[Nfbc-info] Hey, Tina, Rick B, Rochelle, Geraldine and the NFB are in the News!

Lauren Merryfield lauren at catlines.com
Tue Apr 22 23:43:18 UTC 2014


Hi,
Good for you!
Thanks
Lauren

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-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbc-info [mailto:nfbc-info-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lisamaria Martinez
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2014 11:46 AM
To: NFB of California List
Subject: [Nfbc-info] Hey, Tina, Rick B, Rochelle, Geraldine and the NFB are in the News!

Did this get posted already? I'm sitting here doing research on donors for work and I randomly stumbled onto this article with NFB all over it. Great job Tina, Rochelle, rick B and Geraldine. And of course, thanks to awesome NfB lawyers like Tim and Haben for representing.

http://newsle.com/article/0/136603963/

I've also pasted it below for your convenience:

LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/-- The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the oldest and largest organization of blind people in the United States, and four blind people residing in California—Rick Boggs, Geraldine Croom, Rochelle Houston, and Tina Thomas —filed suit today (case number: 2:14-cv-02490) in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against RideCharge, Inc. and three entities that manage taxicab fleets in Southern California:  Administrative Services Cooperative, Inc., LA Taxi Cooperative, Inc., and South Bay Yellow Cab Cooperative, Inc.
The taxicab cooperatives have deployed RideCharge's self-service, touchscreen payment terminals, which are inaccessible to blind taxicab riders, in taxicabs throughout Southern California.  The complaint alleges violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the California Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the California Disabled Persons Act.

The self-service terminals utilize an entirely visual, touchscreen interface mounted on the back of the front passenger seat that allows sighted taxicab riders to access information and services privately and independently.  Among other features, sighted passengers are able to review trip and fare information, privately pay fares with a credit card, and select tip amounts without interacting with the driver. The exclusively visual interface lacks common accessibility features for blind riders.  Many other transportation service providers have installed text-to-speech output and tactile controls on their self-service terminals that allow blind riders to operate them independently.  As a result of RideCharge's failure to include these common alternative access features on its terminals, blind riders are unable to access the information and services offered on these devices.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
said: "The ability to travel safely and independently is central to the ability of blind people to live independent, productive lives.
Taxis are a valuable mode of transportation for blind people, particularly in places like Southern California where public transit is not always available.  Our right to independent travel is unjustly jeopardized when we enter a taxi that has critical features that cannot be independently accessed by the blind.  The laws of the United States and the state of California require, and blind Americans demand, that RideCharge and taxicab companies make all of their self-service terminals accessible to blind taxi riders."

The National Federation of the Blind and the individual plaintiffs are represented in this matter by Laurence Paradis, Stuart Seaborn, Michael Nunez, and Haben Girma of the Berkeley firm Disability Rights Advocates; Scott LaBarre of the Denver firm LaBarre Law Offices; and Timothy Elder of the Fremont, California firm TRE Legal Practice.

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