Blind Community Leaders Applaud Staples' Initiative to Enhance Staples.com
and Store Point of Sale Equipment
April 23, 2009 -- Major advocacy groups for the visually impaired applaud
Staples' new initiatives designed to improve service to its customers with
visual impairments. Staples will be improving its payment service
terminals
at the in-store point-of-sale with tactile keypads to protect the privacy
and security of shoppers with visual impairments. The company will also
make improvements to Staples.com that will benefit customers with visual
impairments and other disabilities.
Today's announcement is the result of collaboration between Staples and
major blindness organizations including the Bay State Council of the
Blind,
the American Foundation for the Blind, the American Council of the Blind,
and the California Council of the Blind. These organizations praised
Staples' initiative and urged other retailers to follow the company's
example.
Web Site Access
Today's initiative includes Staples' commitment to design www.staples.com
in
accordance with guidelines issued by the Web Accessibility Initiative
(WAI)
of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (www.w3.org/wai). The guidelines,
which do not affect the content or look and feel of a Web site, ensure
that
Web sites are accessible to persons with a wide range of disabilities.
The
guidelines are of particular benefit to blind computer users who use
screen
reader or magnification technology on their computers and who rely on a
keyboard instead of a mouse.
"Web site accessibility is of critical importance to both the blind
community and to people with disabilities generally," said Paul Schroeder,
Vice President Programs and Policy Group, American Foundation for the
Blind.
"We applaud Staples' commitment to address the accessibility of its Web
site, thereby improving the browsing and shopping experience for a broad
range of on-line shoppers."
Point-of-Sale Improvements
Staples will be adding tactile keypads to payment services devices
throughout the chain. The new units will allow Staples shoppers who have
difficulty reading information on a touch screen to privately and
independently enter their PIN and other confidential information. Staples
stores in Massachusetts will have the new devices by September of this
year.
All stores in the country are scheduled to have the devices by the middle
of
next year.
The new devices are designed to protect the financial privacy of shoppers
who are blind or visually impaired. The devices have tactile keys
arranged
like a standard telephone keypad and work in conjunction with Staples'
existing point-of-sale terminals.
Blind community representatives praised Staples' plan to enhance its
payment
services devices. "Point-of-sale devices need to have keys with tactile
markings so people who are blind do not have to ask for assistance or
share
their PIN with strangers," explained Kim Charlson of the Bay State Council
of the Blind. "This settlement, and the collaboration that led up to it,
demonstrate Staples' understanding of this fact and its strong commitment
to
accessibility for blind and visually impaired customers."
About Staples
Staples, the world's largest office products company, is committed to
making
it easy for customers to buy a wide range of office products, including
supplies, technology, furniture, and business services. With 2008 sales of
$23 billion and 91,000 associates worldwide, Staples serves businesses of
all sizes and consumers in 27 countries throughout North and South
America,
Europe, Asia and Australia. In July 2008, Staples acquired Corporate
Express, one of the world's leading suppliers of office products to
businesses and institutions. Staples invented the office superstore
concept
in 1986 and is headquartered outside Boston. More information about
Staples
(Nasdaq: SPLS) is available at www.staples.com.
About American Council of the Blind (ACB), Bay State Council of the Blind
(BSCB) and California Council of the Blind (CCB)
American Council of the Blind is a national consumer-based advocacy
organization working on behalf of blind and visually impaired Americans
throughout the country, with members organized through seventy state and
special-interest affiliates. The Bay State Council of the Blind and the
California Council of the Blind are the Massachusetts and California state
affiliates of the ACB. ACB, BSCB and CCB are dedicated to improving the
quality of life, equality of opportunity and independence of all people
who
have visual impairments. Their members and affiliated organizations have a
long history of commitment to the advancement of policies and programs
which
will enhance independence for people who are blind and visually impaired.
More information about ACB, BSCB and CCB can be found by visiting
www.acb.org, http://www.acb.org/baystate/, and www.ccbnet.org.
About American Foundation for the Blind
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is a national non-profit that
expands possibilities for people with vision loss. AFB's priorities
include
broadening access to technology; elevating the quality of information and
tools for the professionals who serve people with vision loss; and
promoting
independent and healthy living for people with vision loss by providing
them
and their families with relevant and timely resources. AFB is also proud
to
house the Helen Keller Archives and honor the over forty years that Helen
Keller worked tirelessly with AFB. For more information visit us online at
www.afb.org.
For More Information, Contact:
For ACB, BSCB, CCB
Melanie Brunson, (202) 467-5081, mbrunson@xxxxxxx
For AFB
Caitlin McFeely, AFB Communications, (212) 502-7674, cmcfeely@xxxxxxx
For Staples
Owen Davis, (508) 253-8468
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