[NFBAZ-EastValleyChapter] LEGISLATIVE AGENDA OF BLIND AMERICANS PRIORITIES FOR THE 115TH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION

[Megan Homrighausen]

Dear East Valley,
I wanted to share this with our newer members as well as our East Valley veteran members for your information. In less than a week, four of our East Valley members will be heading to Washington DC for the Washington Seminar and The Great Gathering In.
>From the nfb.org website: The Washington Seminar is an annual event of the National Federation of the Blind to introduce the agenda of blind Americans--the priority issues requiring congressional attention over the coming year. The issues are selected from official positions of the Federation and may address concerns in the following areas: relevant civil rights issues; educational programs and services; rehabilitation of the blind for competitive employment; the operation of vending facilities by blind persons on public property; specialized library services for the blind; the organization and funding of federal programs; Social Security and Supplemental Income programs; and other timely topics. Approximately three legislative initiatives are chosen for priority attention during the Washington Seminar.
LEGISLATIVE AGENDA OF BLIND AMERICANSPRIORITIES FOR THE 115TH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION 
The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives we want.
The Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education (AIM HE) ActElectronic instructional materials have replaced traditional methods of learning in post secondary education, but the overwhelming majority of ebooks, courseware, web content, and other technologies are inaccessible to students with print disabilities. The law requires equal access in the classroom but fails to provide direction to schools for the way it applies to technology. AIM HE creates voluntary accessibility guidelines for educational technology to stimulate the market, improve blind students’ access to course materials, and reduce litigation for schools. 

The Access Technology Affordability ActCurrently, blind Americans rely on scarce sources of funding to acquire access technology. By providing a refundable tax credit for qualifying access technology purchases, Congress will stimulate individual procurement of access technology and promote affordability of these tools for blind Americans.
Appropriation to the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) for the Purchase of Refreshable Braille DevicesEstablished in 1931, the NLS provides its patrons with accessible format copies of printed works. With the latest innovations in refreshable Braille, it is now easier than ever before to put Braille into the hands of more Blind people. According to a Government Accountability Office report, a one-time appropriation to the NLS will save money and lead to the proliferation of critically needed Braille material for blind Americans.
The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print DisabledDespite the ability to convert print books into accessible formats like Braille, large print, audio, and digital copies, millions of blind and otherwise print-disabled Americans are excluded from accessing 95 percent of published works. The Marrakesh Treaty will enable the cross-border exchange of accessible format copies, thereby vastly expanding the availability of accessible foreign language literature to blind and otherwise print disabled Americans.
Mark Riccobono -President of The National Federation of the Blind
 Sincerely, 

Megan Homrighausen 
East Valley Chapter President
National Federation Of The Blind Of Arizona   
480-510-6196

National Federation Of The Blind Principles

1. Itis respectable to be blind. It’s okay to be blind. Being blind issomething that we need not feel troubled or embarrassed about, concerned aboutor emotionally exhausted over. It’s okay to be blind.
2. The real problem of blindness is not the absence of vision but isthe social misconceptions and stereotypes that exist about blindness. It is not the physical absence of eye sight but it is what society has come tobelieve about our blindness. We reject the misconceptions that society has andwe accept that the physical absence of our sight is not the big problem.
3. With proper training and opportunity the average blind person cando the average job in the average place of work.
4. Blindnessis simply one of many human characteristics, like being tall or being short,being big or small, being bright or average. Blindness is simply one of many
characteristics.
5. Blindnesscan be reduced to the level of an inconvenience or physical nuisance. 
6. Webelieve in the effectiveness of alternative non visual techniques.
7. Ifwe want equal rights we need to accept equal responsibility.
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