[nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates Against Blind Students and Faculty

[Steve Jacobson]

I don't understand, are you mad because we did take a stand on this?  While I think that blind people driving is a long shot, there is a lot of technology 
that can spin off from that effort that will help us in other areas, particularly in the area of possible travel aids and even tactile graphics.  The fact is, 
whether you or I like it or not, something like blind people driving pries loose funding from sources that would not be interested in anything less dramatic.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Sat, 13 Nov 2010 09:56:26 -0800 (PST), William ODonnell wrote:

>What elce is new when you live as a blind person in the U.S.  This is what the NFB should take a stand on, not a fabrication that the blind can and will 
drive today.  Have that dream for the next 100 years when the problems of today are solved.  With these continuing problems, we should focus on the 
problems of today without falsifying reality.  The blind can and will not drive when our culture still thinks so little of us.



>--- On Fri, 11/12/10, Freeh, Jessica <JFreeh at nfb.org> wrote:

>> From: Freeh, Jessica <JFreeh at nfb.org>
>> Subject: [nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates Against Blind Students and Faculty
>> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
>> Date: Friday, November 12, 2010, 7:38 PM
>> 
>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> CONTACT:
>> 
>> Chris Danielsen
>> 
>> Director of Public Relations
>> 
>> National Federation of the Blind
>> 
>> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>> 
>> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>> 
>> <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Penn State Discriminates Against Blind Students and
>> Faculty
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> National Federation of the Blind Files Complaint Against
>> Penn State
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Baltimore, Maryland (November 12, 2010): The National
>> Federation of the Blind (NFB), the nationâ¬"s oldest and
>> largest organization of blind people, announced today that
>> it has filed a complaint with the United States Department
>> of Education, Office for Civil Rights, requesting an
>> investigation of Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)
>> for violating the civil rights of blind students and
>> faculty.  The NFB filed the complaint because a variety
>> of computer- and technology-based services and Web sites at
>> Penn State are inaccessible to blind students and
>> faculty.  Title II of the Americans with Disabilities
>> Act requires public state universities to offer equal access
>> to their programs and services.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> The accessibility problems at Penn State include:
>> Â Â Â * The library at Penn State hosts a Web
>> site with access to the library catalog that is available to
>> any registered student.  The Web site, however, is not
>> fully accessible to blind students due to improper coding
>> that prevents screen access software used by the blind from
>> properly interpreting the site.
>>    * Many of Penn Stateâ¬"s departmental Web
>> sites are not fully accessible to the blind, including,
>> ironically, the Web site for the Office of Disability
>> Services.
>> Â Â Â * Penn State utilizes the ANGEL course
>> management system.  ANGEL is an integral part of the
>> learning and teaching experience at Penn State that allows
>> students and professors to interact with each other online
>> and perform various  course-related functions. This
>> course management software is almost completely inaccessible
>> to blind users.
>> Â Â Â * Many teachers at Penn State use a
>> â¬Ssmart⬝ podium, which allows the professor to connect
>> his/her laptop to a computer at the podium and display
>> images and videos loaded from the laptop on a screen at the
>> front of the room.  The podium is operated by an
>> inaccessible touchscreen keypad that controls almost all
>> podium functions.  Thus, blind faculty members must
>> rely on assistance from a sighted person to utilize the
>> podium.
>> Â Â Â * Penn State contracts with PNC Bank to
>> enable students to use their identification cards as debit
>> cards.  The PNC Web site is nearly inaccessible with
>> screen access software, and there is only one ATM on the
>> entire Penn State campus with audio output through a
>> headphone jack so that blind students can use it privately
>> and independently.
>> 
>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of
>> the Blind, said: â¬SThe number and scope of the
>> accessibility problems at Penn State demonstrate the
>> institutionâ¬"s blatant­and unlawful­lack of regard for
>> the equal education of its blind students and failure to
>> accommodate its blind faculty members and employees. 
>> There is simply no excuse for blind students and faculty to
>> be denied the same access to information and technology as
>> their sighted peers.  Sadly, this cavalier attitude
>> toward accessibility is found not only at Penn State, but at
>> many of our nationâ¬"s colleges and universities.  That
>> is why we have asked the United States Department of
>> Education to act swiftly and decisively to ensure that blind
>> students and faculty members are given the same access and
>> opportunity to succeed as their sighted peers.⬝
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> The National Federation of the Blind is represented in this
>> matter by Daniel F. Goldstein, Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, and
>> Brooke Lierman of the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and
>> Levy.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ###
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> About the National Federation of the Blind
>> 
>> With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of
>> the Blind is the largest and most influential membership
>> organization of blind people in the United States.  The
>> NFB improves blind peopleâ¬"s lives through advocacy,
>> education, research, technology, and programs encouraging
>> independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading
>> force in the blindness field today and the voice of the
>> nation's blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the
>> National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the
>> first research and training center in the United States for
>> the blind led by the blind.
>> 
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>      

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