Maryland General Assembly
Legislative Priorities for the 2026 Session
From: Members of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
To: Members of the Maryland General Assembly
Contact: Ronza Othman, President
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
15 Charles Plaza, #3002
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 443-426-4110
Email: President@nfbmd.org
Date: January 22, 2026
The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland (NFBMD) is the state’s oldest and largest organization of and for blind and low-vision Marylanders. More than 116,000 blind and low-vision individuals live in Maryland. These individuals access a variety of state services and resources, including those related to employment, social services, and education. Many are homeowners, business owners, and taxpayers. Most are voters.
NFBMD has a number of legislative priorities for the 2026 Maryland legislative session. Each year, we visit the Maryland General Assembly early in the legislative session so that constituents can educate our elected officials on priorities that are important to the blind. This year, we are focusing on four priorities during our NFBMD Day in Annapolis. Our primary priorities this session, which are detailed in this packet, include:
- Authorization for operation of accessible autonomous vehicles (Sen. Love & Del. Ziegler)
- Establishment of telephone absentee voting system for blind and print disabled voters (Sen. Brooks & Del. Feldmark)
- Funding for the Independent Living for Older Blind (ILOB) program
- Funding for the Center for Excellence in Nonvisual Accessibility (CENA)
We are seeking your support for our legislative priorities. Thank you for your support of Maryland’s blind and low-vision community.
Please don’t hesitate to contact NFBMD President Ronza Othman at President@nfbmd.org or at 443-426-4110 with questions or for more information.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Improving Transportation: Use of Autonomous Vehicles for Persons with Disabilities 4
Telephone Absentee Voting System for Voters with Disabilities
6
Protecting and Funding the Independent Living for Older Blind (ILOB) Program
8
10
Subject: Improving Transportation: Use of Autonomous Vehicles for Persons with Disabilities
From: Members of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
To: Members of the Maryland General Assembly
Contact: Ronza Othman, President
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
15 Charles Plaza, #3002
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 443-426-4110
Email: President@nfbmd.org
Date: January 22, 2026
THE PROBLEM
Blind people who wish to move about their communities experience lack of sufficient, effective, affordable, and discrimination-free transportation options. Bus services are overtaxed, underfunded, and often inefficient. Paratransit services are even worse. Rideshare drivers regularly discriminate against blind and low-vision passengers, with nearly 100% of guide dog users reporting rideshare denials and more than 50% of blind cane users reporting rideshare denials due to blindness. Many of these individuals report multiple rideshare service denials in a given week.
Autonomous vehicle technology exists that does not require a human driver, with 25 states having passed legislation allowing for the field testing or commercial operation of autonomous vehicles. Maryland is not yet one of them.
PROPOSED ACTION
The Maryland General Assembly should pass legislation to permit field testing and/or commercial operation of autonomous vehicles in Maryland. Given that technology exists that does not require a human operator to control the vehicle, legislation should ensure that blind and low-vision individuals, as well as those with disabilities generally, are able to independently access these vehicles by prohibiting the need for a valid driver’s license to operate these vehicles.
BACKGROUND
25 states have passed legislation allowing for the field testing or commercial operation of autonomous vehicles. A fully autonomous vehicle is a self-guided vehicle that operates without any human interaction, using specially designed software, artificial intelligence, and sensors, including cameras, radar, and infrared lasers (lidar) to understand and perceive surroundings. This is similar to how a human driver uses eyesight and hearing to perceive the environment and cognition to make decisions and operate a motor vehicle.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) separates autonomous vehicle technology into levels of autonomous operations ranging from human-assisted driving to full automation. SAE level 4 and SAE level 5 are fully autonomous technologies, meaning that a human driver is not necessary in any capacity for these vehicles to operate on roadways. Companies in the US currently operate commercial rideshare services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Austin using SAE level 4 fully autonomous vehicles, with other cities, including San Diego, Las Vegas, and Detroit, beginning shortly. This means that an individual can summon a fully autonomous vehicle in one of these cities as easily as ordering an Uber or Lyft. They simply need to download the requisite app, enter payment information, and summon a fully autonomous vehicle. This is not science fiction. It is reality in these cities, and several more are on the horizon.
Currently, there is not a nationwide federal law regulating fully autonomous vehicles. California, Arizona, Texas, and Georgia, along with 21 other states, have passed state legislation permitting the testing and operation of SAE level 4 autonomous vehicles within their borders. The blind community is poised to benefit from autonomous vehicle technology more than any other community; therefore, the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland wants to see Maryland become the 26th state to implement a similar statewide framework.
Fully autonomous vehicles are not controlled by human drivers, which eliminates the possibility of discrimination when requesting an autonomous rideshare. Passengers do not have to fear refusal of a ride for being a blind person using a service animal or white cane. The broader community does not need to live in fear of experiencing discrimination based upon religion, skin color, or LGBTQ+ identity. Vulnerable individuals can feel safe knowing they are not entering a car with a stranger. Anyone can ride comfortably knowing that their driver will not be intoxicated or distracted by a text message. Any passenger in an autonomous vehicle will have the same freedom to make a phone call or have a private conversation as they would while driving their own personal vehicle.
The National Federation of the Blind headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland is dedicated to sharing expertise to make sure that fully autonomous vehicles operating in Maryland implement best practices for nonvisual accessibility through the Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Accessibility, putting Maryland once again front and center in the conversation about cutting-edge developments, while ensuring accessibility.
CONCLUSION
We encourage the adoption of Maryland autonomous vehicle legislation that is consistent with best practices in other states. Eliminating the requirement of a licensed human driver in the vehicle and including comparable language to that of the 25 states that have enacted legislation will ensure that people working in Maryland would be able to reliably commute between home and work, creating more choice in transportation for everyone. Use of autonomous vehicles in Maryland will also reduce instances of discriminatory rideshare denials for the blind.
Subject: Telephone Absentee Voting System for Voters with Disabilities
From: Members of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
To: Members of the Maryland General Assembly
Contact: Ronza Othman, President
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
15 Charles Plaza, #3002
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 443-426-4110
Email: President@nfbmd.org
Date: January 22, 2026
THE PROBLEM
The current absentee ballot return process in Maryland is a paper-based system that discriminates against blind voters and those with other print disabilities. Maryland’s system strips these voters of their right to vote privately and independently and has the impact of disenfranchising voters.
PROPOSED ACTION
The Maryland General Assembly must pass legislation that requires the Maryland State Board of Elections (SBE) to establish an accessible telephone voting process for voters with disabilities for use by the 2028 primary election.
BACKGROUND
Maryland voters have many choices when casting their ballots. They may vote in person or by mail. Voters may submit a permanent request so that they automatically receive an absentee ballot for each election. After the ballot is submitted, the election officials can inform the voter that their ballot was received by the Board of Elections in several ways. The voter selects a method of contact and can even be notified by text message. While these technological advances have improved the voting process, more needs to be done to ensure that all voices are heard. For example, the state of Maryland lacks an accessible electronic ballot return system, requiring blind and low-vision voters and those with print disabilities to get assistance printing, signing and certifying, and mailing in or dropping off their ballots. As a result, the voter’s privacy and independence are compromised, meaning others see the voter’s choices and can even alter the voter’s selections without their knowledge.
People with print disabilities must return their ballots at the cost of losing privacy and ballot secrecy. The ballots can be marked online but must be printed and signed before they can be sent by mail or dropped in a ballot box. Many people who are blind or who have print disabilities have no access to a printer, so they must have someone else print their ballot. They also require assistance from another person in locating where to sign their ballot and preparing it for delivery by mail or by drop box. Those who assist them are able to see – and even alter – their choices, which is inconsistent with voter privacy and independence principles and compromises the security of these voters’ ballots.
Thirteen states currently have paperless ballot return systems in place for voters with disabilities, including Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah, and West Virginia. In addition, 33 states and territories offer paperless ballot return for military and overseas voters, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virgin Islands, Washington, and West Virginia.
The method proposed in this legislation would rely on automated phone systems to capture the Maryland voter’s choices. This system is quite simple, secure, and accessible:
- A Maryland voter who is blind or otherwise print disabled would request a telephone ballot from SBE and attest to having a print disability such as blindness.
- SBE would verify the voter’s eligibility to vote and work with the voter to establish credentials to access the telephone ballot.
- When the voting window opens, the blind or print disabled voter would call the designated phone number and authenticate themselves. The automated system would pull up the voter’s ballot and walk them through each contest, reading candidate names and allowing the voter to make their choices by selecting the corresponding candidate/option number on a touch-tone phone.
- Once all contests have been read/voted, the system will reread the voter’s selections to confirm that it captured the correct choices.
- The system would take a voice print (or other method acceptable by SBE) to verify the voter’s certification in lieu of signature.
- The ballot would be stored in an air-gapped and otherwise non-internet connected database, the ballot printed and transcribed to a scannable ballot in the same way as all other absentee ballots.
- The transcribed ballot would then be canvassed like all other ballots.
Because the telephone voting method does not use the internet to transmit the ballot, there are no internet security concerns. Moreover, ballots would not be vulnerable to election interference to scale. Essentially, the burden of printing the ballot would be shifted from voters with disabilities who cannot independently and privately handle paper, to the boards of election.
In the current state of mandated paper ballot return, voters with disabilities who cannot, without assistance, read, sign, certify, or submit a paper ballot due to their disabilities are themselves vulnerable to having their ballots changed without their knowledge or consent; consequently, forcing people with disabilities to vote by paper creates the very security vulnerability that opponents argue is the obstacle to implementing such a system. In fact, telephone voting is far more secure for voters with disabilities than paper ballots because safeguards will be in place to prevent outside interference with those ballots and these individuals will be able to cast their ballots privately, securely, and independently.
CONCLUSION
In order to ensure that voters with disabilities have access to a private, independent, and secure ballot, the Maryland General Assembly must pass legislation directing the Maryland State Board of Elections to establish an accessible telephone absentee voting system for use by the 2028 primary election. This will remedy the lack of privacy and independence that such voters face when using the paper-based absentee voting process. It will also resolve the lack of security that these voters face due to the number of hands and eyes to which their ballots are exposed during the printing, signature and certification, and submission process. Maryland cannot stand by and wait for others to create technology solutions while simple, long-standing, and reliable low-tech solutions can be leveraged.
Subject: Protecting and Funding the Independent Living for Older Blind (ILOB) Program
From: Members of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
To: Members of the Maryland General Assembly
Contact: Ronza Othman, President
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
15 Charles Plaza, #3002
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 443-426-4110
Email: President@nfbmd.org
Date: January 22, 2026
THE PROBLEM
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS), Office of Blindness and Vision Services (OBVS) is experiencing a critical funding shortage for its program that serves seniors – the Independent Living for Older Blind (ILOB) program.
PROPOSED ACTION
The Maryland General Assembly should restrict $1.5 million of MSDE’s 2027 budget for ILOB funding.
BACKGROUND
The Independent Living for Older Blind program, administered by the Maryland Department of Rehabilitation Services within the Maryland State Department of Education, assists individuals over age 55 who are blind or have a significant vision limitations to live independently in their homes and communities. ILOB provides services such as training on assistive technology (e.g. using magnification devices, computers, screen reading technology, etc.), home management (e.g. cooking, housekeeping, laundry, money management, etc.), and orientation & mobility (e.g. navigating within and outside the home safely with a cane). Due to this funding shortage, blind and low-vision seniors cannot receive needed adjustment to blindness services.
The U.S. Department of Education provides some funding for ILOB, but this funding has been frozen for many years and has not risen consistent with inflation and technology costs. Moreover, the proposed 2026 federal budget eliminates federal funding for ILOB entirely. DORS has been supplementing the federal
grant with Social Security Cost Reimbursement (SS-CR) funds for many years, but other budget challenges have resulted in DORS using SS-CR funds previously used for ILOB to fund the general vocational rehabilitation program. As a result, DORS has severely scaled back ILOB services with no end in sight.
Medicaid and Medicare do not cover ILOB or similar services and equipment because they are not considered medical in nature. There are no other federal funding sources available for ILOB services.
For FY2025 (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025), there were 1312 cases opened, 217 of which were closed successfully. Between August 1 and August 15, 2025 (most recent data available), there were 889 cases opened, all of which are sitting with no movement. This is because the current ILOB funding is insufficient to cover even the FTEs/PINs that administer the program. Funding is needed for equipment (e.g. magnifiers, CCTVs, long white canes, measuring cups and other cooking equipment with tactile markings, etc.), assistive technology like screen readers, orientation and mobility teaching, assistive technology instruction, and independent living teaching. At this time, though all cases are open and active, DORS is unable to provide training or equipment to ILOB clients.
In order to clear the backlog of cases and provide sufficient instruction and equipment to ILOB clients, DORS needs $1.5 million annually.
CONCLUSION
We encourage the Maryland General Assembly to add language to the 2027 budget to restrict $1.5 million to be used to fund the ILOB program. Alternatively, we encourage the Maryland General Assembly to add budget language that would require MSDE to use $1.5 million of SS-CR funds to fund the ILOB program and prohibit MSDE and/or DORS from diverting that money elsewhere.
Subject: Appropriation for the Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Accessibility (CENA) to Education, Public Information, and Commerce
From: Members of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
To: Members of the Maryland General Assembly
Contact: Ronza Othman, President
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
15 Charles Plaza, #3002
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 443-426-4110
Email: President@nfbmd.org
Date: January 22, 2026
PROPOSED ACTION
The Maryland General Assembly should maintain the $250,000 appropriation for the Nonvisual Accessibility Initiative (NVAI) in the Governor’s Budget to support the Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Accessibility (CENA) to Education, Public Information, and Commerce.
BACKGROUND
In 2014, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) founded the NFB Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Accessibility (CENA) as a center of expertise, best practices, and resources that enable business, government, and educational institutions to provide accessible information and services effectively to blind citizens. The state of Maryland, through the Maryland Department of Disabilities (MDOD), partners with CENA to support a series of projects under the NVAI, maintaining the state of Maryland as an ongoing leader in nonvisual accessibility.
The partnership between the NFB CENA and MDOD continues to improve the standard of accessibility throughout the state, and our collaboration will continue to build a more accessible Maryland through the development and implementation of a variety of projects within the following five focus areas:
Enhancing Access to Education Technology and Strategies
In this age of electronic devices, Braille is more vibrant and relevant than ever. Equipping blind children with Braille skills sets them up for a lifetime of independence and opportunity through literacy. Due to technical limitations, traditional electronic Braille devices used by students are only capable of
displaying one line of Braille at a time. This makes such devices incapable of displaying graphics, and unsuitable for reading math and tabular data.
Thanks to technological breakthroughs, manufacturers have now overcome these limitations. Products are finally available that permit the display of multiline Braille on devices similar to the tablets sighted students use. With the appropriate technology, students can interact with tactile graphics, and teachers can draw on a standard tablet with that drawing instantly appearing on the surface of a tactile tablet for a blind student. Electronic textbooks can be distributed to the student immediately, and read in full-page Braille, as if they were reading the physical book. This technology has the potential to improve educational outcomes dramatically, particularly participation by blind Marylanders in STEM subjects. However, it is in its early stages so requires rigorous evaluation, as well as information sharing with educators. CENA will develop modules on next-generation multiline Braille devices, aimed at educating teachers, parents, and those making procurement decisions. The modules will explain why these developments are so impactful and demonstrate how the technology can be used in an educational setting.
Enhancing Access to Employment-Related Tools and Services
Despite many blind people being ready and willing to work, the unemployment/underemployment rate for blind people in this country continues to exceed 70 percent. Through the NVAI partnership, CENA has a strong record of tackling some of the barriers blind Marylanders face when seeking employment. In addition to our ongoing collaboration with the Maryland Department of Labor (MD DOL) and the Maryland Department of Rehabilitation Services (MD DORS), which promotes the accessibility of employment-related services, CENA will identify software packages commonly used in the workplace that are inaccessible to users of screen reading technology. CENA will partner with the producers of such software to assist them in remedying these defects. This will result in more opportunity for blind people in Maryland to work and contribute to the economy.
Offering Accessibility Boutiques and Other Training Seminars
Accessibility Boutiques are 90-minute basic overviews/trainings designed to create public awareness of accessible software, products, services, and strategies. Quarterly Trainings are half-day events that offer a more substantive training experience to the participants and address major issues related to nonvisual accessibility. With artificial intelligence (AI) changing the nature of technology and society more rapidly than ever, some of these events help keep Marylanders informed about the way AI can be used to provide visual information in a nonvisual way, and to use prompt engineering to generate content that is both visually engaging and accessible.
CENA/MDOD will continue to offer Accessibility Boutiques and Quarterly Trainings, at no cost to Maryland citizens, on topics that assist both laymen and professionals in staying knowledgeable about evolving tools, strategies, and best practices to build a more accessible Maryland.
Assisting with the Integration of Smart Technologies for Accessible Cities
The development and implementation of accessible, safe, affordable, and efficient transportation allow blind and low-vision Maryland citizens to travel independently throughout their communities. In addition, emerging nonvisual access navigation or wayfinding technologies facilitate independent access to a variety of public and commercial venues, including college campuses, public and commercial buildings, and other environments. CENA staff have evaluated and collaborated with several indoor wayfinding technology vendors that use a variety of methods for providing information about the indoor environment, including Bluetooth beacons, existing Wi-Fi infrastructure, and camera-based navigation to name a few. CENA will develop and deliver an updated report outlining the current wayfinding technologies, their strengths and weaknesses, infrastructure impact, and other relevant data, which will then be disseminated to interested institutions.
Coordinating the Accessibility Inclusion Fellowship Program
The “Final Report of the Study on Accessibility Concepts in Computer Science, Information Systems, and Information Technology Programs in Higher Education” recommended that three annual fellowships be awarded to help instructors begin to include accessibility concepts contained within the minimum areas of instruction in at least one course offering in their institution. The CENA/MDOD has offered these fellowships and will continue to recruit and support an additional cohort in the coming year.
CONCLUSION
Access to information remains one of the greatest barriers faced by blind people, and technology has the potential to reduce that barrier dramatically. The public-private partnership between the NFB CENA and MDOD makes Maryland a leader in nonvisual accessibility and continues to be an effective method of removing these barriers by providing information about best practices and developing innovative techniques for achieving nonvisual access. The Maryland General Assembly should allow this groundbreaking investment in the capacity-building of blind Marylanders to continue by approving the $250,000 appropriation in the Governor’s Budget under the Maryland Department of Disabilities.