[Ohio-Talk] Washington Seminar

[Todd Elzey]

Good afternoon!  The NFB's annual Washington Seminar is fast approaching.
This year's Washington Seminar will be held February 8-11, 2021 and due to
COVID it will be virtual via Zoom. The Washington Seminar will open the
evening of February 8, 2021, with the Great Gathering In at 5-7 P.M.  All
are invited to attend the Great Gathering In, even if you are unable to
join the week's meetings with Legislators.

This year we are promoting four issues: The Access Technology
Affordability Act, The Accessible Voting Act, The Accessible Websites Act,
and The Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act. The fact sheet for each
issue is attached in a separate Microsoft Word document. I am also
including the fact sheets in the body of this email for those who may not
be able to easily access Microsft Word documents.

This year Ohio is scheduling meetings with Legislators on February 9 and
10. Given that this year's Washington Seminar is a virtual event, this is a
fantastic opportunity to participate without the expense of traveling to
Washington D.C. or the extensive walking that is often required. But if you
wish to participate it is essential that you participate in our advance
training events so that you know what is required and how the event will
work. If you would like to participate, please contact Legislative Chair
Eric Duffy at peduffy63 at gmail.com as soon as possible.

Todd Elzey, Legislative Committee

Fact Sheet: Access Technology Affordability Act

Issue--The cost of critically needed access technology is out of reach for
most blind Americans.

*The high cost of access technology creates a difficult economic reality.
Most access technology ranges from $1,000 to $6,000.* For example, a
leading screen reader is $900, a popular Braille notetaker is $5,495, one
model of a refreshable Braille display is $2,795, and a moderately priced
Braille embosser is $3,695. According to the United States Census Bureau
69.1 percent of blind Americans are either unemployed or
underemployed.1 Consequently,
most blind Americans do not have sufficient financial resources needed to
purchase these items.2 These financial barriers can ultimately lead to a
loss of employment, insufficient education, or even isolation from
community activities.

*Medical insurance will not cover the cost of access technology.* Current
definitions of "medical care," "medical necessity," and "durable medical
equipment" within common insurance policies do not include access
technology. These definitions were adopted in the 1960s “when medical care
was viewed primarily as curative and palliative, with little or no
consideration given to increasing an individual's functional status.”3 Many
states’ Medicaid programs and individual health insurance plans have
adopted similar definitions and likewise will not cover the cost of access
technology.4

*Access technology enables blind Americans to participate in today’s
workforce.* Blindness is well-defined and measurable,5 but affects each
person differently and at different ages. Since individuals’ needs differ,
manufacturers have designed various tools that enable each blind American
to perform tasks that they were once unable to accomplish themselves due to
their blindness. Braille notetakers are frequently used in schools,
screen-reading software allows workers to check their email at home, and
screen-magnification software can help seniors losing vision learn about
community activities. Access technology equips blind Americans to seek
employment and stay employed. For the 69.1 percent of blind Americans who
are either unemployed or underemployed, it is a vehicle that facilitates
the job seeking process. Despite this critical need, public and private
entities struggle to meet consumer demand.6 This leads to untimely delays
in the delivery of necessary technology and ultimately harms the blind
consumer.

Solution--Access Technology Affordability Act:

*Makes access technology more affordable so that blind Americans can
procure these items for themselves.* It establishes a refundable tax credit
for blind Americans in the amount of $2,000 to be used over a three-year
period to offset the cost of access technology. The credit created by ATAA
will sunset after five years and will be indexed for inflation.

*Provides flexibility for individuals to obtain access technology based
upon their specific needs.* Accessibility requires an individualized
assessment of one’s own skills and needs. Therefore, blind Americans should
be given the opportunity to procure access technology on their own to
ensure that they are receiving the tools that are most useful for them.

*Will increase federal income tax revenue.* More blind Americans working
means more people paying taxes. It also means that those blind Americans
who obtain gainful employment through this tax credit will no longer need
to draw from federal programs such as Supplemental Security Income or
Social Security Disability Insurance and will instead be paying into the
Social Security Program.

*GOAL--IMPROVE AFFORDABILITY OF CRITICALLY NEEDED ACCESS TECHNOLOGY
NECESSARY FOR EMPLOYMENT AND INDEPENDENT LIVING.*

Cosponsor the Access Technology Affordability Act (ATAA)

To cosponsor the ATAA in the House of Representatives, contact:
Crozer Connor, Senior Legislative Assistant for Congressman Mike Thompson
(D-CA)
Phone: 202-225-3311, Email: crozer.connor at mail.house.gov

To cosponsor the ATAA in the Senate, contact:
Ryan Losak, Legislative Aide for Senator John Boozman (R-AR)
Phone: 202-224-4843, Email: Ryan_Losak at boozman.senate.gov

For more information, contact:
Jeff Kaloc, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the Blind
Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2206, Email: jkaloc at nfb.org
------------------------------
1 United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey. “The percentage
of non-institutionalized persons aged 21-64 years with a visual disability
in the United States who were employed full-time/full-year in 2018.”
Compiled by Cornell University.
https://www.disabilitystatistics.org/reports/acs.cfm?statistic=4
2 Erickson, W., Lee, C., von Schrader, S. (2016). "Disability Statistics
from the 2014 American Community Survey (ACS)." Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Employment and Disability Institute (EDI). Retrieved November
11, 2016, from www.disabilitystatistics.org.
3 National Council on Disability, “Federal Policy Barriers to Assistive
Technology,” (May 31, 2000) 8,
http://www.ncd.gov/rawmedia_repository/c9e48e89_261b_4dda_bc74_203d5915519f.pdf
.
4 Assistive Technology Industry Associates, “AT Resources Funding Guide,”
https://www.atia.org/at-resources/what-is-at/resources- funding-guide/
(last accessed December 10, 2018).
5 See 26 U.S.C § 63(f)(4).
6 See e.g. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services and Disability
Research, “Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request,”
https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget20/justifications/i-rehab.pdf,
p. I-50.

Fact Sheet: Accessible Voting Act

Issue--The constitutionally protected right to vote that is available to
all Americans is inaccessible for blind Americans.

*Current federal election law does not reflect the guarantee of equal
access to voting for people with disabilities that is codified in Title II
of the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. §12132). *The Help
America Vote Act (HAVA) ensures that polling locations for federal
elections have at least one voting system accessible to individuals with
disabilities.1 However, the ballots produced by many of the accessible
voting machines are different in size and content from the hand marked
ballots, resulting in a lack of secrecy when only voters with disabilities
use the accessible machines.

*Untrained poll workers, voting machine malfunctions, and the lack of
accessible voting machines in polling places prevent blind and low-vision
voters from fully exercising their right to vote. *The blind and low-vision
voter survey conducted by the National Federation of the Blind following
the 2020 general election2 found that 27 percent of blind and low-vision
voters who voted using an accessible voting machine said the machine was
not set up and operating when they arrived at the polls. One-quarter of the
voters who completed the survey in 2020 said that poll workers had problems
setting up or operating the machine. Fifteen percent of survey respondents
in 2020 who marked their ballot using an accessible machine said that poll
workers did not provide clear instructions on how to use the machine.

*Paper absentee ballots cannot be completed privately and independently by
blind voters.* An accessible way for blind, low-vision, or other
print-disabled voters to privately and independently mark their ballots
must be provided, as required by Title II of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), and affirmed by federal courts. 3, 4 However, blind
and print-disabled voters cannot mark and submit a paper absentee or
vote-by-mail ballot privately and independently. For the 2020 general
election, only twenty-six states provided an accessible way for blind
voters to mark an absentee ballot.5

*Paper voter registration and absentee ballot request forms are
inaccessible to blind voters.* Due to the inherent inaccessibility of paper
forms, blind and low-vision voters must complete these forms with
assistance. In addition, many online versions of these forms are
inaccessible with screen-access technology. A 2015 report by the American
Civil Liberties Union found that in 2014, only one state had an online
voter registration form that was fully accessible.6 Additionally, a 2020
audit of online absentee ballot request forms by Deque Systems found that
forty-three states had forms that were not fully accessible.7

Solution--Accessible Voting Act will:

*Ensure that in-person voting is accessible for blind and low-vision
voters, in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and
participation (including privacy and independence) as for other
voters.* Registering
to vote and voting must require the exclusive use of accessible and
universally designed processes, including electronic ballot marking devices
for all voters. Ballot marking devices require the same security that other
forms of voting require to ensure the process is safe and fair, and the use
of ballot marking devices at polling locations allows blind and print
disabled Americans to submit their ballots both privately and
independently.

*Require the education of state and local election officials and poll
workers in the setup and operation of the machines, including accessibility
features. *At a minimum, poll worker training should include instruction on
how to navigate through the audio ballot, how low-vision features operate,
and how to address potential problems with the nonvisual election
technology on Election Day. There must be enough in-person voting locations
to make it practical and reasonable to use this option. In addition, it is
equally important to ensure that the process for registering to vote is
nonvisually accessible (including certification and signature
requirements).

*Require that vote-by-mail ballots and related voting materials (including
voter registration) in elections must be accessible for blind and
low-vision individuals.* It is important to establish that the process for
requesting, filling out (including certification and signature
requirements), and submitting a vote-by-mail ballot is nonvisually
accessible, including electronic ballot delivery and return. Offering an
accessible electronic ballot delivery system can provide these voters with
an equal opportunity to mark their ballot privately and independently at
home using a computer and their own access technology.

*GOAL--ALL METHODS OF VOTING, INCLUDING REGISTRATION, MUST BE ACCESSIBLE TO
BLIND AND LOW-VISION CITIZENS.*

Cosponsor the Accessible Voting Act

For more information, contact:
Jeff Kaloc, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the Blind
Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2206 Email: jkaloc at nfb.org
------------------------------

1U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Help America Vote Act. January, 2021.
https://www.eac.gov/about_the_eac/help_america_vote_act.aspx

2 Based on a survey conducted by the National Federation of the Blind.
(Unpublished)

3Nat’l Fed’n of the Blind v. Lamone, 813 F.3d 494, 506 (4th Cir. 2016)

4Hindel v. Husted, 875 F.3d 344, 349 (6th Cir. 2017).

5Based on research conducted by the National Federation of the Blind.
(Unpublished)

6American Civil Liberties Union. “Access Denied: Barriers to Online Voter
Registration for Citizens with Disabilities.” January, 2015.
https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/021915-aclu-voterregonline_0.pdf
7Deque Systems. “Digital Accessibility in 2020 Election: Progress, But a
Long Way to Go.” November 24, 2020.
https://www.deque.com/blog/digital-accessibility-in-2020-election/#main-content


Fact Sheet: Accessible Websites Act

Issue--Websites are required by law to be accessible, but without
implementing regulations most businesses and retailers have little
understanding of what accessible means.


*Websites and mobile applications are an essential part of modern living. *More
than 313 million Americans use the internet,1 and 81 percent of Americans
say that they access the internet at least once each day.2 That means that
nearly the entire country is accessing websites and mobile applications
every day. However, the need to access websites and mobile applications
doesn’t stop when it reaches Americans with disabilities. According to the
American Community Survey, conducted by the United States Census Bureau,
there are approximately forty million Americans who currently have a
disability.3 Based on the numbers above, it is more than reasonable to
assume that the vast majority of them are using websites and mobile
applications.

*The Department of Justice announced its intention to publish accessible
website regulations more than a decade ago.* On July 26, 2010, the
twentieth anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA), the government published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to
address website accessibility.4  After that initial announcement, no
further action was taken to substantially advance website accessibility.

*The past few years have seen a significant increase in the prevalence of
so-called “click-by” lawsuits.* Businesses are required by law to make
their websites accessible but claim to have no clear-cut definition of what
“accessible” actually means. Meanwhile, people with disabilities must cope
with inaccessible websites. ADA Title III lawsuits, which include website
accessibility suits, hit record numbers in 2019, topping 11,000 for the
first time.5  The number of lawsuits has been increasing steadily since
2013, when the figure was first tracked.6

Solution--Accessible Websites Act will:

*Direct the US Access Board to promulgate accessibility regulations.* The
US Access Board will have 12 months following the enactment of the
legislation to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding website and
mobile application accessibility, then an additional 12 months to issue the
final rule.

*Promulgate standards that strive to harmonize with Section 508 standards.* The
Section 508 standards promulgated by the US Access Board on January 18,
2017, are established guidelines for website and technology accessibility.
Therefore, the regulations promulgated by the Access Board should harmonize
with these standards.

*Empower the Department of Justice to investigate the accessibility of
websites and mobile applications.* Either of its own volition or via a
logged complaint pertaining to inaccessibility, the Department of Justice
will have the authority to investigate accessibility concerns and commence
civil action if necessary.

*GOAL--END WEBSITE AND MOBILE APPLICATION INACCESSIBILITY FOR BLIND
AMERICANS. *

Sponsor the Accessible Websites Act

For more information, contact:
Jeff Kaloc, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the Blind
Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2206
Email: jkaloc at nfb.org
------------------------------

For more information visit www.nfb.org.
 1 Statista. “Countries with the highest number of internet users as of
December 2019.” June 2020.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/262966/number-of-internet-users-in-selected-countries/

 2 Andrew Perrin & Madhu Kumar. “About three-in-ten U.S. adults say they
are ‘almost constantly’ online.” July 25, 2019.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/25/americans-going-online-almost-constantly/
 3 United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey. “The number of
non-institutionalized, male or female, all ages, all races, regardless of
ethnicity, with all education levels in the United States reported a
disability in 2018.” Compiled by Cornell University.
https://www.disabilitystatistics.org/reports/acs.cfm?statistic=1
 4 Federal Register. “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability;
Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government
Entities and Public Accommodations.” July 26, 2010.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2010/07/26/2010-18334/nondiscrimination-on-the-basis-of-disability-accessibility-of-web-information-and-services-of-state
 5 Minh Vu, Kristina Launey, & Susan Ryan. “2019 Was Another
Record-Breaking Year for Federal ADA Title III Lawsuits.” February 20,
2020.
https://www.adatitleiii.com/2020/02/2019-was-another-record-breaking-year-for-federal-ada-title-iii-lawsuits/
 6 Ibid.

Fact Sheet: Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act

Issue--Advanced digital interfaces create barriers that prevent blind
individuals from independently and safely operating home-use medical
devices that are essential to their daily healthcare needs.


*Home-use medical devices are becoming more prevalent and less accessible
for blind Americans.* The rapid proliferation of advanced technology is
undeniable. Most newer models of home-use medical devices, such as glucose
and blood pressure monitors, along with the emergence of in-home devices
that offer medical care options, such as chemotherapy treatments and
dialysis, require that consumers interact with a digital display or other
interfaces. This new technology has been and continues to be developed and
deployed without nonvisual accessibility as an integral part of the design
phase, which creates a modern-day barrier. The inaccessibility of home-use
medical devices is not a mere inconvenience; if accessibility for blind
consumers is omitted from the medical technology landscape, the health,
safety, and independence of blind Americans will be in imminent danger.

*Advancements in home-use medical devices have the potential to transform
how people live in society but are currently designed for those with no
functional limitations.*1 This flaw in product design limits options for
blind Americans who need nonvisual access to critically important devices
that help them to maintain their health and are available to people without
disabilities.2

*Nonvisual access is achievable, as demonstrated by a number of mainstream
products.* Apple has incorporated VoiceOver (a text-to-speech function)
into all of their products, making iPhones, Macbooks and Mac desktops, and
iPads fully accessible to blind people right out of the box. Virtually all
ATMs manufactured in the United States are accessible, and every polling
place is required to have a nonvisually accessible voting machine.
Frequently, a simple audio output or vibrotactile feature can make a
product fully accessible at little to no additional cost for manufacturers.

*Current disability laws are not able to keep up with advancements due to
the expeditious evolution of medical technology and its incorporation into
home-use medical devices. *Although the Americans with Disabilities Act and
other laws require physical accessibility for people with disabilities
(e.g., wheelchair ramps, Braille in public buildings), no laws protect the
blind consumer’s right to technology such as home-use medical devices. The
National Council on Disability concluded that accessibility standards lag
behind the rapid pace of technology, which can interfere with technology
access.3 This trend of inaccessibility will continue if accessibility
solutions are ignored. Only a fraction of medical device manufacturers have
incorporated nonvisual access standards into their product design, while
others continue to resist these solutions.

Solution--Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act:

*Calls on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to promulgate nonvisual
accessibility standards for home-use medical devices. *The FDA will consult
with stakeholders with disabilities and manufacturers and issue a notice of
proposed rulemaking no later than twelve months after the date of enactment
of the act. No later than 24 months after the date of enactment of the act,
the FDA will publish the final rule including the nonvisual accessibility
standards.

*Requires manufacturers of home-use medical devices to make their products
nonvisually accessible.* Manufacturers will have twelve months following
the publication of the final rule to ensure that all of the home-use
medical devices they produce are nonvisually accessible.

*Authorizes the FDA to enforce the nonvisual access standards for home-use
medical devices.* Any manufactured device found to be out of compliance,
whether by a public complaint to the FDA or by an independent FDA
investigation, will incur the same penalties as failing to meet the same
safety standards as other home-use medical devices.

*GOAL--END UNEQUAL ACCESS TO HOME-USE MEDICAL DEVICES FOR BLIND AMERICANS. *

Cosponsor the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act

For more information, contact:
Stephanie Flynt, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the
Blind Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2210
Email: sflynt at nfb.org
------------------------------

1 See NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITIES, National Disability Policy Progress
Report: Technology that enables access to the full opportunities of
citizenship under the Constitution is a right at 19 (October 7, 2016),
available at
https://ncd.gov/progressreport/2016/progress-report-october-2016.

2 See Id.

3 See Id.
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