[Colorado-Talk] HB21-1110 - Colorado Laws for Persons With Disabilities

Curtis Chong chong.curtis at gmail.com
Wed Jun 2 16:18:16 UTC 2021


Dear Senate President Garcia:

 

My name is Curtis Chong. I am a totally blind person who, in the fall of
2018, moved to Colorado from the state of New Mexico. My friends and
colleagues in the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado told me when
I got here that the Colorado General Assembly was incredibly supportive of
programs and initiatives to enable people with disabilities, including the
blind, to achieve equal status with other Coloradans. I was gratified,
therefore, when, in 2019, the General Assembly made Colorado's printed mail
ballot accessible to the blind by passing SB19-202; and, in more recent
times (just this year, in fact) the House and Senate voted in favor of
SB21-188, a bill which was signed into law by Governor Polis on May 21.

 

When I heard at last Friday's Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that
HB21-1110 was laid over, I was disappointed that this landmark piece of
legislation was being delayed (if not blocked) because of a $331,000
appropriation which is critical if people with disabilities in Colorado are
to be able to use online government services through the Web to the same
extent as everybody else. HB21-1110 passed the House with almost no
opposition. I hope that you will help us to get this through Senate
Appropriations and on to the Governor's desk.

 

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been around for more than 30
years, and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have been used
for more than two decades to help developers of websites to ensure equal
access by people who use assistive technology to do what everybody else
takes for granted. In the general scheme of things, $331,000 is a small
fraction of the over-all Colorado state budget. Since equal access to
electronic information and technology is vital for everyone, including
people with disabilities, I hope that HB21-1110 can move forward without
delay.

 

Thank you for your kind attention to what is, for me and other people with
disabilities, an important bill: HB21-1110.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Curtis Chong

 

 

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