[VABS] Fwd: NFBV-Announce Digest, Vol 134, Issue 11

Sat Feb 23 12:11:49 UTC 2019

Good Morning Members,

Since the conference committee was unable to piece things together
amicably, we must urge our representatives to vote against the compromise.

Details are below please read thoroughly so that you understand what's
going on.

Sincerely,

André E. Hill

-Student
French Language & Culture Major
Batten College of Arts & Letters
Old Dominion University

-Chair, Legislative Committee
Virginia Association of Blind Students
National Federation of the Blind of Virginia

-Student Member
Electronic Information & Technology Advisory Board
Tidewater Community College

-Parliamentarian
DREAM-TCC
Tidewater Community College- Norfolk Campus

-Member
Planning Activities Committee & Alumni Advisory Council
Maryland Youth Leadership Forum

"I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm
going is what inspires me to travel it.”-Rosalía de Castro

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Date: Sat, Feb 23, 2019, 7:01 AM
Subject: NFBV-Announce Digest, Vol 134, Issue 11
To: <nfbv-announce at nfbnet.org>

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Today's Topics:

   1. Email your State Senator and Delegate Immediately on Saturday
      morning- Oppose the re-Written HB2296 (Tracy Soforenko)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 00:25:05 -0500
From: "Tracy Soforenko" <tracy.soforenko at gmail.com>
To: <nfbv-announce at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [Nfbv-announce] Email your State Senator and Delegate
        Immediately on Saturday morning- Oppose the re-Written HB2296
Message-ID: <002201d4cb38$230f7650$692e62f0$@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Virginia Federationists,

This is an urgent request for action!

We need you to contact your Virginia State Senator and Member of the House
of Delegates via email on Saturday, February 23 to Oppose the Conference
Committee "Compromise" of HB2296.

This afternoon, a conference committee met to reconcile the acceptable
Senate Version of HB 2296 with the very troubling house version of HB2296.
The committee made the end product even worse than the House version. We
need you to email your Senator and Delegate this morning and tell them to
oppose HB2296 when it comes up for a vote on Saturday.

Based on the information we have; the conference committee's version does
the following:

*       Requires anyone raising a complaint about a web site to notify the
company/organization and provide the company/organization 180 days to cure
their web site inaccessibility
*       Expands the legislation to all companies/organizations, not just
banking web sites

This bill tells every business and organization that they don't need to
comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and web site
accessibility and wait until someone complains.

This is a gross expansion of the original HB2296 which was limited to just
banking web sites.

The email addresses for both the House and Senate are found in the
attachments.

If you are not aware of the name of your Senator or Delegate, here is an
accessible website where you are able to easily obtain the name by simply
typing your address.

https://www.richmondsunlight. com/yourlegislatures

Either click on this URL or copy it into your web browser.

We are grateful for your efforts and need you to take action on Saturday
morning to address this legislation before the votes in both the Senate and
House of Delegates. Yes, the Virginia General Assembly works this fast.

Below, I have prepared a draft message you should personalize. Please
include your name and address in your message and mention you are a
constituent. There is no one to answer phones on Saturday so calling has no
value.

Sample message:

Subject: Oppose HB2296 - Don't Lock Blind People from eCommerce

Dear Senator or Delegate:

As a blind person who uses the web for work, school, and personal life, I am
asking you to vote against HB2296 when it comes to a vote on Saturday.

The conference committee didn't find a compromise, they dramatically
expanded HB2296 to cover all web sites, not just banking web sites. The
conference committee's bill includes the most damaging portions of the House
bill (notice and cure provisions) which weaken protections for web
accessibility. The bill tells Virginia businesses that they should wait
until a disabled person complains about accessibility before making their
site accessible. It hurts disabled Virginians and Virginia businesses. I
urge you to vote against HB2296.

Sincerely,

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End of NFBV-Announce Digest, Vol 134, Issue 11
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