symptoms. So I think doing your own research and self-diagnosis is a good thing and what you should do. The speaker said that out of people with no light perception, 70% have non-24, so to me that means that if you have no or little light perception and have trouble falling asleep at night or staying awake during the day, or if you feel very tired a lot during the day, and especially if it seems to be on a cycle where your day-night rhythm shifts over time, then you probably have it. In addition, last year at the convention, WhyAmIUp, another company specializing in non-24, was here, although they are not here this year. I think I missed their session but I went to their exhibit, and they gave me a link to a survey. On the survey it asked me questions about sleep patterns and tiredness during the day and light perception and similar things. Then after the survey was completed, a few days later I got a call from a special services pharmacy about Tasimelteon. A telehealth doctor had perscribed that to me based on the survey, and my insurance (Medicare and Medicaid) covered it without sleep tests or anything like that. Honestly I think this is a good thing; if my doctor wasn't as accomodating, I could have still gotten the medication I needed, and it makes sense for a company specializing in a rare condition and expert in it to recommend and make available treatment for it. Since I started taking Tasimelteon, my sleep has been so much more consistent and my tiredness during the day has been so much better. I don't blame the speaker at all because I think she did her best with the requirements that were given to her and she did give a lot of good and useful information, and she explained the condition and the symptoms very well. It also seems like she truly cares about this a lot. And I would recommend people who think they might have non-24 or blind people who have trouble sleeping or tiredness during the day to go to the Vanda booth in the exhibit hall to learn more about the condition, or if you're not at the convention to go to their website and contact them. Also talk to your doctor about your symptoms too in case it is another sleep condition and not non-24. But if your doctor is dismissive or doesn't know about non-24 and doesn't research it for themselves, do your own research and self-diagnosis and push for what you need. And I would recommend taking the survey at WhyAmIUp's website and getting treatment if that's what you need to do. We seriously need to take this into our own hands and do whatever is necessary to deal with this condition, because non-24 is seriously debilitating. Its a large part of why I failed in college the first two years and something I struggled against all through junior high and high school and even earlier, being so tired during the day and not knowing why, and parents and teachers not knowing why either and often dismissive of what I was going through. #NFB26

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Jonathan Mosen @JonathanMosen@caneandable.social · Jun 25, 2026

If you’re new to Mastodon, you may not be aware that it’s possible to actually follow, not just search on, a hashtag. If you follow a hashtag, it means that posts using that hashtag will appear in your Mastodon timeline even if you don’t follow someone who posts with that hashtag. The official hashtag for the National Federation of the Blind’s national convention in Austin is #NFB26. How you perform the initial setup varies depending on which of the many accessible Mastodon clients you’re using. However, typically you would search for posts containing #NFB26. When your client finds a post containing the hashtag, there should be an option in a context menu or similar to follow that hashtag. One of the clients I use is Mona for Mastodon, which is available for iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS. In addition to supporting hashtag following, you can also add a tab to Mona’s epic tab bar that will show you only the posts using #NFB26. This is a wonderful feature when you’re super busy at convention and you don’t have time to read your Mastodon timeline, but you don’t want to miss a single #NFB26 post. Speaking of posts, if you want your posts to be visible to those following the hashtag, it’s essential that your posts be set to public. I have a lot of experience with events that use Mastodon hashtags, and have seen how demoralizing it is for someone who is contributing to the conversation via the hashtag, but no one seems to be engaging with them. They then find that their posts weren’t public, so they were only reaching their followers, not everyone following the hashtag. If you don’t want your posts to be public by default, you can override the default setting in most Mastodon clients and make specific posts public. So, what do people actually post? Well, many of us post while at convention about events we’re attending, tips and tricks to help you make the most of your convention time, and more. Speaking as an attendee, I am so grateful when people take the time to live post about sessions they’re attending, because I know of no convention attendee who doesn’t wish they could be two places at once, at least once. So this allows us to catch up with details about an event we just couldn’t get to. And of course, not everyone who wants to can make it to convention, so people who are attending virtually appreciate it to. Make sure you bring your power bank and your favorite comfortable keyboard to convention, and post away. The exhibit hall can help you out if you need new gear for this task. So, whether you’re attending in person or virtually, join the conversation and follow #NFB26. Cannot wait to catch up with everyone in Austin. This is going to be an amazing convention full of advocacy, fellowship, and learning.

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Marco Salsiccia @Marconius@mas.to · Jul 01, 2026

Looking forward to #NFB26 and all of the convention shenanigans! I'll be teaching drawing, sculpture, and #SVG coding in the Art Room, will be popping in to give a few presentations on tactile drawing and art education and vibe coding, and will just generally be having fun with the whole Tactile Art Collective while we are out there!

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