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Is the legislature accessible to all? Proposed working group would take closer look

Mary Hartnett, executive director of the Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, Deafblind and Hard of Hearing, testifies in the House State Government Finance Division on HF1962. Photo by Paul Battaglia
Mary Hartnett, executive director of the Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, Deafblind and Hard of Hearing, testifies in the House State Government Finance Division on HF1962. Photo by Paul Battaglia

In a perfect world, anyone could easily follow along with legislative happenings.

For some people with a disability, that is not now the case.

Sponsored by Rep. Michael Nelson (DFL-Brooklyn Park), HF1962 would establish a working group of 12 legislative employees to look into accessibility needs when it comes to the House and Senate. A report would be due the Legislature by Jan. 15, 2020.

The bill was held over Wednesday by the House State Government Finance Division, which Nelson chairs, for possible omnibus bill inclusion.

“We should make every effort to make sure that our citizens are afforded the opportunity to engage with their Legislature,” said Rep. Tony Albright (R-Prior Lake).

Sen. Torrey Westrom (R-Elbow Lake) sponsors the companion, SF1727, which awaits action by the Senate Finance Committee.

“Technology has revolutionized accessibility for people with disabilities and now is the time to evaluate where the legislature can improve and use technology to make this a more accessible place,” Westrom wrote in a letter to the division.

Changes could help someone like Westrom, who is blind, yet has served in the Legislature since 1997.

Westrom testified before the House and Senate prior to technology accessibility standards being adopted by the executive branch in 2009. “I am here ten years later, asking the legislature to adopt standards for itself,” he wrote. “It will help make a more inclusive environment so we can attract more legislators, staff, interns, lobbyists and advocates with disabilities.”

“The biggest piece of this is bringing all of the state’s websites and documents and everything up to the standards that we are holding other people to,” said Nelson, whose sister-in-law lost her hearing when she had measles as a youth.

Mary Hartnett, executive director of the Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, Deafblind and Hard of Hearing, said among changes in the past decade are hiring of a chief information accessibility officer and funding for closed captioning to be provided for legislative television coverage.

Greg Hubinger, director of the Legislative Coordinating Commission, said the Human Rights Act requires any public document or audio or video production be converted to an accessible format upon request.

Captioning is now done by someone watching a hearing. Rep. Duane Quam (R-Byron) asked about using software to translate audio into text, especially in a room where video is not available.

Hubinger said the House previously looked at such programs, but the failure rate was around 90 percent. However, testing last interim of newer software was more promising.

“The chief information accessibility officer … will be working closely with the working group to get them caught up with what’s possible and what’s feasible, what’s reasonable,” Hartnett said.


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