[nfbmi-talk] some fixed but others not so to this date

[joe harcz Comcast]

April 8, 2010

All,

 

I note the following segment from:

http://www.access-board.gov/caac/minutes-aug05.htm

Courthouse Access Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes

 

Committee Meeting Minutes - August 4th and 5th, 2005

 

 

 

 

 

Presentation on Access for Persons with Vision Impairments

“Patrick Cannon, Director of the Michigan Commission of the Blind, gave a presentation on what it means to have a vision impairment and the issues typically

faced by people with vision impairments, including common misconceptions and stereotypes. Many of the points were made through an informal multiple-choice

quiz distributed to the members. Yanchulis provided a briefing on provisions in the Board’s ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines that address access for

people with vision impairments, including criteria for protruding objects and signage.”

 

Now, here to this very day Mr. Cannon who knew about, or certainly should know about raised character and Braille signage requirements in the Americans with Disabilities Act Guidelines still has not facilitated those requirements in the Victor Building in Lansing Michigan the very “headquarters” of the Michigan Commission for the Blind and an office location that supports several entities of state and federal government ranging from DELEG to U.S. Department of Labor to Veterans Affairs just to name a few.

 

Yet, no exits or stairwells are tactually marked at all (no raised elements or Braille). The office of the building engineer has no tactile elements either and is improperly mounted. Ditto for the very office of the Commission for Disability Concerns on the first floor and on the path of travel to the elevators.

 

Even the first floor restrooms have recessed characters (not raised) and no Braille at all.

 

The Business Enterprise Programs (Capital Loop Café) has signage that is non-compliant and is improperly mounted being mounted on the door.

 

Most of the third floor signage including the U.S. Department of Labor and Veterans offices had neither raised character nor Braille. The very room (conference room a, b)  where the Michigan Commission for the Blind held its quarterly meeting on March 19, 2010 did have Braille but no raised character lettering in compliance with the ADAAG. Ditto for adjacent offices of the Michigan Department of Energy Labor and Economic Growth.

 

These are only cursory analysis of this sadly deficient building. And they are only the tip of the iceberg of the multiple acts of intentional discrimination and deliberate indifference of the laws (Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) perpetrated over now more than a decade by this Director of the Michigan Commission for the Blind and State of Michigan, Title II Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator.

 

Sincerely,

 

Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

 

Cc: United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disabilities Rights Section

Cc: several media

Cc: several attorneys at law