<div><font size="6"></font><font size="6">Good Morning All,</font></div><div><font size="6">Read the press release below. NFB continues to fight the good fight.</font></div><div><font size="6"><br></font></div><div><font size="6">Cathy</font></div>
<div><font size="6"><br></font></div><div><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Freeh, Jessica</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:JFreeh@nfb.org">JFreeh@nfb.org</a>></span><br>
Date: Thu, Aug 21, 2014 at 8:25 AM<br>Subject: National Federation of the Blind Supports Blind Mother’s Suit Against Seattle Public Schools<br>To: "State President, New Mexico" <<a href="mailto:avigil74@gmail.com">avigil74@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Puerto Rico" <<a href="mailto:arguza@attglobal.net">arguza@attglobal.net</a>>, "State President, Nebraska" <<a href="mailto:amy.buresh74@gmail.com">amy.buresh74@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Connecticut" <<a href="mailto:erival@comcast.net">erival@comcast.net</a>>, "State President, Arizona" <<a href="mailto:krezguy@cox.net">krezguy@cox.net</a>>, "State President, New York" <<a href="mailto:office@nfbny.org">office@nfbny.org</a>>, "State President, Oregon" <<a href="mailto:president@nfb-oregon.org">president@nfb-oregon.org</a>>, "State President, New Hampshire" <<a href="mailto:cemcnabb21@yahoo.com">cemcnabb21@yahoo.com</a>>, "State President, Kentucky" <<a href="mailto:cathyj1949@gmail.com">cathyj1949@gmail.com</a>>, Charlene Smyth <<a href="mailto:cs.nfbwv@verizon.net">cs.nfbwv@verizon.net</a>>, "State President, Florida" <<a href="mailto:danjhicks@yahoo.com">danjhicks@yahoo.com</a>>, "State President, Delaware" <<a href="mailto:president88@nfbdelaware.org">president88@nfbdelaware.org</a>>, "State President, Vermont" <<a href="mailto:deannaljones@comcast.net">deannaljones@comcast.net</a>>, "State President, North Dakota" <<a href="mailto:diverson@midco.net">diverson@midco.net</a>>, "State President, Idaho" <<a href="mailto:elsiedickerson@ymail.com">elsiedickerson@ymail.com</a>>, "State President, Ohio" <<a href="mailto:peduffy63@gmail.com">peduffy63@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Utah" <<a href="mailto:baconev@yahoo.com">baconev@yahoo.com</a>>, "Schroeder, Fred" <<a href="mailto:fschroeder@sks.com">fschroeder@sks.com</a>>, "State President, Georgia" <<a href="mailto:gscott@nfbga.org">gscott@nfbga.org</a>>, "State President, North Carolina" <<a href="mailto:ghraynfbofnc@charter.net">ghraynfbofnc@charter.net</a>>, "State President, Missouri" <<a href="mailto:gwunder@earthlink.net">gwunder@earthlink.net</a>>, "State President, Rhode Island" <<a href="mailto:silvara@cox.net">silvara@cox.net</a>>, "State President, Montana" <<a href="mailto:jkaldrich@samobile.net">jkaldrich@samobile.net</a>>, "State President, Pennsylvania" <<a href="mailto:president@nfbp.org">president@nfbp.org</a>>, "State President, Tennessee" <<a href="mailto:nfb.tennessee@gmail.com">nfb.tennessee@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Oklahoma" <<a href="mailto:Jeannie.massay@nfbok.org">Jeannie.massay@nfbok.org</a>>, "State President, Minnesota" <<a href="mailto:jennifer.dunnam1829@gmail.com">jennifer.dunnam1829@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Alaska" <<a href="mailto:jnhburton@gci.net">jnhburton@gci.net</a>>, Joe Ruffalo <<a href="mailto:nfbnj@yahoo.com">nfbnj@yahoo.com</a>>, "State President, Wisconsin" <<a href="mailto:johnfritz66@gmail.com">johnfritz66@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Alabama" <<a href="mailto:joy.harris@dwx.com">joy.harris@dwx.com</a>>, "State President, Wyoming" <<a href="mailto:kthornbury@bresnan.net">kthornbury@bresnan.net</a>>, "State President, South Dakota" <<a href="mailto:gatorbumps@rushmore.com">gatorbumps@rushmore.com</a>>, "State President, Texas" <<a href="mailto:Kimberly.aguillard@gmail.com">Kimberly.aguillard@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Massachusetts" <<a href="mailto:kshachmut@nfbma.org">kshachmut@nfbma.org</a>>, "State President, Michigan" <<a href="mailto:president.nfb.mi@gmail.com">president.nfb.mi@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Maine" <<a href="mailto:leonproctorjr@yahoo.com">leonproctorjr@yahoo.com</a>>, "State President, California" <<a href="mailto:mwillows@sbcglobal.net">mwillows@sbcglobal.net</a>>, "State President, Maryland" <<a href="mailto:melissa@riccobono.us">melissa@riccobono.us</a>>, "State President, Iowa" <<a href="mailto:michael.nfbi@gmail.com">michael.nfbi@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Washington" <<a href="mailto:k7uij@panix.com">k7uij@panix.com</a>>, "State President, Hawaii" <<a href="mailto:nanifife@aol.com">nanifife@aol.com</a>>, Pam Allen <<a href="mailto:pallen@lcb-ruston.com">pallen@lcb-ruston.com</a>>, "State President, South Carolina" <<a href="mailto:parnell@sccoast.net">parnell@sccoast.net</a>>, "State President, Illinois" <<a href="mailto:pattischang@gmail.com">pattischang@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Nevada" <<a href="mailto:realhappygirl1@gmail.com">realhappygirl1@gmail.com</a>>, "Brown, Ron" <<a href="mailto:RB15@iquest.net">RB15@iquest.net</a>>, "State President, Mississippi" <<a href="mailto:sgleese@city.jackson.ms.us">sgleese@city.jackson.ms.us</a>>, "State President, Colorado" <<a href="mailto:slabarre@labarrelaw.com">slabarre@labarrelaw.com</a>>, "State President, District of Columbia" <<a href="mailto:callaway.shawn@gmail.com">callaway.shawn@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Arkansas" <<a href="mailto:tosheeler@cox.net">tosheeler@cox.net</a>>, "State President, Kansas" <<a href="mailto:topage@swbell.net">topage@swbell.net</a>><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:14pt">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt">CONTACT:</span></b><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt"><br>
Chris Danielsen<br>
Director of Public Relations<br>
National Federation of the Blind<br>
<a href="tel:%28410%29%20659-9314%2C%20extension%202330" target="_blank" value="+14106599314">(410) 659-9314, extension 2330</a><br>
<a href="tel:%28410%29%20262-1281" target="_blank" value="+14102621281">(410) 262-1281</a> (Cell)<br>
</span><a href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org" target="_blank"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt">cdanielsen@nfb.org</span></a><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:14pt">National Federation of the Blind Supports
<br>
Blind Mother’s Suit Against Seattle Public Schools<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt">Seattle, Washington (August 21, 2014):</span></b><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt"> With the assistance of
</span><a href="http://www.nfb.org" target="_blank"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt">the National Federation of the Blind</span></a><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt">, Noel Nightingale,
a blind mother of three children enrolled in Seattle schools, filed suit </span>
<span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:14pt">(</span><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt">case 2:14-cv-01286) yesterday</span><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:11.5pt">
</span><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt">in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, Seattle Division, against Seattle Public Schools. The suit alleges discrimination against Ms.
Nightingale under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, because the Seattle Public Schools website and ST Math, a software program that students are required to use to complete math assignments, are not accessible
to her. She therefore cannot obtain information from the website, including information about her children’s academic progress, or assist her children with math assignments.
<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51)">Blind people use computers, smartphones, and tablets equipped with special software that allows the contents of websites, applications, and documents to be read aloud or displayed in Braille on a connected Braille device. When websites,
applications, or documents are not properly coded, however, they cannot be accessed with the technology used by the blind.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt">Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Like all parents, blind parents have the right to participate in their children’s
education. In twenty-first century America, parents have an unprecedented level of access to information about their children’s schools and academic performance, but blind parents are denied this access when the technology that public school systems use is
inaccessible to them. That is why we are assisting Ms. Nightingale and will fight for the right of all blind parents to access the technology used by the schools their children attend.”<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt">Ms. Nightingale said: “As a parent, I want to do all I can to help my children to succeed in school and to keep track of their academic progress. I cannot
do these things when I am denied access to all of the same information and tools provided by their school system to sighted parents. I hope that Seattle Public Schools will quickly make its technology accessible to all blind people who are part of the school
system.”<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-size:12pt">Ms. Nightingale is represented in this matter by Jesse Wing and Joseph Shaeffer of the Seattle firm Macdonald Hoague & Bayless, and by Daniel F. Goldstein
and Emily L. Levenson of the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p style="background:white"><strong><span style="color:black;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">About the National Federation of the Blind</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="color:black;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""> <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="color:black;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people,
because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.</span><span style="color:black;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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