If you are a person with a disability or health condition who lives in Texas and experienced power, heat, and/or water outages during the winter storm of February 2021, a researcher at the University of Texas El Paso would like to interview you. Interviews are being conducted remotely by phone or Zoom. Caregivers and professionals who assist people with disabilities are also welcome to participate. Contact Angela Frederick at ahfrederick2@utep.edu for more information and to set up an interview.

Texas AgriLife Extension is partnering with the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities to identify needed future planning supports for siblings of people with disabilities. A survey has been created to help identify these needs.

If you are over 18, have at least one sibling with a disability, and you both live in Texas, you are encouraged to complete this survey. This will take about thirty minutes of your time, and your identity will be kept confidential. The survey will be available until February 28th.

Click on this link to access the survey:

https://agrilife.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3atvNJcA42e7a2a

You may also contact Dr. Shelby Vaughn at shelby.vaughn@ag.tamu.edu if you have any questions.

A research team comprising of blind and sighted scholars at the Envision Research Institute is investigating the experiences of blind and visually impaired individuals at different stages of the employment cycle as these relate to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The goal is to understand the hiring and retention policies that are effective for including blind and visually impaired people in the workforce.

Volunteers selected as study participants will be instructed to complete a questionnaire. The complete study might take about 45 minutes. A follow-up interview may be necessary to clarify some responses on the questionnaire. Upon completion of the study, the participant will receive a $25 gift card as a token of appreciation.

If you are interested in participating, or have a question about the study, please contact Marco Tarantino at marco.tarantino@envisionus.com; or call 316-440-1524). Please reference project title: “Experiences of Blind and Low Vision Individuals at Different Stages of the Employment Cycle as These Relate to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Regulations Implemented in 2014” in the subject line of the email

If you live in the cities of Austin or Houston and have a visual or physical disability, you are eligible to participate in an online survey about autonomous vehicles.

The survey takes about fifteen minutes to complete, and can be found at this link:

https://tti.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_di22u5zay3m1o7X

For more information, contact Jinuk Hwang at j.hwang@tamu.edu

The first survey involves employment of people with disabilities. The survey may be completed by individuals with disabilities, employers, or providers. This survey is not restricted to any county or area of the state.

The deadline for completion is Friday, December 16th. Please follow this link to access the survey: https://ndiinc.formstack.com/forms/employment_options_texas

The second survey is only for residents of Travis County, and concerns transportation. Here is the link for this survey: https://www.traviscountytx.gov/tnr/transportation-plan/

There is one week remaining to complete this survey. Interested persons may choose a brief version of the survey, or a detailed version.

The Texas Governor’s Committee for People with Disabilities is requesting individuals to complete a survey about accessible parking. The survey takes about fifteen minutes and may be filled out by persons with disabilities, family members and caregivers, veterans with disabilities, and professionals in the field of disability. The survey will help the Governor’s Committee make recommendations to the state legislature about accessible parking.

To participate, please click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W2J6D23
The survey is anonymous. If you have any questions or need assistance, you may contact the Governor’s Committee at gcpd@gov.texas.gov. The survey will be available until Wednesday, October 5th.

The San Francisco Lighthouse, in conjunction with an outside organization, would like input from people who are blind or visually impaired about assistive technology. People who take the survey will be entered into a drawing to win one of three gift cards. For more information, and to start the survey, please visit this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AT_design_PWVI

From March 11 – May 10, the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) will conduct a survey to understand how to better serve readers of talking books and braille. NLS is looking to improve their program that provides free talking books and braille to anyone who meets their qualification requirements. The survey can be taken online by going to www.LibraryofCongressSurvey.org or over the phone by calling 1-866-545-1618 to schedule a phone interview. NLS wants to learn what types of services and materials you are looking for and what they can do to get you interested in the talking book and braille program. You do not have to currently use the NLS program to take the survey.  Take the survey now to help Library of Congress NLS better serve you!