[Mi-abs] National Federation of the Blind and Blind Business Owner File Complaint with Small Business Administration

[Michelle Medina]

I don't have Fire Fox, I use XP.
It's not obvious for everyone, not everyone knows about these things,
you know what I mean?
Michelle

On 7/23/09, JUSTIN LOUCHART <jalouchart at gmail.com> wrote:
> They're not inaccessible, use Webvisum, obviously.
>
>
>  It's a program under firefox that will allow you to hack captchas
> legally; therefore there is no complaint needed, as it isn't any
> longer illegal.
>
> On 7/23/09, Michelle Medina <michellem86 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I think this is a great thing, glad to see it here!
>>
>> Slightly off topic, but similar in nature, how come noone has
>> complained about Yahoo! insisting that even after you sign up & have
>> an account with them, you still either have to call them or have
>> someone there to enter a verification code to join new groups? (each
>> new group you want to join, you have to enter a new code).
>> Secondly, how come noone has complained about captias on the web
>> period? They make accessing various websites impossible unless a blind
>> person can find a sighted person to help them out. Or, am I wrong &
>> has this already been talked about before?
>> Michelle
>>
>> On 7/23/09, Freeh, Jessica <JFreeh at nfb.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> 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 Business Owner
>>> File Complaint with Small Business Administration
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> SBA's Inaccessible Web Site Discriminates Against the Blind
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Baltimore, Maryland (July 22, 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 Virgil Stinnett, a blind business owner from
>>> Honolulu, Hawaii, filed an administrative complaint today with the
>>> Small Business Administration (SBA).  The complaint asserts that the
>>> SBA'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 SBA Web site, blind
>>> people cannot fill out forms on the site or take online courses
>>> offered by the SBA.  Mr. Stinnett was unable to apply for
>>> certification under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act because of
>>> the inaccessibility of the Web site.  Section 8(a) certification
>>> would provide Mr. Stinnett's business with access to federal and
>>> private procurement markets.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
>>> said: "Blind Americans have the same dreams, the same goals, and the
>>> same entrepreneurial spirit as all other Americans.  If we are to
>>> have equal access to the tools and techniques needed to be effective
>>> business owners and to compete on terms of equality with our sighted
>>> peers, we must have equal access to the resources offered on the SBA
>>> Web site and other government sites.  The National Federation of the
>>> Blind demands equality for blind business owners and will tolerate
>>> nothing less."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Virgil Stinnett, owner of Good News HI, a business providing military
>>> dining services, said: "As a blind entrepreneur, access to the SBA
>>> Web site is critical in order for me to use its programs and services
>>> and expand my business.  The fact that I could not access the Web
>>> site has cost me time and resources that I would not have needed to
>>> expend if I had been able to use the site like everyone else.  I hope
>>> the action we are taking today will prompt the SBA to take immediate
>>> steps so that all Americans, blind and sighted, have equal access to
>>> the programs, training, and resources that it provides."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Complainants are represented by attorneys Daniel F. Goldstein and
>>> Allison L. Harper of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, <?xml:namespace
>>> prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />120
>>> E. Baltimore Street, Suite 1700, Baltimore, MD 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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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> For those about to rock, we salute you!
>>
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>
>
> --
> Justin Louchart
> JALOUCHART at GMAIL.COM
> Cell: 989.964.9399
> "The common eye sees only the outside of things, and judges by that,
> but the truly seeing eye pierces through and reads the heart and the soul"
>
> - Mark Twain
>
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-- 
For those about to rock, we salute you!