Blind and Visually Impaired Americans Support Efforts to Sustain and Improve Federal Technology Programs
May 14, 2002

May 14, 2002, the American Council of the Blind (ACB), a membership organization of blind and visually impaired people living in every region of the country, voiced support for collaborative efforts to save federal technology programs which seek to bridge the divide between people who can and cannot access technology.

"The increasing availability of technologies which enable people who cannot see to read, communicate easily with one another, and access other services which allow all of us to function independently in today's world has been the most liberating circumstance for people who are blind and visually impaired to have occurred within the last three decades," said Christopher P. Gray of San Francisco, President of the American Council of the Blind. "I can remember a time in the not far distant past when people who were blind had to rely entirely on others to read for them, help them with shopping, or write letters to friends and colleagues. Few jobs were open to people who could not see, and a reliance on the support of others was thought by many severely visually impaired people to be the normal way of living one's life. Today, using computers with screen-reading magnification, and braille-display technologies, blind people can accomplish the ordinary tasks of daily life just about as routinely as their sighted colleagues. We can go to school and to work and live independently, largely because of the advantages that technology can afford us. Without federal programs like the Community Technology Centers (CTC) and the technology opportunity grants available through the Technology Opportunity Program (TOP), many people would have never been able to take advantage of the gains which technology and connectivity can bring to us."

Charles Crawford of Silver Spring, Md., who is the Executive Director of the Council, added, "We have members who have been able to take advantage of the TOPs grants to open centers where people with disabilities have gained access to computers and training which have allowed them to go to work, live independently and do all of the things that most Americans take for granted. There's more work to be done for sure, and we would hate to see programs like TOP and CTC go away while there are still so many blind and visually impaired people who haven't yet been able to take advantage of these liberating technologies. In our community, where the unemployment rate for blind people of working age exceeds 70 percent, access to technology and connectivity and the training that can make that happen are absolutely crucial."

Crawford continued, "The American Council of the Blind has had a long standing and mutually rewarding relationship with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and we are so pleased to participate in this campaign which can make such a positive difference for all of our members in communities across the country. We stand with all the organizations involved in this campaign to increase federal support for access to the benefits of technology, and share a vision of equal access and equality of opportunity for every single person living in this great country, whether old or young, able-bodied or living with disabilities, rural or urban, man or woman, with no regard for ethnicity, religion or any other defining characterization."

The American Council of the Blind is a national membership organization whose purpose is to work toward independence, security, equality of opportunity, and improved quality of life for all blind and visually impaired people. Founded in 1961, ACB's members work through more than 70 state and special-interest affiliates to improve the well-being of all blind and visually impaired people by: serving as a representative national organization; elevating the social, economic and cultural levels of blind people; improving educational and rehabilitation facilities and opportunities; cooperating with the public and private institutions and organizations concerned with blind services; encouraging and assisting all people with severely impaired vision to develop their abilities and conducting a public education program to promote greater understanding of blindness and our capabilities. To learn more about the Council's work, visit the website, or contact the national office in Washington, DC, at (202) 467-5081.

The Digital Empowerment Coalition is a bipartisan group of more than 75 civil rights, public interest, education, health, religious, labor, women's, community development, and technology organizations, all working to preserve and strengthen the federal government's leadership role in expanding opportunity in the Digital Age.

Contact: Charles Crawford at his e-mail.

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