[Missouri-l] FW: [Jobs] National Federation of the Blind and Blind Business Owner File Complaint with Small Business Administration

[Peter Altschul]

  _____  

 

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


National Federation of the Blind and Blind Business Owner
File Complaint with Small Business Administration




SBAs Inaccessible Web Site Discriminates Against the Blind


 

Baltimore, Maryland (July 22, 2009): The National Federation of the Blind,
the nations oldest and largest organization of blind people and the leading
advocate for equal access by the blind to information technology, and Virgil
Stinnett, a blind business owner from Honolulu, Hawaii, filed an
administrative complaint today with the Small Business Administration (SBA).
The complaint asserts that the SBAs Web site violates Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act because it is inaccessible to blind people who use
text-to-speech screen access technology or Braille displays to access
information on the Internet.  Because of the inaccessibility of the SBA Web
site, blind people cannot fill out forms on the site or take online courses
offered by the SBA.  Mr. Stinnett was unable to apply for certification
under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act because of the inaccessibility
of the Web site.  Section 8(a) certification would provide Mr. Stinnetts
business with access to federal and private procurement markets.

 

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
Blind Americans have the same dreams, the same goals, and the same
entrepreneurial spirit as all other Americans.  If we are to have equal
access to the tools and techniques needed to be effective business owners
and to compete on terms of equality with our sighted peers, we must have
equal access to the resources offered on the SBA Web site and other
government sites.  The National Federation of the Blind demands equality for
blind business owners and will tolerate nothing less.

 

Virgil Stinnett, owner of Good News HI, a business providing military dining
services, said: As a blind entrepreneur, access to the SBA Web site is
critical in order for me to use its programs and services and expand my
business.  The fact that I could not access the Web site has cost me time
and resources that I would not have needed to expend if I had been able to
use the site like everyone else.  I hope the action we are taking today will
prompt the SBA to take immediate steps so that all Americans, blind and
sighted, have equal access to the programs, training, and resources that it
provides.

 

Complainants are represented by attorneys Daniel F. Goldstein and Allison L.
Harper of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />120 E. Baltimore Street,
Suite 1700, Baltimore, MD 21202, (410) 962-1030, fax: (410) 385-0869,
dfg at browngold.com, ah at browngold.com, www.browngold.com
<http://www.browngold.com/> .

 

 

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