Springfield Standard

The City of Springfield's Office of Belonging and Intercultural Development, in collaboration with several community partners, will host an engagement event from noon to 4:30 p.m. today to gather community input on accessibility efforts. The event will take place at Empower: Abilities, located at 1450 W. Cambridge St.

This engagement event aims to inclusively collect feedback and insights from individuals who would benefit from NaviLens technology. This technology assists people who are blind or have low vision by translating visual signage into audio messages, enabling them to navigate unknown places independently.

Today's partners include Mary's Braille International, Empower: Abilities, Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center, The Blind Community Thrift Store, Missouri State University, Low Vision Specialists, Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, History Museum on the Square, International Institute of Southwest Missouri, Abilities First, Springfield Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri and University Plaza & Convention Center.

The event will commence with a lunch and a performance by local artist Ernie Bedell. Following this will be semi-guided tours at various sites around Springfield. These activities aim to provide attendees with firsthand experience of how NaviLens can be integrated into service delivery while celebrating the community’s achievements and shaping future efforts around accessibility and inclusivity.

Itinerary:

- Noon-12:30 p.m.: Open Doors & Lunch

- Location: Empower: Abilities

- Participants arrive; lunch is served with opening remarks by the event coordinators.

- 12:30-12:45 p.m.: Opening Remarks

- Speakers: Taj Suleyman and Adriana Failla

- Welcome message and overview of the day's activities.

- 12:45-1:30 p.m.: Tour of Empower: Abilities

- Guides: Shannon Porter and Afton Harper

- 1:30-1:45 p.m.: Transit to Springfield-Greene County Botanical Gardens

- 1:45-2:45 p.m.: Tour of Botanical Gardens & Butterfly Garden

- Guides: Katie Keith, Angela Keith, and Ambur Gossen

- 2:45-3 p.m.: Transit to Blind Community Thrift Store

- 3-3:45 p.m.: Tour of Blind Community Thrift Store

- Guide: Rick Orr

- 3:45-4 p.m.: Return to Empower: Abilities