[Blindtlk] United Airlines Discriminates Against Blind Passengers

[Freeh, Jessica]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen                                  Karla Gilbride
Director of Public Relations                 Staff Attorney
National Federation of the Blind           Disability Rights Advocates
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330           (510) 665-8644 ext. 11 (Office)
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)                          (202) 631-2426 (Cell)
cdanielsen at nfb.org 
<mailto:kgilbride at dralegal.org>kgilbride at dralegal.org

United Airlines Discriminates Against Blind Passengers

National Federation of the Blind Files Suit Over Inaccessible Kiosks

San Francisco, California (October 25, 2010): The 
National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s 
oldest and largest organization of blind people 
and the leading advocate for accessible 
technology, and three blind individuals­Michael 
Hingson, Mike May, and Tina Thomas­who reside in 
California and frequently fly United, filed a 
class-action lawsuit today in the United States 
District Court for the Northern District of 
California against United Airlines. United uses 
airport kiosks that employ touchscreen technology 
in a manner such that they cannot be used by 
blind passengers. Passengers who are able to use 
the kiosks can access information about flights, 
check in for flights, print tickets and boarding 
passes, select seats, upgrade to United’s 
business or first class cabins, check baggage, 
and perform other transactions relevant to their 
air travel plans. The suit alleges that United is 
violating the California Disabled Persons Act and 
the Unruh Civil Rights Act because the services 
it provides through these kiosks are not 
available to blind passengers. United could 
easily add an audio interface, a tactile 
keyboard, or interactive screen reader technology 
that works with touchscreens to its kiosks, as other companies have done.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: "The airline 
industry has an unfortunate history of 
discriminating against blind passengers, and now 
United Airlines is repeating that history by 
deploying inaccessible technology that we cannot 
use. United is engaging in this blatant 
discrimination even though the technology to make 
its kiosks accessible is readily available, has 
been deployed by others, and will involve little 
cost to the company. Instead of enjoying the 
features and convenience of these kiosks, 
including a quicker and more convenient check-in 
process, blind passengers must wait in long lines 
at the ticket counter, even when they have 
already purchased their tickets and checked in 
online. We will not tolerate a separate and 
unequal experience for blind passengers and 
demand that United cease its discrimination against us as soon as practicable."

Michael Hingson, a blind motivational speaker and 
president and owner of a technology sales 
company, said: "I have traveled throughout the 
United States and the world for my public 
speaking engagements and as a technology sales 
representative, yet I cannot independently check 
in at the airport. It frustrates me, as a 
frequent traveler and United passenger, that I 
must wait for a United employee to assist me with 
the kiosk, seek help from a sighted passenger (in 
which case I must share sensitive private 
information with a total stranger), or else stand 
in a long line in order to complete the airport 
check-in process. I hope that this lawsuit will 
serve as a wake-up call to United and that the 
airline will swiftly make its kiosks accessible."

Mike May, CEO of the Sendero Group, a leading 
manufacturer of technology for the blind, said: 
"I have been working in the adaptive technology 
field for twenty years, and I know well that it 
is easy and practical for United to make its 
kiosks accessible. There is simply no excuse for 
the long wait and inconvenience that other blind 
United passengers and I continue to experience at airports."

Tina Thomas, a member of the United States 
Paralympic Judo Team, said: "I find it extremely 
ironic that United, which touts itself as the 
official airline of the U.S. Paralympic Team, 
discriminates against me as a member of that team 
and as a blind person. I sincerely hope that 
United will make a more serious and tangible 
commitment to treating passengers with disabilities equally."

Plaintiffs are represented in this matter by 
Daniel F. Goldstein and Gregory P. Care of the 
Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and Levy; and 
Laurence W. Paradis, Karla Gilbride, and Kevin 
Knestrick of the Berkeley firm Disability Rights Advocates.

###

About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National 
Federation of the Blind is the largest and most 
influential membership organization of blind 
people in the United States.  The NFB improves 
blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, 
research, technology, and programs encouraging 
independence and self-confidence.  It is the 
leading force in the blindness field today and 
the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 
the NFB opened the National Federation of the 
Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and 
training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.