[blindlaw] inaccessible employment qualification test

[Aaron Cannon]

Hi David.

Thanks for the ideas.  I didn't even think of the NFBCS list.  Not
sure why.  Anyway, I sent them the story.

I'll also try and find out more who their clients are, government and otherwise.

Thanks.

Aaron

On 7/12/11, Hyde, David W. (ESC) <david.hyde at wcbvi.k12.wi.us> wrote:
> There are several things you can do. First, and you probably have already
> done this, post it to the computer science list. Curtis may have an idea,
> and some of the other programmers may have experienced the same thing.
> Secondly, you may want to find out who else they work with, particularly the
> Government. All though I am not qualified to speak to the law, it would
> appear to be a violation of Federal accessibility law. Those of you who have
> passed the bars can speak to it better.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Aaron Cannon
> Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 5:24 PM
> To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [blindlaw] inaccessible employment qualification test
>
> Hi all.
>
> I am rather frustrated, and I'm wondering if folks can offer any input on a
> situation I am having.
>
> I recently had a job interview that I feel went very well.  The employer
> seemed reasonably impressed by my qualifications, and seemed to have no
> issue with my blindness.  As part of the hiring process, they asked me to
> take a PHP test (PHP is a programming language).
>
> This test, along with many other employment qualifications tests are offered
> by a company known as PreVisor.  Anyway, I went to take the test, but as you
> might have guessed, it was not accessible.  The exam was actually just fine
> for the first couple of questions, but on one of the questions, I was asked
> to look at a section of source code, and the source code was unreadable by
> my screen reader.
>
> Here's what I suspect happened.  In order to preserve the security of the
> exam, they thought it would be a good idea to make the source code snippet
> into an image.  They likely did this so you can't just copy and paste the
> text.  Otherwise, I can think of no other reason to do that.
>
> Now, my employer has been really great about this.  They have been working
> with me, and I'm sure we'll find some alternative means for me to show them
> my PHP skills.  However, the inaccessibility of PreVisor really disturbs me.
>  What's worse is their seeming complete disinterest in fixing the problem.
>
> When I contacted them about it, they basically told me that there was
> nothing that could be done.  That's just how it was.  When I asked if they
> would give me a little extra time to answer each question so the source code
> could be read to me, (normally you get only 3 minutes) the answer was again,
> "no."
>
> What really upsets me is these people are in many instances the gatekeepers
> for jobs.  For a lot of folks, they determine whether or not a person gets
> hired.  How many people are going to be shut out of jobs, or at the very
> least not considered on the same level as their sighted co-applicants
> because of this companies apathy?
>
> I don't know if anything can be done about this, legally or otherwise, hence
> my email to this list.  I just know that it seems very wrong to me, and is
> something that is likely to harm the job chances of other blind folks in the
> future.
>
> As a side note, their testing services appear to be used by many different
> companies and organizations, including by the government (which branch or at
> what level, I don't know).
>
> Anyway, any thoughts or ideas on this situation would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Aaron
>
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