Helen Keller National Center Launches 2026 DeafBlind Awareness Week Campaign Alongside National Coalition of Partner Organizations

The Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults (HKNC), which leads the annual national observance of DeafBlind Awareness Week, has launched the 2026 campaign, observed from June 25 through July 1.

DeafBlind Awareness Week was first proclaimed at the federal level in 1984, when President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5214 designating the last week of June as “Helen Keller DeafBlind Awareness Week” in honor of Helen Keller’s birthday on June 27. Today, the observance continues as a unified national effort led by HKNC alongside organizations, advocates, and communities committed to advancing awareness, access, and inclusion for individuals who are DeafBlind.

An estimated 2.4 million Americans experience combined hearing and vision loss, a population that includes individuals who identify as DeafBlind. DeafBlind individuals are educators, advocates, professionals, artists, and leaders who enrich our communities through their unique perspectives, lived experience, and remarkable achievements.

A Unified National Effort

For the 2026 observance, Helen Keller National Center has issued a joint proclamation recognizing DeafBlind Awareness Week, joined by five national partner organizations:

• ADARA: Professionals Networking for Excellence in Service Delivery with Individuals who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
• American Association of the DeafBlind (AADB)
• CHARGE Syndrome Foundation
• National Center on Deafblindness (NCDB)
• Usher Syndrome Coalition

This coalition reflects a shared commitment to expanding public understanding of DeafBlindness, promoting accessible communication and inclusive practices, elevating the voices and contributions of DeafBlind individuals, and strengthening partnerships across education, employment, healthcare, and community systems.

2026 Theme: Connected by Touch

HKNC’s 2026 campaign theme, “Connected by Touch: Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges,” highlights the fundamental role of touch in communication, connection, and access for DeafBlind individuals.

Touch is the foundation of how DeafBlind individuals navigate the world, from Protactile language, tactile sign language, and haptics to braille, assistive technology, and everyday interaction. Through touch, DeafBlind individuals communicate, learn, work, and thrive.

The theme also calls on professionals, service providers, family members, and community members to build bridges by learning, adapting, and creating environments that are welcoming and accessible. When connection is made possible through accessible communication and respectful interaction, barriers break down and doors open to fuller participation and genuine belonging.

2026 Campaign Poster

HKNC has designed and released the official 2026 DBAW campaign poster. The horizontal poster features five photographs of touch-based connection across everyday life: a person greeting a guide dog, two people in tactile sign language, a participant working with a braille display, a medical visit, and a self-defense class. Each image illustrates how touch makes communication, learning, work, and belonging possible.

The poster is being distributed by mail to over 2,500 organizations, agencies, schools, and community partners nationwide. A downloadable version, full visual description, and audio description are available on the DBAW 2026 landing page.

Get Involved

Throughout DeafBlind Awareness Week, HKNC and partner organizations will share resources, stories, trainings, and events designed to advance awareness and support meaningful inclusion.

Two webinars during the observance period explore the campaign theme:

• Tactile O&M Strategies for DeafBlind Travelers. June 30, 2026, 2:00 to 3:30 PM ET. A research-informed look at touch-based strategies for DeafBlind Orientation and Mobility instruction, featuring Dr. Amy Parker (Portland State University) and Dr. Tara Brown-Ogilvie (HKNC), with a panel of DeafBlind voices and an O&M specialist.
• Protactile Philosophy, Culture, and Community. July 1, 2026. A special webinar featuring Protactile trainers Rhonda Voight-Campbell and Roberto Cabrera, co-presenting in Protactile language about the philosophy, culture, and transformative impact of Protactile communication within the DeafBlind community.

HKNC is also offering four online courses free of charge throughout June, covering Haptics, etiologies and visual conditions associated with deafblindness, communication access, and working with sign language interpreters.

The DBAW 2026 landing page features a growing list of community events happening across the country, downloadable resources, and registration links for webinars and free courses. Visit helenkeller.org/dbaw2026 to get involved.

About Helen Keller National Center

The Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults (HKNC) is the only national program providing information, referral, support, and comprehensive vocational rehabilitation services exclusively to youth and adults who are DeafBlind, as well as to the families and professionals who work with them. Through personalized training in adaptive technology, communication, orientation and mobility, independent living, and vocational services, HKNC prepares participants for meaningful employment and community independence. HKNC’s national network of regional representatives and affiliate agencies serves individuals in every U.S. state and territory.

DeafBlind Awareness Week is coordinated nationally by HKNC each year in honor of Helen Keller’s birthday, June 27.