[Nfbv-announce] FW: LSAC Discriminates Against Blind Law School Applicants

[Fredric Schroeder]

  _____  

From: Freeh, Jessica [mailto:JFreeh at nfb.org] 
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 8:28 AM
To: Alpidio Rolon; Amy Buresh; Anil Lewis; Art Schreiber; Beth Rival; Bob
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Gaffney; Ron Brown; Ron Gardner; Sam Gleese; Scott LaBarre; Selena
Sundling-Crawford; Steven Priddle; Terri Rupp; Tommy Craig
Subject: LSAC Discriminates Against Blind Law School Applicants



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


 

CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
cdanielsen at nfb.org


LSAC Discriminates Against Blind Law School Applicants


National Federation of the Blind Sues Law School Admissions Council for
Inaccessible Web Site and LSAT Preparation Materials


 

Baltimore, Maryland (February 19, 2009): The National Federation of the
Blind, the nation's oldest and largest organization of blind people; its
California affiliate; and a blind law school applicant, Deepa Goraya, are
filing a lawsuit today against the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC).
The complaint asserts that the LSAC, the body that administers the Law
School Admissions Test (which most aspiring law students must take) and
provides other services to law schools and law school applicants, violates
the California Disabled Persons Act and the Unruh Act because its Web site
(www.lsac.org) and LSAT preparation materials are inaccessible to blind law
school applicants.  The plaintiffs have attempted to meet with the LSAC to
resolve the matter, but the LSAC canceled a planned meeting.

 

Blind people access Web sites on computers equipped with screen access
software that converts what is on the screen into synthesized speech or
Braille.  The keyboard is used instead of a mouse to navigate the Web site
and click on selected links or buttons. If a Web site is improperly coded,
however, blind computer users cannot access the site.  Blind people can also
use screen readers to access certain kinds of electronic documents,
including those in the popular Portable Document Format (PDF).  However, if
PDF files are not properly "tagged," they cannot be used by the blind.  The
LSAC Web site contains accessibility barriers including improperly formatted
online forms, tables and charts that cannot be read by screen access
software, and faulty keyboard navigation support.  These access barriers
make it difficult or impossible for blind people to use the Web site to
register to take the LSAT, among other things.  The Web site is also the
only avenue for people to apply online to any law school accredited by 

 

the American Bar Association.  However, blind applicants cannot submit their
applications without sighted assistance because the application forms are
improperly formatted.  In addition, none of the LSAT practice materials,
which include previously administered versions of the test that sighted
people can obtain on the LSAC Web site, are available in accessible
electronic formats.

 

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"The Internet is extremely useful to blind people, as well as our sighted
peers, when Web sites are properly formatted according to well-established
guidelines; there is no good reason for any Web site offering goods and
services to the public to be inaccessible to blind people.  For too long,
blind people have experienced barriers to entering the legal profession,
despite our long history of demonstrated success in that field.  The
National Federation of the Blind will not sit quietly while the LSAC
willfully refuses to provide the same services to blind people seeking
admission to law school that it does to the sighted.  The LSAC is engaging
in blatant discrimination against the blind and we will not stand for it."

 

Deepa Goraya, a law school applicant and named plaintiff in the suit, said:
"Trying to use the LSAC Web site made the experience of applying to law
school a nightmare when it should have been as easy for me as for anyone
else.  I had to select and rely upon a reader for over fifty hours to
complete my law school applications.  Also, none of the practice tests
available on the Web site were accessible.  I want the process of gaining
admission to law school to be easier for all blind people who are interested
in entering this noble profession, and I hope this action will achieve that
goal."

 

 

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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 people'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.