[Nfbf-l] Please help if you can

[Kathy Davis]

Hi Jim,
	What a beautifully written position paper. I tried to get to the
link you provided but to no avail. I even rebooted my computer but still no
luck. Suggestions please! 

Take care,

Kathy Davis


-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbf-l [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jim Ellsworth
via Nfbf-l
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2016 8:25 PM
To: NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List
Cc: Jim Ellsworth; NFBF-Leaders at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Nfbf-l] Please help if you can

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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