[Nfb-dc] Fwd: [Nfbnet-members-list] 2014 NFB Legislative Agenda and Fact Sheets

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From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
Date: Wed, 08 Jan 2014 20:22:47 -0600
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] 2014 NFB Legislative Agenda and Fact Sheets
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Legislative Agenda of Blind Americans:
Priorities for the 113th Congress, SECOND Session


The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the
oldest and largest nationwide organization of
blind people. As the voice of the nation’s blind,
we represent the collective views of the 1.3
million blind people throughout the United
States. All of our leaders and the vast majority
of our members are blind, but anyone can participate in our movement.


The NFB’s three legislative initiatives for 2014 are:

·        The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act (HR 831)
Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act
allows employers to pay workers with disabilities
less than the minimum wage because of the false
assumption that they are less productive than
non-disabled workers. This antiquated provision
breeds low expectations and discourages disabled
Americans from reaching their full potential. HR
831 responsibly phases out the use of the 14(c)
Special Wage Certificates, ending the era of segregated, subminimum wage work.
·        The Technology, Education and
Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act (TEACH) (HR 3505)
Electronic instructional materials have replaced
traditional methods of learning in postsecondary
education, but the overwhelming majority of
e-books, courseware, web content, and other
technology are inaccessible to students with
print disabilities. The law mandates equal access
in the classroom, but fails to provide a
prescription to schools for how that applies to
technology. The TEACH Act creates accessibility
guidelines for electronic instructional materials
that will guide the market, give clarity to
schools, and protect blind students’ rights to critical course material.
·        The Air Carrier Technology Accessibility Act (ACTA)
Passenger interaction with technology is a
central component of air travel. The Air Carrier
Access Act prohibits discrimination on the basis
of disability by airlines, but it was written
before the emergence of web sites, kiosks, and
mobile apps. These tools are all inaccessible to
blind travelers despite readily-available
solutions, resulting in segregation and
substandard service. ACTA calls for all
technology-based air travel services to be accessible to blind passengers.


The real problem of blindness is not the loss of
eyesight; it is the misunderstanding and lack of
information that exist. Given the proper training
and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a
physical nuisance. Americans have a strong
philosophy of equality, but there are profound
flaws in the application of our doctrine as it
applies to people with disabilities. These bills
help close the gaps. We urge Congress to protect
our rights in the workplace, classroom, and air
travel by supporting these legislative initiatives.






The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013 (HR 831)


Current labor laws unjustly prohibit workers with disabilities
from reaching their full vocational and socioeconomic potential.

Written in 1938, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA) discriminates against people
with disabilities. The provision allows the
Secretary of Labor to grant Special Wage
Certificates to employers, permitting them to pay
workers with disabilities less than the minimum
wage. This is based on the false assumption that
disabled workers are less productive than
nondisabled workers, but successful employment
models have emerged in the last seventy-five
years to assist people with significant
disabilities in acquiring the job skills needed
for competitive work. Section 14(c) sustains
segregated subminimum wage workshops that exploit
disabled workers, paying some only pennies an
hour for mundane, repetitive tasks.

This discriminatory policy is not necessary for
the successful operation of a disability-training
program. In reality, the overwhelming majority of
Goodwill Industries Affiliates, and all but one
of the National Industries for the Blind (NIB)
affiliates, operates successfully without paying
subminimum wages. Countless entities have
successfully transitioned their subminimum wage
business model of low expectations to an
innovative model of competitive integrated
training and employment, meeting the growing
needs of mainstream employers with the proven
talents of employees with disabilities. Only
outdated workshops argue they will be unable to
manage worthwhile programs without the use of the Special Wage Certificate.

The subminimum wage model fails to provide
adequate training or employment to disabled
workers. Data shows that less than five percent
of the 400,000 workers with disabilities in
segregated subminimum wage workshops will
transition into competitive integrated work.
Moreover, research shows that the subminimum wage
model costs more but actually produces less! In
fact, workers must unlearn the useless skills
they acquire in order to obtain meaningful
employment. It is poor policy to reward such
failed programs with wage exemptions,
preferential federal contracts, and public and charitable contributions.

After 75 years of demonstrated failure, it is
time to invest in proven, effective models for
employment. This discriminatory model sustains
the same segregated subminimum wage environments
that existed in 1938. Section 14(c) has proven to
be extremely ineffective and offers no incentive
for mainstream employers to hire people with
disabilities. The Employment First Movement
promotes new concepts such as “supported” or
“customized” employment that are successful at
producing competitive integrated employment
outcomes for individuals with significant
disabilities that were previously thought to be unemployable.
The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013:

Discontinues the issuance of new Special Wage
Certificates. The Secretary of Labor will no
longer issue Special Wage Certificates to new applicants.

Phases out the use of Special Wage Certificates
over a three-year period. Using the following
schedule, entities will be able to transition to
the proven-model of competitive integrated employment:
·        Private for-profit entities will have one year to transition;
·        Public or governmental entities will
have two years to transition; and
·        Nonprofit entities will have three years
to transition. (These entities make up
ninety-five percent of the Special Wage Certificate holders.)

Repeals Section 14(c) of the FLSA. Three years
after the law is enacted, this practice of paying
disabled workers subminimum wages will be
officially abolished. This will result in the
elimination of segregated, subminimum wage
workshops and in the development of integrated
environments that encourage people with
disabilities to reach their full vocational and socioeconomic potential.



PROTECT EQUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE

Cosponsor HR 831: Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act.


For more information contact:

National Federation of the Blind
Anil Lewis, Director of Advocacy and Policy
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2374. Email:
<mailto:alewis at nfb.org>alewis at nfb.org
Rose Sloan, Government Affairs Specialist
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2441. Email:
<mailto:rsloan at nfb.org>rsloan at nfb.org

To co-sponsor contact:

Scot Malvaney, Legislative Director
Congressman Gregg Harper (R-MS)
Phone: (202)-225-5031.      Email:
<mailto:scot.malvaney at mail.house.gov>scot.malvaney at mail.house.gov


HR831 is supported by over sixty organizations of
people with disabilities and employers of workers
with disabilities. For more information visit: www.nfb.org/fair-wages








Technology, Education, and Accessibility in
College and Higher Education Act (TEACH Act) H.R. 3505


Colleges and universities need an education about accessibility.
Students with disabilities need accessibility to get an education.

Technology has fundamentally changed the
education system. The scope of instructional
materials used to facilitate the teaching and
learning process at institutions of higher
education has expanded. Curricular content comes
in the form of digital books, PDFs, webpages,
etc.; and most of this content is delivered
through digital databases, learning management
systems, and applications. Traditional print
materials are inherently inaccessible to disabled
students, but technology creates opportunities to
expand the circle of participation. These
opportunities are missed when the majority of
these materials are inaccessible to students with disabilities.

The use of inaccessible technology by
institutions of higher education is a violation
of law. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and
Titles II and III of the Americans with
Disabilities Act prohibit discrimination on the
basis of disability, but these laws were written
before technology permeated the classroom. In
2010, the U.S. Departments of Justice and
Education issued guidance to institutions of
higher education clarifying that the use of
inaccessible technology is a form of
discrimination. In the four years since, several
of the country’s leading institutions have faced
legal action for continuing to use inaccessible technology.

Accessibility solutions are widely available, but
schools and manufacturers are resisting. A 2009
Congressionally-authorized study found that,
despite innovations in text-to-speech,
refreshable Braille, and other accessibility
features that create promise for equal access,
there is still persistent unmet need. Developers
claim there is not enough demand to justify
making accessible products, and schools claim to
have limited options and a lack of knowledge
about accessibility to properly guide
procurement. Because of this blame-game,
developers are moving too slowly and schools are openly violating the law.

Guidelines are sorely needed to guide the market
and lift burdens off of disabled students. While
schools and manufacturers are waiting for the
other to take action, blind students are facing
insurmountable barriers to their education. No
student can be expected to succeed in college if
he or she is denied access to course material,
and yet the solutions available to remedy this
discrimination are ignored! Universally-accepted
accessibility guidelines will give direction to
manufacturers, clarity to schools about how to
meet their legal obligations regarding
technology, and long-overdue equal access for disabled students.
Technology, Education, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act:

Develops accessibility guidelines for
instructional materials and related information
technology. The Access Board will consult experts
and stakeholders to develop functional
performance criteria for electronic instructional
materials and related information technologies so
that those materials are usable by individuals
with disabilities. The guidelines will serve as a
flexible prescription for accessibility for both
developers and institutions of higher education.

Provides incentive for institutions of higher
education to follow the guidelines. Institutions
of higher education that use technology that
conforms with the guidelines will be deemed in
compliance with the provisions of Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act and Titles II and III of
the Americans with Disabilities Act that pertain to schools’ use of technology.
Establishes a minimum usability standard for all
technology in the classroom. Institutions of
higher education may only use materials that do
not conform to the guidelines if that material
allows disabled students to enjoy the same
educational benefits in an equally integrated and
equally effective manner, with substantially
equivalent ease of use as nondisabled students.



PROTECT EQUALITY IN THE CLASSROOM.

Cosponsor the Technology, Education, and Accessibility
  in College and Higher Education Act (TEACH Act) HR 3505.



For more information contact:
Lauren McLarney, Government Affairs Specialist,
National Federation of the Blind
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2207. Email:
<mailto:lmclarney at nfb.org>lmclarney at nfb.org

To cosponsor contact:

Kevin James, Legislative Assistant, Congressman Tom Petri (R-WI)
Phone: (202) 225-2476. Email:
<mailto:kevin.james at mail.house.gov>kevin.james at mail.house.gov






The TEACH Act is the result of collaboration
between the NFB and the Association of American
Publishers, the leading trade association of the U.S. publishing industry.








Air Carrier Technology Accessibility Act


To allow blind and low vision individuals equal access
to technology used in all phases of air travel.


Despite anti-discrimination laws, airlines
continue to deny access to blind passengers.  In
1986 Congress passed the Air Carrier Access Act
(ACAA) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of
disability during all phases of air travel,
including purchasing a ticket, checking-in,
boarding and deplaning, receiving in-flight
services, and assistance getting around the
airport. Air travel has changed significantly
since 1986, and most services now require
interaction with technology; however airlines
have failed to honor the ACAA by ensuring that
those services are usable by blind travelers. The
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) also
prohibits discrimination on the basis of
disability in public transportation, but because
of unique security issues in air travel, airlines
were explicitly excluded from the law,
compounding the problems facing blind air
travelers. Technology creates opportunity to
expand the circle of participation, so the law
needs to be updated to capture the prospect and ensure equal access.

Passenger interaction with technology is a
fundamental requirement of air travel. Passengers
have multiple options of accessing flight
information that replace endless phone calls and
check-in lines. For booking and accessing
boarding passes, flyers use web sites, mobile
apps, or kiosks. Mobile apps provide real-time
updates on departure and arrival information, and
even make it possible to scan a digital boarding
pass at security check points. On board,
passengers can make in-flight purchases of
movies, drinks, or Wi-Fi by using consoles on the
seatback in front of them. Technology enhances
the flying experience, and who knows what
innovative tools might emerge in the future?
Blind passengers pay the same price to fly the
friendly skies as everyone else, and yet cannot use any of these services.

Airlines should stop this discrimination by
embracing readily available solutions. Technical
criteria for accessible web content and best
practices for mobile apps were released back in
2008, and accessibility standards for ATMs and
usable kiosks have been on the market for years.
Rather than utilize these options and deploy
accessible technology, airlines “meet the needs”
of their disabled passengers by offering internet
rates over the phone to those who self-identify
as blind and giving priority access to blind
flyers in line. Technology can meet the
unfulfilled promise of equal access, yet airlines
choose to use an ineffective method of “access”
that relegates blind passengers to antiquated methods of service.


The Air Carrier Technology Accessibility Act:

Provides equal access throughout the air travel
process by requiring that all methods of booking
flights, checking-in, obtaining boarding passes
and making in-flight purchases are accessible to
blind passengers. All newly-created or purchased
web content, airport kiosks, mobile apps and
other technology-based services operated by air
carriers will be usable by the blind.
Establishes a complaint mechanism to resolve
issues of non-compliance with the Air Carrier Technology Accessibility Act.


PROTECT EQUALITY IN AIR TRAVEL

Sponsor the Air Carrier Technology Accessibility Act



For more information contact:
Jesse Hartle
Government Affairs Specialist
National Federation of the Blind
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2233. E-mail:
<mailto:jhartle at nfb.org>jhartle at nfb.org