Colleagues,
It is an honor to address thought leaders in your field at your annual convention. It is good to be with people again. Access Ready Inc. is an independent, national nonprofit, cross disability, advocacy organization promoting a policy of inclusion and accessibility across information technology through education and best practices. We and our national, state and local Community Partner organizations know now that making information technologies accessible has been proven not only to be possible, but readily achievable. Accessibility is no longer rocket science. The Americans with Disabilities Act, Title II, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and other federal and state statutes do not make exceptions for any technologies used by the government. Why haven't technology developers worked to be accessible? Simply put, Government officials including Chief Information and Purchasing Officers have not required them to do so. These government officers and companies have chosen to ignore the law. When you are considering new technologies: Think accessibility, Equality, Inclusion. A Continuum of Opportunity for All. I don't wish to be offensive, but professionals must be honest with each other. Access Ready and its national, state and local Community Partners will not stand by and allow any federal, state or local government agency, department or jurisdiction to buy inaccessible information technology of any kind without public objection at any level necessary. To be clear, we as an organization do not care who you buy from as long as it is accessible to the blind, visually impaired, deaf and hard of hearing and those with dexterity motor skill disabilities at a minimum. We have deemed these levels of accessibility to be readily achievable, however, we urge business, government and the nonprofit sectors to demand further accessibility development that serve a wider range of disabilities following standards set under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. You need to understand that because a vendor tells you they are accessible does not make it so. It is not something that happens by accident or because the hardware allows for it to be accessible. It happens by design and hard work that includes testing and approval by local, state or national disability organizations. Access Ready will help set up those testing relationships on request. What we will not do is allow people with disabilities to be ignored in the information technology space any longer. The Board of Directors of Access Ready has deemed inaccessible information technology to be a clear, growing, and present danger to the civic, economic, and social welfare of people with disabilities. This is not just rhetoric; it is the position we intend to enforce by whatever legal means are necessary.
National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), which is an opportunity for the US to recognize the vital role people with disabilities play in the workforce, kicked off earlier this month with the signing of a proclamation by President Joe Biden. This year's theme, "America's Recovery: Powered by Inclusion," rings especially true as the COVID pandemic has shown that a lack of accessible information technology is a serious barrier to employment. Access Ready appreciates that the White House has an awareness of the challenges people with disabilities experience as members of the workforce: "Despite the progress our Nation has made in recent decades, people with disabilities are still too often marginalized and denied access to the American dream. Americans with disabilities have faced long-standing gaps in employment, advancement, and income. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded these inequities, as people with disabilities have faced heightened risks — particularly the disproportionate share of people with disabilities employed in the hardest-hit industries. Our Nation will never fully recover and rebuild unless every single community including Americans with disabilities is fully included. "Now we are "celebrating" another “October National Disability Employment Awareness Month” with great expectations. When the author who is blind entered the workforce in 1976 the unemployment rate of people with disabilities was 70%. Today it is still 70% on average. Since 1976 we have passed a myriad of laws designed to improve opportunities for people with disabilities. Yet the unemployment rate has not changed. Clearly throwing money in the same old ways is not working. To truly break down the barriers we need a different and supportive approach that enforces the use of the programs already in place. This is necessary to overcome what has become institutional biased at best and a non-traditional hate crime in the extreme. When Federal Purchasing Officers and Chief Information Officers (CIO) routinely circumvent Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act by purchasing inaccessible technologies. When vendors who invest in accessibility find that they can't sell it and are told by those same Federal Purchasing officers and CIO's make it clear that the vendor can file a protest, but then will never be considered for an award again. Yes these are anecdotal reports, but they come in more often than not. Congress and the state legislatures need to investigate the circumstances and seek out methods that prevent such actions. For instance Congress and the state legislatures could impose a condition that required an inspector General's review of all technology purchases over a certain amount that should be low enough to make government employees think twice before choosing inaccessibility. It is time to put teeth and penalties in place to enforce use of the billions of dollars in programs currently being thwarted by indifference.
On September 11th, 2001, the United States was suddenly and brutally attacked by a faceless coward who used civilian aircraft as weapons and workplaces as targets. Nearly three thousand of our fellow citizens were murdered that day with countless thousands left with mental and physical disabilities. The entire nation however of some three hundred million were socially and psychologically injured and disabled by that injury. That national American disability has corrupted our civic life. It led to our nation's longest war which ended in what they call a withdrawal, but let's be honest it was a retreat. Not unlike that of Vietnam. Those failings were in no way the fault of the brave and dedicated men and women of the United States military. They fought with their hands tied by our cowardly and inept political leaders who since world war II have gone into wars with no clear plan or victory strategy. Now with eighty years of political defeat in our history perhaps it is time for We The People to insist on a change to our policy. We need a new use of force doctrine that includes a clear decision making process and victory strategy. Yes of course our leaders need the latitude to respond in kind to threats and attacks from both state and non state actors, but the follow on simply must answer the planning process and outcome questions before large scale engagement takes place. We The People must decide what we stand for. Do we stand for fundamental human and civic rights or do they only apply to the citizens of free democratic nations like the United States? If they only apply to the citizens of free democratic nations then we should defend ourselves and otherwise keep our opinions to ourselves. If on the other hand we believe they apply to humanity then we may choose to reflect that part of our national conscience in our use of force policy. Are we willing to sit by while bloody dictators and fanatical nationalist or religious movements impose their will on the week? Are we willing to sit by while they impose harsh, unforgiving and anti freedom governance on defenseless men, women and children? Should our use of force doctrine allow for individual actions to take out the evil in the world. If evil persists then we may want to likewise persist until evil leaders are replaced by people of good conscience. Where the use of overwhelming force to stop the destruction of a nation is concerned. We may want to act to defend freedom. Not to engage in nation building, but rather to offer the protection of the United States Constitution to peoples starving for freedom. Yes we may want to offer permanent protectorate status and if they wish it statehood. That is right we should consider that we must never again go to war without the other side knowing we will not stand for anything less than unconditional surrender, and that once we come in we are never leaving. This may be the only way to avoid further disabling the entire American population again.
Colleagues,
It is an honor to address such an influential body of election thought leaders. Our message is a simple one, registration, validation, and voting must be a continuum of private and independent accessibility. Yes, under the law this does mean all election technology including pollbooks. We are here representing our community partners: The Image Center for People with Disabilities, The National Association of the Deaf, The National Council on Independent Living, and The National Federation of the Blind, to ask for your help. We are concerned that the state is about to choose an inaccessible pollbook system even though their RFP calls for submissions to meet accessibility requirements. We are concerned because we know they are not even going to consider the only accessible pollbook system available at this time. We know this because there is only one pollbook provider who has asked any of us for guidance and testing during development. Because a vender tells you they are accessible does not make it so. We are asking you to consult with the State Board of Elections to avoid unfortunate consequences. We want to keep this cordial, but colleagues must be honest with each other. The Access Ready Community Partners will simply not allow an inaccessible system to be chosen without a response aimed at stopping it. The sheet of braille that we passed out is the first two amendments to the Constitution of the United States. I ask you to imagine for a moment that they do not apply to you simply because you cannot read them. Perhaps for a moment you will understand how we feel each time accessibility is debated or ignored. Please help us and the state avoid a choice that discriminates against voters with disabilities. As a person who is blind, I cannot see to come to each of you to discuss this most important issue, but I invite you to meet me this week so I may answer your questions. Thank you for your time.
Just because you have a disability does not mean you can't be a superhero. Throughout history our superheroes have had great abilities and disabilities. Superman can leap tall buildings with a single bound, go faster than a speeding bullet, fly quick enough to turn back time, but a tiny chunk of rock leaves him weak and barely able to walk let alone fly. This demonstrates that we are all vulnerable and have a disability of some sort.
Wonder Woman also uses technology in her fight against crime. Her invisible plane, lasso of truth and other devices make her invincible. The six million dollar woman and man were all about the technology that gave them better sight, hearing, strength and incredible speed. All these fictional heroes and so many more still had vulnerabilities that the villains used against them to no avail. They got out of each cliffhanger using ingenuity, special skills and their technology. There are many kinds of heroes besides those with physical strength, speed or fighting prowess. Some are brave, daring, intellectual or inventive. So let's talk about Real life superheroes. When Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press, Henry Ford introduced the Model A automobile, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, Neil Armstrong stepped on to the moon, Bill Gates or Steve Jobs invented the first personal computers; they all did so on the foundation of developing technology. All these heroes have one other thing supporting their efforts. They are on the right side of the law, history and truth. They all believe in freedom and justice FOR ALL.
People with disabilities have our super heroes as well. They have fought injustice in very real ways through protests, legislation and legal actions. They all have used the developing fields of technology to support their efforts. We all know the leaders, but there are many more who toil in anonymity. They are advocates and people who go to work every day overcoming the challenges of disability to do a real job and earn real wages. They also earn respect for all of us. Let us not forget that until recently the admittedly smartest person on the planet was a person with a significant disability. Professor Stephen Hawking. Now comes a new wave of super heroes with disabilities. They are younger and smarter with truly fantastic technologies at their command. They are overcoming limitations and disabilities through the cutting edge of medical knowledge. They are accepted by their peers without reservation. They come from all THE minority groups you can imagine. They see a world of limitless possibilities and do not accept injustice anywhere. They will fill the ranks of all professions and walks of life doing their work like all super heroes, with dedication, humility and intent focused on justice. They stand on the shoulders of the civil rights giants that have come before ready to push aside barriers through intellect, ingenuity and the technologies that many of them will invent. We should all take a look at this growing cohort of super heroes, who by the way do not see themselves as disabled. That is old school labeling. They do and think about things differently. That is why they will win.