[Nfbf-l] Please help if you can

[Ryan Mann]

When I activated the link, I got to the White House petition site. However, it said that the link I'm looking for is not available.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 21, 2016, at 8:24 PM, Jim Ellsworth via Nfbf-l <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear family, friends, and colleagues:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't usually write to everyone in my address book, but I have an urgent
> issue I would like you to think about supporting. Today, true access to
> society means access to the internet, and although many of us think that the
> Americans With Disabilities Act has leveled the playing field for blind
> people, it was passed before the Internet was a factor. Although it speaks
> clearly to public access, it is mostly talking about physical structures.
> There is no question that a store has to let blind people in to shop. There
> is no question that a restaurant must allow someone with a cane or a guide
> dog into their establishment and must serve them. But the question that must
> be resolved is whether public places means physical locations or any
> location where the public is invited and encouraged to spend money. I
> contend that the internet is just such a place and that Amazon's online
> presence is no different from Barnes & Noble's store.
> 
> 
> 
> Although the courts have issued conflicting opinions on this, most rulings
> have said that the Americans With Disabilities Act would most certainly have
> included the internet had it been passed only three years later. The Justice
> Department agrees, and so does the Congress. The problem is that the Justice
> Department has not implemented the amendments to the Americans With
> Disabilities Act that was passed by the Congress by issuing regulations
> necessary for its enforcement. The Obama administration now says that it
> plans to wait until 2018 to issue such regulations. Of course, there will be
> no Obama administration in 2018, and every delay makes it easier for the
> next president to authorize another delay.
> 
> 
> 
> If you believe that it is important for me to be able to check in at an
> airport and to check out at a grocery store given that these both are
> requiring interaction with electronic devices, please look at the petition
> that I am including here, and if you feel as I do, please sign it. Some
> barriers that I face simply cannot be removed. I cannot enjoy seeing the
> stars in the sky or appreciate the beautiful colors that emerge in spring,
> but with technology that we have readily available today, there is no reason
> that I can't use a computer to read about these. The technological barriers
> I face are not so much due to blindness as they are the unwillingness of
> people to realize that there should be nonvisual ways of accessing much of
> what the world has to offer. Thank you for helping me if you feel as I do.
> Here is the link:
> 
> https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/direct-us-department-justice-promp
> tly-release-ada-internet-regulations
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Gary Wunder, President
> 
> National Federation of the Blind of Missouri
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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