President Proclaims October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month, 2014

National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is a nation-wide campaign raising awareness about disability employment issues and celebrating the contributions of America's workers with disabilities. The theme for 2014 is "Expect. Employ. Empower."

Read the full Presidential Proclamation

State Representative speaks to students

One of the highlights of the summer was a talk by WashingtonState Representative Cyrus Habib who spoke with more than 40 blind and visually-impaired high school students. The students were participating in the Department of Services for the Blind’s Youth Employment Services (YES) program in Seattle.

Read more about Rep. Habib's talk.

Blind Ambition: Longview man who lost vision creates card game to learn Braille

Richard Slayton is developing two-sided game cards that combine Braille symbols and their meanings to help people learn to communicate with Braille.

The Physician Connection newsletter, The Focal Point is available online. 

RFP Announcement -

The Washington State, Department of Services for the Blind (DSB), is initiating a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit proposals from firms interested in participating on a project to develop and lead an agency-wide, structured, guided, and comprehensive strategic planning process. Interested vendors should download the complete RFP or get more information about working with the State of Washington.

News

The new Orientation and Training Center Update is here! (06/01/14)

Summer Youth Programs are taking registrations! (05/27/14)

Vitasys-ezSite Maintenance of Bellevue, Washington has been awarded the contract # 490000006A1 for website maintenance and support. (05/19/14)

May 15 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day! (03/15/14)

The Washington State Department of Service for the Blind is initiating this Request for Proposals from firms interested in conducting website maintenance and support. (03/31/14)

The Section 503 Final Rule introduced a hiring goal for federal contractors that seven percent of their workforce be qualified individuals with disabilities. This goal – which is applied at the job group level and ranges across all aspects of an organization – went into effect on March 24, 2014. (03/24/14)