[nfbmi-talk] does google apps discriminate against blind?

Tue Mar 22 22:46:47 UTC 2011

Android is making quite a bit of progress on accessibility. To my knowledge, 
there has been little or no progress for services like Google Docs, however.

J.J. Meddaugh - A T Guys
Your source for Code Factory, the iBill, KNFB Reader, Sendero GPS, audio 
games, braillers, and more!
http://www.atguys.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "fred olver" <goodfolks at charter.net>
To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 10:49 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] does google apps discriminate against blind?

> Not is this true, but their platform and for the app's for it and the 
> operating system Android for the most part is inaccessible. To bad they 
> didn't decide to include this in their law suit as well, after all it's 
> all by the same company, the operating system and these programs.
>
> Fred Olver
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz at comcast.net>
> To: <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 9:03 AM
> Subject: [nfbmi-talk] does google apps discriminate against blind?
>
>
> The following article is forwarded to you by the DBTAC-Great Lakes ADA 
> Center (
> www.adagreatlakes.org)
> for your information:
>
> Does Use of Google Apps Discriminate Against the Blind?
>
> BY David Zax
>
> March 16, 2011
>
> Google's tools don't easily translate into synthesized speech or Braille. 
> Now the National Federation of the Blind has issued a federal complaint 
> with the
> Justice Department, alleging that university use of Google Apps for 
> Education amounts to discrimination.
>
> The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has filed a federal complaint 
> with the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division concerning 
> colleges'
> use of Google Apps. The NFB claims that since Gmail, Calendar, and Docs 
> contain "significant accessibility barriers" for blind people who use 
> technology-converting
> websites into speech or Braille, for educational institutions to outsource 
> to Google is tantamount to discrimination.
>
> Marc Maurer, the NFB's president, minced no words in a statement issued 
> yesterday:
>
> "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."
>
> Northwestern and New York Universities, which have adopted Google Apps, 
> are specifically named in the complaint. Many other universities, 
> including Brown,
> Notre Dame, Arizona State, Utah State, and the University of Southern 
> California, use the technology. Those are just a few out of the many big 
> names from
> a Google site touting its Apps for higher education. For each university, 
> there is a blurb of praise from the relevant information officer or 
> technology
> chief. Many have YouTube testimonials shilling for Google Apps; here's one 
> (posted back in 2007) from Northwestern's Wendy Woodward, Director of 
> Technology
> Support Services:
>
> In the Northwestern case study featured on the Google page, Woodward is 
> quoted as saying, "We are gaining tremendous service advantages at 
> literally no
> cost to the university."
>
> If universities have been using Google Apps for years, why has it taken so 
> long for a complaint like this to emerge? I put the question to the NFB, 
> and
> the federation's Chris Danielson responded to say that this was a "last 
> resort":
>
> "We have grown increasingly concerned with the rapid adoption of various 
> technologies by educational institutions in the past few years. There are 
> a lot
> of pieces to the puzzle, from inaccessible e-books and e-book readers to 
> course management systems to products like Google Apps. We tackle these 
> problems
> as we become aware of them and as we have the resources to do so. We do 
> this through a combination of direct advocacy in the academic community; 
> through
> direct contact and collaboration with technology companies to help them 
> make their products more accessible; and, as a last resort, through civil 
> rights
> complaints or litigation."
>
> He sees a more just future ahead, even if it may take legal action to help 
> get there:
>
> "Our ultimate goal is to make institutions aware that they must obey the 
> law and treat their blind students and faculty equally, and to make 
> companies who
> are entering the education arena understand the needs of blind students so 
> that they can design their products in a way that serves all students, not 
> just
> the sighted. Technology has the potential to truly level the playing field 
> for the blind and others with disabilities, but if not properly designed 
> and
> implemented it will put us further behind than we have ever been. With 
> respect to Google, we have been advocating for better accessibility for 
> some time
> now but results have so far been unsatisfactory. Meanwhile, universities 
> have continued to adopt Google's technology even though the accessibility 
> issues
> are obvious--at least if an institution bothers to investigate the matter, 
> which too many do not do. (As a contrast, George Mason University did 
> investigate
> the accessibility of Google Apps and decided not to use it.) As a result 
> we decided to take the action we took yesterday. Hopefully it will result 
> in improvements
> in Google Apps and other educational technologies, as well as cause 
> universities to factor accessibility into their consideration of new 
> technologies."
>
> Google's gambit to win the hearts and minds of educators across the 
> country had been going very well up until now, it seems. In at least one 
> state, Oregon,
> Google Apps for Education is open for use to public schools throughout the 
> entire state. The NFB's complaint is a reminder that even companies that 
> we
> think of as the most forward-thinking appear to be far behind when 
> considering those with disabilities. Advocates for the deaf recently 
> claimed that hikes
> on Netflix rates amounted to a "deaf tax," since not all streaming content 
> has subtitles.
>
> Neither Google nor Northwestern immediately responded to e-mail requests 
> for comment. We'll update when they do.
>
> Source:
> http://www.fastcompany.com/1739337/does-use-of-google-apps-discriminate-against-the-blind
> (long URL and may appear on more than one line in the message.  Copy and 
> paste the entire URL into your browser)
>
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