[Missouri-l] [leadership] press release: Staples

[peter altschul]

Blind Community Leaders Applaud Staples' Initiative to Enhance 
Staples.com
and Store Point of Sale Equipment

April 23, 2009 -- Major advocacy groups for the visually impaired 
applaud
Staples' new initiatives designed to improve service to its 
customers with
visual impairments.  Staples will be improving its payment 
service terminals
at the in-store point-of-sale with tactile keypads to protect the 
privacy
and security of shoppers with visual impairments.  The company 
will also
make improvements to Staples.com that will benefit customers with 
visual
impairments and other disabilities.

Today's announcement is the result of collaboration between 
Staples and
major blindness organizations including the Bay State Council of 
the Blind,
the American Foundation for the Blind, the American Council of 
the Blind,
and the California Council of the Blind.  These organizations 
praised
Staples' initiative and urged other retailers to follow the 
company's
example.

Web Site Access
Today's initiative includes Staples' commitment to design 
www.staples.com in
accordance with guidelines issued by the Web Accessibility 
Initiative (WAI)
of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (www.w3.org/wai).  The 
guidelines,
which do not affect the content or look and feel of a Web site, 
ensure that
Web sites are accessible to persons with a wide range of 
disabilities.  The
guidelines are of particular benefit to blind computer users who 
use screen
reader or magnification technology on their computers and who 
rely on a
keyboard instead of a mouse.

"Web site accessibility is of critical importance to both the 
blind
community and to people with disabilities generally," said Paul 
Schroeder,
Vice President Programs and Policy Group, American Foundation for 
the Blind.
"We applaud Staples' commitment to address the accessibility of 
its Web
site, thereby improving the browsing and shopping experience for 
a broad
range of on-line shoppers."

Point-of-Sale Improvements
Staples will be adding tactile keypads to payment services 
devices
throughout the chain.  The new units will allow Staples shoppers 
who have
difficulty reading information on a touch screen to privately and
independently enter their PIN and other confidential information.  
Staples
stores in Massachusetts will have the new devices by September of 
this year.
All stores in the country are scheduled to have the devices by 
the middle of
next year.

The new devices are designed to protect the financial privacy of 
shoppers
who are blind or visually impaired.  The devices have tactile 
keys arranged
like a standard telephone keypad and work in conjunction with 
Staples'
existing point-of-sale terminals.

Blind community representatives praised Staples' plan to enhance 
its payment
services devices.  "Point-of-sale devices need to have keys with 
tactile
markings so people who are blind do not have to ask for 
assistance or share
their PIN with strangers," explained Kim Charlson of the Bay 
State Council
of the Blind.  "This settlement, and the collaboration that led 
up to it,
demonstrate Staples' understanding of this fact and its strong 
commitment to
accessibility for blind and visually impaired customers."

About Staples
Staples, the world's largest office products company, is 
committed to making
it easy for customers to buy a wide range of office products, 
including
supplies, technology, furniture, and business services.  With 
2008 sales of
$23 billion and 91,000 associates worldwide, Staples serves 
businesses of
all sizes and consumers in 27 countries throughout North and 
South America,
Europe, Asia and Australia.  In July 2008, Staples acquired 
Corporate
Express, one of the world's leading suppliers of office products 
to
businesses and institutions.  Staples invented the office 
superstore concept
in 1986 and is headquartered outside Boston.  More information 
about Staples
(Nasdaq: SPLS) is available at www.staples.com.

About American Council of the Blind (ACB), Bay State Council of 
the Blind
(BSCB) and California Council of the Blind (CCB)
American Council of the Blind is a national consumer-based 
advocacy
organization working on behalf of blind and visually impaired 
Americans
throughout the country, with members organized through seventy 
state and
special-interest affiliates.  The Bay State Council of the Blind 
and the
California Council of the Blind are the Massachusetts and 
California state
affiliates of the ACB.   ACB, BSCB and CCB are dedicated to 
improving the
quality of life, equality of opportunity and independence of all 
people who
have visual impairments.  Their members and affiliated 
organizations have a
long history of commitment to the advancement of policies and 
programs which
will enhance independence for people who are blind and visually 
impaired.
More information about ACB, BSCB and CCB can be found by visiting
www.acb.org, http://www.acb.org/baystate/, and www.ccbnet.org.

About American Foundation for the Blind
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is a national 
non-profit that
expands possibilities for people with vision loss.  AFB's 
priorities include
broadening access to technology; elevating the quality of 
information and
tools for the professionals who serve people with vision loss; 
and promoting
independent and healthy living for people with vision loss by 
providing them
and their families with relevant and timely resources.  AFB is 
also proud to
house the Helen Keller Archives and honor the over forty years 
that Helen
Keller worked tirelessly with AFB.  For more information visit us 
online at
www.afb.org.

For More Information, Contact:

For ACB, BSCB, CCB
Melanie Brunson, (202) 467-5081, mbrunson at acb.org

For AFB
Caitlin McFeely, AFB Communications, (212) 502-7674, 
cmcfeely at afb.net

For Staples
Owen Davis, (508) 253-8468




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