[Nfb-or] Adoption of Google Apps Program Discriminates Against

[Muhammad Arifin]

 Yes I agree  it's complaint  for the google Company google tolk could
not access-able, Is not only not that google  map also . love to
Arifin as Indonesian Blind Union In Provence Shout Sulawesi

On Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 1:30 AM, Renee Squier <squierr at comcast.net> 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
>
> Adoption of Google Apps Program Discriminates Against the Blind
>
> National Federation of the Blind Asks
> Department of Justice to Investigate Schools Across the Country
> Baltimore, Maryland (March 15, 2011): The
> National Federation of the Blind
> (NFB), the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind people in the United States, today requested that the United States Department of Justice,
> Civil Rights Division, investigate civil rights violations committed by New York University (NYU) and Northwestern University against blind faculty and
> students.  The NFB made the request because the schools have adopted technology that is not accessible to the blind.  Both universities have recently adopted
> Google Apps for Education as a means of providing e-mail and collaboration tools to students and faculty.  Google Apps for Education is a free suite of
> hosted communication and collaboration applications that includes Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs, and Google Sites.  Each of these applications
> contains significant accessibility barriers for blind people utilizing screen access technology, which converts what is on the computer screen into synthesized
> speech or Braille.  A similar request for investigation has been filed against four Oregon public school districts that are using Google Apps.  The complaints
> allege violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  For further illustration of this matter, please
> view a demonstration of screen access technology
> used by the blind and the accessibility barriers that a blind person experiences using Google Apps.
>
> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: "Given the many accessible options available, there is no good reason that these
> universities should choose a suite of applications, including critical e-mail services, that is inaccessible to blind students.  Worse yet, according to
> recent data more than half of the American higher education institutions that are outsourcing e-mail to third-party vendors plan to deploy this suite,
> even though they know that it cannot be used by blind students.  Nor can these universities claim ignorance of their legal obligations, since the United
> States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education have specifically
> warned all university presidents
> against the adoption of inaccessible technology.  The National Federation of the Blind will not tolerate this unconscionable discrimination against blind
> students and faculty and callous indifference to the right of blind students to receive an equal education.  We urge these higher education institutions
> to suspend their adoption of Google Apps for Education until it is accessible to all students and faculty, not just the sighted, or to reject Google Apps
> entirely."
>
> The National Federation of the Blind is represented in this matter by Daniel F. Goldstein of the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and Levy.
>
> ###
>
> 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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