01-2022-Amazon-md

Whereas, much to Amazons credit, they have designated a specific phone number for their Disability Access Line for people with disabilities, to get assistance browsing their website; and

Whereas, Amazon's Disability Access Line is often staffed with people whose native language is not English; and

Whereas, many Amazon representatives are not able to adequately describe products and colors; and

Whereas, inexperienced Disability Access Line staff, often leads to wrong purchases due to poor descriptions; and

Whereas, poor descriptions often results in a blind or low vision person not making a purchase; and

Whereas, many purchases result in returns which is costly to Amazon;

now, therefore, be it

Resolved, by the California Council of the Blind, in convention assembled, remotely, on this 15 day of May, 2022, that this organization urges Amazon to commence a dialogue with the American Council of the Blind to determine the best solutions to ensure that Amazon's Disability Access Line will be staffed with personnel who can effectively provide accurate descriptions, and be it further

Resolved, that a copy of this resolution be sent to The American Council of the Blind's Resolution Committee for action at its 2022 Convention.

02-2022-ADA-DM

Author: Daveed Mandell

Whereas, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was the first civil rights law for people with disabilities in the world; and

Whereas, the ADA marked an important milestone for people with disabilities in the United States and its territories; and

Whereas, the ADA promised civil rights protection in employment, government entities, public accommodations, transportation, financial institutions and communications; and

Whereas, the ADA has proved to be life-changing for millions of Americans with disabilities; and

Whereas, despite these positive gains, the ADA's regulations are often complex and difficult to comprehend; and

Whereas, the ADA is based on the lowest legal standards of "readily achievable" and "undue burden"; and

Whereas, the ADA contains numerous exceptions, exemptions and restrictions that limit its effectiveness; and

Whereas, the ADA is considered to be an unfunded mandate; and

Whereas, the ADA is often poorly enforced by such agencies as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the US Access Board; and

Whereas, the ADA is basically a collection of compromises with many public and private departments and organizations; and

Whereas, some of these compromises have resulted in glaring inequalities, outright discrimination and denial of the civil rights protection supposedly guaranteed under the ADA; and

Whereas, many accessibility barriers have yet to be removed in this country, despite the ADA; and

Whereas, Title I, Employment, only addresses deliberate acts of employment discrimination against individuals on account of their disability, not the more subtile and common forms of discrimination that are revealed through statistical analysis; and

Whereas, Title II, Public Services, State and Local Government, fails to hold states and counties accountable for their failure to complete and submit adequate ADA transition plans after more than 30 years since the law's passage; and

Whereas, Title II also offers inferior and inconvenient paratransit service (requiring advanced reservations for at least twice the price of fixed-route transit per ride), and fails to provide on-demand rides, which are readily available with the latest transportation technologies; and

Whereas, Title III, Public Accommodations and Services Operated by Private Entities, fails to apply the same accessibility requirements to public websites and applications that are applied to physical public accommodations; and

Whereas, Title IV, Telecommunications, fails to require the level of communications access for people who are visually impaired that it provides for people who are hearing impaired; and

Whereas, all titles of the ADA rely on litigation for enforcement, unlike other forms of federal regulations to which other enforcement mechanisms can be applied, such as audits, inspections, investigations and statistical analyses;

THEREFORE, Be It

Resolved, in Convention assembled ''', that this organization refer this resolution to the American Council of the Blind (ACB); and Be It Further

Resolved that this organization requests that the ACB form a coalition with other national disability organizations for the purpose of reviewing the ADA and proposing amendments to update the law by the end of 2023; and Be It Further

Resolved that this organization request that the coalition work toward introducing a bill to Congress on July 26, 2024; and Be It Further

Resolved that this organization request that the coalition wage a campaign for the passage and signing of this bill into law by July 26, 2025; and Be It Further

Resolved that this bill require the appropriate federal agencies to issue revised regulations no later than July 26, 2026 and for all requirements of the revised ADA to take full effect no later than July 26, 2027.

03-2022-Actions for CCB resolutions-MD

Whereas, CCB members generally do not get a follow up report as to the status of resolutions after they have been acted on; and

Whereas, resolutions are often not accompanied by a cover letter when being sent outside of CCB and ACB,

therefore, be it

Resolved, by the California Council of the Blind, in convention assembled, remotely, on this 15 day of May, 2022, that this organization directs the President and or their designee to ensure that a cover letter accompanies all resolutions when resolutions are sent outside of CCB and ACB, and be it further

resolved, that the CCB President or their designee provides a report within six months to the membership on actions taken and or results in the Blind Californian or in the CCB Happenings.

05-2022-ECC-JT
Resolution 2022-x Expanded Core Curriculum

Whereas, the expanded core curriculum (ECC) is a group of services, recognized nationwide, without which students with vision impairments are highly unlikely to successfully lead independent and productive lives; and

Whereas, ECC services include certain services required to be provided by law, instruction in braille, orientation and mobility and the use of technology; and

Whereas, the ECC also includes a number of services not required to be provided by school districts, including daily living skills, such as cooking, cleaning, dressing and hygiene, social skills and several others; and

Whereas, these skills are, for the most part, learned by sighted students from their families and peers, but in the case of students who are blind or have low vision these skills are learned primarily, if at all, in a classroom setting through instruction by a teacher of the blind and visually impaired or an orientation and mobility instructor; and

Whereas, in 2019, pursuant to Assembly Bill 947, sponsored by the California Council of the Blind (CCB) in coalition with the special education field, the ECC was inserted into state law and school districts were permitted, but not required to provide students with vision impairments those services not already required by law; and

Whereas, CCB, in coalition with teachers of the blind and visually impaired and orientation instructors, is considering introducing a bill in 2023 that would required assessment for, and provision of, the services in the ECC not currently mandated by law; and

Whereas, it is essential that these services be provided to K-12 students who are blind or have low vision,

now, therefore, be it

Resolved, by the California Council of the Blind in convention assembled virtually, this day of May, 2022, that this organization work to introduce and adopt legislation that would mandate assessment for and provision of expanded core curriculum services not currently mandated to be provided by law.

06-2022-Revised-HousingProgramaticAccessibility-SGc, fw

revised-housing programmatic accessibility-sgcHOUSINGProgramaticAccessibility-

Sheela Gunn-Cushman, Frank Welte And the San Francisco Chapter of the California Council of the Blind

Whereas housing has become a chronic, longstanding crisis in California, And

whereas this condition disproportionately effects people who are blind or have vision loss, as well as seniors and other persons with disabilities, And

whereas many third-party housing web application platforms are NOT accessible using assistive technology, such as rentcafe.com, used by the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, (EBALDC) and Senior Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA) and onsite.com used by Eden Housing, And

whereas local housing authorities, also known as Public Housing Agencies (PHA's), are mandated to administrate the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (hud) Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) and Project-based Voucher (PBV) programs, And

whereas many housing authorities such as the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) and the Housing Authority of the County of Alameda do not provide adequate programmatic access as defined in Section 508 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (EG. documents and correspondence in accessible format) EVEN AFTER the medical proof of disability to request such accommodations has been completed and approved, And

whereas this practice presents a significant barrier to effected individuals' successful housing searches, application processes and ongoing participation in HUD programs, An

whereas attempts to remedy these inaccessible practices must be constantly repeated and results are not consistent, And

whereas lack of programmatic access adversely effects a tenants ability to be aware of, and properly comply with program rules, risking their place in the program and their housing security, And

whereas finding enough sighted assistance to fill out the dozens of 20-page applications and other paperwork required during a housing search is a herculean task, and local community-based organizations (CBO's) will likely not be able to offer sufficient resources to complete the required work load:

Therefore be it

resolved that the CCB Board of Directors shall create a Housing Concerns Committee no later than 45 days after the adoption of this resolution to coordinate CCB's response to the concerns raised in this resolution; and be it further

resolved that the CCB's Housing Concerns Committee shall prepare a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reminding the agency of the relevant accessibility laws and regulations and of the agency's obligation to follow and enforce those legal requirements; and be it further

resolved that the CCB Housing Concerns Committee shall send copies of the aforementioned letter to HUD's local, regional and federal directors no later than 90 days after the adoption of this resolution, and be it further

resolved ... that The CCB encourages each of its local chapters to advocate with their local housing officials to ensure that their application procedures, documents, websites, etc. are fully accessible to applicants using screen readers; and be it further

resolved that CCB chapters shall periodically report on their local housing advocacy efforts to the CCB Housing Concerns Committee; and be it further

resolved that CCB will assist individual members and local chapters in their efforts to insure developers'' and public housing agencies'' compliance with applicable accessibility laws and regulations, to Pursue legal and legislative remedies forcing the housing developers/management companies that accept HCV's or PBV's, which ever is applicable for each property, to retain the services of a certified web/programmatic accessibility professional, who USES assistive technology, to test their chosen platform. Then, make necessary corrections and test again until full accessibility is achieved before launch of said platform, and to resolve other forms of housing discrimination through administrative complaints, structured negotiation, litigation or legislation, and be it further

resolved that CCB shall increase our influence on housing issues by cultivating long-term relationships with other housing CBO's in the senior and cross-disability communities, both locally and statewide, as appropriate.

And be it further

Resolved that a copy of this resolution shall be submitted to the Resolutions Committee of the American Council of the Blind for consideration during the ACB's 2022 Conference and Convention.

07-2022-ccb resolutions process-sm

WHEREAS, resolutions adopted by the CCB membership at its annual conference and convention represent a venerable and effective means of identifying the concerns and goals of the membership, of expressing the will of blind and low vision Californians on matters of shared interest, and of focusing the organization's energy and resources on advocacy issues of the greatest immediacy and concern; and

WHEREAS, although many of these resolutions serve the purpose of expressing the organization's collective opinions, values and needs, many others call for specific action to be taken by the organization through its leadership, affiliates and committees, including through engagement with entities outside of CCB; and

WHEREAS, CCB has taken measures to maximize the transparency and accessibility of the resolutions process to all its members:

NOW THEREFORE, Be It

Resolved by the California Council of the Blind assembled in virtual conference and convention this comthe do of May 2022 That in order to ensure the membership receives the fullest possible information and feedback on what their resolutions have wrought, the CCB add to its standing conference/convention rules an annual resolutions update, so that at each successive annual conference and convention (or earlier if in the view of the board exigent circuminges warrant) the chair of the Resolutions Committee or other presidential designee will report to the membership on the current status, the actions taken and the the results achieved in connection with each resolution adopted at the previous year's meeting or each resolution from earlier years' meetings still being actively pursued; and Be It further

resolved that nothing herein be construed to require disclosure of information that would jeopardize ongoing negotiations, or result in the disclosure of confidential or legally privileged material.

08-2022-piecemeal public sector accessibility-sm

WHEREAS, accessibility of governmental information and services to blind and low-vision people constitutes one of the key elements in CCB's ongoing advocacy efforts; and

WHEREAS, in support of access CCB has been involved in or supportive of a number of impact litigation initiatives over the years designed to educate, convince or compel governmental entities to bring their websites, apps and other electronic and written communication modalities and practices into compliance with the ADA and other civil rights laws and into conformity with the principles of accessibility; and

WHEREAS, challenging the inaccessibility of specific agencies, programs or websites often results in seemingly unwarranted resistance by state agencies under circumstances where eventual outcomes are clear; and

WHEREAS, negotiations leading, often only after years of costly and exhausting negotiation and sparring in the courts, do usually result in settlements substantially vindicating the aspiration for greater accessibility; and

WHEREAS, notwithstanding overarching state law, the State of California appears to exercise little oversight over the negotiating tactics and dilatory practices of its agencies which appear to operate autonomously so far as requests for accessibility are concerned; and

WHEREAS, the costs of such litigation to the state and to the taxpayers in agency time and resources (including agency counsel time), Attorney-General office time and resources, and in some cases retained outside counsel fees) have, to our knowledge, never been compiled, or if tracked have not been publicly disclosed; and

WHEREAS, it is likely that many instances the overall cost to the public of reflexive resistance that ultimately yields to settlements exceeds the cost of orderly implementation of requested access:

NOW Therefore, Be It

Resolved by the CCB assembled in virtual conference and convention on this — day of com, That CCB request State Director of the Budget, the STATE Treasurer, the Legislative Analysts Office or other suitable auditing bodies within state government to cooperate with CCB in conducting a study of the costs and benefits of resistance by state agencies to requests for accessibility that are plainly justified under state and federal law and that are subsequently validated by the settlements into which these very agencies enter; and

Be It Further Resolved that if state government interest and cooperation in this research cannot be secured, CCB seek the assistance of counsel and of other appropriate, public-spirited subject matter experts in pursuing this information through freedom of information suits and through examination of publicly available data; and

Be It Further Resolved That CCB seek sponsorship for legislation requiring state agencies, in the interests of the taxpayers, to develop criteria for and to compile and regularly disseminate information on the costs incurred in attorney time/salaries, in contractual services and in related cost categories in negotiating any electronic, documentary, facility or other accessibility complaint or suit that takes more than one year to settle or otherwise resolve, and with such reports explaining why this time was needed.

09-2022-role of the ,attorney-general in access advocacy-sm

WHEREAS, in addition to the in-house counsel that advise and assist most state agencies in carrying-out their responsibilities and in addressing claims for electronic or other information accessibility enhancements by people with disabilities including persons who are blind or have low vision, state agencies are advised and represented by the California Attorney-General's office in civil rights litigation involving the state; and

WHEREAS, as a result, the AG's office plays a key role in most or all accessibility and other civil rights litigation involving the public sector; and

WHEREAS, it is the experience of CCB over the years that the AG's office, despite its indispensable legal role, plays a fairly passive role in formulating the state's response to accessibility requests, supporting the positions and negotiating strategies adopted by the state agencies it represents:

NOW THEREFORE Be It

Resolved by the California Council of the Blind assembled in virtual conference and convention on this — day of May 2022 That a meeting be sought by CCB with the State Attorney-General to acquaint the AG with the scope of state-sponsored accessibility barriers confronted by blind and low-vision Californians; with the extended periods of time resulting from intransigent agency litigation strategies in cases that typically and predictably result in settlements embodying substantially the same relief and outcomes the complainants originally sought; and

Be It Further Resolved that CCB's representations include documentation and examples drawn from accessibility cases in which CCB has participated or of which it has knowledge showing the length of time that has been required to reach settlements that are entirely consistent with applicable legal standards and with established state policy; and

Be It Further Resolved that the AG be asked to utilize such authority, leadership and influence as the office possesses to develop and implement a policy favoring the prompt and fair resolution of accessibility complaints and suits in accordance with settled law and existing public policy as embodied in state law.

10-2022-state procurement-sm

WHEREAS, the State of California utilizes contracts with private and not-for-profit sector entities to procure and provide many of the goods and services its agencies and citizens utilize; and

WHEREAS, such contracts are subject to the requirements of federal and state civil rights laws including those defining and mandating accessibility to persons with disabilities; and

Whereas, the terms of such contracts incorporate clear and unambiguous commitments to, and requirements for, accessibility; and

WHEREAS, accessibility is material to the ability of agencies and citizens to utilize and benefit from the goods and services in question; and

WHEREAS, failure to meet accessibility requirements and commitments constitutes not only violation of law but also breach of contract; and

WHEREAS, a number of recent settlements, court cases and anecdotal reports demonstrate that contractual accessibility requirements and commitments may often be ignored, overlooked or misunderstood by the private and not-for-profit entities involved; and

WHEREAS, although some agencies may have procedures for complaints about contractor inaccessibility, no clear or standardized mechanism exists for citizens to invoke the authority of the state to enforce its own contracts; and

WHEREAS, the absence of effective avenues for redress necessitates costly, lengthy and universally burdensome recourse to the courts as citizens' only option:

NOW THEREFORE Be It Resolved by the California Council of the Blind assembled in virtual conference and convention on this — day of May 2022 that CCB advocate for and assist in the introduction and adoption of state legislation creating a centralized unit within the executive branch of the state government and empowering that unit to receive, review and adjudicate accessibility complaints involving goods or services furnished or managed under state contracts, and empowering this unit to order and monitor remediation including, in the event of continued contractor noncompliance and nonperformance, the imposition were sanctions ranging from forfeiture of sums already paid under the contract, to contract formination, to contractor debarrment for repeated violations; and

Be it further resolved that the legislation provide that in those instances where accessibilally as prescqbed by the contract is restored or achieved through the unit's intervention, that the state shall be relieved of liability for the inaccessibility of its hds and services under the contract during the period preceding the filing of a complaint.

11-2022 - Resolution diversity of beliefs RB

Whereas, The California Council of the Blind is a statewide advocacy organization that advocates on behalf of Californians who are blind or have low vision from all different backgrounds and spiritual beliefs; and

Whereas, invocations and worship activities may be offered in connection with virtual or in-person statewide events; and

Whereas, it is important that the California Council of the Blind refrain from supporting or favoring one set of spiritual beliefs over another; Now Therefore,

Be it resolved that the California Council of the Blind feature a variety of spiritual leaders associated with a local or state interfaith council when invocations are delivered at statewide events, such as the annual CCB Conference and Convention. Examples include but are not limited to Rabbis, Imams, Catholic priests, Native American spiritual leaders, or pastors; and

Be it further resolved that a variety of worship activities are offered when statewide or virtual events are planned where Worship activities are made available, including those from non-Christian sources.