2024 Resolutions
RESOLUTION 2024-01 Regarding the Lack of Accessibility of the Wayfinding System Used in UCHealth Facilities
WHEREAS, UCHealth, a quasi-public system, operates the primary teaching hospital for the University of Colorado School of Medicine and several additional hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the State of Colorado; and
WHEREAS, in late 2023, UCHealth launched an indoor navigation system within the UCHealth mobile app using a network of thousands of Bluetooth beacons inside its facilities to help people find their way to the front door of buildings, to the clinics within those buildings, or to other providers within; and
WHEREAS, the information available through the UCHealth indoor navigation system includes route maps and the locations of various points of interest such as pharmacies, elevators, restrooms, and cafeterias; and
WHEREAS, smartphone users who are blind and who use talking screen reading technology report that the indoor navigation system in the UCHealth mobile app does not provide them with the same level of information available to people who can see the screen and, therefore, is not sufficient for them to find their way efficiently and effectively in UCHealth's complex indoor environment; for example, a screen reader user following a route is provided with no verbal information unless or until the route has been completed successfully; and
WHEREAS, the technology underlying the wayfinding system used in UCHealth facilities comes from a company called Poynter, which has a partnership with Okeenea, another software company; and
WHEREAS, while Okeenea does offer a nonvisually-accessible wayfinding app called Evelity, the UCHealth mobile app is currently not integrated with Evelity, thus depriving screen reader users of the opportunity to use a navigation system that is more accessible than the UCHealth mobile app; and
WHEREAS, as evidenced by its Campuswide Digital Accessibility Committee, the University of Colorado seems to recognize its responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act and HB 21-1110 (requiring state and local governments to make their information and communication technology accessible) to provide accessible information to all Colorado residents and anyone at the medical school's flagship Anschutz Campus; and
WHEREAS, each and every one of us has a right to privacy about our health, and asking passersby or hospital volunteers for assistance in locating a clinic or provider could result in disclosing information, either directly or indirectly, about a medical condition which patients might prefer to keep private; and
WHEREAS, while UCHealth's practice of keeping functionality for consumers within one app is an understandable effort at simplicity, it has resulted in unintended consequences that deny blind patrons valuable information that could simplify their ability to navigate the complicated indoor environments which are typical of UCHealth facilities; and
WHEREAS, a nonvisually-accessible wayfinding system such as Evelity that can be used in medical centers, government offices, and other public places would offer a tremendous benefit to blind patrons who need or want to use technology to navigate UCHealth's facilities independently: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado in Convention assembled this 27th day of October, 2024, in the City of Lone Tree, Colorado, that this organization call upon UCHealth, the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and any other related parties to fully comply with state and federal accessibility laws by making the UCHealth indoor navigation system fully accessible to everyone--including blind people who operate mobile apps using screen reading technology; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon UCHealth to make it possible for the indoor navigation beacons used in its facilities to work with mobile apps that are designed for and usable by blind people who rely upon screen reading technology to operate their smartphones.
RESOLUTION 2024-02 Regarding Insulting and Discriminatory Attitudes by the Denver Regional Transportation District About Employment of the Blind
WHEREAS, despite attitudes which have too often denied job opportunities to blind people solely because of blindness, there is ample historical evidence to prove that given opportunity, appropriate training, and organizational leadership recognizing the competence and innate normality of the blind, blind people can be just as employable and productive in the workforce as their sighted peers; and
WHEREAS, history has proven that the characteristic of blindness has not prevented blind people from succeeding in a wide variety of jobs and professions--from the mundane to the professional--from the position of janitor to that of chief executive officer; and
WHEREAS, in responding to an invitation from the Colorado Center for the Blind, a world-renowned training center for the blind, to participate in a College, Careers, and Connections event, a recruiting officer from the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) had the following to say about RTD employing blind people:
"…we aren't yet fully able to provide the support needed for the individuals you serve.
"…We likely have many roles where blind professionals, with reasonable accommodations, can excel and contribute effectively.
"We unfortunately are not yet at a place where we have those positions identified and would be able to present them in an effective manner."; and
WHEREAS, the idea that blind people should apply only for positions that have been identified specifically for blind people is the hallmark of discrimination against blind jobseekers and antithetical to everything that we in the National Federation of the Blind believe about the ability of blind people to work and live in the world on the basis of absolute equality with the sighted; and
WHEREAS, while it is true that some jobs might require reasonable accommodations because of blindness, it is equally true that blindness is only one of many characteristics which need to be considered when determining a person's ability to fill a particular position; and
WHEREAS, given the stereotypical and insulting attitude about the blind expressed by the recruiting officer from RTD, it is no wonder that so few blind people are employed by that organization: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado in convention assembled this 27th day of October, 2024, in the City of Lone Tree, Colorado, that this organization condemn and deplore the statements made by a recruiting officer from the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) expressing the view that blind people, because of blindness, are not qualified to apply for a broad range of positions within the RTD organization but must instead be relegated to a handful of positions which can only be identified after careful research and planning; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that RTD's Board of Directors direct General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Debra Johnson to develop plans and procedures to inculcate a more positive attitude toward blindness and blind people within the RTD organization and to expunge from the RTD organizational culture the stereotypical, insulting, discriminatory, and demeaning notion that blind job applicants are not eligible to apply for a broad range of jobs within the RTD organization simply because they are blind.
RESOLUTION 2024-03 Regarding Disrespect by the Denver Regional Transportation District of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado as a Representative Organization of Blind People
WHEREAS, the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) provides vital bus, light rail, commuter rail, and paratransit services in the greater Denver metropolitan area covering an area of approximately 2,342 square miles; and
WHEREAS, RTD is a critical (if not the only) provider of public transportation services for the blind in the Denver metropolitan area, and for the blind, an effective and highly-efficient public transportation system is vital if they are to lead independent and productive lives; and
WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado (NFBCO) is the largest and oldest organization of blind people in Colorado and as such, represents a large constituency of blind people who, through the organization's democratic processes, have elected leaders with the power to speak on their behalf and designate individual members as official representatives of the organization; and
WHEREAS, in the past few years, RTD has failed to engage directly with the NFBCO to discuss service changes and other issues directly impacting its membership as illustrated by the following five examples:
- For many years, RTD has operated two disability-related advisory committees: the Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities (ACPD) and the Access-a-Ride Paratransit Advisory Committee (APAC), and while individuals who happened to be NFBCO members have served on these two committees, RTD has never reached out to the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado to designate people to serve on either committee as voting members officially representing the organization; In fact, when ex officio positions were established on these committees for advocacy organizations, organizational representatives did not have the power to vote on these advisory committees;
- Officials at RTD did not reach out to the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado when designing and implementing what it now calls Access-on-Demand (AoD), a subsidized curb-to-curb service using taxi and rideshare companies to provide a premium service to enhance its traditional Access-a-Ride paratransit service;
- Officials at RTD chose not to communicate directly with the NFBCO when they discovered that AoD customers could use the Uber app on their smartphones to arrange for trips with multiple stops; instead, AoD customers were sent a punitive email telling them that if they were caught using Uber's multiple stop feature through AoD, they would be suspended from the service (no data has yet been made available, either to the NFBCO or the public, to justify RTD's poor behavior in this regard);
- When RTD implemented the reduced fixed route and paratransit fares earlier this year, it failed to consult with the NFBCO about how the information regarding the reduced fares could be presented in a way that would best work for nonvisual readers; and
- Earlier this year, RTD commissioned a Paratransit Peer Review facilitated by the American Public Transportation Association which, among other things, was supposed to communicate staff’s next steps for engaging with stakeholders and customers; yet, while the panel reached out to the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition for a stakeholder interview, it never reached out to the NFBCO for a similar interview; and
WHEREAS, although relations between RTD and individual members of the NFBCO have been largely cordial, there is absolutely no relationship, positive or negative, that exists between RTD's senior management and senior leadership of the NFBCO; and
WHEREAS, if RTD had already recognized the NFBCO as an organization representing a large constituency of blind people, holding within its membership a repository of collective wisdom and the lived experiences of hundreds of blind people (all of which are nowhere present within the RTD organization), it could conceivably have avoided many of the mistakes that have led to the controversy which continues to plague its Access-on-Demand program: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado in Convention assembled this 27th day of October, 2024, in the City of Lone Tree, Colorado, that this organization express its annoyance and frustration with the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) for disrespecting the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado (NFBCO), in particular:
- failing to acknowledge the role of the NFBCO as a representative organization of blind people with a large constituency, a democratic character, and a treasure trove of lived experiences with blindness that are found nowhere within the RTD organization; and
- refusing to involve the NFBCO in important discussions about planned changes in programs and services directly affecting the blind until making these changes public; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon RTD to take immediate steps to establish a positive and ongoing working relationship with the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado and to involve the NFBCO's designated representatives in major current and future plans, especially those that have not yet been publicly announced.
RESOLUTION 2024-04 Regarding Increasing the Salaries Paid to Rehabilitation Professionals in Colorado
WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado (NFBCO), a (501)(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the largest and oldest advocacy organization of blind people in Colorado, brings together blind people of all ages, their family members, and their friends, all working together to achieve full participation, equal access, and integration of the blind into our society; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, the Blind and Low Vision Services unit (BLVS), administratively housed within the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, was established to provide specialized services to blind or low vision people in Colorado; and
WHEREAS, BLVS and DVR services include (but are not limited to) rehabilitation counseling, training in the use of low vision or nonvisual access technology, independent travel and other blindness-specific training, assistance to evaluate and purchase technology to be used for training and employment, and job placement services; and
WHEREAS, a significant level of good sense, education, knowledge of blindness and low vision, belief in the competence and normality of people who are blind or low vision, counseling skills, and professionalism is necessary to maximize the benefit of the services that the unit provides; and
WHEREAS, these services are crucially important for BLVS and DVR to achieve successful outcomes in a labor market where people who are blind or low vision are generally regarded as inferior, unable to contribute, and less likely to be able to succeed in a competitive labor market; and
WHEREAS, there continues to be a high rate of unemployment in the blind or low vision community in Colorado, with studies suggesting unemployment rates between 50 and 70%; and
WHEREAS, the relatively low salaries offered by the State of Colorado for BLVS and DVR professional positions mean that BLVS and DVR are constantly struggling to find and keep the best-qualified employees to perform the essential tasks necessary to meet the vocational training and job placement needs of blind or low vision Coloradans; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, various school systems, out-of-state agencies, and even some nonprofit organizations are offering vocational rehabilitation professionals significantly higher wages for comparable positions; and
WHEREAS, although the State of Colorado offers a number of significant benefits, these benefits often do not provide a sufficiently strong incentive for rehabilitation professionals to remain in their positions, as evidenced by the high turnover rate experienced by BLVS and DVR; and
WHEREAS, because of their noncompetitive salaries, both BLVS and DVR must struggle to fill and maintain the highest-quality staff, resulting in a lack of consistent quality service to blind and low vision people in Colorado; and
WHEREAS, Colorado would greatly benefit from an economy where well-trained and highly-qualified blind or low vision citizens are employed: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado in Convention assembled this 27th day of October, 2024, in the City of Lone Tree, Colorado, that this organization call upon the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and the Colorado General Assembly to take immediate steps to increase salaries paid to rehabilitation counselors and trainers in the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Blind and Low Vision Services unit so that these programs can attract and keep rehabilitation professionals of the highest caliber; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization declare its willingness to work with government officials and rehabilitation professionals employed by the State of Colorado to secure salaries that are attractive and competitive.
RESOLUTION 2024-05 Regarding Increased Funding for Services to Older Blind Coloradans
WHEREAS, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) is the designated Area Agency on Aging for an eight-county region in the Denver area, serving Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, and Gilpin counties and, as such, provides comprehensive services to address the needs of the region's older adults and people living with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, the objective of these comprehensive services is to enable older individuals to live more independently for a longer period of time instead of having to move into more costly assisted living facilities; and
WHEREAS, for a number of years, DRCOG provided funding to agencies such as the Colorado Center for the Blind and three other agencies in its eight-county service area for blindness-skills training and other support services to older blind adults who were already blind or losing vision with the goal of maintaining their independence and forestalling the need for them to move into more costly assisted living centers; and
WHEREAS, because its funding request for an increase of $6.1 million was reduced to $2 million during the 2024 session of the Colorado General Assembly, DRCOG cut funding for the Colorado Center for the Blind and the other three agencies in its service area providing critical training and support services to older blind adults; and
WHEREAS, older Americans who are losing vision represent the largest and fastest-growing demographic of blind people--a demographic desperately in need of blindness-skills training and support to maximize independence and delay the time when it becomes necessary to move into costly assisted living facilities: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado in Convention assembled this 27th day of October, 2024, in the City of Lone Tree, Colorado, that this organization call upon the Colorado General Assembly, in its 2025 session, to appropriate $500,000 to restore the programs and services that DRCOG originally funded to enable older blind adults to receive critical blindness-skills training and support in the eight-county area that DRCOG serves through its Area Agency on Aging.
RESOLUTION 2024-06 Regarding the Degradation of Fixed Route and Light Rail Service from the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD)
WHEREAS, effective and efficient public mass transit systems are essential for blind people who want to live independent and productive lives; and
WHEREAS, effective and efficient public mass transit systems are characterized by close proximity, high frequency, consistent reliability, ease of connectivity, and convenient access to fixed bus routes and light rail options; and
WHEREAS, the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) was established by the Colorado General Assembly to provide public mass transit in the Denver Metro area; and
WHEREAS, the Colorado Center for the Blind, a project of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado, is a world-class blindness training center in Littleton, Colorado, whose programs are infused with a positive philosophy of blindness, a strong sense of personal independence and responsibility, and a high degree of self-confidence; and
WHEREAS, the training programs operated by the Colorado Center for the Blind rely heavily on the fixed route and light rail transportation services available from RTD to teach students to travel widely, safely, and confidently using a long, white cane; and
WHEREAS, during the COVID-19 pandemic, RTD was forced to reduce its fixed route and light rail services, and the Colorado Center for the Blind did its best to deal with this unfortunate situation; and
WHEREAS, although RTD has reinstated many of its bus and light rail lines in the Denver area, it has yet to do the same for much of its suburban area routes; and
WHEREAS, even before the reductions in service forced on it by COVID-19, RTD had, for decades, been expanding light rail services at the expense of fixed route bus services--particularly in the outer areas of metro Denver; and
WHEREAS, RTD's degradation of service, which includes frequency reductions and cancellation of at least two bus routes and one light rail line within the immediate service range of the Colorado Center for the Blind, has placed significant barriers in the path of blind Center students learning to travel independently, not to mention significantly impeding the Center's ability to expose students to important elements in the metropolitan Denver landscape; and
WHEREAS, the fiasco created by RTD's recent significant work on the light rail system has resulted in unmanageable slow-downs and delays that further negatively affect the Colorado Center for the Blind’s ability to deliver the highest quality training to its blind students, many of whom come from other states around the country; and
WHEREAS, although RTD has adjusted two bus route schedules to better serve the Center’s riders (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), its once-an-hour service to downtown Littleton still prevents the Colorado Center for the Blind from providing the same number of teaching hours as it did before the pandemic, amounting to a loss of 330 total teaching hours per month across all core classes, including Braille, Technology, Home Management, and Cane Travel; and
WHEREAS, the loss of overall teaching hours, combined with the limitations imposed by infrequent bus service and unreliable light rail service, has significantly curtailed the ability of the Colorado Center for the Blind to provide the high-quality and high-expectations training for which it is renowned: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado in Convention assembled this 27th day of October, 2024, in the City of Lone Tree, Colorado, that this organization call upon the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) to restore all routes and schedules to pre-pandemic levels and to develop more robust fixed route service in the wider Denver metro area.