[il-talk] National Federation of the Blind and Blind SocialSecurity Benef...

Wed Aug 26 14:58:30 UTC 2009

Bill and All,

Though I didn't specifically on this case during my tennure with Brown  
Goldstein and Levy, I can assure you that we don't file law suits because one  
person seems to experience difficulty with a user interface.  One person  
lacking the knowledge to navigate a page is never enough, and our National  
Center's Access Technology Staff run extensive tests on a webpage before  
determining whether it is accessible or inaccessible.  For example, a site  
might work with Jaws very well if using FireFox but not at all with Internet  
Explorer, or a site might work with Jaws and not WindowEyes.  If one  program 
works with it and another does not, that does not mean the site is  
inaccessible.

Also, before filing a lawsuit such as this, the NFB tries to hold meetings  
with the agency or company to discuss the problem in the hopes that it can 
be  resolved quickly through coding.  Sometimes that works, and sometimes it 
 doesn't.

Finally, I'm not sure if you're aware, but SSA just added a great deal of  
information to their site, including the ability to access benefits 
statements,  check the status of an application, schedule appointments, and retreive 
earnings  statements.  Many of those services are not accessible.  

Just my thoughts,
Ronza

In a message dated 8/26/2009 10:20:32 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
datemeyer at sbcglobal.net writes:

Bill,

Did you make your views known to the National  Office?  Of course, if a suit
has already underway, it is probably too  late to do much. 

-----Original Message-----
From:  il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of  Bill Reif
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 7:23 AM
To: NFB of Illinois  Mailing List
Subject: Re: [il-talk] National Federation of the Blind and  Blind
SocialSecurity Beneficiary File Complaint with Social  
SecurityAdministration

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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