AccuWeather® to Provide Emergency Weather Alert Information to the Blind and Print-Disabled via NFB-NEWSLINE®

BALTIMORE, Aug. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the oldest and largest nationwide organization of the blind in the United States, and its newspaper service for the blind, NFB-NEWSLINE®, today announced a collaboration with AccuWeather®, an online weather information service, to provide emergency weather alerts to blind and print-disabled subscribers throughout America.  NFB-NEWSLINE® is a free audible information access service that provides over three-hundred newspapers and magazines to the blind.  The AccuWeather® information service will be offered on NFB-NEWSLINE®, giving blind and print-disabled people instant access to emergency weather alerts.

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Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) said: "The lack of access to emergency weather alerts has been a persistent problem for the blind, and now with the combination of AccuWeather® alerts and NFB-NEWSLINE®, an innovative source of this critical information has been created for the blind of America.  With the inclusion of the AccuWeather® information service, NFB-NEWSLINE® continues to be on the cutting edge in providing independent access to much-needed information to the blind of America."

Scott White, the director of NFB-NEWSLINE®, said: "We are excited to be the first to bring this revolutionary independent access to emergency weather information to the blind through our NFB-NEWSLINE® service.  Until this point, the blind of America did not have instant access to emergency weather alerts.   It was necessary for blind persons to rely on friends or family members to read the weather alert text being scrolled across the bottom of their television screens."

NFB-NEWSLINE® subscriber David Denotaris said: "For the first time I am able to easily gain access to emergency weather service alerts by making a phone call.  With the addition of the AccuWeather® alerts on NFB-NEWSLINE®, I can access the information that I need to keep my family safe.  To this day, the alert systems available on television are not accessible to the blind, but now with the AccuWeather® emergency warning system on NFB-NEWSLINE®, I will have the same information and at the same time as my sighted co-workers, neighbors, and peers."

NFB-NEWSLINE® is a free audible newspaper and magazine reading service that provides information to blind and print-disabled readers over the telephone, online, and on the iPhone.  For more information or to register for NFB-NEWSLINE® visit www.nfbnewsline.org, write to nfbnewsline@nfb.org, or call 1- 866-504-7300.

About the National Federation of the Blind
With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people's lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind. 

SOURCE National Federation of the Blind