2014 Convention at a Glance

WHEREAS, the State of New York and its agencies contract with private entities on a regular basis, and these contracts often involve information and communication technologies; and

WHEREAS, whenever new technologies are implemented through the State or any of its agencies, Federal and state law requires that those technologies be usable by all; and

WHEREAS, unless explicit and robust accessibility requirements are built into the language of a request for proposal and subsequent contract, accessibility of the resulting information and communication technology cannot be assured; and

WHEREAS, information and communication technology that is inaccessible excludes people with disabilities from activities of employment, education, civic responsibility, and other activities supported by technologies which the state procures: Now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of New York State in Convention assembled this ninth day of November, 2014, in the City of Niagara Falls, New York, that this organization work with New York State to ensure, through whatever means necessary, that all requests for proposal and subsequent contracts entered into by the State or any of its agencies require that all information and communication technologies be accessible.

WHEREAS, the New York State Education Department adopted the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC) as the replacement for New York's previous high school equivalency exam; and

WHEREAS, the TASC is available in hard copy standard print, large print, braille, and a computer-based version developed by CTB/McGraw-Hill, a producer of educational materials; and

WHEREAS, computer-based tests are notoriously fraught with accessibility issues; and

WHEREAS, both the computer-based and braille formats of the test require the provision of quality tactile graphics to be meaningfully accessible to blind test-takers; and

WHEREAS, CTB/McGraw-Hill plans to integrate Common Core Standards into the TASC over the next three years, altering the test framework to include questions with new forms of interaction which will necessitate new approaches to accessibility; and

WHEREAS, CTB/McGraw-Hill has not been fully transparent with stakeholders regarding the accessibility of its computer-based test and provision of tactile graphics; and

WHEREAS, the practice materials provided to stakeholders have not met the needs of all blind test-takers; and

WHEREAS, CTB/McGraw-Hill has been reluctant to allow for the needs of all blind test-takers when approving accommodations, including requests for multiple testing modalities; and

WHEREAS, fully accessible computer-based testing, meaningfully accessible tactile graphics, and the provision of multiple testing modalities are all critical components of a testing process that allows blind test-takers to compete on terms of equality: Now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of New York State in Convention assembled this ninth day of November, 2014, in the City of Niagara Falls, New York, that this organization work with and support the New York State Education Department in its effort to demand that CTB/McGraw-Hill make the TASC fully accessible to all test-takers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization request that New York State Commission for the Blind continue to engage with the Education Department to provide technical assistance and advocacy to improve the accessibility of the TASC; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call on CTB/McGraw-Hill to work with the NFB and other stakeholders to provide all test-takers with a level playing field by making the TASC fully accessible now and going forward as changes are made to integrate Common Core Standards.