Statutory Council on Blindness

News and updates

July 2025: Celebrating 35 Years of the ADA

July 26, 2025, marks the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) - a landmark civil rights law that protect individuals with disabilities from discrimination in all areas of public life, including employment, education, transportation, and access to public and private spaces.

As we reflect on this important milestone, we are reminded that accessibility must continue to evolve, especially in the digital age. One way to honor the ADA's legacy is making sure our websites, mobile apps, and digital communications are fully accessible to everyone.

In April 2024, the U.S Department of Justice finalized a rule updating Title II of the ADA. This rule requires state and local government to meet specific technical standards for digital accessibility, in line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA. Compliance is required by April 2026.

This means all public-facing digital content, including documents, emails, videos, and social media, mist be designed to work with assistive technologies as screen readers. Key practices include adding alternative text for images, captions for videos, and ensuring content can be navigated without a mouse.

Visit the WisTech Information and Communication Technology page for more information about creating accessible content.

Digital access is essential for equal participation. Let’s use this anniversary to recommit to accessibility in every space, physical and digital.

Overview

The Statutory Council on Blindness (SCOB) is a nine-member body whose purpose is to make recommendations to the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) and other state agencies on services, activities, programs, investigations, and research that affect persons of Wisconsin who are blind or visually impaired. The nine members of the Council are appointed by the Secretary of DHS to serve three-year terms and are eligible to reapply to serve a second three-year term at the conclusion of the first.

Per Wis. Stat. § 47.01(1) and Wis. Stat. § 47.01(5), at least seven of the nine appointed members must be blind or visually impaired, and the members must reflect a broad representation of blind or visually impaired persons. All Council members must have an interest in and demonstrated knowledge of the problems of the blind and visually impaired. More detailed functions of the SCOB are specified in Wis. Stat. § 47.03(9).

The Statutory Council on Blindness meets quarterly to discuss issues and recommendations for state agencies regarding people who are blind or visually impaired. These meetings are open to the public. Public meeting notices, agendas, and meeting minutes can be found on our meetings page. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Statutory Council on Blindness, visit the Join the Council page for more information.

If you encounter any issues or have concerns that affect the blind community, we invite you to join us at an upcoming meeting or submit a public comment to present your issue to the Council for review.