Welcome to the ACB
Maine Newsletter for July 2026.
The newsletter is designed for accessibility and contains very few graphics. In the lower left hand section of the page is an accessiblity icon to change elements of the page.
Please forward the newsletter to any interested people or relevant agencies.
Our next board meeting is August 13, 2026 at 7:00 PM via ZOOM.
The Zoom link will be sent out separately.
President's Message
from Amanda Frost
Happy July everyone! This is your ACB Maine president! I am happy to bring you some great updates! ACB Maine will be putting their final touches on a fantastic brochure that will be distributed throughout the state of Maine. We have planned a few get-togethers and those dates will be included in this newsletter. I want to share my gratitude to all of my board members that are working so hard to pull things together for the convention in November and all these side projects that are going on.
I appreciate everyone’s participation and feel so proud of who I’ve had on my board. You guys are all shining stars keep up the great work!
Meet Ups and Reach Out
As a part of our Reach Out campaign, Julie and Amanda are busy securing dates and locations in Portland, Augusta, and Bangor to hold meetings. The purpose of these meetings is to make ACB Maine even more accessible to others. Stay tuned for more information.
The National Convention
(Editor's Note -
There is a great deal of information here. Although some of it has passed
timliness, it is very good to know all that ACB National offers. We
should probably use them more often for information and
services.)
For ACB of Maine members who are planning to
participate virtually in the ACB 2026 annual convention, here is some
useful information you will need to prepare to cast your individual votes
or to share your thoughts with our state representative, Julie Welsh.
The 2026 Board of Publications Candidates Forum, which
occurred on July 8, has been posted as a podcast. You may listen to it
directly at - 2026
BOP Candidates Forum
Hear from the
candidates for positions on the ACB Board of Directors and Board of
Publications.
For the 2026 convention, three resolutions have
been proposed. There’s one resolution each about standards for audio
description, the amazon disability access line, and funding to the
Institute for Museums and Library Services.
The reading,
discussion and debate, and rising voting will be held on Tuesday, July
14th.
Record vote will be on Thursday, July 16th. Resolutions can be
identified by numbers between 1 and 5; every number between 1 and 5 is not
represented because this list does not include Resolutions that were
withdrawn.
The full versions of the resolutions are copied
and pasted below. The resolutions are listed in the order in which they
will be introduced during the convention.
Resolution
2026-05
Voluntary Best Practice Guidelines for
Self-Description in Professional and Educational Settings
Whereas, the foundational purpose of Audio Description
(AD) and visual interpretation is to provide essential, objective context
that grants blind and low vision individuals equal access to core data,
narrative, and information; and
Whereas, a
well-intentioned but misguided trend has emerged in professional and
educational settings wherein speakers provide unsolicited, hyper-detailed
self-descriptions of clothing, hair, and non-essential physical traits;
and
Whereas, this practice introduces irrelevant
visual data that violates established professional principles of audio
description, creates information overload, and forces participants to
expend unnecessary cognitive energy filtering out irrelevant details;
and
Whereas, an emphasis on personal
self-description frequently serves as a performative substitute for
substantive access, masking critical failures such as the omission of
descriptions for charts, graphs, on-screen text, and digital handouts;
and
Whereas, the American Council of the Blind (ACB)
and its Audio Description Project (ADP) maintain the premier authority on
visual interpretation and accessibility standards;
Now,
therefore, be it resolved by the American Council of the Blind in
convention assembled virtually this XX day of July, 2026 that this
organization officially recognize that true visual equity is achieved
through concise, context-driven communication of substantive content
rather than the irrelevant cataloging of personal attributes;
and
Be it further resolved that ACB instruct the ADP to
author and publish a definitive white paper and position statement
establishing rigorous standards for live visual description in corporate,
academic, and government settings; and
Be it further
resolved that these standards shall emphasize the prioritization of data
and educational content such as slides, charts, and universal design
elements over non-essential personal characteristics;
and
Be it further resolved that ACB launch a national
advocacy campaign targeting major employment, human resources, and higher
education associations to integrate these standardized guidelines into
national professional development and compliance
curricula.
Resolution
2026-03
Amazon Disability Access
Line
Whereas, blind, low vision and
Deaf-Blind customers rely on Amazon’s Disability Access Line to obtain
effective assistance with product information, account support, ordering,
returns, accessibility concerns, and other customer service needs;
and
Whereas, the American Council of the Blind,
pursuant to a California Council of the Blind resolution entered into
dialogue with Amazon concerning issues experienced by blind, low vision
and DeafBlind customers using Amazon’s Disability Access Line;
and
Whereas, a disability access line must provide
effective communication, accurate information, disability-aware customer
service, and meaningful assistance in order to serve its intended purpose;
and
Whereas, ACB members have reported that staff
assigned to the Disability Access Line have frequently been unable to
understand the needs of blind, low vision and DeafBlind customers,
accurately describe products, provide reliable information, or effectively
resolve disability-related customer service concerns;
and
Whereas, inaccurate or incomplete information has
caused blind, low vision and DeafBlind customers to purchase incorrect
products, experience unnecessary returns, lose time, and face barriers
that sighted customers may not encounter; and
Whereas,
approximately a year of dialogue between ACB and Amazon regarding these
concerns occurred with no solutions being implemented;
and
Whereas, additionally, Amazon now requires under
certain circumstances users of the Disability Access Line to verify
account status by activating a link sent by text message and finding a
button on a web page; and
Whereas, this verification
process makes it difficult or impossible for many blind, low vision and
DeafBlind customers, especially if they are attempting verification and
talking to the Disability Access line on the same device;
and
Whereas, Amazon could reduce these barriers by
offering multiple accessible verification methods, including but not
limited to one-time verification codes, accessible in-app approval,
email-based verification, and telephone verification, without jeopardizing
security;
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the
American Council of the Blind in convention assembled virtually this XX
day of July, 2026 that this organization calls upon Amazon to ensure that
personnel assigned to its Disability Access Line have the communications
proficiency, disability-access training, and product-support knowledge
necessary to provide effective, accurate, and respectful assistance to
blind, low vision and DeafBlind customers; and
Be it
further resolved that this organization urge Amazon to consistently
provide multiple accessible account-verification options so that blind,
low vision and DeafBlind customers are not only offered 1 method of
verifying account status; and
Be it further resolved
that this organization request that Amazon meet with representatives of
the American Council of the Blind by February 1, 2027 to establish
measurable service-quality expectations, an accessible escalation process,
and an ongoing feedback mechanism for blind, low vision and DeafBlind
customers.
Resolution 2026-04
Funding to Institute of Museums and Library
Services
Whereas, according to the National
Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), 39 state Talking
Book Libraries are partially funded through the Institute of Museums and
Library Services (IMLS) as of FY-2025; and
Whereas,
Executive Order 14238 proposed elimination of IMLS;
and
Whereas, late in fiscal year 2025 following
litigation,
congressionally allocated funds began to be
dispersed to IMLS; and
Whereas, despite the President's
opposition, over 290 million dollars was included for IMLS in the 2026
Congressional budget; and
Whereas, funding of 291
million dollars is proposed for IMLS in the 2027
budget.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the American
Council of the Blind in convention assembled virtually this XX day of
July, 2026 that this organization continue to urge members of Congress to
include at least current funding in the 2027 budget for IMLS;
and
Be it further resolved that a copy of this
resolution be shared with NLS and the American Library
Association.
Website, Audio, and Podcast
Recordings
To help everyone prepare for the business
meetings at the 2026 ACB Conference and Convention, the proposed bylaw
amendments, resolutions, and standing rules are now on the ACB site, both
in English and Spanish. You can access them now at - 2026
Proposed Resolutions, Bylaws, and Standing Rules.
Audio
recordings of the proposed resolutions and proposed by-law amendments are
also available both as podcasts and on - ACB Media 9. Please stay tuned for the Spanish translated
versions.
The resolutions are presented in the order in which
they will be introduced during the convention:
• Resolution
2026-05 – Voluntary Best Practice Guidelines for Self-Description in
Professional and Educational Settings
• Resolution 2026-03 – Amazon
Disability Access Line
• Resolution 2026-04 – Funding to Institute
of Museums and Library Services
The
proposed 2026 ACB By-Law Amendments are also available in a separate audio
recording.
ACB Media 9 Schedule
• The three resolutions
air every hour at the top of the hour.
• The proposed by-law
amendments air every hour at 15 minutes past the hour.
You can listen
to ACB Media 9 in several ways:
• On an Alexa device, say:
"Alexa, ask ACB Media to play 9."
• The iOS app “ACB Link”
available free via the App Store
Podcasts
Resolutions
2026-05, 2026-03, and 2026-04:
Resolutions
2026-05, 2026-03, and 2026-04 Podcast
2026 Proposed ACB
By-Law Amendments:
2026
Proposed ACB By-Law Amendments Podcast
The podcasts were
published to the “ACB Business” podcast feed
RSS:https://pinecast.com/feed/acb-business
Reflections on a European
Vacation.
from Roger Fuller
Recently, my wife and I took 10 of our immediate family on a cruise and vacation to Italy. We boarded the cruise ship in Venice, and traveled along the Adriatic and around the boot of Italy finally landing in Rome. We visited ports of call along the way, and after landing in Rome we went to Florence and Barga, my wife's family's ancestral home. The occassion for the trip was in celebratoin of my wife's having secured Italian passports and citizenship for all the rest of the family. In many ways, it took years of preparation.
As a legally blind traveler, I have to share a few reflections - maybe a bit different than the usual travel notes. I was not able to take my guide dog Bella and that proved a very good thing indeed. It was just too hot and there were very few open areas or lawn spaces for her. She just would not have done well in temperatures exceeding 90 degrees every day.
I was glad to have learned to walk and navigate with the white cane, and it was so important on this trip. The white cane told others that I might have challenges, and most people were very accomodating. There were some times that I called it "The Magic Wand" as in the time that I found myself in a hotel completely designed and decorated in black surfaces. Really, the entire hotel was black. And I found that people on board the ship were very helpful - of course, they didn't want someone tripping up and dropping a tray of food!
Would I do it again? Sure, why not? But maybe at a slower pace - one appropriate for a blind, and sometimes grumpy, old man.
