The blind will have an opportunity to reach up and touch the stars they've never seen during the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania starting tomorrow at the Holiday Inn in Green Tree.

David Hurd, professor and director of the planetarium at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, has designed a tactile dome that allows the blind to feel simulations of the constellations. He will give two seminars tomorrow and the dome will be on exhibit for attendees -- blind or sighted -- to try out during the convention, which ends Sunday.

Other exhibits will range from the latest computer technology to the products of members in business for themselves.

Crowded into the three-day schedule are meetings and seminars designed to help the blind obtain the tools and education necessary to be independent and active participants in the community.

"The federation looks at blindness as it has its problems and frustrations, especially if you are newly blind. However, there are ways to overcome these problems," said Chuck Morgenstern, 71, of Brighton Heights, the treasurer of the state federation.

Other seminars will focus on how to use Newsline, a program by which the blind can hear a synthetic voice read a newspaper over the telephone; the home-based computer training available from the Iowa Department for the Blind; and how library services can be made accessible.

The state chapter of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children also will meet to discuss ways of obtaining the best education for their children, and older students will have a seminar on self-advocacy in the classroom.

Federation spokeswoman Lynn Heitz said about 100 of the group's 1,300 members are expected to attend the convention, which was in Harrisburg last year.