| February, 2003 |
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In the News
Voting Rights Law Passes
(Adapted from New Mobility, December 2002)
President Bush signed voting rights legislation October 29th, calling for at least one accessible voting machine at each polling site by 2006. The legislation is also providing funding to replace punch card and lever voting machines with easier-to-use technology and earmarks $100 million to create polling place access.
Standards for Accessible Digital Instructional Materials
The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has awarded a grant to the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) to develop a voluntary national file format for the electronic transmission of instructional materials for students who are blind and students with other disabilities. CAST, in conjunction with the National Institute on Standards and Technology (NIST) will convene an advisory panel that will develop recommendations for a set of technical specifications for accessible instructional materials, a timeline for the implementation of the proposed standard, and a process for assessing success of the standard implementation. The secretary will provide an opportunity or public comment on the proposed standard through a notice in the Federal Register.
NFB Partnership with Department of Commerce
The National Federation of the Blind and the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are working in partnership to develop and field-test a prototype device that will allow the blind to feel electronically produced, tactile representations of images and graphics.