Braille Monitor March 2007

Legislative Agenda of Blind Americans: Priorities for the 110th Congress, First Session

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the Voice of the Nation's Blind. We present the collective views of blind people throughout society. All of our leaders and the vast majority of our members are blind, but anyone can participate in our movement. Every year approximately 75,000 people become blind in America, and there are an estimated 1.3 million blind people in the U.S. The social and economic consequences of blindness affect not only the blind, but also our families, our friends, and our coworkers. Three legislative initiatives require the immediate attention of the 110th Congress. These urgent action items include:

1. We urge Congress to require higher education textbook publishers to produce electronic editions for blind students in an accessible standard format. This can be accomplished by enacting legislation that will:

Within six months of enactment require the secretary of education to establish a national nonvisual access standard for higher education textbooks and supplemental reading materials. This standard should be based on the national access standard used in elementary and secondary education, with appropriate modifications made for use in higher education.
Within one year of enactment designate a National Higher Education Textbook Access Center to receive electronic text editions from publishers and provide them to qualified blind students and instructors upon request. The Center should determine student eligibility based on criteria and procedures currently used by government entities and nonprofit organizations that produce books and other materials for blind readers.
Within two years of enactment require publishers to provide the Center with at least one electronic copy of each edition of every textbook published, which must be prepared in accordance with the national access standard. This obligation should apply to textbooks and supplemental reading materials intended for use by students or faculty in a higher education course and should take effect at the time the textbook or supplemental reading material is first available.

2. We urge Congress, in considering amendments to the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), to affirm the right of the blind to vote independently and in private. Enacted legislation should:

assure blind voters access to the entire voting system, including any mechanism for independent verification;
assure that ballots of voters using accessibility features are not segregated from ballots of voters who do not use such features;
make federal funds available to reimburse jurisdictions for the cost of upgrading existing voting systems or purchasing new ones in order to meet accessibility requirements; and
provide voters the ability to individually seek redress of grievances that may arise in the voting process.

3. We urge Congress to amend Title II of the Social Security Act to mandate a schedule of increases in the level of earnings allowed for blind individuals before applying a work penalty, as follows:

for 2008 $21,600
for 2009 $26,400
for 2010 $30,000
for 2011 $34,200
for 2012 the amount applicable to individuals who attain Full Retirement Age in that year.

For more information about these priorities, please consult the attached fact sheets.

Other priorities that may present opportunities for legislative action in this session of Congress include:

assuring that blindness cannot be a factor to justify payment of less than minimum wage under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act;
bringing congressional oversight to bear on the threat posed to the safety of blind pedestrians by electric, hybrid, and other increasingly prevalent types of vehicles that minimize the use of combustion engines, making them too quiet to be heard;
directing the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress to provide a means for rapid dissemination of electronic versions of national and local newspapers and periodicals to registered blind persons on a nationwide basis through use of high-speed computers and telecommunications technologies;
supporting full funding for the transition of the Talking Books program of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress from analog to digital technology;
reauthorizing the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, as part of the Workforce Investment Act to increase consumer empowerment and enhance informed choice;
applying the electronic and information technology procurement standards contained in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act to institutions of higher education and government grantees to improve access for blind employees and members of the public who use the technology;
amending the Javits-Wagner-O�Day Act to allow blind and disabled persons to receive competitive compensation and opportunities for career advancement, as well as to prevent fraud and abuse in the program established under this Act; and
preserving and enhancing opportunities available under the Randolph-Sheppard Act for blind men and women to operate vending businesses on federal property.

For more information on any of these priorities, please contact James McCarthy, director of governmental affairs for the National Federation of the Blind, (410) 659-9314, ext. 2207, or visit us online at <www.nfb.org>.
Blind Americans need your help to achieve our goals of economic security, increased opportunity, and full integration into American society on a basis of equality. Enactment of these legislative proposals will represent important steps toward reaching these goals. We need the help and support of each member of Congress. Our success benefits not only us, but the whole of America as well.

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