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<DIV dir=ltr class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left><FONT size=2
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Freeh, Jessica
[mailto:JFreeh@nfb.org]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, October 25, 2010 5:48
PM<BR><B>To:</B> Charlene Smyth; Don Galloway; Daniel Burke; Amy Buresh; Nani
Fife; Beth Rival; Rena Smith; Gary Wunder; Gary Ray; Cathy Jackson; Carl
Jacobsen; Frank Lee; Jennelle Bichler; Elsie Dickerson; Michael Barber; Alpidio
Rolon; Ron Gardner; Parnell Diggs; Mika Pyyhkala; Pam Allen; Ken Rollman; Fred
Schroeder; Richard Gaffney; Melissa Riccobono; Kim Williams; Joe Ruffalo; Dan
Hicks; Christine G. Hall; Bill Packee; Kevan Worley; Bob Kresmer; Patti Chang;
James Antonacci; J.W. Smith; Art Schreiber; Sam Gleese; Mary Willows; Jennifer
Dunnam; Franklin Shiner; Terry Sheeler; Michael Freeman; John Fritz; Scott
LaBarre; Ron Brown; Larry Posont; Joyce Scanlan; Cassandra McNabb; Donna Wood;
Angela Wolf; Selena Sundling-Crawford; Lynn Majewski; John
Batron<BR><B>Subject:</B> United Airlines Discriminates Against Blind
Passengers<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr id=idOWAReplyText56324>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><B><FONT size=4>FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE</DIV></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV></FONT>
<P>CONTACT:<BR></B>Chris
Danielsen
<FONT face=Arial>Karla Gilbride<BR></FONT>Director of Public
Relations
Staff Attorney<BR>National Federation of the
Blind Disability
Rights Advocates<BR>(410) 659-9314, extension
2330 <FONT
face=Arial>(510) 665-8644 ext. 11 (Office)<BR></FONT>(410) 262-1281
(Cell) <FONT
face=Arial>(202) 631-2426 (Cell)<BR></FONT><U><FONT
color=#0000ff>cdanielsen@nfb.org</U></FONT>
<U><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><A
href="mailto:kgilbride@dralegal.org">kgilbride@dralegal.org</A></U></FONT></FONT><FONT
size=4></P></FONT><B><FONT size=4 face=Arial><FONT size=4 face=Arial>
<P align=center>United Airlines Discriminates Against Blind
Passengers</P></FONT></FONT><I><FONT face=Arial>
<P align=center>National Federation of the Blind Files Suit Over Inaccessible
Kiosks</P></B></I></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT><B>
<P>San Francisco, California (October 25, 2010):</B> The National Federation of
the Blind, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of blind people and the
leading advocate for accessible technology, and three blind individuals—Michael
Hingson, Mike May, and Tina Thomas—who reside in California and frequently fly
United, filed a class-action lawsuit today in the United States <FONT
face=Arial><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial>District Court for the Northern
District of California</FONT></FONT><FONT color=#007f7f size=4 face=Arial><FONT
color=#007f7f size=4 face=Arial><FONT color=#007f7f size=4 face=Arial>
</FONT></FONT></FONT>against United Airlines. United uses airport kiosks that
employ touchscreen technology in a manner such that they cannot be used by blind
passengers. Passengers who are able to use the kiosks can access information
about flights, check in for flights, print tickets and boarding passes, select
seats, upgrade to United’s business or first class cabins, check baggage, and
perform other transactions relevant to their air travel plans. The suit alleges
that United is violating the California Disabled Persons Act and the Unruh Civil
Rights Act because the services it provides through these kiosks are not
available to blind passengers. United could easily add an audio interface, a
tactile keyboard, or interactive screen reader technology that works with
touchscreens to its kiosks, as other companies have done.</P>
<P>Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"The airline industry has an unfortunate history of discriminating against blind
passengers, and now United Airlines is repeating that history by deploying
inaccessible technology that we cannot use. United is engaging in this blatant
discrimination even though the technology to make its kiosks accessible is
readily available, has been deployed by others, and will involve little cost to
the company. Instead of enjoying the features and convenience of these kiosks,
including a quicker and more convenient check-in process, blind passengers must
wait in long lines at the ticket counter, even when they have already purchased
their tickets and checked in online. We will not tolerate a separate and unequal
experience for blind passengers and demand that United cease its discrimination
against us as soon as practicable."</P>
<P>Michael Hingson, a blind motivational speaker and president and owner of a
technology sales company, said: "I have traveled throughout the United States
and the world for my public speaking engagements and as a technology sales
representative, yet I cannot independently check in at the airport. It
frustrates me, as a frequent traveler and United passenger, that I must wait for
a United employee to assist me with the kiosk, seek help from a sighted
passenger (in which case I must share sensitive private information with a total
stranger), or else stand in a long line in order to complete the airport
check-in process. I hope that this lawsuit will serve as a wake-up call to
United and that the airline will swiftly make its kiosks accessible."</P><FONT
color=#00007f size=3 face=Calibri><FONT color=#00007f size=3 face=Calibri><FONT
color=#00007f size=3 face=Calibri></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial>
<P>Mike May, CEO of the Sendero Group, a leading manufacturer of technology for
the blind, said: "I have been working in the adaptive technology field for
twenty years, and I know well that it is easy and practical for United to make
its kiosks accessible. There is simply no excuse for the long wait and
inconvenience that other blind United passengers and I continue to
experience at airports."</P></FONT>
<P>Tina Thomas, a member of the United States Paralympic Judo Team, said: "I
find it extremely ironic that United, which touts itself as the official airline
of the U.S. Paralympic Team, discriminates against me as a member of that team
and as a blind person. I sincerely hope that United will make a more serious and
tangible commitment to treating passengers with disabilities equally."</P><FONT
face=Arial>
<P>Plaintiffs are represented in this matter by Daniel F. Goldstein and Gregory
P. Care of the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and Levy; and Laurence W.
Paradis, Karla Gilbride, and Kevin Knestrick of the Berkeley firm Disability
Rights Advocates.</FONT><FONT size=4></P></FONT><B><FONT face=Arial>
<P align=center>###</B></P><B>
<P>About the National Federation of the Blind</P></B>
<P>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. </P></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT><FONT size=4>
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