Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a pivotal law to uphold the rights of people with disabilities. The law says that all programs receiving federal funding, which is a substantial portion of programs, must provide accommodations for persons with disabilities. We believe that the law is extremely vulnerable at this time. In September of 2024, a lawsuit was brought by 17 states against the U.S. government to overturn the law; this would enable services receiving federal dollars to stop providing the necessary…

For Immediate Release

Contact: Scott Thornhill
Executive Director
American Council of the Blind
(202) 467-5081
sthornhill@acb.org

Program area will advance equal access for people who are blind or have low vision

Alexandria, Va., February 12, 2025 – The American Council of the Blind (ACB), a national membership-driven organization with 8,000 members and 65 affiliates, announces the launch of…

Early this week, the new chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called for the suspension of work by Bureau employees for at least a week. It is unknown what will transpire after that. The Bureau was established in 2011, and along with many other responsibilities, works to prevent fraud against the American people; the elderly and people with disabilities are more vulnerable to fraudulent activities. ACB will watch this change closely to see what happens with the Bureau. Congress ultimately has the authority to dissolve the agency

American Council
of the Blind, Inc.
Constitution and Bylaws

(As amended through the 2023 National Conference and Convention)

American Council of the Blind
225 Reinekers Ln.
Suite 660
Alexandria, VA 22314

(202) 467-5081
1-800-424-8666
…

These are older issues of the Dots and Dashes newsletter, a biweekly newsletter filled with timely news, legislative updates, and other useful information. ACB first started publishing Dots and Dashes in 2018. Visit the Dots and Dashes page under Publications and Media to view more recent newsletters.

2024

Dots and Dashes 12-16-24

Dots and Dashes 12-2-24

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Below are the links to the meeting minutes of the American Council of the Blind's Board of Directors for the year 2022.

• December 5 and December 12, 2022 ACB Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
• October 22, 2022 ACB Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
• September 13, 2022 ACB Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
• …

After a multitude of challenges from many advocacy groups, the January 27 memo on federal funding freezes has been rescinded. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) put out their own statement to work to walk back the significant amount of misunderstanding that has occurred over the last few days. To our understanding, at this time, impacted programs will continue as expected. However, the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, emphasized that is was only a rescission of the memo, not the funding freeze policies. ACB will continue follow this issue to better understand this…

Minutes before the funding freeze was to go into effect on Tuesday afternoon, Judge Loren L. Alikhan from the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia issued a stay until Monday, February 3, 2025, to determine next steps on a lawsuit against the presidential directive given on Monday, January 27. A temporary restraining order was brought by the National Council on Nonprofits to prevent the freezing of federal funding for numerous federal programs.

ACB is still exploring how such funding freezes might impact the blind and low vision community. However, such freezes have been…