[Athen] FYI - Access to the Internet

Laurie Vasquez vasquez at sbcc.edu
Fri Jan 15 11:49:40 PST 2016


January 12, 2016



Petition to tear down this virtual wall - with link to petition

Join My Blind Spot by signing this petition and demanding that the virtual
walls blocking millions and millions of peoples access to the internet be
torn down! President Obama and Congress tear down this virtual wall!

Here is the direct link to the petition : http://wh.gov/iwm9o

On July 26, 2010, the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the historic
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule
making (ANPRM) addressing the obligation of public accommodations to
provide websites that are accessible to individuals with disabilities was
issued by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). At the time,
President Obama correctly observed that these proposed rules would be “the
most important updates to the ADA since its original enactment.” Yet the
release date of the actual rule proposal for revising the Title III
regulations of the ADA, originally scheduled for January of 2012, has been
extended until sometime in 2018, eight years beyond the issuance of the
original ANPRM and at least a year after the end of his administration.
Having originally taken a strong stance on the importance of these
regulations, it now seems like the Obama administration is wishing to wash
its hands of them entirely.

As blind Americans, we know first-hand that equal access to the internet is
paramount for education, to obtain and retain employment, and for everyday
tasks such as paying bills, online shopping, booking travel, etc. We will
not sit idly by as the administration attempts to sideline this critical
access issue, so we have launched a petition demanding, in the strongest
terms possible, that the administration issue these regulations immediately.

Upon reaching 100,000 signatures, the Obama administration is required to
respond, so in addition to sharing our we the people petition via Email and
your social media outlets, please personally ask 10 family members,
friends, and colleagues to sign it and share it as well. A little personal
contact goes a long way!

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Gabe; with your
help, we will bring this critical issue for blind Americans to the
forefront of the Obama administration’s list of priorities. Let’s go build
the Federation!

…Gabe

Gabe Cazares
Government Affairs Specialist
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street
At Jernigan Place
Baltimore, MD 21230
E: gcazares at nfb.org
P: 410-659-9314 Ext. 2206
T: @gmcazares
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/pipermail/athen-list/attachments/20160115/78a7cc88/attachment.html>


More information about the athen-list mailing list