[Nfbmt] Urgent Action Alert!

[President, NFB of Montana]

From: President, National Federation of the Blind 

Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2015 3:42 PM



Dear Fellow Federationists:

 

Once again, Amazon, Inc. is trying to push its inaccessible technology into
public schools, despite our years of advocacy and clear warnings against the
adoption of inaccessible technology by the United States Departments of
Education and Justice. In this case, blind students throughout the New York
City public school system will be denied an equal education if the city goes
through with a proposed $30 million deal under which Amazon would construct
an electronic storefront for New York City schools and become the primary
provider of electronic textbooks and related educational materials.
Unfortunately, Amazon e-books inhibit the ability of blind students to
access complex material like tables and equations and the ability to easily
navigate through a book, among other significant accessibility barriers. 

We have a chance to stop this deal. The school system's Panel for
Educational Policy, which has the final say on the deal, will meet next
Wednesday, August 26, to vote on it; and blind people must be there in force
to let the panel members and the public know that this is a bad deal for
blind students and faculty and, therefore, for New York City schools. We
must tell the panel that a vote for this deal is an outrageous act of
deliberate discrimination against blind students and an equally outrageous
and deliberate violation of federal law. We are therefore asking that you
come to the meeting for a good old National Federation of the Blind
demonstration, the kind that we can do like no one else! Following the
demonstration, we will enter the auditorium where the meeting is taking
place and participate respectfully in the meeting so that we can encourage
the school board to do the right thing and shut down this "Amazon Fail!"

Here are the logistical details: Please arrive at M.S. 131, 100 Hester
Street, New York, New York 10002, no later than 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday,
August 26. Please come dressed nicely, while taking appropriate
consideration of the weather. Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes. The
NFB team will be on hand to provide you with signs and flyers for the
demonstration. The demonstration will end at around 6:00 p.m. when the
meeting begins, but please plan to come inside the auditorium and stay until
the meeting ends. We estimate that we'll be in the auditorium for at least
an hour. We will have Federationists prepared to testify against the deal,
so there will be no need for you to do anything except to listen
respectfully. Once the meeting is over, we will leave in an orderly fashion
and head home. Hopefully no further advocacy will be needed after this
crucial effort, but if it is, we stand ready to take such action, and will
let all of you know what you can do to help.

Finally, it is critical that we get an accurate count of how many people
will attend this demonstration, so if you plan to come, please drop us an
email to amazonfail at nfb.org. Please include your name, your affiliate, and
the email address and telephone number where we are most likely to reach you
if needed. Also, let us know if you will be bringing anyone with you, and
provide contact information for them if it's different from yours. If you
have any questions, please contact John Pare by calling him at (410)
659-9314, extension 2218, or via email at jpare at nfb.org.  We also encourage
you to share our Facebook event
<https://m.facebook.com/events/1481547865498264?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A98%2
C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&aref=98&__tn__=H>  and use the hashtag
#AmazonFail on Twitter. For further background on this situation, please
read our blog post.

It is imperative that we protect the rights of blind students in New York
City and throughout America by stopping this deal and sending a clear
message to the New York City public schools, to Amazon, and to school
systems across America that we will not tolerate blind children being
treated like second-class citizens in our nation's classrooms. Make your
plans now to put a stop to the #AmazonFail!

 

Mark A. Riccobono, President

National Federation of the Blind

200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place

Baltimore, Maryland 21230

Phone: (410) 659-9314

Fax: (410) 659-5129

Email: officeofthepresident at nfb.org

Twitter: @Riccobono and @NFB_Voice

Web:  <http://www.nfb.org/> www.nfb.org

 

The National Federation of the Blind 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.

 

We are celebrating our 75th year and planning for the future we will build
together! 

Make your contribution
<https://nfb.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=1>  to that future
now.

 

Joy Breslauer, President

National Federation of the Blind of Montana 

Address: P.O. Box 1325, Great Falls, MT 59403 

Email: president at nfbofmt.org

Web Site: www.nfbofmt.org

 

Live the life you want 

 

The National Federation of the Blind 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..

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