Building Independence as a Blind Professional With Everette Bacon

Everette Bacon is the Chief of Blindness Initiatives at Aira, a visual interpreting service that helps blind and low-vision people access visual information. Drawing on more than 20 years in blindness rehabilitation, accessibility, and assistive technology, Everette leads service delivery and customer care. With a master's degree in Blindness Rehabilitation, he also serves as Second Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind and President of its Utah affiliate, bringing extensive experience in advocacy and leadership.

In this episode… Building independence as a blind professional often starts with the right skills, technology, and support. As vision changes, new approaches can make work, travel, and everyday life more manageable. What helps blind and low-vision professionals build confidence and stay independent?

Everette Bacon, an expert in blindness rehabilitation, assistive technology, and advocacy, believes the answer begins with strong blindness skills, access to the right tools, and confidence developed through experience. He emphasizes independent travel, effective screen-reader use, and spending time with other successful blind people who can offer practical examples and encouragement. Everette also recommends continually trying unfamiliar tasks, since learning new skills helps make challenging situations feel more manageable over time. Together, those habits create a foundation for greater independence, resilience, and professional opportunity.

In this episode of Heard & Empowered, Dean Thompson talks with Everette Bacon, Chief of Blindness Initiatives at Aira, about building independence as a blind professional. Everette shares how blindness skills, assistive technology, and confidence support career success. He also discusses mentoring, accessible travel, community, and adapting to vision loss.