RICHMOND, Va. β The Virginia State Senate is moving forward with legislation aimed at improving the independence of Virginians with visual impairments.
The Senate Finance Committee approved a bill Tuesday to allow a tax credit of up to $50,000 for Virginia-based companies to create a program that could put braille lettering on packages they ship to customers.
18-year-old Tate Jordan proposed the idea to his legislator, Sen. Danica Roem (D-Prince William), last year. He created an example of what a package label looks like to him, and one with braille letters to show the challenges about 184,000 Virginians like him face.
"For many blind people, they can't independently look at their mail or look at the packages they receive and tell independently what that text says, who it's addressed to, the address," Jordan said. "I've heard horror stories from blind people who have packages sent to giant shipping rooms in their apartments where they'll spend hours looking for a package."
"If you are blind, visually-impaired, you're online, you can click a little box that says 'Send the label in braille,' and then they can print it off and go do that," Roem said.
The legislation now moves to the full Senate for a vote.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
π²: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
