by Claire Stanley
In late September, Claire Stanley, Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, attended the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Leadership Conference in Minneapolis, Minn. She was asked to present at the conference on a panel that discussed current advocacy on policy that impacts the lives of blind and low vision Americans. The opportunity to present enabled ACB to highlight the multitude of federal disability policies it is currently working on. Specifically, the panel explored both legislative and regulatory processes ACB has utilized to advocate at the federal level to improve the lives of people who are blind or have low vision. Both branches of the federal government — the executive and legislative branches — play a role in developing important policies, and ACB has utilized both branches to advocate for change.
The myriad of discussed topics illustrated the vast advocacy work of ACB over the last two or so years during the 118th Congressional session. Several of the legislative activities discussed included many of the 2024 ACB D.C. Leadership Conference imperatives that advocate for access technology such as the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act and the Communications, Video and Technology Accessibility Act (CVTA), among others. The panel also presented on a myriad of regulatory developments that have occurred over the last year or more, including the Title II website accessibility regulations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Public Rights of Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) comment period put out by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). A significant amount of policy development has occurred in the last couple of years, and ACB has been active in the process. Many of the submitted comments on federal regulatory creation can be found on the ACB website on the advocacy page. The advocacy team encourages ACB members to explore the myriad of comments and letters ACB has written or signed onto that are shared on that page.
The panel at the AFB conference illustrated the collaborative process ACB has engaged in to move forward such regulatory creation and legislative advocacy. The panel at the conference included representatives of AFB, the VisionServe Alliance, and ACB. This presents a microcosm of the coalitions ACB has participated in to advocate for federal policy change. ACB values the coalitions it is a part of when advocating in Washington, D.C.; voices are amplified in coalitions.
Finally, the panel postulated on the presumed federal activities to come on Capitol Hill in the near future. As of the time of the AFB Leadership Conference, rumors in D.C. speculated that new regulatory procedures to develop rules on video conferencing and self-service transaction machines (SSTM) are likely to be issued by their respective federal agencies before the end of 2024. ACB will continue to submit comments to the applicable agencies to help move forward the development of necessary guidelines.