[real-eyes] Fw: Adoption of Google Apps Program Discriminates Against the Blind

From: "Reginald George" <sgeorge@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:45:20 -0500
This is just enough technology related that I found it worth while to pass it 
on here.  This is interesting, if only because NFB is always claiming ACB is 
too quick to litigate.  Sure looks like that's where they are headed, and I 
don't blame them.  Sometimes litigation actually works as it did in the cases 
against AOL and Amazon.  The laws for public accomodation have actually gotten 
more teeth the last few yrs too.  The FCC is really coming down on the side of 
access r everyone.  
Reg


I smell an impending lawsuit.

Ed


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

cdanielsen@xxxxxxx

 

Adoption of Google Apps Program Discriminates Against the Blind 
National Federation of the Blind Asks 
Department of Justice to Investigate Schools Across the Country


Baltimore, Maryland (March 15, 2011): The National Federation of the Blind 
(NFB), the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind people in the 
United States, today requested that the United States Department of Justice, 
Civil Rights Division, investigate civil rights violations committed by New 
York University (NYU) and Northwestern University against blind faculty and 
students.  The NFB made the request because the schools have adopted technology 
that is not accessible to the blind.  Both universities have recently adopted 
Google Apps for Education as a means of providing e-mail and collaboration 
tools to students and faculty.  Google Apps for Education is a free suite of 
hosted communication and collaboration applications that includes Gmail, Google 
Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs, and Google Sites.  Each of these 
applications contains significant accessibility barriers for blind people 
utilizing screen access technology, which converts what is on the computer 
screen into synthesized speech or Braille.  A similar request for investigation 
has been filed against four Oregon public school districts that are using 
Google Apps.  The complaints allege violations of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  For further 
illustration of this matter, please view a demonstration of screen access 
technology used by the blind and the accessibility barriers that a blind person 
experiences using Google Apps.

  

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: 
"Given the many accessible options available, there is no good reason that 
these universities should choose a suite of applications, including critical 
e-mail services, that is inaccessible to blind students.  Worse yet, according 
to recent data more than half of the American higher education institutions 
that are outsourcing e-mail to third-party vendors plan to deploy this suite, 
even though they know that it cannot be used by blind students.  Nor can these 
universities claim ignorance of their legal obligations, since the United 
States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education have 
specifically warned all university presidents against the adoption of 
inaccessible technology.  The National Federation of the Blind will not 
tolerate this unconscionable discrimination against blind students and faculty 
and callous indifference to the right of blind students to receive an equal 
education.  We urge these higher education institutions to suspend their 
adoption of Google Apps for Education until it is accessible to all students 
and faculty, not just the sighted, or to reject Google Apps entirely."

 

The National Federation of the Blind is represented in this matter by Daniel F. 
Goldstein of the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and Levy.

 

 

###

 

 

About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the 
largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the 
United States.  The NFB improves blind people's lives through advocacy, 
education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and 
self-confidence.  It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the 
voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the National 
Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training 
center in the United States for the blind led by the blind. 

 


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[real-eyes] Fw: Adoption of Google Apps Program Discriminates Against the Blind

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