The American Council of the Blind is pleased to announce that one of our partners, Waymo LLC, is the first company to ever receive the ADC testing permit from the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT). This permits Waymo to operate vehicles in parts of Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn while in autonomous mode with a trained autonomous vehicle specialist behind the wheel. This is a first of its kind in NYC and brings accessibility and the future one step closer to New Yorkers.

On this day in 1965, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, establishing critical protections for voters with disabilities, including the right to receive help from a person of their choosing at the polls. This landmark law also outlawed discriminatory voting practices for all citizens.

Congress has reintroduced the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA). This bill works to ensure that people with disabilities are not paid subminimum wage under an almost 100-year-old piece of legislation that allows certain businesses with a specific certificate to do so. The bill will work to eliminate such working environments and help transition people currently in such settings into a more integrated work situation.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division

A bill previously supported by ACB was reintroduced in the House of Representatives.  The Disability Access to Transportation Act (DATA) works to improve paratransit services. Specifically, the bill calls for an intermediate stop to be available when making a trip through paratransit. For instance, a person could request a brief stop on their way home to pick their child up from daycare. This service would make transportation services more flexible and readily available. Please follow the link below to ask your Congressmember to support the bill.

Please see the email below ACB received from the Department of Transportation concerning air travel.

Dear Disability Advocates:

ACB recently signed onto a joint letter with numerous disability advocacy organizations in response to a letter put out by the American Council on Education (ACE) in May of this year. The letter advocated for a potential pause on the 2026 implementation of the new Title II website regulations. Additionally, the ACE letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expressed concern in carrying out the new regulations as they are written.

Please see the press release below. ACB is listed as a public supporter of the reintroduction of the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act. The act, introduced with bipartisan and bicameral support, will work to eliminate subminimum wage.

Here’s another opportunity to get involved. Congress, in both the House and Senate, has reintroduced the Disaster Relief Medicaid Act (DRMA). This bill, which has been introduced in several Congressional sessions, works to accommodate people with disabilities who are displaced after a major disaster. The bill will enable Medicaid services to easily move across state or county borders without the complicated and time-consuming burden of applying for coverage that keeps Medicaid recipients from the services they need.

The U.S. Department of Energy has placed a 60-day postponement on the Direct Final Rule for building Section 504. This Direct Final Rule would remove accessibility requirements and standards for new DOE-funded buildings, weakening protections for those with disabilities.