Note: This publication reflects only those resolutions which were adopted by the convention. Resolutions which were referred to other ACB entities for further consideration, tabled or withdrawn are not included in this document.
Resolution 2010-01 directs ACB's governmental relations staff and environmental access committee to include in its comments on public rights-of-way support for a requirement that, at intersections where there are multiple accessible pedestrian devices, the audible signal phase for each signal must be unambiguously identifiable with its particular crossing. It also directs that ACB include a recommendation in those comments that, where digital voice recordings are used for accessible pedestrian signals, differing voices be used to differentiate parallel and perpendicular crossings, and that the vibratory features making accessible pedestrian signals accessible to pedestrians who are dual sensory impaired shall be the standard in all locations where accessible pedestrian signals are installed.
Resolution 2010-02 puts ACB on record as rejecting the version of disability history being offered as truth by other disability rights organizations that the disability rights movement began with the independent living movement in California in the 1970s. It expresses ACB's pride in knowing that the disability rights movement involved people who are blind seeking the opportunity to be fully included in our society. It demands that every state that permits or requires that disability history be included as part of the curricula of elementary and secondary schools include the significant role played by deaf and/or blind people in the disability rights movement. It strongly encourages state affiliates to demand that their state Department of Education fully include the role played by sensory impaired people in the creation of equality for all people with disabilities. It also instructs ACB to seek funding and support for the development of a national curriculum framework that can provide clear and accurate information to states that can be used to implement these educational opportunities.
Resolution 2010-03 asks that ACB express to the House Energy and Commerce Committee its deep disappointment on the recent subcommittee action, and implores Congress to honor the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by enacting the strongest possible legislation that would ensure that people with vision loss as well as those who are deaf-blind are not excluded from the technology and the video revolution. It requests that such legislation appropriate non-discretionary funding for equipment that is used by people who are deaf-blind, clear and continuing authority by the FCC to require video description and the strongest possible legal guarantees that the user interfaces of devices, particularly mobile devices, allow people with vision loss to connect and interact with the Internet.
Resolution 2010-04 urges all public and private entities that operate fixed-route bus and/or passenger rail systems to establish clear, written policies for implementing the ADA's requirements of making route designation and stop announcements, and, when establishing such policies, include input from local stakeholders to include passengers who are blind or visually impaired and other passengers with disabilities who will be affected by such policies. It urges them to incorporate all of the recommendations that have been developed by ACB's transportation committee with regard to the policies that govern the calling of bus stop announcements. It directs that copies be sent to the president of the American Public Transit Association, the executive director of the Community Transportation Association of America, the administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, the director of the FTA Office of Civil Rights, and the presidents of each ACB state, local, and special-interest affiliate. Finally, it directs the transportation committee to develop a short brochure to assist its affiliates to advocate for implementation of effective route destination and stop announcement policies and procedures, and that this brochure be made available to the membership no later than December 31, 2010.
Resolution 2010-05 directs ACB to urge Congress to significantly increase funding for public transit operations, with requirements to ensure that state and local governments do not use such federal funding to replace existing state and local transit operations dollars.
Resolution 2010-07 urges the National Endowment for the Arts and Very Special Arts to fund and disseminate research concerning informational and aesthetic access to museums for blind and visually impaired patrons. ACB also joins with Friends-in-Art in offering guidance and consultation to entities engaging in elements of such research. It also directs the officers, directors, and staff to work with Friends-in-Art's advocacy committee toward implementation of this resolution, and encourages state and local affiliates to work with museums in their areas to help in the implementation of this resolution.
Resolution 2010-08 joins ACB, its colleagues and friends in the disability community in commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It encourages all ACB members to participate in ADA 20th anniversary festivities, and urges that ACB continue to press all relevant federal ADA enforcement agencies to address the current disparity in civil rights protections experienced by people with vision loss. It also recommits ACB to supporting its members and affiliates, as appropriate and as resources allow, in the filing of ADA-related federal complaints, structured negotiation activities, and advocacy through mediation and litigation, to take maximum advantage of the means currently available to make the ADA as relevant as it should be for people who are blind or visually impaired.
Resolution 2010-10 commends the IRS for training and hiring people who are blind or who have low vision, and directs that ACB request the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service establish a stakeholder work group that would include representatives of consumer organizations, including the American Council of the Blind and other relevant parties, to examine methodologies used in the training program for prospective IRS employees who are blind or who have low vision.
Resolution 2010-11 directs that ACB urge the entertainment industry to take immediate steps to achieve the following: increased and accurate representation of characters that are blind or visually impaired; more employment opportunities for professionals who are blind or visually impaired; an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of blind or visually impaired characters by sighted actors; and equal opportunities for actors who are blind or visually impaired to both audition for and portray characters not written as blind or visually impaired. It also urges state and local affiliates to advocate in a manner consistent with this resolution.
Resolution 2010-12 calls upon Google to integrate accessibility into the design phase of its product development, and to create detailed plans for accessibility for each new product as well as create plans for achieving access for its existing set of products. It also directs ACB's officers, directors, and staff to take steps to achieve these results while making the services of the information access committee available for these purposes.
Resolution 2010-13 states that ACB supports the notion that people who are blind and not otherwise disabled must receive testing accommodations that meet their needs rather than being exempted from the need to pass state exit tests. ACB urges courts and jurisdictions to find ways to allow students who, through no fault of their own, cannot read braille or large print to take tests that will allow them to earn their high school diplomas. It directs that copies of this resolution be sent to the board of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER), the board of directors of NASDE, and the board of directors of NAPVI (the National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments).
Resolution 2010-15 instructs the information access committee (IAC) to communicate ACB's concerns about QVC in writing and to attempt to develop and implement a system that will assure that all hosts announce both price and item numbers which will allow people who are blind or visually impaired to shop effectively. It directs the committee to make itself available as a resource to QVC particularly with regard to web site access to make the web experience of people with visual disabilities equal to that of all shoppers, and requests the IAC to provide updates to ACB's officers, directors and staff so that, if QVC is unresponsive to our requests for change, other courses of action can be considered.
Resolution 2010-16 urges the Department of Education to undertake a study to gather data on the numbers of students who are blind or visually impaired being served in private and charter schools and which would also explore the range of services being offered in such schools. It also encourages the department to compare the range of blindness-related services offered by such schools with those available through the public school systems throughout the country, and requests that their findings be issued in a report that will enable parents, organizations of and for the blind and the educational community to measure effectively the differences among these three educational options. This report should focus on educational outcomes for students who are blind or visually impaired in each of these three settings.
Resolution 2010-17 commends iTunes, the marketer of this movie, Pixar, the movie's production company, and the Media Access Group at WGBH who produced the audio description of this movie, for their efforts to make this production available for downloading.
Resolution 2010-18 directs that ACB join with the Braille Revival League to strongly urge manufacturers of hardware and software designed specifically to be used by people who are blind to make a commitment to provide training materials in hard-copy braille rather than assuming that electronic materials are sufficient, and that copies of this resolution be sent to all blindness-specific hardware and software producers who exhibit at the ACB convention and to all the officers of the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA).
Resolution 2010-19 directs that ACB espouse the notion that people who are blind or have low vision have a right to expect and receive immediate usability of software that is being developed for use by everyone. It calls upon Microsoft to make building accessibility into the product itself for people who are blind or visually impaired a guiding design principle. ACB shall accomplish this by making accessibility an inherent component of the design of any and all products that Microsoft is developing. It directs that the information access committee enter into discussion with Microsoft to make clear the specifics of this resolution.
Resolution 2010-20 puts ACB on record as regarding the repeated failure of Sprint to meet even minimal accessibility benchmarks as unconscionable and unacceptable. It directs the officers, directors, and staff to communicate our extreme displeasure to Sprint, and demands that Sprint take immediate steps to remedy this situation by working with ACB and its information access committee to develop plans that will lead to the availability of an accessible phone option for the many Sprint users who have remained loyal based on the promise made to them repeatedly that Sprint phones would be accessible.
Resolution 2010-21 calls upon Facebook to make its web site and application for the iPhone fully accessible by promptly applying the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 and Apple's Human Interface Design Guidelines. It also makes the services of ACB's information access committee available to Facebook.
Resolution 2010-22 urges NIDRR, the Access Board, and university programs that do research either in blindness-related areas or that focus on the needs of people with developmental disabilities to adequately fund and undertake research necessary for the development of accessibility guidelines for the removal of all barriers within and without the built environment which inhibit effective wayfinding and interfere with the full participation within the mainstream of American society of people who are deaf-blind, people who are blind and visually impaired and who also have developmental disabilities, and other multiply disabled blind individuals. It also instructs the officers, directors, and staff of this organization to contact NIDRR, the Access Board, and/or universities offering programs relevant to people who are multiply disabled and blind to urge these agencies to give priority to researching and developing such accessibility guidelines.
Resolution 2010-23 expresses appreciation to all volunteers who worked to assist the attendees of the 2010 ACB convention.
Resolution 2010-24 commends the Arizona host committee for its fine work on the 2010 convention.
Resolution 2010-25 thanks the hotel for the services and accommodations provided to ACB members and staff during the 2010 convention.
ACB Officers, ACB Board of Directors, and Board of Publications