[nfbmi-talk] Sounds like the State of Michigan in every respect

joe harcz Comcast joeharcz at comcast.net
Thu May 1 12:38:53 UTC 2014


Did you actually read this news story or the suit which was past to this 
list for informational purposes? Did you happen to notice that it involved 
not the state web sites, but rather the federal General Services 
Administration web sites for contractors? Have you examined the suit?

I cannot address your other questions, innuendos, etc. for I simply cannot 
understand them, their relevancy, or anything else as I cannot figure out 
what you are saying in most of your indiscernible posts.


Except that whenever Terry or I post anything you seem to jump on us with 
all these irrelevant and indiscernible comments.

That is hardly helpful.

Kindly as I Can be,

Joe
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nadia Cioffi" <nadiaacioffi at gmail.com>
To: <terrydeagle at yahoo.com>; "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" 
<nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2014 8:56 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Sounds like the State of Michigan in every respect


> Did we brush up screener commends, many blind people use the up and down 
> arrow keys with JAWS I highly recommend going to the website and 
> downloading the JAWS. Manual, If this an issue it's not compliance, but 
> needing to learn the tools. I'd consider people's technical ability before 
> compliance. Odds are less sections are likry be this way, but I'd like 
> headings with links on the state website and I've not run into issues. I 
> think using the GUI list could save some time and maybe find issues, There 
> could indeed be issues, but logically it be should be shown by more one 
> person/professes. Much like Michigan website, I this clim is veg. What 
> dominion, what page, what cannot be accessed, what screw reader and has 
> more then person tried? As far I know clim with no grounding, support or 
> proof and turns it statement based on what, your experience. You I think 
> should back much, unless this has nothing to stand on. Should is my 
> thought it helps credibility and support the reader by shoring them your 
> proof and gives the reader a chance to look what saying, do independent 
> research and agree or disagree. Unless the point is to convince the reader 
> your correct, either way the reason I see for writing this make. A clim, 
> I'm I right or what is it? Please show it reader so they Heve less 
> questions, unless you want your readers to assume? Please consider this 
> when writing, I will not ask these questions you should as writer address 
> them for me.
>
> Kind regards,
> Nadia
>
> On Apr 30,rhe 2014at 8:14 PM, "Terry D. Eagle" <terrydeagle at yahoo.com> 
> wrote:
>
> Lawsuit Says GSA Discriminates Against Blind Contractors By Joseph Marks
> April 24, 2014 NEXTGOV
>
>
>
> A group of blind federal contractors filed a lawsuit against the General
> Services Administration this week over a contractor website they say shuts
> out the visually impaired.
>
>
>
> The System for Award Management website, SAM.gov, contains numerous 
> buttons,
> checkboxes, drop-down menus and "mouseovers" that federal contractors must
> navigate each year in order to keep their contractor status current. Those
> bells and whistles make it difficult or impossible for screen reading
> software that blind people use to navigate the Internet to decode the 
> site,
> the suit claims.
>
>
>
> GSA phone-in help desk employees are also not sufficiently trained in
> disability issues, the suit claims, making it even more difficult for 
> blind
> contractors to complete their registrations.
>
>
>
> The suit was filed as a class action by the American Council for the Blind
> and the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs 
> in
> the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The groups claim GSA
> violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which, among other things,
> bars discrimination against federal contractors and grantees based solely 
> on
> a disability.
>
>
>
> There are three named plaintiffs who are helping to pursue the lawsuit.
> They're all contractors who had difficulty registering or re-registering 
> on
> SAM.gov. Eventually two of the three had to reveal personal information,
> such as usernames and Social Security numbers, to either friends or GSA 
> help
> desk employees in order to complete their registrations.
>
>
>
> "It would be one thing if [the Environmental Protection Agency's] website
> wasn't compliant with screen reader software," Matthew Handley, an 
> attorney
> for the plaintiffs, told Nextgov. "But this is all the more troubling
> because this is the agency that's supposed to be policing all the other
> agency websites and it doesn't appear to be policing its own websites."
>
>
>
> GSA had not responded by 5 p.m. Thursday to Nextgov emails and phone calls
> seeking comment.
>
>
>
> GSA manages a large portion of civilian federal contracting for other
> government agencies and publishes best practices guides for federal 
> digital
> technology. The American Council for the Blind spent about a year urging 
> GSA
> to make SAM.gov accessible, Handley said. When those changes weren't
> sufficient, he said, they filed suit.
>
>
>
> "We'd just sort of reached a dead end with them and decided we didn't have
> any way to push this along without resorting to the court system," he 
> said.
>
>
>
> The council hasn't done a full investigation but suspects there may be
> accessibility issues with other federal contracting websites such as the
> Federal Business Opportunities site, FBO.gov, Handley said. The
> organizations hope that drawing attention to SAM.gov's accessibility 
> issues
> will press GSA and other agencies to fix other websites, he said.
>
>
>
> The groups are asking a federal judge to order GSA to make SAM.gov
> accessible and to reimburse their attorneys' fees. The plaintiffs cannot
> seek damages under the statute.
>
>
>
> Source:
>
>
>
> http://cdn.nextgov.com/nextgov/interstitial.html?v=2.1.1
> <http://cdn.nextgov.com/nextgov/interstitial.html?v=2.1.1&rf=http%3A%2F%2Fww
> w.nextgov.com%2Fcio-briefing%2F2014%2F04%2Flawsuit-says-gsa-discriminates-ag
> ainst-blind-contractors%2F83179%2F%3Foref%3Dnextgov_today_nl>
> &rf=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nextgov.com%2Fcio-briefing%2F2014%2F04%2Flawsuit-says-g
> sa-discriminates-against-blind-contractors%2F83179%2F%3Foref%3Dnextgov_today
> _nl
>
>
>
>
>
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