A television viewing experiment-preceded and followed by interviews about attitudes, usual television viewing patterns and demographics-was conducted with 111 legally blind adults who were convened in groups. The research examined the impact of watching television science programs with and without audio description. The experiment showed that respondents gained and retained more information from watching programs with description. Respondents reported that description makes programs more enjoyable, interesting, and informative; and that they are more comfortable talking with sighted people about programs that had been described. The positive impact of added description was greater for the program with less narration in its original format.Television programs and videos are increasingly important for education and popular culture; they are widely discussed at work, in school, and among friends and neighbors. People who are visually impaired (those who are blind or have low vision) watch television at about the same rate as does the general public (Packer & Kirchner, 1997). However, because much of the content is presented only visually, they have limited access to the programs. Access is increased through audio description, which adds precise, concise verbal descriptions of The research reported here was conducted under a subcontract to the American Foundation for the Blind from the WGBH Educational Foundation; National Science Foundation Grant ESI-9253447. Edward Cutler guided our selection of science-relevant questions.

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This study identified factors that lead to or impede competitive job placements for clients of a state blindness rehabilitation agency. The authors conducted focus groups with the agency's service providers and administered surveys to adults who are blind or visually impaired and to employers. The survey data analysis compared persons who were employed with persons who were not employed but were interested in working and with persons who were not working and were not interested in working. Also identified were services that employers felt would assist them in hiring or retaining blind or visually impaired workers. Five themes, stated in terms of needs for the agency to address, are presented to summarize the findings.

Use of proxies in representative surveys on disability introduces systematic biases, affecting national disability estimates.

As wave upon wave of information technology floods into homes and workplaces, challenges lie in the undertow. One challenge is keeping informed about facts needed to plan policy and services to promote access to computers and the Internet for people with visual impairments. Media professionals, manufacturers of assistive technology and devices, advocates for blind persons, and administrators at schools and agencies are among those increasingly seeking current, national statistics from the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) on computer use by blind or visually impaired people. Until now we responded, of necessity, by projecting results from small, rapidly outdated studies, which were designed for other purposes and lacked data to compare with the general public. Now, with a trickle of data from a 1999 federal survey, this USABLE Data Report offers stronger estimates (see also the NationalThe authors would like to express appreciation to John McNeil of the U.S. Bureau of the Census for his assistance in providing the advance tabulations necessary to write this report. They also thank Alexandra Enders, Stephen Kaye, and John McNeil for reviewing an earlier draft.