[Nfbv-announce] Revised 2019 Priorities of the Blind of Virginia

Fri Jan 18 05:34:05 UTC 2019

Please find the updated fact sheet attached and pasted below.

2019 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES OF THE BLIND OF VIRGINIA

Priority #1: Enable blind people to get back to work faster.

Action: Support the Governor's budget proposal for increased funds for DBVI.

Issue: The Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired ("DBVI") provides
vocational rehabilitation services leading to employment of Virginians who
are blind, deaf/blind, and vision impaired. DBVI provides training in the
alternative techniques used by blind people to work and live independently.
For example, Virginia students with significant vision disabilities receive
pre-employment transition services that assist them in acquiring the skills
and credentials to enter the Virginia workforce. Funding for DBVI has not
increased for 20 years and the waitlist for vocational rehabilitation
services has grown to 150 adults and 400 underserved students. Individuals
on the waitlist typically wait for nearly 9 months. Blind Virginians want to
work and live independently.

Solution: Support the Governor's budget to increase DBVI funding. The
Governor's budget proposal is an incremental step toward ensuring the
availability of sufficient funds needed to serve blind Virginians. Increased
funding ($625,000) would reduce the waiting list by 50 people, fund
($176,000) reasonable accommodations for DBVI's blind employees who need
drivers to perform their job functions, and fund services ($218,000) for
deaf/blind Virginians. Without this funding, many Virginians will not
receive services which lead them to self-sufficiency and the opportunity to
lead productive and comfortable lives.

Priority #2: Support access to online banking by the blind.

Action: Oppose SB1302 (Patron Barker)/HB2296 (Patron Leftwich) which does
not fix the supposed problem but does dramatically weaken protections that
ensure accessibility for blind people in Virginia.

Issue: Financial institutions expect their customers to use web-based online
services to perform banking functions and manage their finances in an
efficient and cost-effective manner. When financial institutions provide
online services properly, blind people can use assistive technology to meet
their professional and personal banking needs in an increasingly web-based
world. When web services are inaccessible, blind people pay fees using a
phone representative, spend more time to perform functions, receive less
access to services versus other members of the general public, and must
reveal private and sensitive financial information to other people to
complete transactions.

Web-based banking services have dramatically improved the ability to bank
independently for blind people. Access to these services is covered under
the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). When accessibility problems
arise as websites are updated, blind people typically inform their financial
institution, and the problems are addressed because the institutions know
they are expected to provide accessible services as a place of public
accommodation under Title III of the ADA, which has been in effect for
nearly 30 years. The bill (SB1304/HB 2296) would create confusion and not
reduce so-called frivolous litigation because it only changes financial
institutions' obligations under state law, which they have not been sued
under, but does not change their responsibilities under the ADA, the federal
law that, when they are sued, they have always been sued under.

Solution: Oppose SB1302/HB2296 which does nothing to solve the problem
raised by those in favor of the bill but which sets a dangerous precedent
that the rights of people with disabilities in Virginia can be ignored until
someone brings a lawsuit. 

As previously stated, Virginia's financial institutions have not been sued
under state law, only under the ADA, a federal law. Thus, changing Virginia
law will do nothing to reduce so-called frivolous lawsuits. 

Moreover, this bill would put in place barriers for people with disabilities
to enforce their rights, for example, by preventing people with disabilities
from going forward with a lawsuit under state law until a financial
institution that is breaking the law has been given a warning and 120 more
days to stop violating the law. This would send a message to financial
institutions that they should only follow Virginia law once they have been
sued instead of following it all the time. Therefore, while this bill would
not stop lawsuits against Virginia financial institutions under the ADA, it
would set a dangerous precedent that would undermine the Commonwealth's
desire to ensure equal access for people with disabilities.

Even though this bill would not end the so-called frivolous lawsuits brought
under federal law, it would introduce a number of technical and substantive
issues into Virginia law. For example, many website accessibility cases end
with a settlement or court order requiring entities to implement a system to
prevent future violations of the law which are monitored for compliance by
the courts. This bill would all-but eliminate such settlements or court
orders if any cases were ever brought under Virginia law by giving financial
institutions a big incentive to fix the immediate problem without fixing the
underlying problems that led to the inaccessibility in the first place. 

The ADA has been around for almost 30 years. The first version of the
accessibility standards for websites identified in the bill, WCAG 1.0, has
been around since 1999. Financial institutions that are currently breaking
the law should not have to be told that they are in violation of a
decades-old law when the guidance they wish to follow has already been
around for 20 years.  

In short, this bill harms the financial institutions it intends to protect
by doing nothing to stop so-called frivolous lawsuits under the ADA and
creating a culture of non-compliance with the law. This legislation merely
offers the financial sector a false victory while simultaneously setting a
precedent that the rights of people with disabilities can be ignored until
they bring a lawsuit. 

*****

ABOUT THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

The National Federation of the Blind is America's largest and most active
organization of the blind. With more than 50,000 members, we are not an
"agency" claiming to speak for the blind; we are blind people speaking for
ourselves. In Virginia, we are organized into 14 local chapters throughout
the Commonwealth, and into various special interest divisions; including a
parents' division. 

Tracy Soforenko

President, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia

202 285-4595

Tracy.soforenko at gmail.com <mailto:Tracy.soforenko at gmail.com> 

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

www.nfbv.org <http://www.nfbv.org> 

National Federation of the Blind. Live the Life You Want

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day we work
together to help blind people live the lives they want.

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 164532 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20190118/d2ace880/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7103 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20190118/d2ace880/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.emz
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 1056 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20190118/d2ace880/attachment.obj>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.png
Type: image/png
Size: 901 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20190118/d2ace880/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2019 NFBV final final Fact Sheet 01-18-2019.docx
Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Size: 161651 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20190118/d2ace880/attachment.docx>