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<h1><b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</b></h1> <br><br>
<b>CONTACT:<br><br>
</b>Chris Danielsen<br><br>
Director of Public Relations<br><br>
National Federation of the Blind<br><br>
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330<br><br>
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)<br><br>
cdanielsen@nfb.org<br><br>
<br>
<div align="center"><h1><b>National Federation of the Blind and Blind
Business Owner<br>
File Complaint with Small Business Administration<br><br>
<br><br>
</b></h1></div>
<h2><b>SBA’s Inaccessible Web Site Discriminates Against the
Blind</b></h2> <br><br>
<b>Baltimore, Maryland (July 22, 2009):</b> 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.<br><br>
<br><br>
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.”<br><br>
<br><br>
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.”<br><br>
<br><br>
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,
<a href="mailto:dfg@browngold.com">dfg@browngold.com</a>,
<a href="mailto:ah@browngold.com">ah@browngold.com</a>,
<a href="http://www.browngold.com/">www.browngold.com</a>.<br><br>
<br><br>
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