Bill Text: HI SCR7 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Concurrent Resolution 7 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Requesting The Office Of Enterprise Technology Services, In Collaboration With The National Federation Of The Blind Of Hawaii, To Convene A Working Group On Accessible Government Documents.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-04-01 - Referred to HHH/HET, FIN, referral sheet 32 [SCR7 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-SCR7-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	7
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the disability and communication access board, in collaboration with the office of enterprise technology services, to convene a working group on accessible government documents.

WHEREAS, an accessible document is a document created to be as easily readable by a sighted reader as a low-vision or non-sighted reader; and

WHEREAS, accessible documents allow individuals who use screen readers to navigate through the document, utilize the properties to move from one part of a document to another, hear descriptions of photographs and images from image tags, and have equal access to the information; and

WHEREAS, public agencies that are required to provide accessible documents do not always have staff that understand how to make the information accessible; and

WHEREAS, the increasing use of technology to communicate can also present complications and challenges, such as the various state agency websites that post public meeting notices, agendas, and attached resource documents that may not necessarily all be in accessible formats, especially when attachments are scanned copies; and

WHEREAS, the State's Disability and Communication Access Board serves as the public advocate of persons with disabilities by providing advice and recommendations on matters relating to access, with an emphasis on state and county legislative matters and administrative rules, policies, and procedures, and also provides technical assistance and guidance to state and county entities to meet state, federal, and county requirements for access for persons with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, the State's Office of Enterprise Technology Services, headed by the Chief Information Officer, is charged with organizing, managing, and overseeing statewide information technology governance, including establishing, coordinating, and managing a program to provide a means for public access to public information and developing and operating an information network; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Disability and Communication Access Board, in collaboration with the Office on Enterprise Technology Services, is requested to convene a working group on accessible government documents; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to:

(1) Research other states' laws and use of technologies to provide government documents, including documents provided by private entities under contract with the State, in accessible formats;

(2) Evaluate and recommend strategies to improve the provisions of government documents, including documents provided by private entities under contract with the State, in accessible formats, including identifying means for effective and efficient oversight; and

(3) Make recommendations to the Legislature about how to further the policy of providing accessible government documents; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a representative of the Disability and Communication Access Board and representative of the Office of Enterprise Technology Services are requested to serve as co-chairs of the working group and invite one representative from each of the following entities to serve as working group members:

(1) The Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawai�i at Manoa;

(2) The Office of the Lieutenant Governor;

(3) The Department of Accounting and General Services;

(4) The Information Technology and Systems Department at the Judiciary;

(5) The Department of the Attorney General;

(6) The Office of the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives;

(7) The Office of the Chief Clerk of the Senate;

(8) The Office of Information Practices;

(9) The Civil Rights Commission;

(10) The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Human Services;

(11) An advocacy group for blind persons;

(12) An advocacy group for deaf persons; and

(13) Other interested individuals; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Disability and Communication Access Board is requested to submit a report on behalf of the working group of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than forty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2022; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the working group serve without compensation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, Chairperson of the Disability and Communication Access Board, Chief Information Officer, Administrative Director of the Courts, Chief Clerk of the Senate, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives, Director of the Center on Disability Studies, Director of the Office of Information Practices, Executive Director of the Civil Rights Commission, President of the National Federation for the Blind � Hawaii Chapter, Administrator of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and President of the Aloha State Association of the Deaf.