[ND-Talk] FW: Threat to US braille User's, with potential ramifications to International Copyright Agreements concerning the sharing of Digital Braille and Audio Downloadable Materials...

Wed Sep 10 22:14:05 UTC 2025

Threat to US braille User's, with potential ramifications to International
Copyright Agreements concerning the sharing of Digital Braille and Audio
Downloadable Materials...

Consider before you reflexively delete, if you use BARD, Learning Allies,
Bookshare, whether you are a Braille or Audio Downloader of Materials
covered by International Copyright Conventions and agreements to share
Accessible Materials among its signatories...

Dear AER members and allies,

We need your help.

On September 5, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education issued
non-continuation notices to all three national Braille Training Grants under
the 235E Demonstration Program: Braille Training. This means that for the
first time in decades, there will be no federal support for developing
specialized braille training resources in the United States.

The three programs that have been eliminated are:

*	California State University, Los Angeles - focused on braille and
technology training
*	University of Massachusetts at Boston - focused on professional
development across the lifespan
*	University of South Carolina Upstate - focused on preparing new
teachers and service providers

This decision impacts the entire field:

*	No new training resources for Teachers of Students with Visual
Impairments (TVIs) to provide braille literacy to their students.
*	No additional training for Vision Rehabilitation Therapists (VRTs)
to serve adults.
*	No professional development or technology innovation to address the
braille literacy crisis across the lifespan.

Why This Requires Your Voice
Each of the three universities is pursuing its own appeal through their
institutional channels. At the same time, AER is opening a fourth front,
mobilizing our membership to apply direct political pressure. Unlike the
DeafBlind campaign, this effort is more nuanced and requires personal
outreach. The Department's decision to terminate an entire braille program
category cannot go unchallenged.

It is also important to note: all the programs that received
non-continuation notices this cycle were related to sensory impairments.
This is a targeted and disproportionate impact on children and adults who
are blind, DeafBlind, or low vision.

Action Steps

1.	Call your U.S. Senators' offices, especially if you live in West
Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or
Texas. 

*	Ask to speak with a senior staffer in the state or district office.
*	Stress that this is not a budget issue. It is a policy choice that
wipes out all federal braille training programs nationwide.

2.	Frame your message with these points: 

*	Braille is literacy. Without it, students and adults lose access to
education, employment, and independence.
*	Eliminating these grants means there will be no national support for
specialized braille training for TVIs or VRTs.
*	This decision harms one of the most underserved disability groups,
those with sensory impairments.
*	Some projects had a strong 6-year track record of success and
impact.
*	The effect is national, not local, and every state benefits from the
professionals trained in these programs.

3.	Share this request with your networks. AER is working alongside our
sister organizations to elevate this issue.

Why Calls Matter
Emails are too easily ignored. Calls to state offices of U.S. Senators carry
weight. Especially when they come from constituents. We must ensure that
Senators, particularly Republicans in the targeted states, intervene
directly with the Department of Education.

AER stands with the California State University, Los Angeles, the University
of Massachusetts Boston, and the University of South Carolina Upstate.
Eliminating these grants is unacceptable. Together, we must make clear that
braille literacy is a national priority.

With urgency and appreciation,
Lee Sonnenberg, MA
Executive Director
Association for Education & Rehabilitation of the Blind & Visually Impaired

Please email  <mailto:aer at aerbvi.org> aer at aerbvi.org to update your email or
to unsubscribe from advocacy specific emails.

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