<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica Neue Light, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div style="left: 247.4px; top: 227.06px; font-size: 23.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.04953);" data-canvas-width="524.7660599999999" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9172"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9242">Dear East Valley,</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_26176"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_26177" dir="ltr">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.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_39408"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_39409" dir="ltr">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.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9241"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9240">LEGISLATIVE AGENDA OF BLIND AMERICANS</div></div><div style="left: 185.998px; top: 253.853px; font-size: 23.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.02429);" data-canvas-width="654.51906" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9173">PRIORITIES FOR THE 115TH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION </div><div style="left: 95.4px; top: 299.09px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.10095);" data-canvas-width="834.5209599999997" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9174"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9257"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9256">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.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9295"><br></div></div><div style="left: 105px; top: 397.28px; font-size: 20px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.09004);" data-canvas-width="684.5419999999998" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9180">The Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education (AIM HE) Act</div><div style="left: 105px; top: 472.478px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.01932);" data-canvas-width="826.6715199999998" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9183">Electronic 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 </div><div style="left: 167.192px; top: 535.866px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.02149);" data-canvas-width="433.1102399999999" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9187"><div>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. <br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_11104"><br></div></div><div style="left: 105px; top: 568.08px; font-size: 20px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.10752);" data-canvas-width="389.84600000000006" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9189">The Access Technology Affordability Act</div><div style="left: 172.399px; top: 664.475px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.01967);" data-canvas-width="24.471999999999998" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9198">Currently, 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.</div><div style="left: 75px; top: 696.693px; font-size: 20px; font-family: sans-serif;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9199"><br></div><div style="left: 105px; top: 696.68px; font-size: 20px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.10267);" data-canvas-width="831.4100000000007" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9200">Appropriation to the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped </div><div style="left: 105px; top: 719.68px; font-size: 20px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.07881);" data-canvas-width="509.2000000000001" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9201">(NLS) for the Purchase of Refreshable Braille Devices</div><div style="left: 841.994px; top: 795.081px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.04184);" data-canvas-width="45.84106666666666" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9206">Established 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 </div><div style="left: 105px; top: 837.272px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.03218);" data-canvas-width="232.24111999999988" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9208">appropriation to the NLS will save money and lead to the proliferation of critically needed Braille material for blind Americans.</div><div style="left: 75px; top: 869.492px; font-size: 20px; font-family: sans-serif;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9209"><br></div><div style="left: 105px; top: 892.48px; font-size: 20px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.09247);" data-canvas-width="499.25999999999993" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9211">The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled</div><div style="left: 105.018px; top: 1009.87px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.02526);" data-canvas-width="325.0083999999999" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9221">Despite 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.</div><div style="left: 269.6px; top: 1085.49px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.10767);" data-canvas-width="480.72759999999994" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9226"><br></div><div style="left: 62.2px; top: 1257.71px; font-size: 15.8px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(1.07957);" data-canvas-width="123.07094000000001" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9227"><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9231">Mark Riccobono -President of The National Federation of the Blind<br></div></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9107"> </div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9114">Sincerely,
<br><br>Megan Homrighausen
<br><b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485365928511_9115">East Valley Chapter President<br>National Federation Of The Blind Of Arizona</b>
<br>480-510-6196<br><div id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3130"><br></div><span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3132" style=""><span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3133" style="">National Federation Of The Blind Principles<br><br>1.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3134" style="font:7.0pt;"> I</span></span></span>t
is respectable to be blind. It’s okay to be blind. Being blind is
something that we need not feel troubled or embarrassed about, concerned about
or emotionally exhausted over. It’s okay to be blind.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3136" style=""><span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3137" style=""><br>2.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3138" style="font:7.0pt;"> T</span></span></span>he real problem of blindness is not the absence of vision but is
the social misconceptions and stereotypes that exist about blindness. It is not the physical absence of eye sight but it is what society has come to
believe about our blindness. We reject the misconceptions that society has and
we accept that the physical absence of our sight is not the big problem.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3140" style=""><span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3141" style=""><br>3.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3142" style="font:7.0pt;"> </span></span></span>With proper training and opportunity the average blind person can
do the average job in the average place of work.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3156" style=""><span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3157" style=""><br>4.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3158" style="font:7.0pt;"> </span></span></span>Blindness
is 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<br>characteristics.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3175" style=""><span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3176" style=""><br>5.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3177" style="font:7.0pt;"> </span></span></span>Blindness
can be reduced to the level of an inconvenience or physical nuisance. <span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3188" style=""><span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3189" style=""><br>6.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3190" style="font:7.0pt;"> </span></span></span>We
believe in the effectiveness of alternative non visual techniques.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3213" style=""><span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3214" style=""><br>7.<span id="yiv8851084231yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1461649445555_3215" style="font:7.0pt;"> </span></span></span>If
we want equal rights we need to accept equal responsibility.</div></div></body></html>