Blog Posts by Subject: Disabilities and Accessibility

Understanding and managing our healthcare system can feel overwhelming. With appointments, medical information, and insurance and billing issues, there are a myriad of concerns to consider. Having an healthcare advocate, or becoming your own healthcare advocate, can be a tremendous help.

Knowing that this desire for health and wellness lives within the patrons we serve, we here at the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library decided to help out by creating a workshop specifically aimed at physical fitness with accessibility in mind.

New arrivals, students, and professionals are united in their quest for tactile maps of New York City.

Accessibility is more than a feature you request. It can also be something you make.

At the Andrew Heiskell Braille & Talking Book Library, we’re always discovering new ways for patrons with all kinds of vision to explore information. As New Yorkers prepare for the upcoming solar eclipse on August 21, here are a few ways to experience this rare event and other celestial phenomena in an accessible way.

the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) recently accepted the donation of a computer application for Windows that helps library patrons download braille and talking books and magazines in just a few steps.

On June 25 and 26, the Library welcomed developers, designers, data scientists, audio producers, and others to a two-day hackathon designed to advance the cause of audio accessibility and explore future uses of media archives online.

NYPL is proud to announce a new partnership with Bookshare, making 370,000 accessible e-books free to patrons with print disabilities.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), which is a time to celebrate the many and varied contributions of America's workers with disabilities.

At the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, patrons often ask us whether it’s a good idea to update to the latest new software release. We hope this post helps you think through your options and make the best decision you can.

We asked our expert NYPL staff, “What’s your favorite book that features a protagonist with a disability, and why do you like it?”

In an effort to support employment services for people with disabilities, the Institute For Career Development and Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) will present a career development program, Equally Strong - Job Search Best Practices for People with Disabilities and Veterans.

This is a guest post by Joanne Dillon, interviewer for Visible Lives: Oral Histories of the Disability Experience at Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library.

April is National Autism Awareness Month, dedicated to educating the public about one of the fastest growing developmental disabilities. The New York Public Library’s “Visible Lives: Oral Histories of the Disability Experience” project recently interviewed two young men, who shared their very different experiences coping with life on the autism spectrum.

As a child, Dalton Whiteside moved with his mother from Tennessee to Europe and North Africa and then to New York 

In early March, I attended the 30th Annual International Conference on Technology and Persons with Disabilities, better known as CSUN. This conference is one of the year’s best opportunities to find out what’s new and interesting in accessible technology, from business to entertainment to emerging technologies and beyond.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a high percentage of jobs in Electronic Health Records Management (EHR) go unfilled each year because of a lack of qualified applicants. Jumpstart your career at Computer Center For Visually Impaired People (CCVIP).

This year is the 7th Annual Reelabilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival. Organized by the JCC Manhattan, ReelAbilities runs from March 12 through March 18, The Festival will be showcasing award-winning films by and about people with special needs at over thirty venues throughout the New York Metro Area, many of which will be the US or NY Premiere.

Touching hearts with touchable, tactile Valentines at the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library.

A guest post by Joanne Dillon, interviewer for Visible Lives: Oral Histories of the Disability Experience at Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library.