[Nfbmt] 2014 Resolutions

[Bruce&Joy Breslauer]

Resolution 2014-01 Regarding the Inaccessibility of AlcoholEdu

 

WHEREAS

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended), and the Joint Dear Colleague Letter
issued on June 29, 2010 by the Departments of Justice and Education, all
require that institutions of higher education in the United States provide
blind and other students with print disabilities equal access to education,
including electronic educational media and learning management systems; and,

 

WHEREAS 

State of Montana regulations such as the 1993 Executive Order by Governor
Racicot calling for Montana to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation
Act, HB239 passed in 2001 requiring nonvisual access to information
technology, and the Montana Human Rights Act, all require that Montana
University System components only procure and provide electronic media and
learning management systems which are accessible to blind and other students
with print disabilities; and, 

 

WHEREAS

On March 7, 2014, The University of Montana, a component of the Montana
University System, entered into a compliance agreement with the U.S.
Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, regarding the University's
failure to make such electronic educational media and learning management
systems accessible to blind and other students with print disabilities; and,

 

WHEREAS 

The Montana University System has justly ramped up its efforts to educate
incoming students about the potential dangers of alcohol abuse and sexual
violence; and,

 

WHEREAS 

The Commissioner of Higher Education, Clayton Christian, subsequently
approved the purchase of AlcoholEdu, an online alcohol abuse and sexual
violence prevention program, to be implemented as the education module on
this topic for the entire Montana University System; and,

 

WHEREAS 

The completion of AlcoholEdu is mandatory for all incoming first-year and
transfer students under the age of 21 in all sixteen components of the
Montana University System, but the failure to complete AlcoholEdu results in
the freezing of a student's ability to register for future classes; and,

 

WHEREAS 

Blind and other students with print disabilities have at least as great a
need for education regarding alcohol abuse and sexual violence as their
nondisabled peers; and, 

 

WHEREAS 

Since AlcoholEdu has proven to be inaccessible to screen readers, an
assistive technology used by blind and other students with print
disabilities in the Montana University System, the only means by which a
screen reader using student can complete this mandatory requirement is to
have someone else read the questions aloud to the student and submit the
student's responses to AlcoholEdu; and,

 

WHEREAS 

Since AlcoholEdu promises complete confidentiality to all students with
respect to the information they provide, this process violates both the
civil rights and the rights to confidentiality of blind and other students
with print disabilities; and,  

 

WHEREAS 

Although Commissioner Christian was made aware of this, he nevertheless
forced the implementation of AlcoholEdu in all sixteen components of the
Montana University System: NOW 

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Montana
in convention assembled this Eleventh Day of October, 2014, in the city of
Helena, Montana, that this organization condemn and deplore Commissioner
Clayton Christian's willful and informed action, resulting in the violation
of the civil and confidentiality rights of blind and other students with
print disabilities of the Montana University System, and his utter disregard
for the law and the health and safety of all students with print
disabilities; and 

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon Commissioner
Christian and the Montana University System to immediately take whatever
steps are necessary to make AlcoholEdu accessible to blind and other
students with print disabilities.

 

Resolution 2014-02 Applauds BRBS for funding NFB Newsline 

 

WHEREAS 

Access to national and local newspapers and other printed information is
critical to achieving full participation in employment and other aspects of
society; and, 

 

WHEREAS 

NFB Newsline is a fast and flexible information content delivery system with
five Montana dailies, as well as more than three hundred other newspapers,
magazines, and publications; and,

 

WHEREAS 

Montana's Vocational Rehabilitation and Blind Services has now assumed
sponsorship of NFB Newsline as an important employability factor for
Montanans with print disabilities:  NOW THEREFORE, 

 

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Montana in
convention assembled this Eleventh Day of October, 2014, in the city of
Helena, Montana, that this organization applaud VRBS for sponsoring NFB
Newsline for the benefit of all Montanans with print disabilities.

 

Resolution 2014-03 Regarding Funding for the Teaching of Fundamental Skill
Development for Montana Students with Blindness and Low Vision Disabilities 

 

WHEREAS 

Montana students with blindness and low vision disabilities are in need of
fundamental skill development for independent travel, information
management, and other compensatory disability-related skills; and, 

 

WHEREAS 

The Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind community-based service
consultants do not provide direct services such as orientation and mobility
instruction to Montana students with blindness and low vision disabilities;
and,

 

WHEREAS 

Blind and Low Vision Services orientation and mobility service strategy
involves age and employment-related eligibility requirements; and, 

 

WHEREAS 

It is a necessity for Montana students with blindness and low vision
disabilities to have fundamental skills to benefit from public education and
live the lives they want: NOW, THEREFORE 

 

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Montana in
convention assembled this Eleventh Day of October, 2014, in the city of
Helena, Montana, that this organization recommend that The Honorable
Governor Steve Bullock in the Executive Budget Planning (EBPp), and/or the
Montana 2015 legislature, appropriate funds to the Montana Independent
Living Project (MILP) for the purposes of supporting, encouraging, and
stabilizing orientation and mobility gains for Montana students with
blindness  and low vision disabilities for the upcoming biennium.