Regarding Nonvisual Access to Educational Materials, Software, and Digital Learning Platforms

A2021-01: Regarding Nonvisual Access to Educational Materials, Software, and Digital Learning Platforms

Adopted In : 2021

Topics : Education

WHEREAS, access to the full curriculum is vital for participation in in-person and virtual education settings for all students; and

WHEREAS, accessibility barriers impede full access to the educational environment for blind and low vision students and for others with print disabilities; and

WHEREAS, both Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 require schools to provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) and the United States Department of Education (USDOE) issued a Joint Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on June 29, 2010, noting that “individuals with disabilities must be provided with the same aids, benefits, or services that provide an equal opportunity to achieve the same result or the same level of achievement as others”; and

WHEREAS, on November 12, 2014, the USDOJ and the USDOE issued a Joint DCL stating that: “Students with disabilities, like all students, must be provided the opportunity to fully participate in our public schools,” and that “a critical aspect of participation is communication with others”; and

WHEREAS, in September 2017 and on March 12, 2020, the USDOE unequivocally reminded school districts that students with disabilities retain full rights to educational opportunities, including access to a free appropriate public education whenever school districts provide any educational opportunities to nondisabled students; and

WHEREAS, for many years, in its required biennial report to the Minnesota Legislature, the Education Commissioner's "Blind/Visually-Impaired Advisory Committee" has acknowledged and made recommendations concerning accessibility barriers of digital curricula and digital learning systems in Minnesota; and

WHEREAS, many school districts in Minnesota have failed to meet their longstanding accessibility obligations to blind and low vision students, purchasing and implementing educational technologies that are only partially accessible to these students or are not accessible at all; and

WHEREAS, despite clear guidance from the USDOE, the shift to part-time or full-time remote instruction in many Minnesota school districts because of the COVID-19 pandemic heightened learning barriers for blind and low vision students; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota in convention assembled this seventh day of November, 2021, that this organization call upon the Minnesota Department of Education to work with the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota to develop policies mandating that school districts and other decisionmakers make full accessibility a requirement when selecting educational technology,  implementing websites and web-based applications, and creating digital content; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon every school district in the state of Minnesota to replace inaccessible remote learning and communication systems with systems that are fully accessible; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization offer its expertise to schools and families to help educators and administrators to make decisions that ensure accessibility of educational content, software, and learning platforms.

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