[NFBWV-Talk] Fwd: NFB President’s Notebook - Week of 08/24/2020

Tue Aug 25 01:38:29 UTC 2020

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: President, National Federation of the Blind <
OfficeOfThePresident at nfb.org>
Date: Mon, Aug 24, 2020 at 4:54 PM
Subject: NFB President’s Notebook - Week of 08/24/2020
To: President, National Federation of the Blind <
OfficeOfThePresident at nfb.org>

President’s Notebook

National Federation of the Blind

Mark A. Riccobono

officeofthepresident at nfb.org

410-659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,

I hope this message finds you doing well on this beautiful summer day.

We continue to face many of the same challenges in the Federation that are
impacting the entire nation.

I appreciate the care and attention that each of our leaders continues to
give to our collective action.

As a follow up to last week’s meeting on virtual affiliate conventions, a
number of questions continue

to come up around managing affiliate business and voting. I wanted to offer
these general principles for your consideration.

Conducting business for affiliate conventions:

   1.

   Affiliate convention as supreme authority: The convention should vote on
   any changes in procedures, especially deferring elections. The convention

   has the right to know what is being proposed in advance, have it
   considered and debated, and then have the opportunity to vote on the
   proposal. I understand some state boards are considering simply voting to
   defer elections. A board can propose to defer elections

   and give a rationale for that decision, but the convention should vote
   on the proposal. Considering the unusual nature of such a proposal, it
   should be read at two different sessions of the convention before being
   voted upon.
   2.

   ‘Present and voting’ is our standard: Those eligible to vote are members
   present and voting at the convention. You should take all appropriate
   measures

   to ensure that those who vote are affiliate members. They should also be
   participating in the convention. The affiliate does not have an obligation
   to actively reach out during the convention to members who have chosen not
   to participate in the proceedings.

   For the national convention we defined the standard as, “Present and
   voting will mean the subset

   of convention voters who actually cast a vote on a given question. Thus,
   voters who are indifferent to a matter cannot block its consideration by
   the convention by choosing not to cast a vote.”
   3.

   Membership policies are governed by the constitution and the board of
   directors: The state board can establish policies for when people need to be

   members to be eligible to vote at the convention, assuming that the
   affiliate constitution does not already give a standard. Again, if there is
   a membership deadline, it should be promoted in advance so that all
   potential members know a deadline exists. For

   the national convention, we said that to vote people had to be
   registered and had to be members. We relied on affiliates to verify
   membership. We published this standard in advance of the convention.
   4.

   Eligible voter education: Care should be taken to educate all members in
   advance on voting, how it will be managed, and what they need to do to vote.

   There is likely no perfect solution. Our goal should be a fair, clear,
   accessible process. When in doubt, we urge you to overcommunicate about
   voting around the convention.
   5.

   Constitutional consistency: The affiliate constitution should continue
   to outline the terms of board members. In the case where elections are
   deferred,

   the terms of board members should continue to match the constitution.
   Thus, if you have an officer position that is supposed to be up for
   election this fall but will not be elected because the convention decides
   to defer to 2021, that position will need to

   be elected in 2021 (as a make-up for the missed election) and in 2022
   per the regular schedule. Some affiliates have been suggesting that this
   simply shifts the terms to different years. That would override the
   constitution—do not do that.
   6.

   Coordination with the national representative: As you know, the national
   representative to the convention serves in place of our national President.

   Therefore, they carry the authority of the national organization.
   National representatives should be involved in helping you with your voting
   process. This will ensure you draw on the best practices available. In that
   regard, I encourage you to establish communication

   channels with your national representative for use during the
   convention. I also urge you to make the national representative a Zoom
   co-host so they have access to the correct level of participation in the
   meeting at all times.
   7.

   Multiple methods of voting approaches can work: For certain matters and
   in certain affiliates, a voice vote will still be an appropriate method of

   managing certain votes. Note that in some cases you may also choose to
   perform a roll call vote. In other words, just because the convention is
   virtual does not mean we need to abandon the traditional voting systems.
   This will obviously depend on a number

   of factors. For the thousands of people at the national convention,
   these methods were not appropriate. However, in many affiliates this will
   work fine.
   8.

   Voting management: Consider carefully how you are going to manage the
   voting process during the convention. Having a subcommittee that reports to

   the affiliate president about the management of the voting system is a
   good idea. The subcommittee can monitor for problems and verify the results
   of votes reported by the chair. The national representative should
   participate with this group if it is established.
   9.

   Make a plan B: Have a backup plan in case your voting system does not
   work. Keep in mind that the decisions made around voting need to be viewed
   as

   reasonable, fair, and understandable by the members in order to be
   accepted. At the end of the day, your affiliate needs to decide what is
   best for the local circumstances. However, not putting plans in place and
   not taking the business of the organization

   seriously is not an option. Keep it simple and make sure the approach
   has the support of the members at the convention.
   10.

   Consult the rules of engagement from the national convention: This is a
   reference point for how the national board decided to manage the principles

   and articulate the plans to the membership. Learn what you can from it
   and then improve it. Once you improve it, share that with other affiliates
   so we can grow the knowledge base.

Affiliate leaders may wish to review the Rules of Engagement Proposal from
the national convention as

a framework for thinking about convention voting related matters.

News:

Attend the Presidential Release Next Week:

The

September Presidential Release
<https://www.nfb.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=400>

of the National Federation of the Blind will be delivered on Tuesday,
September 1, 2020. After the remarks, there is an opportunity for
questions. Submit questions in advance to

cdanielsen at nfb.org,

and put PR497 in the subject line, or call 410-659-9314, extension 2473.

Call for Blind Americans to Vote in 2020 Election:

The National Federation of the Blind encourages all blind people,
regardless of their

political views, to participate in the American democracy. If your
circumstances do not allow you to vote privately and independently this
year, we still urge you to vote and then complete our voting survey
(available October 2020) as we will continue to fight

for your right to privately and independently vote. You have the right to
have a person of your choice assist you in voting, either by mail or at the
polls, if you cannot fill out your ballot privately and independently.
Please watch our video, “Call

for Blind Americans to Vote in 2020 Election
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQCc6iGhl9k>.”

Advocacy and Policy Update:

On August 21, we gained four new House cosponsors for the Access Technology
Affordability Act (H.R. 2086):

Buddy Carter of Georgia

Ralph Abraham of Louisiana

Vicky Hartzler of Missouri

Bradley Byrne of Alabama

This brings our total House cosponsor count to 125. Special thanks to the
Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, and Alabama affiliates

for working hard to get these four representatives. ATAA also has
twenty-four cosponsors for the Senate companion bill, S. 815. These numbers
are fantastic, but we must continue to build support for both of these
bills in order to get ATAA completely across

the finish line. Please continue to contact your members of Congress. If
you need to find out who to contact in your member’s office, please email
Jesa Medders at

jmedders at nfb.org.

While you’re talking with your senators, you might also bring up our
opposition to including the Americans with Disabilities

Act in Section 181 of the SAFE TO WORK Act (S. 4317). In a related note,
you might have recently heard about a “skinny” COVID-19 relief proposal in
the Senate. Unfortunately, this legislation, which is being proposed as an
amendment intended to replace the

text of an older bill (S. 178), also contains the same language as the SAFE
TO WORK Act. Please tell your senators that you also oppose the inclusion
of the ADA in Section 1181 of the Delivering Immediate Relief to America’s
Families, Schools, and Small Businesses

Act.

Finally, as you may already know, Sami’s Law (H.R. 4686) passed the House
with no objection on July 29. This means that we are

one step closer to having it become law, but we need to boost Senate
support. Please let your senators know that you strongly support Sami’s Law
(H.R. 4686), and the improvements it will bring to rideshare safety for all
Americans, and urge that they support

it as well when it is considered in the Senate.

New Blog Post: “Access Technology Detection as an App Permission: A
Possible Solution”

Apps detecting if a screen reader is in use could provide improved
functionality when screen readers are running. Unfortunately,

it can also be used improperly, hiding functionality, presenting simplified
or limited versions of interfaces, and more.

Read the recent post on the

*Voice of the Nation’s Blind Blog*
<https://www.nfb.org/blog/access-technology-detection-app-permission-possible-solution>
.

2020 Virtual Senior Retreat:

The National Federation of the Blind Senior Division’s annual retreat will
be virtual this year. Focusing on promoting

a sense of wellbeing and self-confidence in both newly and lifelong blind
seniors, the retreat will take place October 18-24. Visit their

website at http://seniors.nfb.org

for more information and to register.

2020 Online Research Platform Study:

This semester, we will be working with the accessibility of the HathiTrust
to conduct a study on the accessibility and usability

of an online research platform. If you are a college student,
higher-education faculty member, or other professional conducting academic
research,

please complete this survey <https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/C5KDN7G>

in order to be considered to participate in the study. All who complete the
survey will be entered into a drawing.

NFB BELL® Donations from Affiliates:

Thanks go out to the NFB of Texas for our latest affiliate contribution to
NFB BELL. I continue to be proud of the way we have

supported our shift to an all-virtual program for our NFB BELL In-Home
Edition. Thanks to all of our affiliates who have contributed time and
financial resources to make this happen.

Dates to Keep in Mind:

   - September 1: Presidential Release LIVE, 8:00 p.m. eastern
   - September 13: Open-House Gathering call, 4:00 p.m. eastern
   - September 25:

   Nonvisual Access Conference
   <https://www.nfb.org/programs-services/center-excellence-nonvisual-access/trainings/nonvisual-access-conference>
   - October 1: Presidential Release LIVE, 8:00 p.m. eastern
   - October 1:

   Inclusive Publishing Conference
   <https://www.nfb.org/programs-services/center-excellence-nonvisual-access/trainings/inclusive-publishing-conference>
   - October: Meet the Blind Month
   - November 1: Presidential Release LIVE, 8:00 p.m. eastern
   - December 1: Presidential Release LIVE, 8:00 p.m. eastern
   - December 9: Open-House Gathering call, 8:00 p.m. eastern
   - February 8, 2021: Washington Seminar Great Gathering-In

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.

-- 
Sheri Koch, President
National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia
304-993-5103