[blindlaw] REDBOX DISCRIMINATES AGAINST THE BLIND BY FAILING TO PROVIDE ACCESSIBLE SELF-SERVICE KIOSKS

[David Andrews]

>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



>January 12, 2012



>CONTACTS: Bryan Bashin, CEO, Lighthouse for the 
>Blind (415) 694-7346 Lisamaria Martinez, 
>plaintiff (510) 289-2577 Michael Nunez of 
>Disability Rights Advocates (510) 665-8644 Jay 
>Koslofsky of Law Offices of Jay Koslofsky (510) 280-5627




>REDBOX DISCRIMINATES AGAINST THE BLIND BY 
>FAILING TO PROVIDE ACCESSIBLE SELF-SERVICE 
>KIOSKS Oakland, CA ­ January 12, 20012 ­ Recent 
>technological advances are sweeping the nattion, 
>changing the way people buy products and 
>services. Self-service kiosks with automated, 
>touch-screen interfaces now allow people to 
>bank, shop, and conduct a wide range of 
>transactions independently, without the 
>assistance of a clerk. This technology is fast 
>becoming an integral part of our every day 
>lives. Although these technologies can make our 
>lives easier, Redbox, a video rental giant, has 
>chosen to use self-service kiosks with 
>touch-screen controls that exclude the blind 
>from using its services.  Blind Californians 
>cannot use touch-screen kiosks that offer only 
>visually-based controls. A class action lawsuit 
>filed today in the United States District Court 
>for the Northern District of California 
>challenges Redbox’s inaccessible kiosks. The 
>lawsuit is the first of its kind in the country. 
>The suit is brought by the Lighthouse for the 
>Blind and Visually Impaired, as well as five 
>blind individuals, on behalf of blind and 
>visually impaired people throughout 
>California.  Plaintiffs are represented by 
>Disability Rights Advocates (“DRA”), a 
>non-profit disability rights legal center 
>headquartered in Berkeley, California that 
>specializes in high-impact cases on behalf of 
>people with disabilities. Plaintiffs are also 
>represented by the Law Offices of Jay Koslofsky; 
>Mr. Koslofsky is an experienced civil rights 
>attorney. Redbox has a major share of the video 
>rental market. Redbox DVD rentals account for 
>approximately 34% of the DVD rental market 
>nationwide. According to Redbox, almost 60 
>million videos are rented from its kiosks 
>nationally each month. Redbox kiosks can be 
>found at thousands of businesses throughout 
>California including Save Mart, which is a 
>business that is also named as a defendant in 
>the lawsuit. For generations, blind and visually 
>impaired people have watched and enjoyed movies 
>as an ordinary part of daily life. Blind people 
>with some remaining vision may watch films on 
>their own or with sighted friends and family who 
>can describe the details and actions of a film. 
>In addition, many blind people enjoy watching 
>dialogue driven films. Plaintiff Lisamaria 
>Martinez is a legally blind resident of Union 
>City, California. ”I love watching movies with 
>my husband and son and would like to 
>independently rent movies for my family at 
>Redboxes,” said Lisamaria Martinez. Plaintiff 
>Joshua Saunders is a legally blind resident of 
>El Cerrito, California who enjoys watching 
>movies with friends and family. “I’m not 
>asking for the world here but simply for the 
>ability to rent DVDs from Redboxes just like 
>everyone else can,” said Joshua Saunders. 
>Redbox’s inaccessible touch-screen kiosks shut 
>out a large and growing community of blind 
>Californians. It is estimated that 100,000 
>Californians are legally blind and as the 
>population continues to age, the number of 
>adults with vision loss will increase. The 
>technology exists to make self-service kiosks 
>accessible to the blind. Accessible ATMs and 
>iPhones make use of tactile controls and/or 
>screen reading software that enables blind 
>people to use these devices. “A lack of 
>accessibility in newly emerging forms of 
>commerce is a symptom of the overall growing 
>technological divide that blind people 
>experience when companies fail to build in 
>accessible features at the onset,” said Bryan 
>Bashin, Executive Director/CEO of the Lighthouse 
>for the Blind and Visually Impaired. 
>“Technology is a double edged sword. It has 
>the power to enable millions, but it can disable 
>many Americans far more than it enables them if 
>accessibility is not built into technology at 
>the beginning,” said Jay Koslofsky, 
>Plaintiffs’ attorney of the Law Offices of Jay 
>Koslofsky. “Redbox is shutting out thousands 
>of Californians from its services because it 
>refuses to make its technology accessible to 
>blind consumers,” said Michael Nunez, 
>Plaintiffs’ attorney of Disability Rights 
>Advocates. About Lighthouse for the Blind and 
>Visually Impaired The Lighthouse for the Blind 
>and Visually Impaired, a non-profit corporation, 
>is one of California’s oldest organizations 
>serving the blind and visually impaired 
>community.  The Lighthouse is dedicated to 
>aiding blind and visually impaired individuals 
>in leading productive, enriching, and 
>independent lives. About Disability Rights 
>Advocates (DRA) Disability Rights Advocates is a 
>non-profit legal center which, for nearly twenty 
>years, has specialized in high-impact class 
>action litigation on behalf of people with all 
>types of disabilities.  DRA litigates nationally 
>and has offices in New York City and Berkeley, 
>California. About Law Offices of Jay Koslofsky 
>Jay Koslofsky is an attorney in private practice 
>with more than 30 years of experience. He 
>specializes in civil rights cases and class action litigation. ###