(Note: This article reflects adopted ACB resolutions only. ACB resolutions which were referred, tabled, or withdrawn are not included in this summary. This accounts for numbered resolutions which appear to be missing.)
Resolution 2000-02 deplores Intuit Corporation's refusal to modify its software packages to make them accessible to people who are blind and visually impaired, and demands that Intuit immediately implement changes to its software so that it uses standard Windows controls, plain text, and keyboard command capability. The resolution also urges Microsoft to revoke its logo approval agreement for all Intuit software running under Microsoft Windows 95, 98, and NT systems, until or unless the changes referenced in the resolution are made.
Resolution 2000-03 expresses ACB's intent to wage a national information campaign aimed at government entities, community organizations and the general public, including other disability groups, to insure that civil rights issues related to disability, and especially to blindness, are as fully understood and respected as those concerning race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and age. The resolution also encourages ACB to seek opportunities, including grants, to be used for public education regarding the importance of civil rights issues as they relate to persons who are blind or visually impaired.
Resolution 2000-04 establishes that the American Council of the Blind will offer technical assistance to any public accommodations in making instructions and product information for appliances available in alternate media, and offer assistance to ACB members in advocating for such accommodations. In instances where the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is applicable, because of the involvement of a retailer, the resolution directs ACB's staff to provide technical assistance to blind people in filing complaints under Title III of the ADA. The resolution further requests the assistance of ACB members and affiliates in maintaining and disseminating information concerning entities which provide accessible instructions and product information, as well as those entities which are uncooperative in making such accommodations.
Resolution 2000-05 urges the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require that weather notices, telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and similar information contained in public service announcements, emergency announcements, and commercials displayed on screen be also verbally announced.
Resolution 2000-06 directs ACB staff to investigate the issue of business-related tax deductions for guide dog expenses and directs staff to take any action necessary to insure that the allowability of this deduction is fully understood by Internal Revenue Service officials.
Resolution 2000-07 supports audio description, whether provided by a live person or by a pre-recorded supplemental sound track, and urges film producers and theatre owners to provide audio description in all newly produced, re-released, and renovated or restored movies. The resolution also refutes the position on audio description taken by the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) as expressed by its president, John Fithian.
Resolution 2000-09 notes that recent Windows versions of several Oracle products are not accessible through the use of speech access software. The resolution commends Oracle for recently showing interest in making its products accessible, but insists that a choice be available of using Oracle products with a number of speech access screen reader packages.
Resolution 2000-11 re-affirms the commitment of ACB to support the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and other disability rights legislation and establishes that ACB shall actively participate in Initiative 2000 and the Spirit of ADA Campaign.
Resolution 2000-12 urges the Public Rights of Way Access Advisory Committee and the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board to adopt accessibility guidelines which require that, to the extent feasible, there be two curb ramps on each corner at which curb ramps are installed and that all curb ramps and curb cuts on opposite corners and pedestrian islands be in alignment and within the intended path of travel.
Resolution 2000-13 urges the Rehabilitation Services Administration of the United States Department of Education to promulgate a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) which strongly encourages state vocational rehabilitation agencies to provide assistive technology to blind clients who are in the job-seeking phase of their employment preparation.
Resolution 2000-15 directs the officers and staff of ACB to assist its affiliates in advocating for expanded Medicaid coverage of dental services. The resolution also directs ACB's officers and staff to explore the feasibility of including coverage for dental services under the Medicare program.
Resolution 2000-16 expresses disdain for rule changes proposed by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) of the United States Department of Education concerning placement credit for disabled workers in settings which the RSA defines as non-integrated, and therefore non-competitive. The resolution strongly urges that the proposed rule change be rejected in its entirety.
Resolution 2000-17 directs the officers, directors and staff of ACB to convey to Congress that any Medicare or Social Security reform proposal, or other proposal relating to third-party coverage for prescription drugs, must include provisions for prescription drug coverage for blind and disabled beneficiaries as well as elderly beneficiaries.
Resolution 2000-19 congratulates the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its leadership in issuing proposed video description requirements and urges the commissioners to adopt the rule as proposed.
Resolution 2000-21 encourages the General Council of Industries for the Blind (GCIB) to adopt a policy which advocates that persons who have blindness as their only employment-related disability receive at least the federal minimum wage, and commends William S. Thompson, GCIB president, for his efforts in aligning GCIB with other blindness-related consumer and professional organizations concerning the minimum wage issues.
Resolution 2000-22 urges producers of DVD, and trade organizations representing DVD engineering and the directing and performing professions, to include, or endorse the inclusion of, a DVS track on all movies and entertainment released through the media of DVD.
Resolution 2000-24 sets forth principles which ACB believes should govern the operation of all private facilities serving persons who are blind.
Resolution 2000-25 extends ACB's congratulations to Freedom Scientific upon its formation and commends Freedom Scientific's initial involvement with the blind community. The resolution calls upon Freedom Scientific, however, to formalize specific procedures which will insure meaningful input from a broad spectrum of blind consumers and organizations representing them. The resolution further expresses ACB's anticipation of providing advice and consultation to Freedom Scientific.
Resolution 2000-27 instructs ACB's officers and staff to take all appropriate and necessary steps to oppose the enactment of H.R. 3590.
Resolution 2000-28 urges that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) add to its annual EEOC-1 form the category "blind and visually impaired."
Resolution 2000-30 calls upon both the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and American Printing House for the Blind (APH) management, to negotiate with each other in good faith, with all deliberate speed, for an initial collective bargaining agreement which will treat the narrators' bargaining unit fairly and reasonably while insuring for blind consumers the continuing high quality of APH's Talking Book production.
Resolution 2000-32 directs ACB's officers and staff to continue to vigorously pursue increased appropriations for services to the older blind to at least the $26 million annual funding level. The resolution also directs that more adequate funding for older blind programs be included as an agenda item for the 2001 ACB legislative seminar, unless at least $26 million have been appropriated.
Resolution 2000-33 establishes that ACB will not enter into any future contracts for hotels, meeting rooms and convention sites without first requesting that all computer-generated print materials produced for and by the hotel, or other meeting place, be made available in accessible formats.
Resolution 2000-34 directs the ACB convention committee to include, in the convention program, activities designed for young children whose parents are attending the ACB convention, and directs that these activities and child care resources be included in and distributed as part of the regular convention program. The resolution urges that a parent with interest in this issue be added as a member of the convention committee to coordinate events such as are detailed in this resolution. The resolution further lists a number of organizations with which ACB might collaborate in achieving the provisions of this resolution, and establishes that the resolution shall enjoy implementation by the 2001 ACB convention.
Resolution 2000-35 instructs ACB's officers, directors and Braille Authority of North America (BANA) representative to work vigorously in opposition to a Braille code containing dual systems of numbering, and/or which lacks substantial, consumer-driven evaluation.
Resolution 2000-36 advocates the development and enactment of federal legislation which would establish a single nation-wide preferred file format standard. The resolution details the criteria which the legislation would need to satisfy.
Resolution 2000-37 urges the United States Congress to substantially increase the appropriation for personnel preparation under Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and urges Congress to explicitly earmark meaningful personnel preparation appropriations to fund university programs training teachers of visually impaired children and to fund recruitment and retention initiatives.
Resolution 2000-38 urges the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (the Access Board) to extend and adapt the accessibility standards for automated teller machines (ATM's) to interactive transaction machines (ITM's).
Resolution 2000-39 notes that certain proposed policies under the Randolph-Sheppard Act were developed by the General Services Administration (GSA) without legally required consultation from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and other parties. The resolution further notes that the circulation of the proposed policies was thus improper, and the resolution strongly supports the RSA Commissioner's insistence that the GSA revise its policy goals with the active involvement of the RSA, the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind, and representatives of Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America.
Resolution 2000-40 notes that at least one regional Randolph-Sheppard conference has been planned and arranged without the active participation of the committees of licensed blind managers in the applicable state programs and the Business Enterprise Program directors in those states, and calls upon the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to prevent this type of unilateral, bias-driven and wasteful conference planning in the future by policy guidance to the RSA regional directors and the grantee universities that help in the planning and administration of regional conferences. The resolution further stipulates that the officers, directors and staff of ACB review ACB Resolution 99-40, as well as this resolution, prior to the 2001 ACB National Convention and make a determination as to whether the adversarial provisions of Resolution 99-40 should be implemented due to continuation of actions such as are detailed in this resolution.
Resolution 2000-42 urges state affiliates and their chapters to advocate for the immediate use of accessible voting methods which will insure the right of people who are blind and visually impaired to cast a secret ballot.
Resolution 2000-43 directs ACB's officers, directors and staff to establish provisions to make available a series of leadership training seminars. The resolution further stipulates that the seminars shall address the needs of both special-interest and state affiliates.
Resolution 2000-45 establishes that ACB will join with the National Alliance of Blind Students (NABS) in investigating the accommodation procedures, and plans for enhancement of those procedures, for tests administered by Educational Testing Services (ETS). The resolution also calls on ACB and NABS to then approach ETS with the findings of the investigation and urges that ETS implement specific actions that will insure full and equal access to all ETS testing. The resolution further urges the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to amend its regulations to prohibit test administrators, such as ETS, from flagging test scores as "non-standard" when such tests have been administered using reasonable accommodations.
Resolution 2000-46 supports the creation and adoption of an international protocol that would facilitate the free trade of accessible copyrighted works among countries with appropriately robust copyright laws, and directs ACB to advocate through the World Blind Union, and appropriate forums in conjunction with like-minded organizations of and for the blind, for the formulation and adoption of such a protocol.
Resolution 2000-49 refocuses ACB's legislative advocacy regarding Social Security disability policy by urging Congress to enact a gradual reduction of SSDI benefits, such as an exchange of $1 of benefits for every $3 in earnings when earnings exceed limits determined by the Social Security Act. The resolution further takes the position that the enactment of any gradual benefits reduction measure must also hold harmless existing eligibility provisions and allowable earnings thresholds.
Resolution 2000-50 thanks the Galt House Hotel and its staff.
Resolution 2000-51 thanks volunteers who contributed to the success of the 2000 ACB convention.
Resolution 2000-52 thanks the host committee for the 2000 ACB convention.
Resolution 2000-53 expresses ACB's extreme regret and disappointment that the services relating to audio streaming of the 2000 ACB convention were wholly inadequate and caused the audio streaming to largely fail, thus preventing ACB members and friends throughout the world from enjoying access to our convention.