<html><head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
p.MsoTitle, li.MsoTitle, div.MsoTitle
{mso-style-priority:10;
mso-style-link:"Title Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
font-size:28.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;
letter-spacing:-.5pt;}
p.MsoTitleCxSpFirst, li.MsoTitleCxSpFirst, div.MsoTitleCxSpFirst
{mso-style-priority:10;
mso-style-link:"Title Char";
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
font-size:28.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;
letter-spacing:-.5pt;}
p.MsoTitleCxSpMiddle, li.MsoTitleCxSpMiddle, div.MsoTitleCxSpMiddle
{mso-style-priority:10;
mso-style-link:"Title Char";
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
font-size:28.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;
letter-spacing:-.5pt;}
p.MsoTitleCxSpLast, li.MsoTitleCxSpLast, div.MsoTitleCxSpLast
{mso-style-priority:10;
mso-style-link:"Title Char";
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
font-size:28.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;
letter-spacing:-.5pt;}
p.MsoSubtitle, li.MsoSubtitle, div.MsoSubtitle
{mso-style-priority:11;
mso-style-link:"Subtitle Char";
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:8.0pt;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:#5A5A5A;
letter-spacing:.75pt;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
span.TitleChar
{mso-style-name:"Title Char";
mso-style-priority:10;
mso-style-link:Title;
font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;
letter-spacing:-.5pt;}
span.SubtitleChar
{mso-style-name:"Subtitle Char";
mso-style-priority:11;
mso-style-link:Subtitle;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;
color:#5A5A5A;
letter-spacing:.75pt;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head><body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoTitle" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Wet-Ink Signature Requirement Endangers Social Security Disability Applicants and Recipients During COVID-19, Lawsuit Says<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoSubtitle" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:windowtext">National Federation of the Blind and Others Ask Court to Require Acceptance of E-signatures<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Washington, DC (May 5, 2020):</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> Timothy Cole is being treated for non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma. His treatment leaves him immunocompromised and unable to work, and places him at additional risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. He needs to apply for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the safest way to do so would
be to fill out the application online at his home in Jacksonville, Florida. Because he is immunocompromised, leaving his home or interacting with paper mail is dangerous for Mr. Cole. But since he plans to hire an attorney to help with the complex application
process, he cannot submit his application online because applicants using authorized representatives, like attorneys, must sign a paper copy of their application. This is true even though SSA has an online application and electronic signatures are accessible,
secure, and federally approved. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Mr. Cole and three other plaintiffs, along with the National Federation of the Blind, are suing the Social Security Administration in federal court. They seek a court
order requiring SSA to allow e-signatures on applications rather than requiring a “wet-ink” signature when the applicant is using an attorney or other authorized representative. SSA does not require wet-ink signatures for applications for some benefits when
an authorized representative is not being used by the applicant. The suit contends that the requirement has always been discriminatory, but during the COVID-19 pandemic it also endangers the health and even the lives of applicants, as even SSA has recognized
in quarantining its own mail for two days and shutting down its field offices.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">The lawsuit also asks the court to order SSA to allow blind people to fill out the application for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) online. Blind people are categorically
excluded from applying for this benefit using the online application. The suit also asks that the court require e-signatures to be accepted on paperwork required when a beneficiary is subject to a continuing disability review (CDR), as is one of the blind
plaintiffs in the lawsuit. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">“The Social Security Administration regularly interacts with hundreds of thousands of blind people and other consumers with disabilities,” said Mark Riccobono, President
of the National Federation of the Blind. “Yet policies like this one persist, despite the fact that the SSA has both the authority and the capability to accept electronic signatures. It is both unlawful and unconscionable that this agency continues to place
blind and disabled consumers at a severe disadvantage, especially during a life-threatening global pandemic. Government should innovate, not discriminate.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">The lawsuit has been filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs are represented by Eve L. Hill, Andrew D. Freeman, and Abigail A.
Graber of the Baltimore law firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">###<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">About the National Federation of the Blind
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), headquartered in Baltimore, is the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind Americans. Founded in 1940, the
NFB consists of affiliates, chapters, and divisions in the fifty states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. The NFB defends the rights of blind people of all ages and provides information and support to families with blind children, older Americans who are losing
vision, and more. We believe in the hopes and dreams of blind people and work together to transform them into reality. Learn more about our many programs and initiatives at
</span><a href="http://www.nfb.org"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">www.nfb.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">CONTACT:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Chris Danielsen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Director of Public Relations<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">(410) 659-9314, extension 2330<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">(410) 262-1281 (Cell)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">cdanielsen@nfb.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This release is also available at: <a href="https://www.nfb.org/about-us/press-room/wet-ink-signature-requirement-endangers-social-security-disability-applicants">
https://www.nfb.org/about-us/press-room/wet-ink-signature-requirement-endangers-social-security-disability-applicants</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Christopher S. Danielsen, J.D.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Director of Public Relations<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(410) 659-9314, Ext. 2330 | cdanielsen@nfb.org<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Twitter: @rlawyer <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://nfb.org/"><span style="color:blue;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="262" height="95" id="_x0000_i1028" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/nfblogo.png" alt="National Federation of the Blind"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind">
<span style="color:blue;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="30" id="_x0000_i1027" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/facebook.png" alt="Facebook"></span></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice"><span style="color:blue;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="30" id="_x0000_i1026" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/twitter.png" alt="Twitter"></span></a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind"><span style="color:blue;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="30" id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/youtube.png" alt="Youtube"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</body></html>