Missouri was one of seven states represented in 1940 when the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) held its first gathering.
As in the past, the NFB is marking its 75th year by asking state legislators to help improve living conditions for blind people.
In their written legislative agenda being distributed to Missouri lawmakers today and Tuesday, Missouri's federation members say they want the Legislature to "address two issues that can hold us back from full participation in society."
• One of those issues is a greater use of Braille.
The federation wants the state to require school districts to use the "National Reading Media Assessment" in determining whether Braille or print materials are the right tool for blind students.
"The desirability of learning to read efficiently has never been a question in your education," the position paper notes, adding that's not the case for Missouri's blind students - even though state law already says no blind person shall be denied instructions in Braille.
"We know hundreds of adults and many children who have been denied the opportunity of learning Braille," the position paper reports, because the state law "does allow school districts to conduct evaluations to determine whether print or Braille is the most appropriate method for reading and writing for a given student. ... Far too often print is determined to be the most appropriate reading medium because the process used in making evaluations is flawed, and because the strong preference of teachers and school administrators is to teach what they know and use the resources easily available to them."
They argue a "research-based assessment could have avoided" compromising the education of those people denied a Braille education and, the federation tells lawmakers: "Our state must have a clear standard to use in determining who will be taught print and who will be taught Braille.
"Bringing blind people into the workforce demands this change, and we urge the Missouri General Assembly to embrace literacy for the blind with the same vigor that our society embraces literacy for the sighted."
• The federation's second issue in 2015 is accessible voting in all elections.
The federation's position paper notes the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) already requires "the use of accessible voting systems in all federal elections," so each Missouri polling place already has "at least one accessible voting machine" a blind person can use without requiring the assistance of another person.
"Electronic voting technologies, designed and properly configured with nonvisual access, provide blind voters with the ability to cast their votes privately and independently," the position paper explains, "and to verify, without sighted assistance, that their ballots accurately reflect their voting choices."
All of the certified machines in Missouri already provide a paper trail, they note, adding the secretary of state's office now is "evaluating newer machines that mark directly onto the paper ballot. The options are there, if legislation is passed, to make the paper ballot the official ballot of Missouri and, as the existing machines need to be replaced, the technology will be available."
Since the election officials already have the machines for federal elections, the Missouri National Federation of the Blind members want lawmakers to require the machines' use in all elections - not just the ones involving the president or U.S. senators and representatives.
"Please help pass House Bill 454 and grant disabled voters the opportunity to have the same privilege in every election as you value," their paper tells lawmakers.