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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Greetings colleagues, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I serve on the resolutions committee. I hope those who are interested in the policies of the organization will read them. If you have views on any of them, please be in touch with me to express them. I hope
I will hear some of you in the audience as the resolution committee meets on this coming Saturday at 1. Check the agenda for location. Remember that the resolution committee meets to consider resolutions. If the committee votes a resolution do pass? It will
then come before the entire convention at a regular business session for the entire convention's consideration. Remember these resolutions if passed, then become the policy of the organization. Looking forward to seeing many of you at the convention. If I
can be of help to you in any way during the convention? Please be in touch. Whether it's your 1<sup>st</sup> convention, or like Curtis Chong, your 80<sup>th</sup> convention, it will be another great one.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Abadi",sans-serif">At your service,
</span><span style="font-family:"Abadi",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Abadi",sans-serif">Kevan Worley<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Abadi",sans-serif">303-929-2369<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"> Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces@nfbnet.org>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Curtis Chong via Colorado-Talk<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, June 29, 2026 12:04 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'NFB of Colorado Discussion List' <colorado-talk@nfbnet.org><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Curtis Chong <chong.curtis@gmail.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Colorado-Talk] Resolutions to be Considered by the Resolutions Committee at our National Convention<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Greetings everyone:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Here, as posted today, are the resolutions (of which there are 14) that have been posted for the 2026 convention of the National Federation of the Blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions">Original Source</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h1 style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white">
<span class="field"><span style="font-size:39.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">2026 Resolutions</span></span><span style="font-size:39.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal"><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">The following resolutions will be considered by the resolutions committee on July 4. Those that pass will be considered by the full convention on July 7.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="index">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Quick Links<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Choose a link below to navigate to the respective resolution section.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#1"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-01 Regarding an Immediate Motion to Dismiss <em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Texas
v. Kennedy</span></em></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#2"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-02 Regarding Supporting Modernization of the
AbilityOne Program and Reform of the Direct Labor Ratio</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#3"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-03 Regarding Ongoing Facebook Accessibility
Defects</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#4"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-04 Regarding the Accessibility of Delivery
Robots</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#5"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-05 Regarding Collaboration and Training in
the Education and Rehabilitation of Blind Individuals</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#6"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-06 Regarding the United States Department
of Justice Memorandum Pertaining to the Olmstead Decision</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#7"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-07 Regarding Ableism and Health and Human
Services Access as Public Health Infrastructure</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#8"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-08 Regarding hCaptcha Accessibility Cookies</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#9"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-09 Regarding the Inaccessibility of Automated
and AI-Powered Pre-Employment Screening Platforms</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#10"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-10 Regarding Deficiencies with Microsoft\u2019s
New Outlook Software</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#11"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-11 Regarding Accessible Pedestrian Signals</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#12"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-12 Regarding the Realignment of Special Education
Services, Rehabilitation Programs, and Civil Rights Enforcement Within the Federal Government</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#13"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-13 Regarding Enforcement of Digital Accessibility
Under Title I of the ADA</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#14"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">RESOLUTION 2026-14 Regarding the Unjustified Delay of Americans
with Disabilities Act Title II Digital Accessibility Regulation</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="1">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-01 Regarding an Immediate Motion to Dismiss <em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Texas v. Kennedy</span></em><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a landmark civil rights statute for people with disabilities, protecting us from discrimination by federal agencies and recipients
of federal funding in public education, work readiness programs, healthcare, elections, the court system, and more; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, in 2024, seventeen states\u2019 attorneys general filed a lawsuit known as <em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Texas v. Kennedy</span></em> alleging that Section 504
is unconstitutional and should be entirely or partially enjoined, limiting it only to those programs, services, and activities directly funded by and through the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, on January 23, 2026, the states of Texas, Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, and South Dakota, in an amended complaint, renewed their attack on Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the integration mandate stemming from the United States Supreme Court\u2019s interpretation of that law in the landmark case of <em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Olmstead v. l.C.</span></em>; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, in the updated lawsuit, the nine states asked the court to: declare Section 504 as unlawful, stop the Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing Section 504, and
stop the Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing the integration mandate; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, on February 12, to defend the rights of all blind Americans, the presidents of the National Federation of the Blind affiliates in each of the nine plaintiff states in the lawsuit
sent a joint letter to each of their attorneys general to advocate for the withdrawal of the states from the suit; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, on March 19, the National Federation of the Blind issued an advocacy alert to all members of the Federation to contact the attorneys general in each of the nine plaintiff states
to advocate for the withdrawal of the states from the suit; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, due to the advocacy of the National Federation of the Blind, on May 4, the attorney general of Indiana withdrew the Hoosier State as a plaintiff in the suit, bringing the total
number of plaintiff states down to eight; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, due to the advocacy of the National Federation of the Blind, on May 12, the attorney general of South Dakota withdrew the Mount Rushmore State as a plaintiff in the suit, bringing
the total number of plaintiff states down to seven; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, due to the advocacy of the National Federation of the Blind, on June 10, the attorney general of Kansas withdrew the Sunflower State as a plaintiff in the suit, bringing the
total number of plaintiff states down to six; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, if the remaining plaintiffs\u2019 demands are granted, it will have a devastating effect on blind Americans\u2019 rights to effective communication and reasonable accommodation in connection
with government programs, services, and activities, including but not limited to education, employment, housing, healthcare, and other forms of civic life; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, a separate but equally devastating effect of the lawsuit would be the threat of forced institutionalization for blind and other disabled Americans into sheltered workshops, nursing
homes, and other institutions: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization condemn and deplore
Texas and the five remaining plaintiff states for their role in persevering with the <em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Texas v. Kennedy</span></em> lawsuit; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization immediately call upon Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to move to dismiss the Texas v. Kennedy lawsuit because of the far-reaching and harmful
effects the lawsuit could have on the lives of blind and other disabled Americans; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the attorneys general of Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, and Montana to immediately withdraw from the <em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Texas
v. Kennedy</span></em> lawsuit; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization commend Todd Rokita, Marty Jackley, and Kris Kobach, the attorneys general of Indiana, South Dakota, and Kansas, respectively, for withdrawing
their states from the <em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Texas v. Kennedy</span></em> lawsuit. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="2">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-02 Regarding Supporting Modernization of the AbilityOne Program and Reform of the Direct Labor Ratio<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the AbilityOne Program, authorized under the Javits-Wagner-O\u2019Day Act, leverages federal procurement to create employment opportunities for people who are blind or have significant
disabilities; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has long supported policies that expand genuine employment opportunities for blind people, including opportunities that promote advancement,
career development, and competitive integrated workplaces; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the United States AbilityOne Commission is currently engaged in modernization efforts, including updated compliance policies such as draft Policy 51.405 on employee career development,
intended to improve outcomes, accountability, and upward mobility within the program; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, existing AbilityOne policy distinguishes between "direct labor" and "indirect labor," defining direct labor as work directly required by a contract\u2019s statement of work, and excluding
supervision, administration, inspection, and shipping from that definition; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, supervisory, managerial, and administrative positions are essential to the successful operation of AbilityOne projects and provide critical pathways for career advancement for
blind workers, yet these roles are currently categorized as indirect labor and are not counted toward the direct labor hour ratio; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the statutory and regulatory requirement that at least 75 percent of direct labor hours be performed by individuals who are blind or have significant disabilities can unintentionally
discourage nonprofit agencies from promoting qualified blind employees into supervisory or administrative roles, thereby limiting career growth and upward mobility; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, modern workforce practices emphasize integrated employment, career advancement, and equitable treatment of workers with disabilities, all of which require recognition of the
full range of work, including leadership and administrative responsibilities, performed by blind employees; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, updating the calculation of the direct labor ratio to include supervisory and administrative work performed by individuals who are blind or have significant disabilities would
better align the AbilityOne Program with modern employment goals and the intent of ongoing policy modernization efforts: Now, therefore, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization commend ongoing efforts
to modernize the AbilityOne Program, including reforms that promote career advancement, competitive integrated employment, and improved program accountability; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge the United States AbilityOne Commission to continue advancing policies, including Policy 51.405 and related reforms, that recognize
and incentivize career development and upward mobility for blind employees within the program; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the United States Congress to amend the Javits-Wagner-O\u2019Day Act to explicitly permit the inclusion of supervisory, administrative,
and other career advancement positions held by individuals who are blind or have significant disabilities in the calculation of the direct labor hour ratio.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="3">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-03 Regarding Ongoing Facebook Accessibility Defects<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, social media is a means of keeping in touch with friends, family, and business associates; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Facebook, operated by Meta, is the largest social media platform and is widely popular; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, m.facebook.com had a simple semantic structure that made it a popular and functional tool for blind screen reader users; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Meta discontinued m.facebook.com in November 2024, citing security reasons but declining to offer further specifics; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, although Meta attempted to provide alternative solutions, these alternatives have been inconsistent and do not adequately substitute for the accessible interface that was lost;
and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, many screen reader users find the current Facebook website unwieldy, unreliable, and lacking in good semantic structure; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, not all blind people use smartphones, making web accessibility critical for full participation; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, blind smartphone users are frequently inconvenienced by high-impact defects within the Facebook mobile application that prevent them from accessing core functionality; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, while Meta typically responds positively to these defects, fixes may take considerable time to reach end-users; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Meta\u2019s delays in deploying accessibility fixes create ongoing barriers to using Facebook effectively; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind is deeply troubled by the ongoing struggles that blind people experience when using Facebook: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization demand that Meta improve
and enforce quality control processes that prevent high-impact accessibility defects from being introduced into the Facebook product; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that Meta make accessibility a priority by collaborating with the National Federation of the Blind and screen reader developers; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge Meta to establish a target date of July 1, 2027, for a substantial revamp of the Facebook website that places accessibility at its heart.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="4">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-04 Regarding the Accessibility of Delivery Robots<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the use of delivery robots is increasing in cities and on college campuses across the nation, providing convenient and efficient transportation and delivery of packages, food,
and other goods; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, these robots often operate quietly on sidewalks and in public spaces used by blind pedestrians; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, it is essential that such technology be designed in a way that ensures the full and equal participation of blind people in our communities; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, current implementations of delivery robot technology frequently lack nonvisual accessibility features such as audible identification signals, accessible mobile interfaces, and
haptic or audio cues during interaction; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, without such nonvisual accessibility, blind pedestrians face safety risks, barriers to independent travel, and exclusion from the benefits of this modern form of delivery; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has long advocated that emerging technologies must be designed to serve all members of society, including blind people, from their inception
rather than as an afterthought; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, companies deploying delivery robots, as well as the manufacturers of these devices, have the responsibility and technological capability to integrate nonvisual access solutions
that ensure safe, independent, and equitable use by blind individuals: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization call upon all companies
deploying delivery robots and all manufacturers of these robots to work in partnership with the National Federation of the Blind and take immediate steps to ensure that delivery robots are nonvisually accessible; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge these stakeholders to integrate audible and haptic feedback mechanisms, accessible mobile applications, and other inclusive design features into all
current and future delivery robot systems; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge all policymakers involved in promulgating regulations and guidelines regarding autonomous delivery robots to require nonvisual accessibility
in the creation and deployment of the robots, ensuring that the blind can travel safely and independently in our communities while enjoying the convenience of these delivery robots on terms of equality.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="5">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-05 Regarding Collaboration and Training in the Education and Rehabilitation of Blind Individuals<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest nationwide organization of blind people that represents the collective experience, knowledge, and expertise of blind Americans,
and advances the lives of our members and all blind people in the United States; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the alternative techniques and positive philosophy of blindness embraced by the Federation help raise expectations, create problem-solving ability, foster independence, and build
confidence among blind people of all ages; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, many blind students continue to face diminished expectations because educators have not been sufficiently exposed to the practical problem-solving skills, confidence-building
strategies, and lived experiences of successful blind adults; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, many blind vocational rehabilitation consumers encounter similarly low expectations from rehabilitation counselors who have not had meaningful exposure to successful blind professionals
or the techniques they use to achieve competitive, integrated employment; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, teachers of blind students are better equipped to deliver high-quality instruction when they understand the tools, strategies, and confidence-building practices that enable blind
people to live, learn, work, and participate fully in society, and when they have a personal network of blind individuals to turn to with questions; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, rehabilitation counselors provide more effective services when they understand the strategies blind people use to acquire training, pursue careers, and secure competitive, gainful
employment; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the Teachers of Tomorrow program has already strengthened the professional preparation of more than one hundred teachers of blind students by introducing them to the strategies
blind people use to live, learn, work, and play as active members of society and by fostering a firm belief in the capacity of their blind students; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind is developing the Counselors of Confidence training program to provide similar opportunities for vocational rehabilitation professionals:
Now, therefore, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization urge university programs
responsible for training and certifying teachers of blind students and rehabilitation counselors serving blind consumers to collaborate with the National Federation of the Blind to enhance their curricula through training in the alternative skills of blindness
and meaningful exposure to successful blind adults; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge state departments of education and vocational rehabilitation service agencies to support current staff in forming these connections
and to actively recruit and hire individuals who have acquired this expertise through collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="6">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-06 Regarding the United States Department of Justice Memorandum Pertaining to the Olmstead Decision<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("Section 504") and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("Title II") make it illegal for a government entity
to discriminate against a person with a disability on the basis of that disability; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Title II states that no qualified individual with a disability shall, "by reason of such disability," be excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of, a public
entity's services, programs, or activities; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the regulations implementing Section 504 have, since their adoption, made clear that unnecessary segregation constitutes discrimination on the basis of disability; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Congress directed the Department of Justice to publish regulations implementing Title II that were consistent with the Section 504 regulations; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the Department of Justice published such regulations, including, among others, a regulation requiring public entities to "administer programs and activities in the most integrated
setting appropriate to the needs" of people with disabilities; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, in the landmark civil rights case <em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Olmstead v. L.C.</span></em>, 527 U.S. 581 (1999) ("Olmstead") these regulations, as well as
Congressional intent and the statutory language of Section 504 and Title II themselves, were individually and collectively found by the Supreme Court to mean that people with disabilities have the right to participate in and benefit from government programs,
activities, and services in our local communities rather than being institutionalized; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, in 2024, the Texas Attorney General joined the Attorneys General in sixteen other states to sue the Department of Health and Human Services in an attempt to have Section 504
declared unconstitutional; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, as a result of the advocacy of the National Federation of the Blind, eleven of those states\u2019 Attorneys General have withdrawn themselves from the lawsuit; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, although the remaining six states are no longer seeking to have Section 504 declared unconstitutional, they have now pivoted to attacking the community integration mandate of
the Olmstead decision; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, on June 18, 2026, the United States Department of Justice published a memorandum opinion stating that the Olmstead decision, the Title II and Section 504 regulations requiring
integration, the court cases following the Olmstead decision, and the Department of Justice\u2019s and other agencies\u2019 enforcement actions pursuant to those regulations are all incorrect and not justified by the statutes; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the memorandum specifically states: "neither section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act nor Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (\u2018ADA\u2019) imposed an integration mandate
on states in their treatment of mentally disabled individuals. Nor does either statute authorize the responsible Executive Branch agencies to impose such a mandate."; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the opinion goes on to make such assertions as: "As the integration mandate imposed under Title II is now more than thirty-five years old, its vague findings about the social
ills associated with discrimination against those with disabilities would likely be insufficient to justify the significant burden that the integration mandate imposes upon states."; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the right to live in the world is a core civil and human right of people with disabilities, including the blind, as recognized by our leadership since the earliest days of the
Federation; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, blind people have too often been unnecessarily segregated in schools, made to work in sheltered workshops, and forced as we age into nursing homes, institutions which limit our
quality of life and our ability to pursue the lives we want; and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, in sum, the Department of Justice has reversed its position on the community integration mandate, thereby weakening the Olmstead decision and throwing open the door for the forced
institutionalization of people with disabilities nationwide: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization condemn and deplore
any attempt to curtail the rights of Americans with disabilities, up to and including any measure which would seek to institutionalize people with disabilities against our will; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge the Department of Justice to rescind its memorandum on the Olmstead community integration mandate, Section 504, and Title II to clarify
that people with disabilities do have the right to receive services in our local communities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="7">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-07 Regarding Ableism and Health and Human Services Access as Public Health Infrastructure<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines us or our future, and that blind people have the right to live the lives we want
with privacy, independence, dignity, equality, and full participation in society; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, access to medical information now requires independent use of patient portals; telehealth; online scheduling; electronic forms; prescription information; medical records; insurance
and benefits systems; emergency and public health communications; kiosks; mobile applications; medical device interfaces; automated intake, triage, and coverage systems; and related technologies; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, when those systems are inaccessible, blind people are forced to delay care, surrender privacy, depend on others, lose meaningful informed consent, or accept inferior service;
and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, lack of access is ableism in practice because it makes sight the condition for using digital medical systems privately, safely, and on equal terms, and ableism is a root cause
of health disparities and a structural determinant of health that creates preventable harm; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits disability discrimination in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance, yet the United States Department
of Health and Human Services has extended the compliance dates for Section 504 web and mobile accessibility requirements for recipients of HHS funding, even though inaccessible digital systems continue to impose current harm on blind people and other disabled
people: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization call upon Secretary
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the United States Department of Health and Human Services to recognize ableism, including lack of access, as a public health crisis, a root cause of health disparities, and a structural determinant of health, and to treat accessibility
in health and human services as a core component of public health infrastructure, prevention, and a necessary condition of health equity; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge the Department of Health and Human Services to rescind the Interim Final Rule that instituted the Section 504 compliance delay; oppose
any further delay or weakening of accessibility requirements; fully enforce Section 504; and require immediate, equally effective accessible alternatives without penalty, delay, or inferior service; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the Department of Health and Human Services to require recipients of federal funding and their technology vendors to make medical
access technologies and communications accessible and independently usable by blind people through procurement, contracting, licensing, oversight, applicable accessibility standards, nonvisual testing by blind users, meaningful human review, vendor accountability,
prompt remediation, technical assistance that supports but does not replace enforcement, and direct involvement of blind people and the National Federation of the Blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="8">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-08 Regarding hCaptcha Accessibility Cookies<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, hCaptcha is a widely deployed bot-prevention service that blocks access to websites until users verify their humanity and is used by thousands of organizations across the web;
and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, hCaptcha offers an "accessibility cookie" feature that it represents as a solution for blind users who cannot complete visual Captcha challenges; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, this accessibility cookie requires blind users to navigate to a registration page, submit their email address, and complete a verification process that includes convoluted mobile-based
steps such as sending one-time codes via SMS to specific phone numbers that many users find difficult or impossible to complete; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the registration process requires users to manage mobile hand-offs and verification links that are difficult to navigate, leaving people unable to obtain the cookie they need
to access websites; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, even for blind users who successfully obtain an accessibility cookie, the cookie is highly unreliable and frequently fails to function as intended, often being blocked by browser
privacy settings such as enhanced tracking protection or third-party cookie filtering; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the accessibility cookie requires periodic manual refreshing, and when it expires or is cleared from the user's browser, blind users must repeat the entire inaccessible registration
process again, creating an ongoing barrier to web access; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the effectiveness of the accessibility cookie depends entirely on the correct functioning of interface elements and the user's ability to enable cross-site tracking in their
browser, but many blind users report that the system produces silent errors with no notification of failure, leaving them uncertain whether the cookie is active; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, hCaptcha's documentation acknowledges that the accessibility cookie is subject to browser settings and device limitations, but provides limited transparency about expiration
times or how to verify its current status, leaving blind users without recourse when access fails: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization condemn and deplore
the hCaptcha accessibility cookie and its use; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon hCaptcha and any organizations that operate or manage hCaptcha services to immediately discontinue the use of the accessibility
cookie feature; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that hCaptcha replace this failed system with bot-prevention methods that do not rely on visual challenges, audio challenges, cookies,
or other workarounds that burden blind and deafblind users with convoluted processes, inaccessible verification steps, and privacy violations; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge all website operators currently using the hCaptcha accessibility cookie to evaluate truly accessible alternatives such as proof-of-work
systems that operate invisibly in the background, require no user interaction, and do not require blind and deafblind users to sacrifice their privacy in exchange for equal access.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="9">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-09 Regarding the Inaccessibility of Automated and AI-Powered Pre-Employment Screening Platforms<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has long held that the right to earn an equal living through meaningful employment is fundamental to the full participation of blind Americans
in society; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, according to the 2024 American Community Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, 61 percent of blind Americans are either unemployed or underemployed, a statistic
that reflects not the limitations of blind people, but the barriers embedded in the systems through which employment is obtained; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, employers have increasingly adopted automated and AI-powered pre-employment screening tools that are heavily concentrated in the hiring pipelines of finance, consulting, technology,
law, and other white-collar professions, where blind Americans seeking employment in those fields encounter inaccessible screening technology as an additional barrier layered on top of an already difficult job search; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, these tools fall into two primary categories that together function as sequential barriers capable of eliminating a blind candidate before any human reviewer ever evaluates their
qualifications: game-based cognitive and behavioral assessments and AI-powered video interview platforms; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, game-based and skills assessment platforms deployed by vendors including Harver and its Pymetrics platform, Criteria Corp, SHL, TestGorilla, and HireVue are not fully usable
with screen readers because their core tasks frequently include timed mouse-driven interactions, visual pattern recognition, photo-comparison exercises, emotion identification from photographs of human faces, visuospatial ability tests, and reaction-based
games; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, when such barriers exist, some vendors seek to overcome them only by granting extra time, which does not provide an adequate non-visual alternative to completing the assessment;
and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, some AI-powered video-interview platforms evaluate candidates based in part on visual behaviors such as eye contact, facial expressions, and other purely visual behaviors that
blind candidates cannot produce in the conventional manner, resulting in algorithmically lowered scores for reasons entirely unrelated to a candidate\u2019s qualifications or fitness for the role; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, although some AI-powered video interview platforms have made meaningful progress toward screen-reader accessibility in their video interview product (such as HireVue, which also
discontinued the use of visual analysis in its platform), nevertheless, barriers remain including inaccessible timer notifications and cumbersome navigation between response options, such that technical completability is not the same as a fully accessible
and equitable experience; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, some pre-employment screening platform vendors, including Harver, HireVue, SHL, Criteria Corp, and TestGorilla, have published accessibility statements or Voluntary Product Accessibility
Templates (a self-reported document that carries no independent verification, no certification of actual usability by blind screen-reader users, and no enforceable commitment to accessibility of the specific interactive tasks) and claim varying levels of WCAG
compliance; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities and requires employers to provide reasonable
accommodations during the hiring process, including when third-party tools are used to screen applicants, and the employer bears legal responsibility for ADA compliance even when the inaccessible barrier is created by a vendor\u2019s platform; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, in May 2022, the United States Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) each issued technical-assistance documents addressing how employers'
use of algorithmic and AI hiring tools may violate the ADA, and even though the EEOC's documents were subsequently removed from the agency's website in 2025, the underlying ADA obligations remain in force; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, this guidance, while important, carries no independent regulatory force, imposes no enforceable technical standards on screening vendors, and leaves the entire burden of enforcement
on individual blind job-seekers who must choose between filing an EEOC charge and preserving any chance of being hired: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization demand that all pre-employment
screening platform vendors, including Harver, HireVue, SHL, Criteria Corp, and TestGorilla, ensure that every component of their platforms (including navigation, controls, timers, instructions, and assessment tasks) is fully operable by blind applicants using
screen readers and keyboard-only navigation, and that platforms be tested for compatibility with JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver by blind users as a condition of deployment; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that where any game-based or visually dependent assessment task cannot be made fully accessible to blind screen-reader users in its
existing form, vendors must build and offer by default a functionally equivalent alternative assessment pathway that measures the same job-relevant constructs without requiring visual or mouse-based interaction, and that such alternatives must be accessible
through a clearly communicated, simple process that does not place undue burden on the candidate; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that any AI-powered video interview platform employing eye contact, facial expression, or other visual behavior metrics in candidate
scoring immediately cease using those metrics; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that all pre-employment screening vendors make accommodation request processes clear, proactive, and frictionless and that vendors
confirm in writing that accommodation requests are kept confidential from the hiring employer; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon employers to require vendors to provide documentation of screen-reader accessibility verified by blind users and to reject or suspend
use of any platform that cannot demonstrate such compliance, recognizing that the ADA makes employers liable for inaccessible third-party tools used in their hiring processes; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the United States Department of Justice to move beyond technical assistance guidance
and promulgate enforceable rules that establish concrete, verifiable screen-reader accessibility standards for pre-employment screening technology and to pursue systemic enforcement investigations of widely deployed inaccessible platforms rather than requiring
individual blind job-seekers to bear the cost and risk of bringing complaints themselves; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge pre-employment screening platform vendors, including Harver, HireVue, SHL, Criteria Corp, and TestGorilla, to enter into sustained dialogue
with the National Federation of the Blind\u2014with blind screen reader users participating as co-designers and testers\u2014to develop truly accessible solutions, consistent with the Federation\u2019s longstanding model of productive engagement with technology companies
committed to genuine accessibility.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="10">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-10 Regarding Deficiencies with Microsoft\u2019s New Outlook Software<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, in a variety of public articles and blog posts, it has been made abundantly clear that Microsoft is planning to end support for its Classic Outlook program sometime in 2029 and
that this year it will start to release its Microsoft 365 product, replacing the Classic Outlook with what it calls the New Outlook; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, in recent months, it has been reported by blind people who have installed Microsoft 365 on brand-new computers that it is no longer possible to revert to the Classic Outlook
without assistance from the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk or someone with the appropriate technical skills; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, blind people involved in the testing of the New Outlook have reported that while they are willing to test out the new features of the software, they revert to the Classic Outlook
while performing the everyday tasks that need to be accomplished in order to be truly productive; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, examination of the New Outlook software by blind people using screen-reading software such as JAWS for Windows and NVDA reveals significant accessibility issues with the New
Outlook software that reduce the effective performance of nonvisual users\u2014particularly, people in employment situations where productivity is critical and time is at a premium; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, examples of the problems faced by blind users of the New Outlook include but are by no means limited to the following:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo6;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">The Classic Outlook makes it possible for keyboard users to attach files to and detach files from email messages using the standard copy and paste keyboard commands while the New Outlook only supports
attaching files to a message;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo6;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">When spellchecking or grammar-checking an email, it is almost impossible for the screen-reader user to learn exactly what word has been misspelled or what grammar error has been made;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo6;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">There are many instances in the New Outlook where the screen reader loses focus, thus forcing the user to tab several times to return to work in progress, if tabbing is indeed possible;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo6;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Pressing Escape to close a message window too often results in the New Outlook disappearing from the system with no nonvisually-accessible indication;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo6;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Accepting a meeting invitation in the New Outlook requires the keyboard user to tab several times to respond to the meeting request while the Classic Outlook provides a much more efficient method
to accept an invitation; and<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo6;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">The New Outlook does not currently support copying emails into older archive files into which longtime users of the Classic Outlook may have stored decades of email messages; and<o:p></o:p></span></li></ol>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, for decades, the Classic Outlook has become an essential tool for the blind to send and receive emails efficiently, and training programs for the blind have invested considerable
resources to train their students to use this software; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, transitioning from the Classic Outlook to the New Outlook presents a significant need for additional training for blind users which stresses a service delivery system that is
already overburdened; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, much of the success and productivity that blind people have enjoyed with the Classic Outlook could not have been achieved without the interaction between Outlook and JAWS for
Windows; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, in recent months, the National Federation of the Blind and Microsoft have been working together to begin the process of identifying and addressing the issues with the New Outlook
for the blind: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization express our disappointment
with Microsoft for creating a situation where the blind are driven to use the New Outlook despite its negative impact on their productivity and for failing to provide the Classic Outlook as an integral part of new Microsoft 365 installations; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization strongly urge Microsoft to offer the Classic Outlook software to everyone until the New Outlook is proven to be as good as or better than
the Classic Outlook; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon Microsoft, Vispero, and NV Access to continue working together to ensure that the interaction among the New Outlook, JAWS for Windows,
and NVDA and makes it possible for the blind to use the New Outlook with productivity and efficiency that is equivalent to that experienced by blind users of the Classic Outlook.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="11">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-11 Regarding Accessible Pedestrian Signals<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, federal law, specifically Title 23 U.S.C. Section 217(g)(2), reads: "Safety considerations shall include the installation, where appropriate, and maintenance of audible traffic
signals and audible signs at street crossings"; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, federal guidelines for installation of accessible pedestrian signals (APS), formerly called "audible traffic signals," have been published by the United States Access Board as
part of the Board's accessibility guidelines for pedestrian facilities in public rights-of-way (referred to as PROWAG), 36 CFR part 1190, Appendix Sections R206, R307, and R308, specifically as to APS, effective September 7, 2023; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, PROWAG generally requires APS when pedestrian signals are newly installed or altered; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the Department of Justice has not yet adopted PROWAG as an enforceable Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility standard, leading to inconsistent and poorly planned installation,
or more often no installation of APS at most signalized intersections; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, without PROWAG being followed, installation of APS technology is usually done as an afterthought, leading to haphazard, ill-conceived, and too frequently poorly maintained APS
devices being installed here and there with no apparent rhyme or reason, other than it seemed like a good idea; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, while blind people with proper training can obtain information about intersections by listening to traffic sounds, using this skill for important navigation cues is becoming
more difficult and less reliable in some areas because of trends toward more complex street intersections and traffic signal design, coupled with quieter cars and increasing ambient noise levels at many street crossings, trends that are bound to continue over
time; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, APS technology has improved and can be designed to provide additional pedestrian information, including countdown information where available, spoken cues, vibrating arrows for
deafblind users to indicate when the walk sign comes on, and directional sound cues to support efficient navigation at roundabouts and other complex intersections; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, regardless of the status of federal enforcement, local communities are free to adopt local traffic and pedestrian safety plans, which must consider the needs of community members
and visitors who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization urge transit and traffic
engineers and other responsible officials to adopt APS installation plans based on consultation with chapters and affiliates of the National Federation of the Blind and others with knowledge and interest in promoting pedestrian safety, including consultation
with certified blind mobility instructors and our thousands of members whose expertise is informed by our lived experience crossing streets and navigating safely from place to place every day; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, although PROWAG will effect the prevalence of APS in the years and decades ahead as signals are altered and new signals installed, this organization urge
transit and traffic engineers and other responsible officials to give more immediate priority to installing APS technology at all intersections where walk signs do not coincide with stop and go signals for vehicular traffic, including intersections where signals
are set to stop traffic from all directions while pedestrians get the walk sign to cross in any direction, diagonal included, and in all cases at intersections where signals include leading pedestrian intervals, requiring stopped traffic to remain stopped
while pedestrians get the walk sign to start crossing before traffic is allowed to go in the same direction; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge proactive adherence to PROWAG with respect to accessible pedestrian signals to achieve more purposeful and consistent placement, design,
and maintenance of APS technology to best meet well-understood and actual pedestrian safety needs as best explained by the blind ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="12">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-12 Regarding the Realignment of Special Education Services, Rehabilitation Programs, and Civil Rights Enforcement Within the Federal Government<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, on June 16, 2026, the United States Department of Education (ED) announced structural changes, including a partnership between the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services (OSERS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as well as a partnership between the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Department of Justice (DOJ); and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, specialized resources for blind students and consumers, including qualified teachers of blind students, orientation and mobility specialists, vocational rehabilitation counselors
with expertise in blindness, and instructional materials in Braille and other accessible formats, are scarce and unevenly available across the states, and consistent federal standards and oversight have been essential to securing access to them; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, for more than eighty-five years, the National Federation of the Blind has rejected the notion that blindness is principally a medical problem and has instead advanced the philosophy
that blind people can live the lives they want through proper training, access to information, opportunity, and raised expectations; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the education, rehabilitation, employment, and independent-living programs serving blind people are built around training, opportunity, and the development of skills and self-confidence
rather than around medical treatment, while the Department of Health and Human Services is, as its name states, the federal department responsible for health and human-services programs; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the unique educational needs of blind students, including those with residual vision, require instruction in the Expanded Core Curriculum, Braille literacy, orientation and mobility,
and nonvisual access technology, all of which demand specialized expertise rooted in the belief that blindness need not prevent full participation in education, employment, and community life; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the vocational rehabilitation system administered through state rehabilitation agencies provides critical employment, training, education, and assistive technology services that
enable blind Americans to obtain and retain competitive integrated employment; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the Rehabilitation Services Administration, housed within OSERS, administers not only the State Vocational Rehabilitation Services program but also the Randolph-Sheppard vending
program that sustains blind entrepreneurs, Pre-Employment Transition Services for blind youth, and supported employment services, each of which depends on specialized administration and an unwavering focus on competitive integrated employment; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the vocational rehabilitation program is overwhelmingly federally funded, with the federal government providing approximately seventy-nine percent of its cost, so that the program
depends on the continuity of federal funding and administration to deliver services to blind consumers; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the Older Individuals Who Are Blind program provides essential adjustment-to-blindness training, independent-living instruction, and nonvisual skills that allow older blind Americans
to remain active, independent, and engaged in their communities; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the Department of Education announced that OCR will partner with the Department of Justice to combine capacities for evaluating and resolving complaints; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the proposed partnership would divide responsibility for evaluating and resolving civil-rights complaints between the Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Justice, even
as the Department of Education asserts that no partnership alters its legal responsibilities or the rights afforded to individuals under federal law; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the protections guaranteed to blind Americans under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities
Act depend on consistent and rigorous federal enforcement; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the purposes, eligibility standards, service mandates, and consumer protections of the programs serving blind Americans are established by federal statute, including the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Randolph-Sheppard Act, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, together with their implementing regulations, none of which may lawfully be amended
by an administrative reorganization or interagency partnership but only by Congress and through proper rulemaking: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization condemn and deplore
the federal realignment of programs serving blind Americans because such realignment diminishes accountability, weakens civil rights enforcement, and advances a medical model of blindness over the principles of education, rehabilitation, employment, independence,
and equality; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization reject any effort to place blindness within a medical or custodial framework, reaffirming instead that blindness is a characteristic that
calls for opportunity, training, raised expectations, and strong civil rights protections rather than medical management; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that all federal statutes, regulations, and program requirements governing the education, rehabilitation, and civil rights of blind
Americans remain in full force and effect, and that no reorganization, interagency partnership, or transfer of administrative authority be used to alter, dilute, reinterpret, weaken, or diminish the intent, purpose, scope, eligibility, funding, or consumer
protections of these programs, all of which must continue to be administered in full accordance with their authorizing statutes and implementing regulations, with any change made only by Congress and through proper notice-and-comment rulemaking and not by
administrative action; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that the Department of Education maintain the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and its specialized educational
mandates required for blind students, including robust funding and enforcement for Braille literacy, orientation and mobility instruction, accessible educational materials, and nonvisual access technology; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand the preservation of a strong, consumer-driven vocational rehabilitation system that emphasizes competitive integrated employment,
adjustment-to-blindness training, informed consumer choice, and the acquisition of skills necessary for independence and economic self-sufficiency; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand the preservation and strengthening of the Older Individuals Who Are Blind program and the assurance that older blind Americans continue
to receive the training and services that promote independence, dignity, and full participation in society; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that the Department of Justice ensure that the Office for Civil Rights and their coordinated enforcement mechanisms do not create
systemic delays in investigating and resolving complaints, but instead provide vigorous and timely enforcement of federal disability rights laws, and that federal oversight remain sufficient to ensure that states and local entities do not weaken the protections
owed to blind Americans.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="13">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-13 Regarding Enforcement of Digital Accessibility Under Title I of the ADA<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law on July 26, 1990, is a landmark civil rights law organized into five titles that together guarantee people with disabilities
equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Title I of the ADA prohibits private and state and local government employers with fifteen or more employees from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities
in all aspects of employment, including requiring the provision of reasonable accommodations, adjustments, and/or modifications to enable employees with disabilities to perform their jobs; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, blind Americans continue to face widespread discrimination in employment due to inaccessible workplace technology, including internal websites, software platforms, digital onboarding
systems, and job\u2011related tools that are essential to performing required duties, because these tools feature such inaccessible elements as unlabeled buttons, missing or unhelpful alternative text, form errors, trapped keyboard focus, and misused or absent
ARIA attributes among others; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the WebAIM Million report, which annually evaluates the top trafficked one million homepages worldwide for accessibility barriers, found in their latest 2026 report that 95.9
percent of tested websites contain detectable failures as measured by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), internationally-recognized standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and longitudinal data shows that accessibility has
improved by less than three percentage points when compared to a failure rate of 97.8 percent in the first report in 2019, demonstrating a persistent and systemic disregard for accessibility standards across the digital landscape; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, unlike public-facing websites, internal workplace systems are not subject to any monitoring, auditing, or public reporting, resulting in a complete absence of data on the accessibility
of the digital tools blind employees are required to use, despite research showing that inaccessible systems reduce productivity, limit opportunities for advancement, and force blind workers to rely on workarounds or sighted assistance; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, although thousands of accessibility lawsuits are filed each year under Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), these cases overwhelmingly concern public\u2011facing
websites and services, while very few cases are brought under Title I, not because discrimination is less severe in employment, but because Title I requires all complaints to pass through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or equivalent administrative
agency before a private right of action can proceed; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the EEOC currently lacks formal investigative procedures for the digital environment, digital accessibility expertise, and technical expertise or WCAG\u2011based evaluation criteria,
resulting in inconsistent, incomplete, or nonexistent investigations of digital accessibility complaints, thereby denying blind workers the protections Congress intended under Title I; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act establishes clear accessibility requirements for federal agencies and their technology, demonstrating that enforceable digital accessibility
standards are both feasible and necessary, yet no equivalent standards exist for private employers under Title I; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, employers across the United States continue to deploy new internal digital systems that are inaccessible to blind employees, either in whole or in part, despite the existence
of well\u2011established accessibility guidelines, access-technology compatibility practices, and decades of technical knowledge about how to build accessible digital tools; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has long held that equality in employment requires not only nondiscrimination in policy but full accessibility in practice, including equal
access to the digital tools that define modern work: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization strongly urge the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission to establish and enforce clear, WCAG\u2011based digital accessibility standards for evaluating Title I complaints involving internal workplace technology and to develop formal investigative procedures, including standardized technical
review protocols, accessibility testing methodologies, and staff training requirements, to ensure that digital accessibility complaints are evaluated consistently, thoroughly, and in accordance with modern accessibility practices; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the EEOC to create federal digital accessibility standards for internal workplace systems to also include mandatory remediation
timelines and penalties for noncompliance; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that employers, software vendors, and government agencies recognize digital accessibility as a core civil right under Title I of the
ADA and take immediate steps to ensure that all internal workplace technology is fully accessible to blind employees.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2026-resolutions#index"><span style="color:#005AA3;text-decoration:none">Return to the Quick Links</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="mso-margin-top-alt:22.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit" id="14">
<span style="font-size:27.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">RESOLUTION 2026-14 Regarding the Unjustified Delay of Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Digital Accessibility Regulation<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law on July 26, 1990, is a landmark civil rights law organized into five titles that together guarantee people with disabilities
equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Title II of the ADA requires state and local governments to ensure that their programs, services, and activities are fully accessible to people with disabilities; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, since the late 1990s, the National Federation of the Blind has worked persistently through advocacy, negotiated settlements, and successful litigation to establish that digital
products and services\u2014including websites, mobile applications, and other electronic information and communication technologies\u2014are subject to the requirements of the ADA; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, federal courts and the United States Department of Justice have repeatedly agreed that inaccessible digital services provided by ADA-covered entities deny blind people equal
access in violation of the law; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, despite this clear legal foundation, state and local governments and public entities have routinely claimed that they lack sufficient regulatory clarity regarding digital accessibility
requirements; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, on July 26, 2010, the United States Department of Justice issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking titled "Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Accessibility
of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities" (hereafter referred to as "ADA Title II digital accessibility regulation") signaling its intent to develop such regulations, launching a process that spanned three presidential administrations
and more than a decade of public engagement; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, on April 24, 2024, the Department of Justice finally issued long-awaited Title II regulations governing the accessibility of websites, mobile applications, and digital content
used by state and local governments, following extensive participation by the National Federation of the Blind, people with disabilities, advocates, and covered entities; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, these regulations represented a carefully negotiated compromise that included five new classes of exceptions favoring covered entities beyond those already available under the
ADA, concessions accepted by the National Federation of the Blind and the broader disability community in recognition of the importance of having a clear standard; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the announced compliance dates of April 24, 2026 and April 26, 2027, provided two years for large entities and three years for smaller entities to prepare (in addition to the
fourteen years since the advance notice had been published in 2010) to implement web and mobile app accessibility; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, despite having requested clarity and benefitted from years of delay, certain covered entities exerted pressure on the federal government to weaken or postpone the regulations
as the compliance date approached; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, on April 20, 2026, just four days before the regulations were set to take effect, the Department of Justice issued an interim final rule delaying implementation and signaling
a willingness to reopen and reconsider the substance of the regulations; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, this sudden reversal disregards decades of advocacy, undermines settled expectations, and perpetuates the ongoing exclusion of blind people from full participation in education,
civic engagement, public services, local and statewide benefits, and employment; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, Title III digital accessibility regulations remain stalled entirely, continuing uncertainty for places of public accommodation and denying blind people equal access across the
digital marketplace; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, the Department of Justice has itself consistently relied upon these same accessibility standards in enforcement actions and settlement agreements, confirming that the obligation
already exists under the ADA; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WHEREAS, every day of delay causes immeasurable harm to blind people who encounter inaccessible government websites, online forms, educational platforms, benefit portals, and mobile applications
essential to daily life: Now, therefore,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2026, in the city of Austin, Texas, that this organization unequivocally condemn
and deplore the Department of Justice\u2019s decision to delay implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act Title II digital accessibility regulations; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand the immediate implementation of the finalized ADA Title II digital accessibility regulations without further delay or substantive
weakening; and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the Department of Justice to proceed without delay in issuing comprehensive ADA Title III digital accessibility regulations covering
public accommodations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Kind regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Curtis Chong<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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