Current Initiatives
Turning DBCA’s mission into practical action.
Overview
DBCA’s initiatives reflect our long-term areas of focus in advancing accessibility, equal opportunity, and meaningful participation for deafblind people. These priorities provide a foundation for our advocacy, education, collaboration, and policy work as technology and society continue to change.
For issues requiring more immediate attention, including current legislative, regulatory, funding, and public policy matters,
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Support Service Providers and Equal Access
Support Service Providers, commonly known as SSPs, provide forms of human assistance that can be essential to independence and participation by people who are deafblind. Depending on the circumstances and the individual's needs, SSPs may provide access to visual and environmental information, orientation and navigation support, informal communication assistance, and other support needed to participate fully in everyday activities.
DBCA believes SSPs should be recognized as an important part of the accessibility landscape, not simply as a remedy when technology fails. Accessible technology, inclusive design, and modifications to policies, practices, services, and environments can provide greater independence and should be pursued where effective. In other circumstances, however, human assistance may be the most effective, efficient, practical, or safe means of access. It can also provide a feasible alternative when technological, structural, or operational solutions cannot reasonably provide meaningful access.
Federal policy has recognized the important role SSPs can play. In guidance associated with the Department of Justice's 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act regulations concerning effective communication, the Department discussed the mobility, orientation, and informal communication services SSPs provide to people who are deafblind, while stopping short of classifying SSPs themselves as “auxiliary aids and services” under the ADA. DBCA believes this distinction leaves important policy questions about how human assistance should be recognized within the broader accessibility framework.
DBCA seeks to advance awareness, coalition building, public education, research, and policy work concerning SSP services. Our objective is not to substitute SSPs for accessible technology, inclusive design, or existing legal obligations, but to promote an approach that recognizes the most effective solution for the circumstances. Any specific legislative or regulatory proposals supported by DBCA will be described separately as part of our Policy Priorities.
Accessible Technology and Artificial Intelligence
Digital technology increasingly determines how people communicate, obtain information, work, shop, travel, manage finances, receive services, and participate in society. Artificial intelligence is accelerating that transformation.
DBCA advocates for technology that considers deafblind people at the beginning of research and development. Accessible innovation should account for Braille, screen readers, tactile interaction, keyboard navigation, accessible authentication, nonvisual workflows, understandable interfaces, and compatibility with assistive technology. It should also consider whether increasingly visual or dynamic designs make a technically accessible product unnecessarily difficult to use.
AI presents both opportunities and risks. It may help describe information, improve communication, automate tasks, and expand access. At the same time, systems developed without people with disabilities can reproduce existing barriers or create new ones. DBCA therefore encourages researchers and developers to include deafblind people directly in design, evaluation, testing, and policy discussions involving AI and other emerging technologies.
Accessible Housing and Communities
Modern buildings increasingly rely on digital and visual systems. Touchscreen elevators, digital thermostats, smart appliances, mobile access systems, video intercoms, kiosks, and app-based services may offer convenience while creating new barriers for people who cannot rely on vision or hearing. DBCA seeks to broaden the accessibility conversation beyond traditional physical access.
An apartment may satisfy familiar concepts of physical accessibility while its essential controls remain unusable by a resident who is deafblind. A transportation system may provide an accessible vehicle while essential trip information is presented only visually or audibly. A healthcare facility may be physically accessible while its check-in or communication systems are not. DBCA promotes accessibility that considers the entire experience, including the built environment, digital interfaces, communication, and independent operation of essential features.
Public Policy, Civil Rights, and Public Investment
Civil rights protections must remain meaningful as society changes. Laws written before smartphones, AI, smart buildings, app-based transportation, and many modern digital services must be interpreted and, when appropriate, updated with today's realities in mind.
Public policy also determines whether accessibility programs have the resources necessary to succeed. DBCA supports appropriate and sustainable public investment in special education, assistive technology, communications access, research and development, human services, and other programs that expand opportunities for people who are deafblind. As costs, technology, and community needs change, funding structures should be periodically evaluated to ensure that important programs can continue to fulfill their purposes effectively.
We seek to bring the experiences of deafblind people into legislative and policy discussions. We support approaches that promote equal opportunity, effective access, practical independence, and accountability while allowing innovation to continue. Our public policy work may include education, comments on proposed policies, coalition efforts, meetings with decision-makers, research, and support for legislation consistent with DBCA’s mission.
Inclusive Design and Prevention
Accessibility problems are often addressed only after a product or service has been developed and a barrier has been reported. DBCA promotes a different model.
Accessibility should be considered during planning, design, development, procurement, construction, testing, and deployment. This approach can produce better experiences for users while helping organizations avoid difficult remediation later. Because technology, society, and legal requirements continue to evolve, inclusive design also helps organizations build products and services that are more adaptable to future expectations.
DBCA encourages businesses and public institutions to treat accessibility as part of quality, resilience, and responsible innovation.