[il-talk] National Federation of the Blind and Blind Social Security Beneficiary File Complaint with Social Security Administration

[Bill Reif]

Oh, goodness!  I hope the NFB hasn't seriously overstated our case, or taken 
a philisophical "wrong turn" regarding the responsibilities of users in 
understanding their access technologies.  I would like to know the specific 
access barriers complained of.  I
completed the SSI/SSDI applications last year with only one glitch, which
was actually a design problem that effected blind and sighted users.
(Ambiguous question required I name more than one child before I could
proceed.)  I also know of a blind employee at the Springfield Center for
Independent Living whose job it was to assist clients by completing their
online disability applications.  He successfully did hundreds.  I know
"accessibility" means different things to different people, and that not
everyone knows how to use his/her screenreader's "mouse movement keys, which
keys are occasionally helpful in getting context.  Perhaps it would be
helpful if important sites directed people to tutorials on using said sites
with screenreaders.  I know there was, last year, a link on the SSA site to
tips in using the site with JAWS.  The only part not accessible online,
identified in the CSAVR  Report, is the need to sign and return a Release of
Medical Information form.

Perhaps the real problem is that the blind, even those of us with computers,
can't often afford the latest technologies designed to work with Web 2.0
and/or haven't received sufficient training in their use.  I am discovering
this as I try to assist blind people downstate using older equipment.  I 
believe that unless a more comprehensive approach is taken, suing
individual web sites that use features not incorporated into older 
technologies will be no more effective than swatting mosquitoes in a swamp.

Bill Reif

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Freeh,Jessica (by way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)"
<JFreeh at nfb.org>
To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 9:58 AM
Subject: [il-talk] National Federation of the Blind and Blind Social
Security Beneficiary File Complaint with Social Security Administration



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (cell)

cdanielsen at nfb.org

National Federation of the Blind and Blind Social Security Beneficiary
File Complaint with Social Security Administration

SSA's Inaccessible Web Site Discriminates Against the Blind

Baltimore, Maryland (August 24, 2009): The National Federation of the
Blind, the nation's oldest and largest organization of blind people
and the leading advocate for equal access by the blind to information
technology, and Margot Downey, a blind Social Security beneficiary
from Buffalo, New York, filed an administrative complaint today with
the Social Security Administration (SSA).  The complaint asserts that
the SSA's Web site violates Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
because it is inaccessible to blind people who use text-to-speech
screen access technology or Braille displays to access information on
the Internet.  Because of the inaccessibility of the SSA Web site,
blind people cannot fill out forms and questionnaires on the site or
access information about their benefits.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
said: "In an age where the Internet is a part of everyday life, blind
people must have equal access to the information and resources
provided on the World Wide Web.  In particular, the United States
government has a legal and moral obligation to ensure that the
information it provides on the Internet is equally accessible to all
Americans, including the blind.  The National Federation of the Blind
demands equal access for blind Social Security beneficiaries and will
tolerate nothing less."

  Margot Downey, a blind Social Security beneficiary from Buffalo,
New York, said: "As an active and productive blind individual, I
depend on the Internet to access and update all kinds of information,
including the Social Security and Medicare benefits I receive.  I
hope that the Social Security Administration will take swift action
to correct the accessibility problems with its Web site so that blind
Americans like me will have equal access to the valuable information
the SSA Web site contains."

Complainants are represented by attorneys Daniel F. Goldstein and
Allison L. Harper of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, 120 E. Baltimore
Street, Suite 1700, Baltimore, Maryland  21202, (410) 962-1030, fax:
(410) 385-0869, <mailto:dfg at browngold.com>dfg at browngold.com,
<mailto:ah at browngold.com>ah at browngold.com,
<http://www.browngold.com/>www.browngold.com.

###

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