Our overarching goal is to prevent discrimination and promote full community inclusion of people with disabilities. We support the following state budget and legislative measures.
Budget Items
Broadband Access
WCBVI supports initiatives to expand broadband access across Wisconsin. This will ensure that residents with vision loss can access telehealth, delivery services, work and other technology-based services.
Accessible Government Websites
The Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) has made progress recently working with state agencies to make their websites accessible. However, the State Senate and Assembly websites remain inaccessible to users with vision impairment. This severely inhibits our ability to monitor legislation and participate actively in the lawmaking process. The Council urges the Legislature to provide funding to remedy this problem and bring the legislative websites into compliance with accessibility standards.
Establish a Tax Credit for Purchases of Access Technology and Other Adaptive Equipment
Because it is not considered “durable medical equipment,” most adaptive equipment used by individuals with loss is not covered by insurance. As a result, they must pay for access technology devices and other adaptive equipment out of pocket. A tax credit would enable many people for whom these items are prohibitively expensive to purchase adaptive equipment that empowers them to live independently and with dignity.
Legislative Items
ID Equity
Revise statutory language to ensure that a State ID is the equivalent of a driver’s license for ALL identification purposes that are not related to driving.
Accessible Voting
Through its role as a key member of the Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition, the Council supports a range of measures to eliminate disability-related barriers to registration and voting, including inaccessible polling places, limited access to transportation, and lack of acceptable photo ID.