The following are brief summaries of the resolutions adopted by the ACB membership at the 2019 conference and convention held at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center in Rochester, N.Y. in July. Three resolutions were referred to ACB committees; one was withdrawn. They are not included in this compilation. Please note that these summary statements are not the authoritative voice of the ACB membership; they are simply intended to capture the overall scope and intent of the membership as authoritatively embodied in the full text of each of the resolutions. You can find the full text of resolutions at /resolutions2019.
Resolution 2019-01 directs ACB to work through administrative, regulatory, and if necessary legislative, channels to raise the Medicare reimbursement rate for prosthetic eyes to at least 80% of actual cost.
Resolution 2019-02 directs ACB to request that Trader Joe’s change its practice to enable people with print disabilities using bar code scanners to access product information.
Resolution 2019-03 instructs ACB to urge Congress to take immediate legislative action to ensure that AbilityOne nonprofit agencies can retain current contracts for products and services with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and thereby continue to provide meaningful careers for approximately 800 Americans who are blind or visually impaired, including blinded veterans.
Resolution 2019-04 directs ACB to urge the FCC to approve the NBCUniversal two-year petition for a limited waiver of audio description requirements for USA Network only.
Resolution 2019-05 directs ACB to join with ACVREP, the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired and VisionServe Alliance to actively encourage the use of such designations as Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist, Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist, Certified Assistive Technology Instructional Specialist, and Certified Low Vision Therapist in all communications about the nationally certified professionals in the field of vision habilitation and rehabilitation with the general public, policy and decision-makers, and elected officials.
Resolution 2019-06 instructs ACB staff, in consultation with the Environmental Access Committee, to begin the process of requesting amendments to the MUTCD by submitting a written statement to the NCUTCD urging that the next edition of the manual include a mandate for the installation of accessible pedestrian signals (APS) at sites whenever and wherever a pedestrian traffic signal uses leading pedestrian interval signalization. Also directs staff to urge the U.S. Access Board to revise its proposed Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines to require the installation of APS whenever and wherever pedestrian traffic signals are in use, through an ADA Transition Plan, giving priority to intersections using LPI signalization.
Resolution 2019-07 reiterates ACB’s commitment to work for the enactment of legislation, seek potential changes in regulations and, if necessary, look for relief through the courts to assure that people who are blind or have low vision have access to appropriate, accessible and usable diabetic devices.
Resolution 2019-08 condemns the inevitable under-count of people with disabilities that will result from the 2020 census, and directs ACB to demand that priority be given to developing a tenable and credible approach to gathering data that will accurately and effectively count the number of people with disabilities in the 2030 census.
Resolution 2019-09 expresses ACB’s support for the responsible, unrestricted use of personal recording devices in medical settings by people with disabilities.
Resolution 2019-10 directs ACB to insist that RSA apply the entertainment expense restriction in the same manner to both the Blast and Sagebrush conferences, as well as to insist that registration fees include all networking sessions. Also directs that RSA be encouraged to develop a statement that will clearly enunciate this policy so that the potential for unequal treatment in the future will be eliminated.
Resolution 2019-11 tells ACB to urge all companies seeking approval for experimental use of autonomous vehicles to demonstrate meaningful inclusion of and responsiveness to the disability community, especially ACB and other leading organizational and individual expert perspectives on blindness and low vision, to ensure the full accessibility and usability of AVs, and directs ACB to demand that no experimental use permits or permanent approvals be granted for AV use in the absence of consumer-informed and well-delineated protocols ensuring the accessibility and usability of AVs on terms of full equality for people who are blind or who have low vision.
Resolution 2019-12 directs ACB to recognize that there is considerable value in projects such as the Aira/MBTA pilot project, demonstrating that technologies such as Aira have the potential to significantly increase the confidence and competence of travelers who are blind or have low vision in unfamiliar environments, and that ACB expects other transit systems to implement similar projects.
Resolution 2019-13 communicates ACB’s strong opposition to RSA’s existing policy in an effort to expand the definition of competitive integrated employment to encompass the placement of consumers in NIB-sponsored facilities, particularly those located in venues employing significant numbers of non-disabled individuals.
Resolution 2019-14 directs ACB to call upon the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, and any other federal agencies that provide funding to the transit industry, to require accessibility for people with disabilities, including people who are blind or have low vision, as a condition of funding. Also directs ACB’s staff, board, and officers to work with the transportation committee, the environmental access committee, and any other appropriate stakeholders, to embark on a national effort to communicate with ACB members and other people who are blind or have low vision on their uses of transportation, on the challenges they face when using transportation, on their unmet transportation needs, and on their ideas for making transportation more effective within their communities, and to convene a National Transportation Symposium to be held in conjunction with the 2020 national convention.
Resolution 2019-15 directs ACB to urge its affiliates and chapters to seek adoption of state laws or local ordinances and/or regulatory requirements that address the problems posed by such shared mobility devices as scooters, bikes, motorbikes and mopeds. Also directs the Environmental Access Committee to work with the Transportation Committee in developing model ordinances which can be shared with state and local affiliates and chapters.
Resolution 2019-16 instructs ACB’s officers, directors and staff to renew their commitment to the development and delivery of all appropriate non-vocational rehabilitative services for people who are blind or visually impaired of all ages, and to work at all levels to reform existing services, advocate for new ones, join in all appropriate efforts to increase funding for the older blind program, and to work with other allied organizations to recruit, prepare and promote nationally credentialed personnel who are fully qualified to offer effective vocational and non-vocational vision-related rehabilitation services to maximize deinstitutionalization and the true independent living potential of Americans living with vision loss.
Resolution 2019-17 thanks the management and staff of the Rochester Hyatt Regency and Riverside Hotels and the Joseph A. Floreano Convention Center.
Resolution 2019-18 thanks the law enforcement officers and public safety personnel of Rochester, N.Y.
Resolution 2019-19 thanks the host committee and the men and women of the ACB of New York for their hard work.
Resolution 2019-20 thanks the volunteers.