[blindlaw] court orders Ottawa to make web sites accessible toblind

Wed Dec 8 18:48:31 UTC 2010

Hi Russell,
I must confess that I don't understand how twitter actually works.  Can 
entire articles be posted on twitter?  I had heard about tweets on twitter 
but I thought these were small single line messages with very limited space. 
If you could bring me up to speed it would be appreciated.
Best,
Dennis

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Russell J. Thomas, Jr." <rthomas at emplmntattorney.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 6:56 AM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] court orders Ottawa to make web sites accessible 
toblind

> Suggestion: Set up articles like this so that they can be shared on 
> Twitter.
>
>
> Respectfully,
>
>
>
> Russell J. Thomas, Jr.
>
> Law Office of Russell J. Thomas, Jr.
>
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>
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> Follow me on Twitter:  EmplmntAttorney
>
>
>
> PLEASE NOTE MY NEW EMAIL ADDRESS, EFF. 6/1/2010:
> RTHOMAS at EMPLMNTATTORNEY.COM
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of ckrugman at sbcglobal.net
> Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 10:00 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
> Subject: [blindlaw] court orders Ottawa to make web sites accessible to
> blind
>
> Court orders Ottawa to make websites accessible to blind
> Paola Loriggio
> Toronto- The Canadian Press (includes clarification)
> Published Monday, Nov. 29, 2010 1:21PM ESTLast updated Tuesday, Nov. 30,
> 2010 5:12PM
>
> The federal government is being ordered to make its websites accessible to
> visually impaired users - and the judge who issued the directive Monday 
> says
> he'll be watching to make sure Ottawa follows through.
>
> Federal Court Justice Michael Kelen gave the government 15 months to 
> update
> its websites after a blind Toronto woman said she was unable to apply for 
> a
> public service job online.
>
> Donna Jodhan, a special-needs business consultant with a MBA, launched a
> constitutional challenge aiming to grant visually impaired people equal
> access to the services and information on several federal government
> websites.
>
> On Monday the court found the government "has not implemented existing
> accessibility standards and that some of the standards are obsolete."
>
> The court will monitor the government's progress in making the change, 
> Judge
> Kelen said in the decision.
>
> David Baker, Ms. Jodhan's lawyer, said it's "extremely rare" for the court
> to follow a case so closely after making a decision.
>
> "Historically, courts have declared when there is a charter violation 
> based
> on the assumption that the government will bring itself into compliance," 
> he
> said.
>
> In this case, the court may compel the government to disclose what it has
> done to make the sites more accessible, likely through internal audits, 
> Mr.
> Baker added.
>
> What's more, Ms. Jodhan can "force the matter back into court" if Ottawa
> doesn't co-operate, he said.
>
> The ruling is a "shot in the arm" for the blind and sight-impaired
> community, said Ms. Jodhan, who added it's a sign that people shouldn't be
> afraid to stand up for their rights.
>
> "In the case of the mainstream community, I think it will certainly help
> build awareness as far as why it's so important for blind and 
> sight-impaired
> Canadians to be able to independently access their own information on
> government websites," she said.
>
> Government lawyers had argued there was no discrimination because those 
> same
> services are provided in other formats, such as on the phone, in person or
> by mail.
>
> "We are continuing to look at ways to make information more accessible to
> all Canadians," Jay Denney, spokesman for the Treasury Board, said in an
> e-mail Monday. The Treasury Board is responsible for enforcing 
> accessibility
> standards.
>
> Jutta Treviranus, director of the University of Toronto's Adaptative
> Technology Resource Centre and one of the experts involved in the case, 
> said
> the decision will save taxpayers money in the long run.
>
> "If you think about how the incidence of disability in Canada is 
> increasing
> as we age, and so it'll become a much more important thing as the years
> progress, and the earlier we do it, the less it will cost," she said.
>
> With more and more government services moving online, it's easier to make
> them accessible from the start than to retrofit them all later, she said,
> adding that government staff already have much of the technical tools and
> know-how they need to take action.
>
> Ms. Jodhan, who has been blind since birth, filed the challenge in 2007
> after struggling through several attempts to apply for government 
> positions
> through the job bank website.
>
> She also had problems accessing data on the Statistics Canada website,
> filling out an online census form, and viewing information on the Canada
> Pension Plan on the Service Canada website.
>
> Despite her extensive technological training - she won four awards from 
> IBM
> for technical initiatives - Ms. Jodhan found herself relying on sighted
> individuals to help her navigate the sites, or on government employees to
> provide accurate information in a timely manner, she said in an affidavit.
>
> Many blind people use screen readers, computer software that translates
> electronic text into audio. But the readers aren't foolproof - for one
> thing, some can't decipher interactive web applications such as the
> government's ePass web portal.
>
> In 2001 the government adopted a web protocol known as the Common Look and
> Feel Standard, which requires government department websites to be 
> designed
> and programmed to ensure they can be accessed by visually impaired users.
>
> The Treasury Board conducted a spot audit of 47 of the 146 federal
> departments in 2007 and found that none complied with the standard. No
> follow-up information was presented in court.
>
> The federal government's chief information officer, Ken Cochrane, told the
> court each department was responsible for implementing the standard.
>
> The court ruled that Ottawa must update the standard to make interactive
> applications accessible.
>
> It also found that visually impaired people are disadvantaged by having to
> obtain the information available online through other means, such as the
> phone or mail.
>
> The court also determined Ms. Jodhan's legal fees should be reimbursed
> because the case was in the public interest.
>
> Editor's note: An earlier version of this Canadian Press story that was
> online and in Tuesday's Globe and Mail reported that most screen readers
> (computer software that translates electronic text into audio for the
> visually impaired) cannot decipher PDF files. That statement was based on
> arguments made in Federal Court in Donna Jodhan's constitutional challenge
> against the federal government. However, a spokesman for Adobe Systems, 
> the
> creator of PDF file technology, says that at present, and in 2007 when Ms.
> Jodhan initiated her case, most screen readers can read PDF files.
>
> C 2010 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
>
> The complete ruling can be found here
> http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/rss/T-1190-07%20decision%20ENG%2029-11-
> 2010.htm
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