DeafBlind Citizens in Action
Leveling the Playing Field for People Who Are DeafBlind
Technology and society are changing rapidly. Accessibility must keep pace.
DeafBlind Citizens in Action (DBCA) works to improve the quality of life for people who are deafblind and to ensure that they are not left behind as technology, public policy, and everyday life evolve. We advocate for equal opportunity and meaningful accessibility across all aspects of life, including employment, education, housing, transportation, healthcare, public services, communications, websites, mobile applications, artificial intelligence, consumer technology, and the built environment.
Our goal is not simply to remove barriers after they appear. We want deafblind people to have a voice in shaping the policies, technologies, services, and communities of the future.
Accessibility Is About More Than Technology
Technology can create extraordinary independence for people who are deafblind. But it cannot solve every accessibility barrier. Sometimes the right solution is accessible technology. Sometimes it is better physical or digital design. Sometimes it is a change in policy or practice. In other circumstances, meaningful access requires human assistance. DBCA supports an approach to accessibility that recognizes all of these possibilities and focuses on practical outcomes for deafblind people.
What We Are Working On
Support Service Providers (SSPs)
DBCA has long advocated for greater recognition of Support Service Providers as an essential means of access for deafblind people. Technology should maximize independence, but no technology can replace every form of human assistance. DBCA supports public policy that more fully recognizes this reality.
Public Policy and Civil Rights
We work to ensure that laws and policies keep pace with changing technology and the real-world experiences of deafblind people.
Accessible Technology and Artificial Intelligence
We encourage developers, technology companies, researchers, and policymakers to ensure that emerging technologies work for people who communicate and interact through Braille, tactile methods, assistive technology, and nonvisual interfaces.
Accessible Communities
Accessibility extends beyond a website or app. DBCA highlights barriers in housing, transportation, healthcare, public spaces, consumer services, and other parts of everyday life.
Inclusive Design
We encourage organizations to consider accessibility before products, buildings, services, and systems are deployed. Designing access from the beginning is often easier, more effective, and less costly than rebuilding it later.
Where Accessibility Falls Short
A touchscreen replaces physical buttons. A home or office thermostat becomes entirely visual. A website may technically work with assistive technology while becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. An artificial intelligence service may be designed without considering Braille or nonvisual interaction. A person may independently use technology but still require human assistance to overcome intermittent digital obstacles or navigate an unfamiliar environment.
These are different problems, but they share a common lesson: accessibility must reflect how people actually live, not what we believe works for them. DBCA highlights these gaps so that businesses, policymakers, designers, researchers, and the public can better understand them and work toward practical solutions that improve accessibility and benefit society as a whole.
Partnership for a Better Future
An accessible society benefits all. DBCA invites collaboration with businesses, nonprofits, researchers, universities, government, and tech developers to achieve better outcomes. Partnerships can foster innovation, productivity, independence, economic participation, and efficient resource use.
Help Make Progress Possible
Resources are essential for advocacy, education, collaboration, and participation. Contributions enable DBCA to fulfill its mission, launch initiatives, educate leaders, enhance deafblind involvement, and address new accessibility challenges.
Join DBCA
DBCA invites those interested in fostering a more accessible and inclusive society. Our focus is on deafblind individuals, and we welcome members who support our mission. Families,, researchers, businesses, policymakers, advocates, and allies play vital roles in our efforts.
Progress should include everyone.