NEWS BRIEFSAt AbilityMaine we are developing a special page for events, committee meetings, board meetings, etc. that are of interest to people with disabilities. The calendar link will still be on our site, but this special page will be specifically for disability related meetings and events. If you have items to add to this page, if you are a committee member who can provide dates for your meetings,or if you are planning an event, send items to Mainefun40@hotmail.com with CALENDAR in the subject line. We're always looking for news and information at Abilitymaine. If you have items you think we can use, send them to Mainefun40@hotmail.com with NEWS in the subject line. NewsBriefs Trouble Ahead If TABOR Passes
I'm amazed at the recent poll that showed 75% of voters in favor of TABOR and 25% against. Obviously not many voters are paying attention. In Maine, there are two forms of municipal government. One is a Town Meeting that is the legislative body and the other is elected Town or City Councils that make up the other municipal legislative body. TABOR (Taxpayers Bill of Rights) would require, if passed, a 2/3 vote of the legislative body on all tax and fee increases and then majority voter approval at the next general election or special election. The TABOR proposal clearly states 2/3 of the legislative body, at a Town Meeting that means all registered voters, not just those who show up. Getting 2/3 of all registered voters in a Town to a Town Meeting and then having them all vote in favor of a tax or fee proposal would be a colossal accomplishment. There are more than 500 Maine City/Towns. Because of this 2/3 requirement and then a majority voter approval at an election these City/Town governments will be in serious trouble. TABOR needs to be defeated as well as those candidates running in the November election who favor TABOR. John Carr White House Website Violates Federal Law
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/report2/index.htm) "require[s] federal agencies to ensure that EIT [electronic information technology] they procure is accessible to people with disabilities (http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/report2/summary.htm)." That includes websites. The White House website does not comply with Section 508. http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads /2006/07/Watchfire%20WebXACT%20government.pdf of three pages on http://www.whitehouse.gov found 49
instances of Section 508 violations Most notably, these White House pages don't provide alternative text for all images. A blind person surfing the Internet uses a program that searches for text that identifies images. Many images on the White House site have no associated text in the web code and leave a person with disabilities unable to tell what the image is. Contact Linda Sites (linda.sites@oa.eop.gov) and Linda
Tolkan (ltolkan@oa.eop.gov) in the Executive Office of
the President and ask why the White House website isn't in
compliance and what steps, if any, are being taken to fix the
problem. (Check out American Progress's letter to the EOP
http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads For more Disability news issues, see: "Planet of the Blind"
Poet and writer Steve Kuusisto has launched a blog called "Planet of the Blind" which he hopes will be of general interest to those who share his interest in literary nonfiction and disability.You can visit the blog and add your posts at: Assistant Professor Department of English Fellow The Center for Law, Policy, and Social Science Moritz College of Law The Ohio State University Tel. 614-292-4642 Kuusisto.1@osu.edu MindFreedom News Hour Launches on Internet Radio as a Free Weekly Show in the Progressive Radio Network Listen Every Tuesday at 1 pm EST on http://www.theprn.org United Cerebral Palsy Releases Consumer Guide to Assist People with Disabilities Maximize Medicare Part D Drug Coverage WASHINGTON, DC - United Cerebral Palsy, one of the nation's largest health charities, announced the release of Navigating the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Coverage Program: A Guide for People with Disabilities, Benefits Counselors, Disability Organizations and Others on Ensuring Adequate and Appropriate Access to Prescription Drugs. The guide serves as a follow-up and companion document toUnderstanding Changes in Prescription Drug Coverage for People with Disabilities on Medicare, a consumer guide written by the same authors in 2005. Free copies of the guide are available in PDF, Microsoft Word and HTML formats online at http://www.ucp.org. |