RESOLUTION 2009-01
Regarding Braille Literacy
WHEREAS, literacy, being able to read and write efficiently, is essential to effective communication, access to highly skilled and highly paid employment, and success in the community; and
WHEREAS, only 10 percent of today’s blind students under age twenty-two are being taught to read Braille, resulting in a 45 percent high school graduation rate for blind students; and
WHEREAS, more than 70 percent of blind people nationwide are not employed, but of those blind people who are employed, 85 percent or more use Braille in the workplace, demonstrating a clear relationship among literacy, confidence, and success; and
WHEREAS, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that each blind student interested in learning Braille be given a quality education in Braille, yet no standardized definition of “quality” exists, leading to ambiguity in the educational system and a low literacy rate among blind students; and
WHEREAS, an effort began in the early 1990s, led by the Library of Congress, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, to establish a national test of competency in the literary Braille code, resulting in a fully validated competency test that was finalized in 2006; and
WHEREAS, the National Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB) took over administration of the test in 2007 and established the National Certification in Literary Braille to provide a credible means of insuring Braille competency; and
WHEREAS, the National Certification in Literary Braille is the only nationwide certification for competency and ongoing professional development in the teaching of Braille; and
WHEREAS, the Braille Readers are Leaders initiative, established by the National Federation of the Blind in July 2008, has a primary goal of insuring that the number of blind students able to read Braille will double by 2015: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization call upon state legislatures and teacher licensing agencies to incorporate the National Certification in Literary Braille into their standards for professionals licensed to teach blind students; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge teachers of blind students, state special education agencies, organizations of and for the blind, and others to take all other steps necessary to join the National Federation of the Blind in ensuring that the number of blind students who are Braille literate and able to read and write Braille competently, doubles by 2015.
RESOLUTION 2009-02
Regarding the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act
WHEREAS, on January 28, 2009, Congressmen Ed Towns of New York and Cliff Stearns of Florida reintroduced the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, HR 734; and
WHEREAS, this legislation would direct the secretary of transportation to study the dangers posed to the blind and other pedestrians by silent cars and at the conclusion of that study to issue regulations setting forth a motor vehicle safety standard to protect pedestrians; and
WHEREAS, on April 21, 2009, Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania introduced the legislation in the United States Senate as S 841; and
WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has worked actively to gain House and Senate cosponsor support for this important legislation to preserve the right to independent travel for blind pedestrians; and
WHEREAS, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now conducting a study to determine solutions to the problems faced by blind and other pedestrians as a result of the lack of sound from hybrid and electric vehicles; and
WHEREAS, although NHTSA is conducting this study, the agency has so far not committed to issue regulations based on the findings of the study; and
WHEREAS, without regulations requiring conformity with the findings of the study, there is no guarantee that auto manufacturers will comply, given the myriad of applicable requirements and these times of economic uncertainty for the auto industry; and
WHEREAS, the number of hybrid and electric vehicles on America’s roadways continues to increase as a result of several factors, including the desire to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, incentives for purchasing hybrid and electric vehicles, and standards requiring lower emissions that strongly encourage development of hybrid and electric vehicles; and
WHEREAS, a study without regulations made pursuant to it will not address the constantly growing threat to the independence and safety of blind pedestrians; and
WHEREAS, passage of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 will mandate that regulations be promulgated by NHTSA to provide the best method of alerting blind and other pedestrians to the presence of hybrid and electric vehicles, allowing blind pedestrians to maintain their right to independent travel: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization continue to urge Congress to pass the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 to ensure that regulations will be issued to protect the right to safe and independent travel for blind pedestrians; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this organization commend Congressmen Towns and Stearns and Senators Kerry and Specter for their leadership as demonstrated by their introduction of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.
Resolution 2009-03
Regarding Access by the Blind to a National Test for Elementary and Secondary School Students
WHEREAS, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires states to develop standardized tests that are administered at specific grade levels in a student’s school career; and
WHEREAS, a primary goal of NCLB was and should continue to be improving educational progress of historically disadvantaged populations, a focus that certainly includes blind students, because so many have suffered the devastating consequences of such factors as low expectations of teachers and inadequate Braille instruction, leading to a lack of literacy skills; and
WHEREAS, this law is due for reauthorization, allowing Congress to make any changes it sees fit; and
WHEREAS, administration officials including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan suggest that a single national testing regime is necessary because under current law comparison of students in different states is virtually impossible because each state develops its own testing and scoring; and
WHEREAS, test administrators and educators claim to be committed to providing reasonable accommodations to blind students for these assessments, but experience in the testing room confirms that this commitment is only lip service; and
WHEREAS, today many tests contain questions that rely solely on visual input and output by students for successful completion, e.g., requiring a student to draw a picture or express a point of view based only on a picture--questions to which blind students cannot successfully respond even if they are using accommodations; and
WHEREAS, one definite result of a national test will be to assure uniformity, which for the blind could mean either uniform discrimination or a uniformly accessible test, depending completely on how much consideration is given to assuring that test questions do not rely on vision for their correct completion: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization urge Congress, whether or not a national test is implemented, to include as a provision in legislation to amend NCLB a requirement that all test questions be capable of correct completion without reliance on vision; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the Department of Education to establish and enforce regulations in support of this requirement as a part of its regulatory responsibilities once legislation has been enacted.
RESOLUTION 2009-04
Regarding Reading Rights
WHEREAS, the ability to read is critical to living a well-informed personal and professional life; and
WHEREAS, blindness and some other disabilities pose challenges to accessing all available written information fully and efficiently; and
WHEREAS, text-to-speech technology has helped to remove these access barriers for the approximately fifteen million blind and otherwise print-disabled people living in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Amazon.com's Kindle 2 is one of the first mainstream, commercially available e-book reading devices to incorporate text-to-speech functionality, potentially making well over one quarter of a million titles accessible to the blind and other people with print disabilities; and
WHEREAS, this heretofore untapped community of eager consumers promises to benefit publishers and authors; and
WHEREAS, many educational institutions are exploring the possibility of e-textbooks and mobile access to electronic book information; and
WHEREAS, upon learning that the Kindle 2 would feature text-to-speech technology, significant segments of the publishing industry and the Authors Guild promptly lodged specious legal and business objections with Amazon.com, urging it to eliminate or severely restrict access to the synthesized-speech function of this device; and
WHEREAS, one specific objection of the Authors Guild was that the ability to have a legitimately purchased e-book read aloud with text-to-speech technology violates copyright, a legal claim that experts have dismissed as erroneous, since people who buy books have the right to acquire the information privately in whatever way best suits their needs as long as they do not reproduce the content of the book for general circulation; and
WHEREAS, Amazon.com has agreed to allow publishers to deactivate the text-to-speech feature on the Kindle 2 for individual authors based on lists provided by the publishers, and to date one publisher, Random House, has instructed Amazon.com to turn the text-to-speech feature off for all of its published material, regardless of author preference; and
WHEREAS, the suggestions that leaders of the Authors Guild have proposed to mitigate the harm visited upon blind and other print-disabled readers (e.g., creation of a national registry of blind and print-disabled readers or charging additional money for the privilege of accessing books on the device with speech output) are wholly unsatisfactory to first-class customers who are prepared--like everybody else--to pay for the product that Amazon.com has developed, advertised, promoted, and sold to the general public; and
WHEREAS, civil rights laws and policies in the United States oppose and protect against acts that thwart equal access and equitable treatment of the blind and other people with print disabilities: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization urge all government procurement agencies, schools, institutions of higher education, and libraries to be mindful of technology-procurement requirements and state and federal disability nondiscrimination laws and insist that mobile e-book readers and e-books have accessible text-to-speech; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization strongly protest all attempts by the Authors Guild to eliminate or restrict the text-to-speech technology Amazon.com has incorporated into its Kindle 2 e-book-reading device; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization strongly urge the publishing industry and the Authors Guild to abandon their unreasonable demands on Amazon.com to degrade the text-to-speech feature on the Kindle 2; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that barring the willingness of the publishing industry and the Authors Guild to comply with this resolution--this organization also urge Amazon.com itself to ignore the outrageous petitions of self-interest of both the publishing industry and the Authors Guild and to make the design changes that will in fact make the Kindle an accessible electronic book reader for blind readers.
RESOLUTION 2009-05
Regarding Access to Cloud Computing by the Blind
WHEREAS, cloud computing is an approach in which computing applications are hosted by a third party and available to users on demand through their Web browsers that makes it possible to process and store large amounts of data; and
WHEREAS, the most commonly used applications--word processing, databases, and spreadsheets--are all available in the cloud-computing universe; and
WHEREAS, many preeminent companies in the technology industry, including Adobe, Apple, Google, IBM, and Microsoft, have developed or soon will develop cloud-computing applications; and
WHEREAS cloud-computing applications are being aggressively promoted to American business as a cost-effective, efficient way for them to store their computer-created content, making cloud computing more and more popular every day; and
WHEREAS, cloud computing is not presently accessible to the blind; and
WHEREAS, companies can make cloud computing accessible to up-to-date screen-reader technology if they properly code applications because cloud-computing applications reside in the Web 2.0 environment, a place where recent versions of screen-access technology can already perform: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization call upon companies that design products for the cloud-computing environment to assure that these products are fully accessible to blind people using screen-access technology.
RESOLUTION 2009-06
Regarding Extension of Copyright Exemption
WHEREAS, in order to compete on terms of equality with their sighted peers, blind people require access to a broad range of printed materials, including music, songbooks, and hymnals in alternative formats; and
WHEREAS, blind people have less access to music, songbooks, and hymnals than to other types of printed materials; and
WHEREAS, legislation known as the Chafee Amendment of 1996 dramatically improved access to works of fiction and nonfiction by granting enumerated nonprofit organizations the authority to reproduce previously published nondramatic literary work, if such copies are reproduced or distributed in specialized formats exclusively for use by blind persons; and
WHEREAS, the Chafee Amendment excluded music, songbooks, and hymnals in the categories of materials to be granted automatic copyright permission; and
WHEREAS, this exclusion prohibits many blind people from obtaining these materials because copyright holders often fail to grant permission for reproduction in alternative formats; and
WHEREAS, including music, songbooks, and hymnals in the Chafee Amendment or similar legislation not only would improve access but would also be a positive step to foster Braille literacy among all blind people: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization urge Congress to enact legislation that will allow nonprofit organizations and other authorized entities to reproduce previously published music, songbooks, and hymnals, or any other nondramatic work, if such copies are reproduced or distributed in specialized formats exclusively for use by blind persons; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge other authorized entities who produce Braille or recorded materials to support the enactment of this important legislation.
Resolution 2009-07
Regarding Separate Services for the Blind
WHEREAS, federal law permits states to maintain separate rehabilitation agencies under the Rehabilitation Act, one to serve blind people and another to serve people with other disabilities; and
WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has maintained a long-standing policy of supporting separate state agencies for blind consumers because such agencies recognize the unique needs blind people have and demonstrate greater commitment to addressing those needs; and
WHEREAS, a new federal administration is now in place, and many members of the United States House of Representatives and some United States senators may be unaware of our policy regarding separate services for the blind; and
WHEREAS, the Workforce Investment Act, which includes the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as Amended) awaits reauthorization, which provides an opportunity to change the law, taking away the right of states to maintain separate services for the blind; and
WHEREAS, from time to time proposals are offered to require states to maintain only one rehabilitation agency serving all disabled individuals; and
WHEREAS, the governor of Oregon sought to eliminate the Oregon Commission for the Blind, Oregon’s agency serving blind adults, and other states have considered or will consider similar actions especially because they incorrectly believe that doing so will permit them to save scarce revenue: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind, in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization reaffirm our commitment to separate services for the blind and urge the Obama administration and Congress to maintain separate services and agencies for the blind where these exist because of their proven value to blind people; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon states that have separate agencies serving the blind to maintain them; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge states with single general rehabilitation agencies to adopt separate agencies as the best means of providing rehabilitation services to blind people.
RESOLUTION 2009-08
Regarding Maintaining Highway Rest Area Vending Facilities
WHEREAS, Barbara Kennelly, a congresswoman from Connecticut, included an amendment in the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 permitting states to allow the operation of vending machines at rest areas on interstate highways by and for the benefit of blind vendors under the Randolph-Sheppard vending facility program; and
WHEREAS, during the more than twenty-five years since the Kennelly Amendment, highway rest area vending has been a key growth area under the Randolph-Sheppard Act, creating entrepreneurial opportunities for some 530 blind men and women, which is approximately 20 percent of the total number of opportunities presently available; and
WHEREAS, these rest areas, not only provide a respectable income for the blind managers, but also provide substantial support to state Business Enterprise Programs from set-aside funds and from unassigned machine income; and
WHEREAS, when Congress amended the Surface Transportation Law in 2005, it reduced opportunities for blind entrepreneurs in the Randolph-Sheppard Program by creating the Interstate Oasis Program, which allowed states to designate commercial facilities near interstate highways as Oasis if they met guidelines including offering food, access to phones, and parking for over-the-road trucks; and
WHEREAS, blind entrepreneurs are disadvantaged because they are unable to participate in the Oasis Program and because they lose income if they manage a location in close proximity to an Oasis area; and
WHEREAS, in these difficult economic times states will be tempted to displace blind vendors from their rest areas in order to capture additional revenue for themselves; and
WHEREAS, the one hundred eleventh Congress is beginning the process of reauthorizing surface transportation legislation because provisions in the last bill are due to expire: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization call upon Congress to make no changes that would in any way diminish opportunities blind vendors have to manage vending machines on the interstate highway system; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, if Congress believes there is a benefit to greater commercialization of rest areas and of areas in close proximity to the interstate highway system, this organization call upon Congress to facilitate partnering between blind vendors and state licensing agencies with other business entities for the purpose of enhancing the prosperity of blind vendors operating on the interstate highway system.
RESOLUTION 2009-09
Regarding Access to Electronic Textbooks
WHEREAS, advances in technology have brought us hand-held electronic book-reading devices such as the Kindle by Amazon.com and the Reader Digital Book by Sony; and
WHEREAS, ink on paper cannot be read independently by the blind, but, when properly created, electronic books offer total access to blind and other print-disabled individuals, vastly enlarging the amount of information available to the blind; and
WHEREAS, while electronic book-reading devices exist in the commercial marketplace, none can be used by those requiring nonvisual access; and
WHEREAS, the closest the blind and other print-disabled people have come to achieving nonvisual access to such devices came with the release of Amazon’s Kindle 2, which included text-to-speech technology to read e-books aloud; and
WHEREAS, while the inclusion of text-to-speech technology to read the text of e-books aloud was a step towards accessibility, the interface and controls of the Kindle 2 are not yet accessible to the blind, although Amazon.com has promised accessibility at some point in the future; and
WHEREAS, shortly after the release of the Kindle 2, both the Authors Guild and publishers demanded that the text-to-speech feature on books for the Kindle 2 be disabled; and
WHEREAS, in May 2009 Amazon.com launched the Kindle DX, a digital reader that also contains text-to-speech technology with a larger screen and other features ideally intended for college and university students to read textbooks and other materials, but that is also inaccessible to the blind; and
WHEREAS, the nonvisual access of the Kindle DX doubtlessly resulted from the same factors that led to the nonvisual access of the Kindle 2; and
WHEREAS, Amazon.com has partnered with six institutions of higher education--Arizona State University, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, Case Western Reserve University, Pace University, Princeton University, and Reed College--for a pilot study to determine the feasibility of expanding use of the Kindle DX as a means of reading textbooks and course materials, even though Amazon.com was aware and the schools should have been aware of the inaccessibility of this device; and
WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind have filed suit against Arizona State University to bar the use of the Kindle DX, arguing that its use violates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 2 of the Americans with Disabilities Act; and
WHEREAS, with the continuation of the advancement of technology and with rumors of the print book becoming obsolete, it is critical that blind and other print-disabled people not be left without a means of accessing these devices: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization condemn and deplore the actions of Amazon.com and the six institutions of higher learning participating in this pilot study regarding the Kindle DX and demand that these institutions abide by the applicable disability laws and refuse to deploy the Kindle DX until it is fully accessible to blind students; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization strongly urge copyright holders not to block access of their materials in electronic media to blind and print-disabled readers and to work with the National Federation of the Blind to ensure such access.
Resolution 2009-10
Regarding Federal Government Testing Accommodations for the Blind
WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has a long history of fighting discriminatory hiring practices, specifically in the public sector, by exhorting federal departments and agencies to promote equal employment opportunities for the blind; and
WHEREAS, one of the most egregious examples of discriminatory practices was the failure of the U.S. Department of State to employ blind persons in the Foreign Service purely on the basis of blindness; and
WHEREAS, because of the efforts of the Federation and the intervention of Congressman Gerry Sikorski, who served as chairman of the Civil Service Subcommittee of the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service in the 1980s, some blind people have had the opportunity to work in the foreign service and have made significant contributions to its mission; and
WHEREAS, with the introduction of computer-based testing, blind people who wish to take the foreign service examination and other federal government tests have confronted tremendous difficulties in receiving appropriate accommodations for these tests; and
WHEREAS, many government departments, such as the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Defense, now contract with outside companies to administer testing programs, thereby complicating the problems of receiving appropriate accommodations; and
WHEREAS, the best people to determine which accommodations are needed are the blind job seekers themselves: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization strongly urge the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and other appropriate federal entities to adopt the policy that blind applicants themselves are best qualified to determine the proper testing accommodations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this organization urge the U.S. federal government to encourage its departments and agencies to conduct aggressive campaigns to recruit and hire qualified blind applicants.
RESOLUTION 2009-11
Regarding Transparency and Open Government
WHEREAS, on January 21, 2009, on his first full day in office, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum on transparency and open government, calling for recommendations for making the federal government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative; and
WHEREAS, among other things President Obama’s memorandum states, "Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public”; and
WHEREAS, this makes it abundantly clear that the president intends to use technology as a linchpin in his effort to make the federal government more transparent and accountable to the public; and
WHEREAS, the blind have learned to their detriment that new technologies are too often developed with little or no consideration whether or not they can be used nonvisually, thereby rendering them inaccessible to ordinary blind users--a key segment of the audience that President Obama is targeting in his transparency of government initiative; and
WHEREAS, if the federal government is indeed to be truly transparent and open to the public, it must be as transparent and open to the blind as it is to the sighted: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2009, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, that this organization call upon President Barack Obama, his administration, and the heads of all federal departments to ensure that the technology used in support of the president's transparency and open government initiative is as accessible to the blind as it is to other members of the general public.