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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Thanks, Rania!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Debbie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> MD-Sligo <md-sligo-bounces@nfbnet.org> <b>On Behalf Of
</b>Lloyd Rasmussen via MD-Sligo<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, July 16, 2021 11:40 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> md-sligo@nfbnet.org<br>
<b>Cc:</b> Lloyd Rasmussen <lras@sprynet.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [MD-Sligo] Rania Dima's Testimony to a US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This document is linked to as a part of the NFB’s monthly newsletter to friends and donors. She has done us proud. I have taken the PDF version and converted it to text, so it’s in the body of this message.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Lloyd Rasmussen, Secretary, Sligo Creek Chapter<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">------<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My USPS Experience <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rania Dima <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Frederick, Maryland <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Member, National Federation of the Blind <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As an aspiring author, the intake of knowledge and literature is important, and as a new Braille
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">learner, getting my hands on a steady supply of Braille is crucial. This material is sent by federal,
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">state, and private agencies via the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) as free matter for the blind.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to its website, this federally-funded postage is to be treated as first-class mail.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, free matter for the blind has long experienced delays. Prior to the COVID-19
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">pandemic, delivery times ranged from one to two weeks. Post pandemic, they have increased
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to one to two months. While other mail has mostly returned to normal, free matter for the
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">blind has not, and these lengthy delays have impeded my ability to learn Braille.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled (LBPD) asked me to
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">join the Braille E-reader pilot program, I readily agreed. The first device was sent out on
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">October 21, 2020. It should have arrived within a week. On November 10th, a librarian informed
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">me that other patrons had also not received their mailed packages, and I was issued a
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">replacement. It wasn’t until Christmastime that the two packages arrived together. Refreshable
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Braille displays are expensive, and I suddenly had two in my possession.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because of my E-reader connectivity issues with the online service, I opted for Braille
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">book cartridges. The first, sent on April 12, 2021, was never delivered and was returned to the
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">library by USPS for unknown reasons. LBPD sent another book cartridge on June 9th. It came
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">exactly one month later while regular mail from Baltimore reaches Frederick within a few days.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On behalf of the National Library Service, the Gallup Poll is surveying E-reader
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">participants at two, four and six month intervals. Because the original E-reader was delayed, it
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">arrived just as the surveys began, and of the three, I could only complete one survey. The
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Braille book cartridges came too late for me to properly assess the E-reader device. Based on
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">follow-up phone calls, I fear that I will time out of this poll, and the opportunity for feedback
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and funds allocated for my participation in this pilot program will have been wasted.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mail delays have also affected free matter for the blind from other organizations. In
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">March of 2020, the Maryland Division of Rehabilitation Services ordered literacy books to
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">continue my Braille learning at home. These books did not arrive until the summer, delaying my
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">progress. In the fall, I began virtual Braille instruction. At the end of our three month session,
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my instructor had still not received her Braille books. Lessons were to continue once the next
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">set of books arrived. Conditioned by the prolonged mail delays, I waited for the books and it
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">wasn’t until March of 2021 that I learned that the new order had fallen through. It was another
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">one to two months before they were finally in my hands. The lengthy delays have made having
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">consistent lessons difficult and my virtual instruction has been postponed until this fall.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The USPS offers a mail tracking system called Informed Delivery that could have allowed
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">me to verify the status of my packages. However, this image-based program is not accessible to
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">blind users. In 2018, the National Federation of the Blind requested that USPS make this system
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">accessible but no action was taken. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Letter-sized mail is similarly affected. As a companion to virtual instruction and to
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">accelerate my learning, I also enrolled in a correspondence-based Braille literacy course through Hadley School for the Blind. Due to mail delays, the<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">instructor has waived the <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">requirement that I wait for the grading of submitted written work before moving on to the next
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">lessons. Though this is a missed opportunity for timely feedback, it is the only solution given the
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">drawn out correspondence via free matter for the blind. <o:p>
</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My transition to Braille is vital. Born sighted, I am no longer able to read print, and I yearn to make the switch from audio to Braille. This transition<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">is not simply a preference; I have a profound hearing loss and I am losing the last of my hearing. From my perspective, the federal, state and private<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">agencies that support me are being thwarted, and I feel marginalized when free matter for the blind suffers prolonged delays that regular mail does not.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My voice is but one from the many who have been affected. Attached to this testimony is Resolution 20-2105 which was recently passed by the members of the National Federation of the Blind.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Resolution 2021-05: Regarding Mail Problems that <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Interfere with NLS Services <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WHEREAS, the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress, and its cooperating network libraries provide books<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and magazines in specialized formats to blind and print-disabled children, working-age adults, and seniors losing vision; and
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WHEREAS, this valuable service not only provides the major source of reading material for these people, but also fosters literacy skills for children,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">interaction in community life for adults, and hope and encouragement for the newly blind; and
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WHEREAS, NLS and its network libraries depend on the United States Postal Service (USPS) to distribute its materials and the digital players, Braille displays,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and other equipment needed to listen to or read these books; and
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WHEREAS, these libraries are permitted to use the Free Reading Matter provisions of the postal regulation and the USPS claims on its website that Free<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Reading Matter is “treated as First-Class Mail for purposes of processing, delivery and forwarding, and return if undeliverable”; and
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WHEREAS, from June 2020 to the present, far too many library customers across the nation have experienced long delays or total absence in receiving their<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">books and equipment, even though the libraries have sent them to the individual patron using the USPS; and
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WHEREAS, this failure by the USPS not only has a detrimental effect on the lives of blind and print-disabled Americans, but is also creating a loss of<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">taxpayer dollars since digital players, Braille displays, and other valuable equipment are stuck in the post office, never reaching the people who need<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">it; and <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WHEREAS, blind and print-disabled citizens cannot use the USPS Informed Delivery service for residential customers to see if they will be receiving library<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">materials or equipment because it is inaccessible; and <o:p>
</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WHEREAS, in Resolution 2018-19, the National Federation of the Blind urged USPS to make this service accessible and informed the agency that it was violating<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">federal law, but the result was no action; and <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WHEREAS, although Congress created and funded the Books for the Blind program under the Pratt-Smoot Act of 1931, neither the Library of Congress nor Congress<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">itself demands any accountability from the USPS, which plays a vital role in the success or failure of the program: Now, therefore,
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this tenth day of July, 2021, that this organization condemn and deplore<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the failure of the United States Postal Service to deliver materials and equipment to and from library patrons in a timely manner; and
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization insist that the Librarian of Congress annually issue a report card to USPS based on data from NLS and its<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">cooperating network libraries on the timely delivery of materials and equipment; and
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization strongly urge the United States Congress to require the USPS to report to the Congress on steps that the<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">USPS intends to take to improve timely delivery of library materials and equipment to ensure that these items are truly treated as First-Class Mail; and<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that the USPS immediately end its discriminatory practices by making its Informed Delivery service<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">accessible to blind and print-disabled citizens.<o:p></o:p></p>
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