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MCB unveils public dashboard showing caseloads, registrations; accessibility question raised
Summary
Staff unveiled a new outward‑facing dashboard on the Commission for the Blind website showing open and closed caseload counts, VR demographics and registration totals. Board members asked whether visual charts could be audio‑described for accessibility.
Staff demonstrated a new public dashboard on the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind website that publishes monthly counts and charts for cases and registrations.
"The MCB dashboard has been added ... it's outwardly facing and available on our website," staff member Nathan said while guiding board members through the glossary and data views. Reported figures included 867 open children social‑rehabilitation cases, 3,383 open adult social‑rehabilitation cases, 218 open vocational‑rehabilitation youth cases and 764 open VR adult cases; Nathan also reviewed closed‑case totals and registration figures (certificates of blindness, MCB ID cards and new registrations) as displayed on the site.
Board members welcomed the more visual presentation. One member said the graphs made it easier to see how large the SR program is compared with VR. Blair asked whether the visual graphs could be described for users who rely on audio. Nathan said he would inquire about audio descriptions and noted some diagnostic‑level data will remain internal for privacy and because of the number of unique diagnoses.
Nathan said the dashboard will be updated monthly and that staff are evaluating additional breakdowns by region or age group for external presentation. He said internal dashboards include diagnostic and etiological data that the agency will not share publicly but will use for research.
The board did not vote on data‑sharing policy during the meeting; members encouraged staff to continue improving accessibility and to consider regional breakdowns.
