[blindlaw] inaccessible employment qualification test

[Aaron Cannon]

Hi Noel.

I actually just replied to an email from Scott on this matter.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Aaron

On 7/12/11, Nightingale, Noel <Noel.Nightingale at ed.gov> wrote:
> I suggest that you contact the Law Offices of Scot Labarre, who has an
> employment discrimination practice.  That number in Denver is (303)
> 504-5979.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Aaron Cannon
> Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 3:24 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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