[Nfb-new-hampshire] Fw: National Federation of the Blind HAVA Update

Sun Nov 2 14:36:39 UTC 2008

FYI:

as we prepare for Election Day 2008 below are some important tips to assure better access to your polls.  it is clear that there has been a great effort by the Secretary of State's Office to provide for information, but it will be important to know that our local poll workers are ready to assist as needed.  Please use the resources, and after you have had a positive experience on election Day please let Tom Manning from the Secretary of State's Office know of any barriers, but I would also encourage you to let Tom know of the positive outcomes from your accessible voting day.
Please remember to get out, and vote.

Cordially,
Gil Vickery

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Disability Relations Group 
To: citizen at ncia.net 
Sent: Saturday, November 01, 2008 6:39 AM
Subject: National Federation of the Blind HAVA Update

 October 31, 2008

 To State Election Officials, Protection and Advocacy Organizations, and National Federation of the Blind State Affiliates:

 For the fifth year, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the recipient of a grant under the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) Help America Vote Act grant program.  In order to create an awareness of nonvisual election technology and promote voting accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, the National Federation of the Blind will continue its efforts to provide comprehensive training materials, information, and access to nonvisual voting machines and technology.  The National Center for Nonvisual Election Technology (NCNET) is based at the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

 Plans for the 2008-2009 HAVA grant include:

  a.. A random sample telephone survey to evaluate the experiences of blind voters during the November 2008 national election and to identify barriers to voting encountered by these individuals.
  b.. The NCNET will continue to have voting machines available for demonstration and evaluation at no cost to election personnel or the public.  Reservations with the NCNET staff are required in advance to ensure that one of our experts will be available to demonstrate the voting machines or answer questions.  Contact Clara Van Gerven at (410) 659-9314, extension 2410, to make a reservation.  Also, the NCNET staff continues to provide informative consultation services on the user interface and accessibility features of these machines.  In addition, the staff of the NCNET provides feedback directly to voting machine manufacturers in order to improve accessibility features and to make voting machines more user-friendly to blind and visually impaired voters.
  c.. Continue to make available a free poll worker training curriculum on nonvisual election technology.  The Nonvisual Election Technology Training Curriculum, created and produced by the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, is available on the World Wide Web.  Anyone who is interested in learning more about accessible voting machines and the NFB's role in assisting with the implementation of the Help America Vote Act can obtain a free training curriculum.  Visit Nonvisual Election Technology at the NFB Web site, www.nfb.org, to view the curriculum, or download it to your computer for future reference and training purposes.

 On November 4, 2008, the NFB will conduct Project VIP (Voting with Independence and Privacy), a toll-free hotline that will be available to help blind voters across the United States troubleshoot problems with nonvisual election technology.  Blind voters who experience problems voting independently and privately on November 4 may call 877-632-1940 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time from their polling place.  The voting specialist answering this number will assist the blind voter and/or the poll worker in resolving the issue.

 For further information, contact the HAVA program manager, Lou Ann Blake at lblake at nfb.org.  Or to obtain the Nonvisual Election Technology Curriculum online, click on the following hyperlink: Nonvisual Election Technology Curriculum. 

 To make a reservation to visit the NCNET for demonstrations and technical expertise, or evaluation of voting machines, contact Clara Van Gerven by telephone at (410) 659-9314, extension 2410, or by e-mail at cvangerven at nfb.org. 

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 This Disability Relations Group e-mail is sponsored in part by:

Accessing Digital America (ADA), the Catalyst for Digital Access, is surveying government Web sites and shining a light on the good, the bad and the ugly. (re Section 508 compliance and the accessibility of their content to persons with disabilities.) 

The Department of Health and Human Services WebSites were among those surveyed.

"ADA was right on in their reviews of our sites," said Prudence Goforth, Director of Web Communications and New Media Division in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. We took their findings seriously and are implementing a plan to make all HHS Web content accessible. Throughout, we have had a positive relationship with ADA." 

HHS has been a model of how a Federal agency should respond to requests for access. Unfortunately, ADA can't say the same for others, including the White House, who has not responded at all. 

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Disability Relations Group

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 Disability Relations Group is a global disability relations image and policy facilitation firm. Its clients range from small community nonprofits to Fortune 500s all wishing to better their relations with the disabled and elder communities. It works not only in the areas concerning general issues related to disability and elder concerns, but also specializes in the areas of accessible voting, technology and transportation.

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