New Federal Communications Commission chairman William E. Kennard will be the featured speaker at the 1998 Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute (JLTLI). The conference- sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind in partnership with the American Council of the Blind and entitled "The Consumer-Provider Partnership: Mobilizing for Specialized Services"-convenes March 5-8 at the Washington Marriott Hotel, 1221 22nd Street, NW.

Kennard's address will be available live on the Internet through Real Audio on Sunday, March 8, at 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time. The URL is http://www.afb.org/jltli98.html.

Rebroadcasts of Mr. Kennard's remarks will be available on demand at the same URL between 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time on Sunday, March 8, and 11:00 A.M. Eastern Time on Monday, March 9.

AFB and Real Audio Team to Improve Real Audio Downloading.

We are pleased to announce that the Real Audio Player, which is needed in order to hear Kennard's remarks, can now be downloaded using an accessible form at the url http://www.afb.org/ra_form.html. As many users of assistive technology interfaces know, downloading the Real Audio player has always been a challenge even for the most sophisticated computer user who is blind because of the inaccessibility of the form that must be filled out in order to download the Real Audio player. Effective immediately, in preparation for Kennard's presentation at the Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Conference, this problem has been solved. We are also pleased to announce that this universally accessible form will soon be available on the Real Audio home page.

For further information contact:

Terry Allen
American Foundation for the Blind
Communications Group
Phone 212-502-7674; Email afbnews@afb.org