The official policies of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois are established every year with annual resolutions adopted at the state convention.

The resolutions committee meets early during the convention. Each proposed resolution is read, spoken for by the authoring member, considered, and then ultimately withdrawn or recommended for passage or disapproval by the Convention.

Resolution 2023-01: Regarding the Failure of the State of Illinois to Remedy Pervasive Staffing vacancies at the Bureau of Blind Services

WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois (NFBI)has advocated to enhance opportunity and equality for the blind by assuring the availability and quality of adjustment to blindness and rehabilitation services; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Rehabilitation Services Bureau of Blind Services (BBS) provides vocational rehabilitation services to blind persons in finding and retaining competitive integrated employment; and

WHEREAS, to accomplish its goal, BBS requires an adequate staff of qualified personnel who are invested in its clients; but

WHEREAS, Over the last five years, there have been pervasive vacancies at BBS; In 2018, the Department of Rehabilitation Services (DORS) reported at least 66 vacant positions (35 VR counselor positions, nine rehabilitation and mobility instructor positions, and 22 rehabilitation case coordinator positions) REPRESENTING 17%, 37%, and 16% of VR counselor, instructor and coordinator positions, respectively; and

WHEREAS, DORS asserted that it anticipated returning to a more normal pattern of staffing in the near future; but

WHEREAS, despite similar assurances in each year up to and including 2023, the staffing shortfalls have not improved, leaving important positions critical to BBS operations vacant; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois’s failure to adequately manage BBS have compromised its mission, resulting in BBS being successful in obtaining adjustment to blindness or employment outcomes for only a small fraction of those seeking services; and

WHEREAS, This failure of the state of Illinois to address the legitimate needs and expectations of blind persons seeking the training and opportunities that would make blindness less of a barrier ignores the State’s obligation to many of its disabled citizens: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois in Convention assembled this fourteenth day of October, 2023, in the City of Naperville, Illinois, that this organization call upon the office of the Governor and its Department of Central Management Services to develop and implement a plan that remedies the current staffing and service inadequacies at the Bureau of Blind Services.

Resolution 2023-02: Regarding Audio Delays During Live Radio Play-by-Play Broadcasts

WHEREAS, many blind people are sports fans who support their local sports teams; and

WHEREAS, live radio broadcasts of sporting events, where available, are pivotal in helping many blind people to enjoy sporting events, even when they attend the events in person, because radio broadcasters typically provide thorough nonvisual descriptions of the action on the field of play for listeners; and

WHEREAS, there is often a significant audio delay, ranging from a few seconds to a minute or more, between the action and the description of the play over the live radio broadcast, which can mean that blind people listening to the broadcast in the stadium or arena do not receive timely information about the action as it occurs; and

WHEREAS, these delays are particularly long for broadcasts over online streaming platforms, such as TuneIn Radio and league mobile applications; and

WHEREAS, some sports franchises have worked with their broadcast partners to eliminate such delays, indicating that there is no broadcast requirement that the delays be present to meet Federal Communications Commission standards: for example, the Baltimore Orioles worked with the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind to resolve this issue; and

WHEREAS, other franchises, among them the Chicago White Sox, have reportedly solved the problem by providing dedicated pre-tuned receivers to blind fans, tuned to a direct feed from the broadcast booth, allowing fans to hear the play by play with no delay; and

WHEREAS, while these solutions have been implemented by some franchises, there are not any league-wide policies, practices, or standards that recognize and address the negative effects of broadcast delays; and

WHEREAS, even where sports teams provide pre-tuned dedicated receivers that solve the audio delay problem to blind fans, information on picking up and, where applicable, returning the receivers at the conclusion of the event, is not readily available to blind fans: for example, no Chicago sports franchise offers information on obtaining, using, or returning these receivers anywhere on its website, and most staff at sporting venues are unaware of the availability of these receivers and unable to help fans obtain access); and

WHEREAS, while the broadcast delays through consumer-owned portable Am/FM radios are minimal, such radios are unreliable at large stadiums and arenas due to frequent and significant signal interference; and

WHEREAS, on July 5, 2023, the National Federation of the Blind adopted a resolution urging professional sports franchises and leagues to eliminate audio delays during live radio play-by-play broadcasts nationwide: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois in Convention assembled this fourteenth day of October, 2023, in the City of Naperville, Illinois, that this organization urge all professional and collegiate sports organizations in Illinois, including, but not limited to, the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Fire, and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini, to develop policies, standards, and/or best practices in collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind, the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois, and with their franchises and broadcast partners to eliminate audio delays during live play-by-play broadcasts; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge these organizations to implement these policies, standards, and/or best practices expeditiously, enforce compliance strictly, and ensure that staff at all sports venues in the state are trained to help blind fans obtain on-site access to reliable, no-delay broadcast feeds of the events upon request.