ANNOUNCEMENTS

BOOKSHARE is currently offering individual memberships free of charge to students with qulifying print disabilities.

Contact: http://www.bookshare.org/membershipOptions#IndividualMemberships

CONGRESSIONAL INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Sponsor: American Association of People with Disabilities

SYNOPSIS:

The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation?AAPD Congressional

Internship Program was created to provide an opportunity for students

with disabilities to work on Capitol Hill for eight weeks and acquire

valuable work experience that will enrich their academic studies.

Deadline(s): 01/15/2010

Established Date: 11/08/2004

Follow-Up Date: 10/01/2010

Review Date: 11/16/2009

Contact:

Address: Congressional Internship Program

1629 K Street, NW

Suite 503

Washington, DC 20006

U.S.A.

E-mail: internship@aapd.com

Program URL: http://www.aapd.com/AAPDInternship/index.html

Tel: 800-840-8844

Award Type(s): In-Residence

Internships

Summer

Citizenship/Country of Applying Institution:

U.S.A. Citizenship (including U.S. Territories)

Locations Tenable: U.S.A. Institution (including U.S. Territories)

Appl Type(s): Handicapped

Undergraduate Student

Target Group(s): NONE

Funding Limit: $0 SEEBELOW

Duration: 8 WEEK(s)

Indirect Costs: Unspecified

Cost Sharing: No

Sponsor Type: Non-Profit Organizations

OBJECTIVES:

As congressional interns, participants gain insight into

congressional office operations, public policy development, and

constituents? roles in the legislative and political processes.

The program is designed to: Allow students with disabilities to

obtain first-hand knowledge of the legislative and political processes

by working in congressional offices; Enable students with disabilities

to acquire valuable work experience that will enhance their academic

studies and career prospects; Demonstrate to Members of Congress,

their staff, and fellow interns the talents that students with

disabilities can bring to a professional work environment; and

Introduce students to members of the Washington disability policy

community and to national disability leaders through a series of

seminars and special events such as the anniversary observance of the

passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

ELIGIBILITY

Current college students with any type of disability are invited to

apply. At the time of application, applicants must be enrolled as

Sophomores or Juniors. (They must have at least one more academic

semester to complete, at the end of the summer internship.) Applicants

must be U.S. citizens.

FUNDING

The interns will begin their 8-week internships with an orientation

in Washington, D.C. Interns will receive a $1,500 stipend to be

disbursed in three installments throughout the internship period. The

sponsor will arrange roundtrip transportation for each intern to

arrive in Washington, D.C. in May and return home at the end of the

summer. Accessible housing will also be provided, free-of-charge, to

each intern. (des)

Program Number: 90251

Title: AAPD Information Technology Internship Program

Sponsor: American Association of People with Disabilities

SYNOPSIS:

The sponsor provides funding for a summer internship program

designed specifically for college and university students with

disabilities interested in careers in information technology.

Deadline(s): 01/08/2010

Established Date: 09/27/2006

Follow-Up Date: 10/01/2010

Review Date: 11/16/2009

Contact:

Address: Federal I.T. Internship Program

1629 K Street NW, Suite 503

Washington, DC 20006

U.S.A.

E-mail: internship@aapd.com

Web Site: http://www.aapd.com/AAPDInternship/index.html

Tel: 800-840-8844

Award Type(s): In-Residence

Internships

Summer

Citizenship/Country of Applying Institution:

U.S.A. Citizenship (including U.S. Territories)

Locations Tenable: U.S.A. Institution (including U.S. Territories)

Appl Type(s): Handicapped

Undergraduate Student

Target Group(s): Handicapped/Disabled

Funding Limit: $0 SEE BELOW

Duration: 11 WEEK(s)

Indirect Costs: Unspecified

Cost Sharing: No

Sponsor Type: Non-Profit Organizations

Geo. Restricted: NO RESTRICTIONS

OBJECTIVES:

The program is designed to: enable students to gain real-world work

experience and further enhance employment opportunities; increase

students' skills and interest in I.T. careers; increase placement in

I.T. jobs for interns who complete the program; demonstrate to

prospective employers that students with disabilities are solid

prospects for the I.T. workforce; and introduce students to national

disability leaders through a series of seminars and special events

such as the anniversary observance of the passage of the Americans

with Disabilities Act (ADA).

ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must be college or university students with

disabilities, enrolled in an associate?s or bachelor?s degree program,

when they begin the internship program. They must have completed at

least one semester of college credits at the time of the application.

Current college students, with any type of disability, are invited to

apply. Applicants must be U.S. citizens who are 18 years or older.

FUNDING

Interns will receive a $2,500 stipend to be disbursed in three

installments throughout the internship period. The sponsor will

arrange roundtrip transportation for each intern to arrive in

Washington, D.C. in May and return home in August. Accessible housing

will also be provided, free-of-charge, to each intern. (des)

IMPROVED ACCESS TO DIGITAL DOWNLOAD BOOKS FOR BLIND AND LOW VISION U.S. CITIZENS

The new BARD download audiobook and magazine service is available free of charge. See below.

Longueuil, May 25, 2009

On April 30, the National Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a division of the Library of Congress in the United States, entered the first phase of its transition to a digital playback system, as well as releasing an upgraded version of its pilot download website. Beginning with the testing of 5,000 digital players by NLS patrons in their homes, NLS is preparing to launch full-scale production and distribution of 26,000 machines per month this year, ensuring continued access to reading materials for more than 500,000 registered users.

New to the NLS program is a state of the art online component, called the Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) site. This new site for blind and physically handicapped patrons of NLS now provides better than ever access to digital audiobooks and magazines. The BARD digital books and magazines are in the ANSI/NISO Z39.86 2002 format, the specification for navigable digital talking books. Readers may press buttons on the NLS digital talking-book player and compatible players to jump from chapter to chapter, section to section or page to page. This ability to quickly navigate the book structure, combined with the high-quality human recording, make the new digital NLS download books one of the most significant advancements in the provision of talking books for blind and low vision people.

"The high quality navigable digital books from the new NLS BARD service represent a major advancement in access to books, magazines, and electronic braille for Americans who are unable to read print due to blindness, low vision, or physical disability", says Gilles Pepin, CEO of HumanWare. "With BARD, NLS brings its library into the home of its patrons. Not only do NLS patrons now have access to thousands of digital books but they can find their book of interest and download it in minutes independently and from the comfort of their home computer."

HumanWare manufactures the popular Victor Reader Stream, a DAISY NISO compatible digital talking-book player designed in collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), which several thousand NLS patrons already use to play the new digital NISO books. The NLS digital books on the BARD site are protected by encryption and compatible digital book players must be authorized by NLS for eligible patrons to play the books.

The ability to press buttons on the Victor Reader Stream to easily jump between chapters, pages, or magazine articles, like the NLS digital talking-book player, provides a rich audiobook reading experience never before experienced by audiocassette readers. For reference books such as cookery books the user can even enter a page number from the table of contents on the Stream telephone-style number pad and the playback will move immediately to that page. With the NLS player, Victor Reader Stream, and the NLS BARD books, users now have immediate access to thousands of books and can navigate them just like they would navigate the equivalent print book's structure.

The new BARD download audiobook and magazine service is available free of charge to eligible blind and physically handicapped individuals in the U.S. and to citizens living abroad, who have access to a computer and high-speed Internet connection, and who have a free NLS digital talking-book player or own an authorized compatible digital talking-book player such as HumanWare's Victor Reader Stream. To learn more about the new BARD service visit https://nlsbard.loc.gov/

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

(Link: www.nsf.gov/grfp )

ARLINGTON, VA - The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced the opening of the 2009-2010 competition for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). The NSF GRFP is one of the most prestigious science and engineering fellowship programs in the United States. Awardees are provided three years of graduate school support. Fellows receive a $30,000 annual stipend, a $10,500 annual cost of education allowance, a one-time $1,000 international travel allowance, and access to TeraGrid supercomputing facilities.

The program ensures the quality, diversity and vitality of the next generation of U.S. scientists and researchers. The GRFP is intended for students in the early stages of their graduate career who are seeking research-based master's or PhD degrees in NSF-supported disciplines. Applicants should have completed no more than 12 months of graduate study and must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents prior to the application deadline date. Women, under-represented minorities, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply for the GRFP.

The application is currently open online at www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp/ and deadlines are November 2-12, depending on field of study. For more information concerning benefits, eligibility, and tips on applying, applicants are encouraged to visit www.nsfgrfp.org .and www.nsf.gov/grfp/.

Faculty with significant research experience and interaction with graduate students are encouraged to register as panel reviewers for the NSF GRFP at http://panelists.asee.org . If selected, panelists will be invited for a three-day review session that takes place in the Washington, DC, area in early February.

Since 1952, NSF has funded more than 42,000 Graduate Research Fellows. President Obama has vowed to triple the number of awards in this program, from about 1,000 per year to 3,000 per year by 2012.

The NSF-GRFP Operations Center ( info@nsfgrfp.org or 1-866-NSF-GRFP) is administered by the American Society for Engineering Education ( http://www.asee.org/fellowships ).

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Operations Center
1818 N St NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036

disABLEDperson, Inc. announces new portal for college Grads with disabilities!

disABLEDperson, Inc. is a faith-based non-profit organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities find employment. This occurs through the www.disABLEDperson.com online recruitment program and through cooperative agreements with other mainstream employment services. We are proud to announce the addition of our new service for students with disabilities who have or are close to obtaining a college degree. We are working alongside employers to secure job postings for these graduates.