Arizona Resources for the Visually Impaired, 2026
Tucson Society of the Blind, Timette Middelkoop, 520-561-0216, Annie, 520-275-1675
www.tucsonsocietyoftheblind.org
Tucson Society of the Blind, TSB, meets every Tuesday from 9:15 AM to 11:30 AM at Christ Presbyterian Church, 6565 E. Broadway. TSB provides educational, social, and recreational programs for the visually impaired. TSB has weekly programs with informative guest speakers, luncheons, and field trips. If you know of someone who is visually impaired, please call Timette Middelkoop, 520-561-0216 or Annie 520-275-1675. Copies of their Newsy Notes newsletters can be found on their website at www.tucsonsocietyoftheblind.org
Arizona Braille and Talking Book Library
800-255-5578 or 602-255-5578
www.azlibrary.gov/talkingbooks
Get a free talking book player, along with headphones, to access over 600,000 books of all genres ranging from romance to biographies and mysteries. The free talking book player is easy to use. Also available are Descriptive Movie DVD’s with audio description that describes the action between the dialogues. You can download books from BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download Library) on the computer or iPhone onto a thumb drive to put into the book player. You can also download books from BARD on iPhones, iPads, and VictorReader Stream book players. You must fill out an application to sign up for service.
Sign up for Newsline to hear over 60 newspapers and magazines, including the Arizona Republic, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Braille Forum, Braille Monitor and AARP Bulletin. Articles are read aloud to you by telephone. Just ask your Talking Book reader advisor to sign you up. It’s free! There is also a NFB Newsline Mobile app. Easy to use tutorials are available.
AZ Vocational Rehabilitation and Independent Living Blind
888- 282-9857
Supports all free services provided by the state. You must be 55 and older and you must fill out an application. Call 888-282-9857 for classes, orientation, mobility, and assistive technology training.
SAAVI Services for the Blind
3350 E. Grant
520-795-1331
Call or email Melanie Kondzi in charge of Senior Services at mkondzi@saavi.us SAAVI provides special services for the visually impaired such as free classes on dealing with vision loss with resources available, free exercise programs, orientation and mobility (white cane) training to help people travel independently. Computer and iPhone training is also available. You need to sign up with the Independent Blind Skills Program (see number above) to get services and to get on the waitlist. SAAVI now has “Freedom Fridays” where all visually impaired seniors can attend with planned programs and lunch provided. Saavi’s hours are 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
American Council of the Blind (ACB)
800-424-8666
www.acb.org
ACB provides advocacy and promotes legislation to help the blind. For more local information there is the Southern Arizona Tucson Chapter. You can contact the president, Wesley Derbyshire, at wesleyderbyshire@gmail.com for more information. ACB offers great community Zoom and phone calls on many topics. Sign up at community@acb.org .
ACB has a large number of community events to which you can connect by Zoom using your iPhone or land line. Go to www.acbvoices.org to sign up and listen to recordings of podcasts and community events. ACB’s national number is 800-424-8666. To listen to ACB Media, call 518-906-1820. For ACB Hotline, Braille Forum, and advocacy report call 712-775-4808, 605-475-8154, or 605-475-8154 respectively. There is also an app called ACB Link which can be downloaded for free from the iPhone app store.
You can listen to ACB media on the Amazon Echo Dot. You must first enable ACB Media on the Echo Dot then say “Alexa, open ACB Media”. Alexa will then say what stream you want to listen to (from 1 to 10). As an example, ACB Community is found on Stream 5. You can listen to podcasts and the reading of the Braille Forum. Also say “Alexa, enable ACB Community.”
Dr. Jennifer Caywood, Tucson Low Vision Optometrist
520-261-2563
1607 N. Wilmot Suite 101-D
www.tucsonlowvision.com
Most medical insurance plans cover low-cost medical exams. Dr. Jennifer will spend 90 minutes with you trying out low vision devices. She can prescribe glasses which are covered by insurance but, unfortunately, the low vision devices are not covered and they need to be paid for by the client. Dr. Caywood is a dedicated medical professional and she is the only person in Tucson who provides this vital service.
Apple Store in La Encantada Mall
520-209-7440
905 E Skyline Dr.
Call to make an appointment to fix your iPhone.
Batteries Plus
520-747-8228
1031 N. Wilmot
Battery Plus can replace your battery or fix a cracked screen on the iPhone.
Best Buy Geek Squad
520-745-0209
6025 E. Broadway
Technicians are certified to fix Apple iPhones.
Interfaith Services
520-297-6049
Complete an application over the phone. The service uses volunteers to provide free transportation to your doctor and to pick up prescriptions once a week as well. They can also take you grocery shopping if shopping services are not available for seniors in independent living facilities.
National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
410-659-9314
www.nfb.org
Tucson NFB chapter meets the first Saturday of the month from 1:00 to 3:00 PM at 3350 E. Grant, at SAAVI. Call either Bob Kresmer at 520-733-5894, NFB at 888-899-6322, or go to www.nfb.org. NFB advocates for legislation for the blind. You can also find NFB in the Facebook Marketplace or you can call 410-659-9314, ext. 2216, to order specialized products. NFB provides free, long white canes that do not fold up, Perkin stylus for Braille notes, talking watches, and digital recorders.
Script Talk: Free Talking Prescription Readers – Envision America
800-890-1180
For a free machine reader, call Envision America. You put the prescription bottle with the special label into the slot on the machine where it will read the information on the bottle.
You can also download a Script Talk app on the iPhone which will do a quick scan or read everything on the pill bottle.
Script Talk is available at any Walmart, Sam’s Club, or Veterans Administration. It is also available at Walmart pharmacy, (Caremark) Humana, Edna Optum X and other mail delivery options. Scrip Talk is not available at Walgreens but is now available at either the Fry’s pharmacy at 22nd and Kolb, the Fry’s at 9401 E. 22nd St, or at Safeway at 10380 E Broadway Blvd (Broadway and Houghton).
Sun Sounds Reading Service: Tempe
480-774-8300
www.sunsounds.org
Human readers will read articles from the Arizona Republic, USA Today, and other articles from different sources – all on a fixed schedule.
You can listen to the service using either an Amazon Echo Dot or through a computer. And regarding the Echo Dot, you can order a free one if you are visually impaired. (Free radios are also available.)
With the Echo Dot you can ask “Alexa” to “Open Sunsounds of Arizona” and then choose the Tempe feed. Also available to listen to are audio-described movies broadcast every Friday night at 6:00 PM and at 8:00 PM on the first Saturday of every month.
SunVan Paratransit for city-wide transportation service
520 791-4100 and 520-798-1000
www.suntran.com
SunVan will provide free door-to-door service. You must register for the service by filling out an American Disability Act (ADA) application. Once approved, you can call the SunVan reservationist at 520-798-1000 up to one week in advance to make ride reservations. And for those people living outside the city limits (but still in Pima County) Dial-a-Ride paratransit service also gives rides. Call Dial-a-Ride at 520-792-9222.