[il-talk] FW: United Airlines Discriminates Blind Passengers

[Robert A.Hansen]

-----Original Message-----
From: "Robert A. Hansen" <roberthansen1970 at gmail.com>
Sent: Tue, 26 Oct 2010 09:53:03 Pacific Daylight Time
To: "Robert A.Hansen" <roberthansen33 at yahoo.com>
Subject: United Airlines Discriminates Blind Passengers





    United Airlines Discriminates Against Blind Passengers



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 <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>



Karla Gilbride

Staff Attorney

Disability Rights Advocates

(510) 665-8644 ext. 11 (Office)

(202) 631-2426 (Cell)

kgilbride at dralegal.org <mailto: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 

individuals---Michael Hingson, Mike May, and Tina Thomas---who 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.



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