[Nfbk] FW: Adoption of Google Apps Program Discriminates Against the Blind

[Cathy]

-----Original Message-----
From: Freeh, Jessica [mailto:JFreeh at nfb.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 12:14 PM
To: Alpidio Rolon; Amy Buresh; Art Schreiber; Beth Rival; Bill Packee; Bob
Kresmer; Carl Jacobsen; Cassandra McNabb; Cathy Jackson; Charlene Smyth;
Christine G. Hall; Dan Hicks; Daniel Burke; Don Galloway; Donna Wood; Elsie
Dickerson; Frank Lee; Franklin Shiner; Fred Schroeder; Garrick Scott; Gary
Ray; Gary Wunder; Grace Pires; J.W. Smith; James Antonacci; Jennelle
Bichler; Jennifer Dunnam; Joe Ruffalo; John Batron; John Fritz; Joy Harris;
Joyce Scanlan; Ken Rollman; Kim Williams; Kimberly Flores; Larry Posont;
Lynn Majewski; Mary Willows; Melissa Riccobono; Michael Barber; Michael
Freeman; Mika Pyyhkala; Nani Fife; Pam Allen; Parnell Diggs; Patti Chang;
Rena Smith; Ron Brown; Gardner, Ron; Sam Gleese; Scott LaBarre; Selena
Sundling-Crawford; Terry Sheeler
Subject: Adoption of Google Apps Program Discriminates Against the Blind


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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