[IL-Talk] at large May minutes

[datemeyer at sbcglobal.net]

NFBI At Large Chapter May Minutes

May 3rd, 2026

ZOOM Meeting

CALL TO ORDER

At Large Chapter President David Meyer called the meeting to order at 7:01

PM. Persons in attendance were: President David Meyer, Leslie Hamric,
Michelle Ault, Linda Hendle,  Bill Reif, Debbie

Pittman, Marilyn Green, Yvonne Agyarko, Jemal Powell, Dennis Devitt, Ember
Thompson. 

 

PROGRAM ITEM

 

Given our talents, abilities and interests we were asked how we can
strengthen the National  Federation of the Blind Illinois Affiliate and the
At Large Chapter. Members expressed they had  Braille skills, technology
skills, travel skills, and had a lot of resources that they could share
with others.

 

APPROVAL OF APRIL MINUTES

 

Debbie Pittman moved and Bill Reif seconded. All in favor said "Aye" and the
April minutes were  approved.

 

PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE

This is Presidential Release number 560 for the month of May 2026. 

President Mark Riccobono's goal on this release is to prepare every member
of the Federation to  take advocacy action this month to advance the work
that we're doing as the issue that he is going  to discuss affects every
single blind person and our future interactions with our society. 

The specific issue at hand is that since 2010, the National Federation of
the Blind has urged the  federal government to establish regulations under
the Americans With Disabilities Act to ensure  that specific requirements
exist for digital tools like websites and mobile apps used by entities  that
are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act or otherwise known as the
ADA, that those  tools are accessible to blind people and others with
disabilities. In 2024, part of that regulation  that we requested was
fulfilled and was supposed to go into at least partial effect on April 24th
of this year, and at the very last minute, the government announced that it
was delaying this rule.

The Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA is the law passed by Congress and
signed by the  President in 1990, which provides people with disabilities,
certain rights and guarantees under the  law. The law is organized into five
titles. Each title covers a different area of concern. These  titles are
numbered and they are written in Roman numerals.

Title I of the ADA, covers employment, and this title says that most
employers cannot discriminate  against qualified people with disabilities in
hiring, in pay, in promotions or other aspects of  work, and it gives
details about that.

Title II of the ADA is directed at state and local government agencies, and
it says that state and  local governments must make their programs,
services, and public transportation fully accessible to  people with
disabilities.

Title III of the ADA, which is what a lot of people tend to think about
related to this law, Title  III relates to public accommodations. So this
title has to do with businesses and nonprofit  organizations that serve the
public and says that these entities must provide equal access to their  full
range of goods and services and facilities.

Title IV covers telecommunications. It talks about telephone and
communication services and about  how they must be accessible and available
to people, especially those with hearing loss and speech  disabilities. This
is where programs like the relay service are covered.

Title V is really just a miscellaneous title. It provides provisions and
clarification on various  items. Those are the five titles of the Americans
with Disabilities Act.

The National Federation of the Blind has been raising the bar since 1990
about how the Americans  with Disabilities Act is understood in day-to-day
practice in society. This is done through our  advocacy work, through our
legal work, and through our public education work. Federation members  have
been applying the law in innovative ways so that we can continue to raise
expectations  throughout society. We have been responsible for a lot of the
high expectation frameworks that have  existed since 1990. 

Since the late 1990s, we have been working very directly through negotiated
settlements, through  court victories, to make it clear that the Americans
with Disabilities Act applies to entities,  both Title II entities and Title
III entities.

These are often called covered entities under the law, that digital products
and services are  covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The
courts have already agreed with us on many  occasions. We could cite many
Federation lawsuits in this regard. All of these settlements and  lawsuits
over the past many decades have been posted on our web site.

We've been very transparent and clear about the kind of accessibility that
we are seeking from any  entity that's covered under the Americans with
Disabilities Act. It's to the credit of the  Federation that these cases
have been successful. Governments and businesses have known about the  work
that we're doing because many of them have been subject to our advocacy
work. One of the  things that government and businesses have claimed over
the years is that the reason they're not  accessible is because the
standards aren't clear on what accessibility means.

How do they know when they've met the high standard that the Federation or
others want in terms of  equal access? The governments, local governments,
state governments, and businesses have asked the  federal government for
clarity on these issues. We have made it clear in the work that we've done,
our settlements, our legal victories, what that standard is. We think the
federal government should  create regulations to give that clarity to these
covered entities that seem to be unclear about  what equal access means,
even though we believe the law already is clear and that the Americans  with
Disabilities Act requires it. In 2010, the United States Department of
Justice released an  advanced notice of proposed rule making.

This is the first step in creating government regulations under any law. We
celebrated the fact  that this advanced notice of proposed rule making
(ANPRM) was made available. The initial  announcement in July 2010 was that
the government intended to create regulations for Title II of  the Americans
with Disabilities Act and Title III. So these would be separate rule makings
because  they relate to different covered entities, different titles, of the
Americans with Disabilities  Act. The National Federation of the Blind has
been engaged in public comments and advocacy work  since 2010 to get these
regulations to move forward.

In 2024, we celebrated the fact that the United States Department of Justice
released its long  awaited regulations related to Title II of the Americans
with Disabilities Act and how covered  entities should make their web site
mobile applications and digital assets accessible to people  with
disabilities. The announced deadline for this to go into full effect, or at
least partial  effect, was April 24th, 2026. There were some smaller covered
entities that had a little bit of  additional time, but April 24, 2026 was
the important date. The regulations were negotiated through  broad
participation by people with disabilities and covered entities. Everybody
had plenty of time  to give their feedback. These regulations are a
compromise because they added five new classes of  exception to the
requirements under the law that are additional defenses to the ones that are
already available within the Americans with Disabilities Act without these
regulations.

The governments that are covered under Title II got some benefit because
they got additional  exceptions into the law, but yet we said we recognized
that having a standard, that the idea that  equal access is important is
still better, even if we don't think those additional five exceptions  are
necessary.

Government and educational facilities all asked for these regulations for
clarity, but as the date  got closer, they started putting pressure on the
administration to make further changes. We still  believed that the standard
was going to go into effect. We did a lot of advocacy work over the last
few months and then The Department of Justice took a turn in a very bad
direction. There was  standards that had been set, although they haven't
been in the regulations, they are the standards  that the United States
Department of Justice has used in its own settlement agreements with public
entities. Even in the absence of regulation, the Department of Justice
itself has said that these  standards apply under the Americans with
Disabilities Act. At the very last minute, in the last 10  days or so, the
Department of Justice announced that it wants blind people and others with
disabilities to wait even longer.

They are basically signaling that they are going back to the drawing board
for a do over, even  though we have waited for well over a decade, even
though that this has been negotiated with all  stakeholders having an
opportunity to give input. It's not only that the government has said it's
going to delay the implementation date, but it has also signaled that it is
willing to look at  other aspects of this regulation that it might change.

Although we've negotiated it, it's completely willing to open up the
discussions to go back to  step one. And keep in mind, this is only for
Title II. The Title III regulations are still sitting,  haven't moved, and
there continues to be the lack of clarity in the marketplace that public
businesses and non profits have also asked for. This is outrageous, and we
need every member of the  National Federation of the Blind to take action
because it does and will continue to have an impact  on our life.

President Mark Riccobono emphasized that we need every member to submit our
story regarding  barriers that we have encountered in state or local
government, websites, mobile apps, or similar  technologies where we have
experienced barriers in public education programs, whether they be K-12,
public universities, community colleges, etc.

We can submit our stories via voice to our podcast line where you can just
leave a voicemail and  that will be helpful in our podcast efforts and we'll
also use that in our advocacy work. To do  that, you can leave a recording
of your story at 410-659-9314.extension 2444. You can also submit  your
story if you prefer via email. You can do that in writing or attach an audio
file. Just email  that to:

story at nfb.org

Please leave your contact information so we can do any follow up that might
be necessary regarding  your story. This is something that each and every
member of the Federation should do. We need you  to do this and don't delay.
We need you to do it by May 31st. It's really critical in this 60 day
window we have to gain momentum around these stories. We need you to take
this action. We need  chapters to help individuals take this action. Your
short story, your first person account of how  you have encountered barriers
will make a big difference. What kind of stories are we looking for?  Well,
barriers related to a state or local government website that you needed to
use for whatever  purpose.

It could be on an ongoing basis. It could be to pay your water bill. It
could be to look up public  information. There's so many things. Barriers
that we have encountered in education of all types,  in public education,
barriers that we have encountered where we needed to fill out forms. In
education, this could be because we are a student or maybe we are z parent
of a student in public  education and we've faced barriers getting access to
information about our children. These are all  things that The National
Federation of the Blind needs to hear from you about. Our firsthand  stories
will make a big difference.

President Mark Riccobono hopes that he made it clear, and that he has been
able to clarify for us  what the Americans with Disabilities Act is and why
this matters today. He does want to call our  attention to the fact that the
National Federation of the Blind has already submitted its public  comments
regarding this new interim final rule, further delaying our access to Title
II covered  entities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

We can read our full public comments, which have been submitted to the
government, by going to our  website:

nfb.org/advocacy 

We need your firsthand stories. We need them before the end of May. And if
there are members in our  chapter who need help submitting their firsthand
story, please help them. We're going to use these  stories to push back in a
big way on the government, and it's going to take every single one of us  to
do something about it. We know that collective action works, and we know
that the Federation  does not give up.

At the end of this release he added an audio from the video that he did,
moments after the  government announced the interim final rule, proposing to
delay these regulations a little longer.

This is what President Mark Riccobono's video said which he asked us to
listen to:

"I'm Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, and
I'm here in our empty  computer lab to talk about our outrage that the
United States Department of Justice, Office of  Civil Rights has released an
interim final rule related to ADA Title II, web accessibility and  digital
regulations.

Why am I here in this empty room? Because the government has said it's okay
for blind people to  continue to wait, to get equal access to state
government, education, and other forms of digital  access through Title II
of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

But wait, we have been waiting for two years since this rule was announced
two years ago. So we've  been waiting, outrageous that we should wait
longer, but it gets even worse because it hasn't just  been two years. The
original advanced rulemaking was 16 years ago in 2010.

Blind people have been waiting to get access to paying our taxes, to
education, to so many  government services waiting. But it's been even
longer than that.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, this promise was given to Americans
with disabilities in 1990.  1990. America is celebrating this year, our
250th anniversary of the promise that this nation makes  for equal access.

And we've been guaranteed this promise, not just in the Constitution, but
through the Americans  with Disabilities Act starting in 1990, outrageous
that the Department of Justice wants us to wait  even longer.

The National Federation of the Blind is prepared to continue to advocate and
to continue to push  forward to make sure that blind people no longer have
to wait for the doors to be open for us to  have equal access to the digital
services provided by our state and local governments."

 

STATE PRESIDENT'S REPORT

 

Marilyn Green, our State President, emphasized that we all have our stories
about what President  Mark Riccobono talked about regarding barriers and
inaccessibility issues. There are many of us who  have grown up blind or low
vision and have experienced barriers to the system. We might even have
children who are also blind or low vision who have experienced barriers. One
way that we can  currently give back to our movement is to answer the call
that President Mark Riccobono just made.  To call 410-659--9314, extension
2444 or email: 

story at nfb.org

and tell our brief story about why it is important to provide these
regulations and guidelines.  President Marilyn Green reminded us that our
impact can be so substantial to us living the lives we  want..We may not
think we have a story to tell and that our story may not be as impactful as
others  but she let us know that all our stories are impactful. When we come
together speaking in one voice  with collective actions we've seen that our
voices do matter and that when we speak together, it  makes a strong impact
on blind people people to be able to go forward and live in the world with
confidence and independence. 

If we have a story to tell and if we want some help in telling it please
reach out to State  President Marilyn Green. Marilyn's email is:

president at nfbofillinois.org

We can also text her at 312-343-8396. We can also reach out to our federal
legislation co-chairs  Denise Avant and Dustin Cather. Denise's email is:

davant1958 at gmail.com

Dustin's email is:

cather.dustin at gmail.com

Our Springfield NFB BELL program is July 13th thru the 17th. NFB BELL is
Braille Enrichment,  Literacy, and Learning and it is for students ages 4 to
12. This is a residential program so if we  know of any students in
Springfield or outside of Springfield please let them know about NFB BELL.
We  are also taking blind and low vision students from other states that may
not currently have an NFB  BELL program. It is an excellent opportunity for
them to practice their Braille and their  independent living skills. They
will go on some field trips to practice their mobility Our  Springfield lead
teacher is Amy Lund. To learn more about the program we can reach out to our
coordinator Debbie Kent Stein. Her email is:

: 

dkent5817 at att.net

We can also reach out to our assistant coordinator Tasabih Elfaki and her
email is:

tasabih.elfaki at gmail.com

You can also go to:

nfb.org/bell

We also have a two week Chicago program which is July 20th through the 31st.
It is a week day  program at the Chicago Lighthouse and Bridget Hickey is
back with us as our lead teacher in Chicago.

We have our STEM2U program on August 15th at the Hyatt Regency in Lisle,
Illinois. This is also the  hotel we will be having our State Convention at.
We are targeting blind and low vision students  from 8 to 13. If we know of
any students who are interested in Science, Technology, Engineering or  Math
please let them know about our program. We can reach out to Aihua Sprecher
or Olivia  Cichowlas. They are both our co-coordinators or you can go to:

nfb.org/stem2u 

to learn more about that program. It is a day program You can also reach out
to Debbie Stein at:

dkent5817 at att.net

The next day at the same hotel we will have our State Affiliate Board
meeting. The board meeting  begins at 9:00 AM and will adjourn around 11:30
for lunch. We will come back into session around  noon and we usually finish
between 2:00 and 3:00 PM. We can start booking our hotel room now and  the
room rate is $129.00 per night plus applicable taxes. Our in person State
Board meeting is an  opportunity to start exploring the hotel and get
familiar with where things are and how to  navigate. If we are not able to
attend in person we can use the same zoom link to attend the  meeting
virtually. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about what is happening
in the  National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and we also do a lot of
planning for the State  Convention.

Our State Convention will be October 23rd to October 25th at the Hyatt
Regency in Lisle Illinois.  Our agenda will look a lot like last year with
some activities on Friday afternoon, Resolutions  starting at 4 and general
sessions at 5. We will adjourn around 6:30. That evening we will have our
NFB got talent. NFB got talent is our Affiliate fundraiser and we will also
have our battle of the  chapters. Saturday will be our breakfast as well as
some presentations. We will have our breakouts  and exhibitors until noon
and come back for lunch and some more presentations. We will take a  little
break and come back into session for our business meeting at approximately
3:30 PM and  adjourn around 5:00 and then come back for our banquet at 7;00
and should adjourn between 9 and 10. 

Our National Convention this year is in Austin, Texas. Our main hotel has
sold out but we have  plenty of overflow hotel opportunities as well as
people looking for roommates. Our convention is  from July 3rd to July 8th
at the JW Marriott in Austin, Texas. We can go to:

nfb.org/convention

to get all of the details. The room rate for singles and doubles is 139.00
per night plus  applicable taxes. The taxes and fees for singles and doubles
usually come out to around $166.00. If  we have not already booked our room
we have until May 31st for that room block and price. All the  information
for the overflow hotels is also on that web site. If we pre-register we will
save some  time and some money. Pre-registration is $25.00 per person and
the banquet meal is $85.00 per  person. We can check for the agenda around
the beginning of June.

The floor was open for questions and comments. Bill Reif reminded us that if
anyone is interested  in being a mentor for our NFB BELL to reach out to
Debbie Stein in a timely manner because  background checks must be done and
consent training needs to be completed. Anyone who participates  in our
youth education programs has to do that background check annually and has to
do our consent  training annually. 

Aihua Sprecher email is:  amsprecher at att.net

OLD BUSINESS

Debbie Pittman let us know that we can now request an additional 10 rides
for the RAP program and  for those that do not have a computer you can call
312-913-3110. You would have to press the option  that is for paratransit.
That is the RTA number to call. They will assist you with the process but
you will need to tell them you would like assistance. If you do not make the
request you will not  get them.

NEW BUSINESS

Our next At Large Chapter meeting will be on Sunday, June 7th at 7:00 PM. It
will always be on the  same ZOOM link with the same pass code.

Leslie Hamric volunteered to be added to the list in assisting people with
their stories for web  accessibility and also if anyone needs any assistance
in filling out their application for RAP.

ADJOURNMENT

Bill Reif moved to adjourn Linda Hendle seconded. All in favor said "AYE"
The meeting was  adjourned at 8:38 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Michelle Ault

Secretary/Treasurer

Date: