[blindlaw] FW: Politico Story re WH Petition Inaccessibility

Wed May 29 13:43:38 UTC 2013

It is incredibly ironic that when we attempt to petition our government which is suppose to be a leader in accessiblity, we face such an obstacle.  When I signed the petition, I attempted to use the so-called audio challenge and it sounds like R2D2 on LSD speaking through a mouth full of cotton.  It is impossible to decipher the code you are suppose to type in.  I had to have someone who could see the screen read the code to me.  

Best,

Scott

From: Adam Eisgrau [mailto:adam at eisgraualliances.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 9:19 PM
To: Fredric Schroeder; John Pare; Chris Danielsen; Jesse Hartle; Scott C. LaBarre; mbrunson at acb.org; Gigi B. Sohn; Bartees Cox; Sean Meloy; Jon Band; Carrie Russell; prue at arl.org; Jamie Love; Manon Ress; Jim Fruchterman; khinton at mercuryllc.com
Subject: Politico Story re WH Petition Inaccessibility

 <http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/05/blind-advocates-blast-white-house-164914.html> http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/05/blind-advocates-blast-white-house-164914.html

 <http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/05/blind-advocates-blast-white-house-164914.html> Blind advocates blast White House 

By  <http://www.politico.com/reporters/DonovanSlack.html> DONOVAN SLACK |  

5/28/13 6:37 PM EDT

The National Federation of the Blind is fuming mad over the White House web site, complaining that its members have been unable to sign an important online petition.

The glitch, the group says, is in those often annoying tests that require users to type in a set of numbers and letters to prove they are human. On the White House web site, blind users can select an audio version of the test, but the audio is incomprehensible, according to federation spokesman Chris Danielsen.

And if users want to send email notifying the White House about the problem, well, that also requires a computer-human test with garbled audio, too, he said.

"We had asked people to sign the petition and we're getting these emails saying that people can't," Danielsen told POLITICO.

"The Constitution allows all of us to petition our government for a redress of grievance. It says nothing about needing to be able to see in order to do so."

The  <https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/side-blind-over-obstructionist-companies-secure-treaty-blind-makes-books-accessible-globally/ZJtgcVph> petition calls for the Obama administration to support an international treaty making more books accessible to the blind. So far, some 6,100 people have signed on since it was created May 23. But Danielsen said many more would have signed on had it not been for the web site issues. For an official White House response, it would need to reach 100,000 signatures before June 23. <x-apple-data-detectors://7> 

The White House says the web site is fully compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires that federal web sites be accessible to people with disabilities, and it says it is looking into improving the site.

In the meantime, the Federation of the Blind wants the signature requirement waived so the administration will respond to its petition. Danielsen said the federation had thought that the administration would support the international treaty, which is being brokered in Morocco next month, but there has been a barrage of lobbying by some big business groups against the treaty and so the federation wants to make sure the White House still supports it.

"The administration has seemed supportive of it in the past, but lately the administration doesn’t seem to be commenting on it publicly," he said. "We're concerned that all of this intense lobbying is getting to this administration."

Adam Eisgrau

202.215.6884

On May 28, 2013, at 7:41 AM, "Adam Eisgrau" <adam at eisgraualliances.com> wrote:

Good morning folks.  Just a reminder that we established Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 am EDT for larger group coordinating calls on the dial-in number below.  (Have I missed any invitees?)  We appreciate your time and contributions!  Key items for today's call include:

-- ongoing stakeholder conversations

-- petition efforts' progress

-- video effort

-- messaging campaign status

-- related event planning

Thanks, 

Adam

Number: (877) 394-5901 <tel:(877)%20394-5901> 

 <tel:(877)%20394-5901> Access Code: 4781852

Adam Eisgrau

202.215.6884