WHEREAS the purchase of textbooks and related study materials is a necessary and increasingly costly expense incurred by students who attend post-secondary institutions; and

WHEREAS, the Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS) assists some blind Marylanders by covering the cost of textbook purchases; and

WHEREAS, this financial support may not exceed $500 per semester for full-time students and $250 per semester for part-time students, an amount that has not changed in many years, though textbook costs have not remained stagnant; and

WHEREAS, if blind and visually impaired students are to receive a quality education, they must be instructed by highly qualified vision teachers; and

WHEREAS, in 2010,  The Maryland General Assembly and Governor O’Malley enacted legislation requiring the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to create Braille standards for mathematics and English/Language Arts  for students in grades K-12; and

WHEREAS, through the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in 2000, the Maryland General Assembly passed HB592 and SB607 requiring the state to include a nonvisual access clause in contracts for the purchase of information technology, facilities and services used by employees and the public; and

WHEREAS, if blind persons are to participate fully in all aspects of community life, we must have equal access to technologies used by public transportation services; and

WHEREAS, technology is changing the way that the public requests and pays for transportation from taxi cabs, newly emerging transportation providers, mass transit and paratransit systems; and

WHEREAS, the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH) serves as the public library for 10,000 Maryland residents who are unable to use their local public library due to print disabilities; and

WHEREAS, LBPH’s patrons range in age from young children to centenarians, yet the number of clients being served is not expanding even though the number of blind people in the population is growing; and

WHEREAS, the Maryland State Department of Human Resources (DHR) oversees the distribution of all federal and state benefits programs such as the Food Supplement Program (FSP), Medical Assistance, and Energy Assistance; and

WHEREAS, individuals who need DHR services must apply through their local Department of Social Services or apply online through the DHR www.marylandsail.org link; and

WHEREAS, the integration of technology in the educational sphere has fundamentally altered the teaching and learning processes, allowing curricular content once available only in textbooks and during lectures to be disseminated through electronic books, web content, digital library databases, advanced software, and mobile applications; and

WHEREAS, this intersection of technology and education creates opportunity to expand the circle of participation by print-disabled students and allows universal access to mainstream educational products for all students; and

WHEREAS, the delivery of orientation and mobility services (O&M) to blind children is essential to their successful transition to a full and productive life as adults; and

WHEREAS, local and state laws recognize the use of the long white cane as a tool for both safety and independence for blind people, yet too many local school systems do not promote the use of the white cane by blind and visually impaired students; and