At our regular meeting on Wednesday, March 29th, Anthony Buonaspina and Albert Rizzi described "My Blind Spot," a nonprofit organization committed to the advancement of equal access and the promotion of understanding, respect and opportunity for the blind, visually impaired, and others with disabilities.
 
 
Anthony Buonaspina, founder and president if LI Tech Advisors, and Chief Technology Officer of “My Blind Spot”, introduced the concept behind My Blind Spot, and explained how he and his company of consulting and computer support services became involved in providing computer system accessibility for the disabled. He then introduced Albert Rizzi, founder of My Blind Spot.

Albert explained that My Blind Spot is a nonprofit organization, founded in 2009, committed to the advancement of equal access and the promotion of understanding, respect and opportunity for the blind, visually impaired, and others with disabilities.

Albert recounted how he lost his sight in the prime of life, the personal turmoil he faced, and his eventual determination to turn his misfortune into a force to help others in similar circumstances. The following are edited excerpts from their website: myblindspot.org:

The mission of My Blind Spot is “to provide outreach, advocacy, education and services by promoting an inclusive culture and accessible digital infrastructure to ensure equal access to employment, education, recreation, and independent living opportunities for people with disabilities”

My Blind Spot provides outreach, advocacy and education to (1) promote awareness among leaders in business, education, and government about the critical importance of making their digital content, software, and technologies accessible and usable to the disability community, (2) increase employment and business entrepreneurship opportunities for people who are visually disabled and (3) expand understanding of the business advantages to accessible infrastructures for customers and employees.

Their services include customized roadmaps for organizations to integrate accessibility into their culture, processes and technical infrastructures. For example, they have partnered with Intuit to develop a groundbreaking, enhanced-accessibility version of its premier small-business accounting software, QuickBooks, making the software accessible to the blind, visually impaired and the print disabled for the first time.
 
My Blind Spot works with many other large firms to help them provide computer systems and products with maximum accessibility for the disabled. Albert mentioned that many visually impaired operators, using screen readers and keyboard commands, have become as proficient using complex software programs as the system developers.
 
Anthony and Albert are shown above with Babylon Rotary President Megan Noble.