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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-1.0in'><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Subject: Appropriation for the Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access (CENA) to Education, Public Information, and Commerce </span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>To: Members of the Maryland General Assembly<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>From: Members of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Contact: Sharon Maneki, Director of Legislation and Advocacy<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Federation of the Blind of Maryland<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>9013 Nelson Way<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Columbia, MD 21045<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Phone: 410-715-9596<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Email: <span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="mailto:nfbmd@earthlink.net">nfbmd@earthlink.net</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in'><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Date: January 24, 2019<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>PROPOSED ACTION</span></b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The Maryland General Assembly should keep the $250,000 appropriation in the Governor’s Budget for the CENA to Education, Public Information, and Commerce. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>BACKGROUND </span></b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>In 2014, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) founded the NFB Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access (CENA). The CENA is a center of expertise, best practices, and resources that enables business, government, and educational institutions to more effectively provide accessible information and services to blind citizens. The State of Maryland, through the Maryland Department of Disabilities (MDOD), partners with the CENA to support a series of projects under the Nonvisual Accessibility Initiative (NVAI) with an aim to establish Maryland as a leader in nonvisual accessibility. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h2 style='page-break-after:avoid'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>New Projects<o:p></o:p></span></h2><h3 style='page-break-after:avoid'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></h3><h3 style='page-break-after:avoid'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Accessible Maryland Job Centers<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal style='page-break-after:avoid'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The U.S. Department of Labor's final report, “Evaluating the Accessibility of American Job Centers for People with Disabilities,” states that “almost two-thirds (63 percent) of American Job Centers (AJCs) were not accessible.” With over 70 percent unemployment of people with disabilities, ensuring accessibility of these job centers is essential. The NFB will conduct assessments of Maryland job centers and work to make them fully accessible to job seekers with disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h3><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>A More Accessible Maryland<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>In addition to the emerging nonvisual access navigation or wayfinding technologies that offer orientation and information solutions to a variety of public and commercial venues; there are innovative technologies being developed and implemented that create more accessible experiences for people with disabilities to live, work, and play in their communities. The NFB has been involved in the evaluation and development of a variety of cutting-edge wayfinding and other environmental information technologies. Through our Accessible Cities projects, we can enhance MDOD’s Access Maryland efforts and create a more accessible Maryland. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h3><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Inclusive Publishing Conference<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The Inclusive Publishing Conference will tie in with the CENA’s focus on access to digital publications, and will have sessions that address accessible publications in educational arenas as well as for the general population. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h2><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Continuing Initiatives<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Enhanced Accessible Academic EBook Program<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The HathiTrust is a consortium of institutions offering more than thirteen million titles digitized from around the world. The resulting accessible electronic text continues to change the way blind people access information, especially in academic environments. Electronic text is encoded text that can be interpreted by a machine, and therefore can be presented to any user in whatever way they would find most helpful. It can appear as printed letters on a screen (at any size), be spoken aloud by synthetic text-to-speech voices, or rendered on a refreshable Braille display. The NFB will build on the information offered through the HathiTrust Digital Consortium by assisting in the development and implementation of other accessible electronic book platforms. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a name="OLE_LINK3"></a><a name="OLE_LINK4"><span style='mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK3'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></span></a></p><span style='mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK3'></span><span style='mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK4'></span><h3><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Accessibility Boutiques and Training Seminars <o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The NVAI has contributed to a number of informal accessibility-specific boutiques and training seminars. The boutiques are several hours long and are open to the public at no cost to Maryland citizens. The larger training seminars are more intensive and can take place over several days. <a name="OLE_LINK9">The intended impact is to increase accessibility awareness and the knowledge of educators, government administrators, businesses, and others about the tools and training they can use to better provide nonvisual access to their programs and services. <o:p></o:p></a></span></p><span style='mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK9'></span><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h3><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Accessibility Switchboard<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal><a name="OLE_LINK16"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The Accessibility Switchboard is a dynamic online accessibility portal that provides up-to-date information to consumers about accessible websites, emerging technology, and frequently encountered accessibility problems/solutions; and also provides information specific to government, corporate, and educational institutions on building accessible websites. The NFB will continue the development of this resource. <o:p></o:p></span></a></p><span style='mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK16'></span><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h3><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Accessibility Inclusion Fellowships<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The “Final Report of the Study on Accessibility Concepts in Computer Science, Information Systems and Information Technology Programs in Higher Education,” was submitted to the governor and to the General Assembly in August 2017. The report recommended that three annual fellowships be awarded to instructors that include accessibility concepts within at least one course in their institution. The NFB will administer and coordinate the second year of the Accessibility Inclusion Fellowship program.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h2><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Access to information remains one of the greatest barriers faced by blind persons. To reduce these barriers the National Federation of the Blind established the CENA to provide information about best practices and to develop innovative techniques for achieving nonvisual access. The Maryland General Assembly should allow this state-of-the-art program to continue by approving the $250,000 appropriation in the Governor’s Budget under the Maryland Department of Disabilities. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sharon Maneki, Director of Legislation and Advocacy</span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>National Federation of the Blind of Maryland<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>410-715-9596<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back</span>.<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>