Posts Tagged ‘Advocacy’

Have you Had Problems Using Clipper Cards?

Disability Rights Advocates is investigating complaints regarding barriers that blind or visually impaired persons have experienced attempting to tag on or tag off at Caltrain stations using Clipper Cards.

If you have been unable to successfully tag on or tag off using a Clipper Card at a Caltrain station, have been unable to locate Clipper Card tagging machines due to the absence of tactile directional floor tiles, or have had to seek the assistance of a sighted person due to the inaccessibility of Clipper Card tagging machines, Disability Rights Advocates would like to talk to you. To share your stories, please contact Scott Murray by phone at 510-665-8644 or by e-mail at smurray@dralegal.org.

LightHouse and Blind Individuals File Class Action Lawsuit against Redbox for Failing to Provide Accessible Self-Service Kiosks

Recent technological advances are sweeping the nation, changing the way people buy products and services. Self-service kiosks with automated, touch-screen interfaces now allow people to bank, shop and conduct a wide range of transactions independently, without the assistance of a clerk. This technology is fast becoming an integral part of our everyday lives.

Although these technologies can make our lives easier, Redbox, a video rental giant, has chosen to use self-service kiosks with touch-screen controls that exclude the blind from using its services. Blind Californians cannot use touch-screen kiosks that offer only visually based controls.

A class action lawsuit filed today in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California challenges Redbox’s inaccessible kiosks. The lawsuit is the first of its kind in the country. The suit is brought by the LightHouse, as well as five blind individuals, on behalf of blind and visually impaired people throughout California.

Plaintiffs are represented by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a non-profit disability rights legal center headquartered in Berkeley, California, that specializes in high-impact cases on behalf of people with disabilities. Plaintiffs are also represented by the Law Offices of Jay Koslofsky; Mr. Koslofsky is an experienced civil rights attorney.

Redbox has a major share of the video rental market. Redbox DVD rentals account for approximately 34% of the DVD rental market nationwide. According to Redbox, almost 60 million videos are rented from its kiosks nationally each month. Redbox kiosks can be found at thousands of businesses throughout California including Save Mart, which is a business that is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

For generations, blind and visually impaired people have watched and enjoyed movies as an ordinary part of daily life. Blind people with some remaining vision may watch films on their own or with sighted friends and family who can describe the details and actions of a film. In addition, many blind people enjoy watching dialogue-driven films.

Plaintiff Lisamaria Martinez is a legally blind resident of Union City, California. ”I love watching movies with my husband and son and would like to independently rent movies for my family at Redboxes,” Martinez said.

Plaintiff Joshua Saunders is a legally blind resident of El Cerrito, California, who enjoys watching movies with friends and family. “I’m not asking for the world here but simply for the ability to rent DVDs from Redboxes just like everyone else can,” Saunders said.

Redbox’s inaccessible touch-screen kiosks shut out a large and growing community of blind Californians. It is estimated that 100,000 Californians are legally blind and as the population continues to age, the number of adults with vision loss will increase.

The technology exists to make self-service kiosks accessible to the blind. Accessible ATMs and iPhones make use of tactile controls and/or screen reading software that enables blind people to use these devices.

“A lack of accessibility in newly emerging forms of commerce is a symptom of the overall growing technological divide that blind people experience when companies fail to build in accessible features at the onset,” said Bryan Bashin, LightHouse Executive Director/CEO.

“Technology is a double-edged sword. It has the power to enable millions, but it can disable many Americans far more than it enables them if accessibility is not built into technology at the beginning,” said Jay Koslofsky, plaintiffs’ attorney of the Law Offices of Jay Koslofsky.

“Redbox is shutting out thousands of Californians from its services because it refuses to make its technology accessible to blind consumers,” said Michael Nunez, plaintiffs’ attorney of Disability Rights Advocates.

About Disability Rights Advocates (DRA)
Disability Rights Advocates is a non-profit legal center which, for nearly twenty years, has specialized in high-impact class action litigation on behalf of people with all types of disabilities. DRA litigates nationally and has offices in New York City and Berkeley, California.

About Law Offices of Jay Koslofsky
Jay Koslofsky is an attorney in private practice with more than 30 years of experience. He specializes in civil rights cases and class action litigation.

Disability Rights Advocates Seeks Comments About Pedestrian Pathway Barriers

The LightHouse has partnered with Disability Rights Advocates on a number of issues that affect our blind and visually impaired community. The following request illustrates the scope of the problem that affects our community.

Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a non-profit legal center, is investigating complaints regarding barriers that people with mobility impairments and people who are blind or low vision have encountered at areas of construction or other work zones along pedestrian routes.

When pedestrian paths are closed or partially blocked due to construction, maintenance or other conditions, any pedestrian detours or the remaining unblocked pathway that is provided must be accessible.

If you have a mobility impairment, are blind or have low vision, and have experienced any of the following barriers when pedestrian pathways are affected by construction or other activities, we would like to hear from you:

- Pedestrian detours without ramps over sharp vertical steps, drop-offs or curbs
- Use of yellow tape to alert pedestrians to the detour or of the hazardous condition
- Use of unsecured cones or A-frames to alert pedestrians of the temporary route or condition
- Pedestrian detours that have steep slopes or cross-slopes
- Lack of detectable warnings at pedestrian detours that cross roads or vehicle traffic
- Objects protruding into the path of travel along the pedestrian detour
- Pedestrian detours that are less than 36 inches wide
- Narrowing of the existing pathway to less than 36 inches wide
- Open trenches or other hazardous conditions posing dangers to pedestrians
- Use of signage that is only accessible to sighted pedestrians
- Loose gravel, unsecured plywood or other terrain that is not firm, stable and slip-resistant
- Other hazardous or inaccessible conditions along pedestrian detours

If you have encountered barriers like these, please let us know. Send a description of the barrier, along with any cell phone or other photos you can take of the problem, to PedDetours@dralegal.org. Please include your name and contact information as well.

We would appreciate any details about the barrier that you can provide, including:

- The location of the barrier
- When you encountered it
- Whether the barrier seems very short-term
- Whether the barrier seems longer-term
- Who appears to have created the barrier
- Who has jurisdiction over the blocked pathway

You can also reach us by phone. Call Zack Duffly at 510-665-8644 to share your story.

Calling All Domestic Airline Travelers

Have you asked for assistance at an airport? What was your experience with the assistance you received? The LightHouse wants to know. Come discuss your domestic travel experiences.

When: Tuesday, January 24, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Where: LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters

The LightHouse advocacy team is examining the process in which travelers who are blind or visually impaired are assisted at various U.S. airports. The team is trying to determine if there are systematic failures with the current procedures. Have you been placed in holding areas for the disabled? Are you told to use wheelchairs even if you do not need one? Have you missed flights because of delays in “assistance”? Are you treated with respect?

Please join the discussion. Light refreshments will be served. To RSVP and for more information contact Beth Berenson at 415-694-7322 or bberenson@lighthouse-sf.org.

Blind Veterans: Enter to Win a Trip to the NFB Convention

The National Association of Blind Veterans, a division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), announced a free lottery for wounded warriors who have lost their sight during Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. The winner will receive a free trip to Dallas, Texas, to attend the national convention of the NFB, which will take place from June 30 to July 5, 2012.

First prize will include airfare to the convention for the winner and a companion, hotel accommodations, the convention registration fee and a banquet ticket, and the opportunity to meet and spend time with a whole organization of blind veterans. Entry to the contest is available here.

For more information about the contest or the National Association of Blind Veterans, please visit www.nabv.org or call Dwight Sayer at 407-877-8668.

State Rehabilitation Council Recruitment

The California State Rehabilitation Council (SRC), whose members represent the voice of consumers and other stakeholders in California’s rehabilitation system, is currently seeking to fill vacancies in the following categories:

• One representative of disability advocacy groups representing individuals with physical, cognitive, sensory and mental disabilities and representatives of individuals who have difficulty representing themselves due to their disabilities;
• One current or former vocational rehabilitation services applicant or recipient;
• One representative of the California Department of Education.

The SRC works in partnership with the California Department of Rehabilitation to review, evaluate and advise the department regarding its specific and overall performance and effectiveness.

If you know anyone who may be interested, including yourself, please send the name(s) and contact information to the SRC Executive Officer, Melyssa Adams, at madams@dor.cagov. You can also reach Melyssa at 916-558-5868.

Submit Comments on Proposed Air Travel Regulations

Cornell University’s e-Rulemaking Initiative (CeRI) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) are working together to make it easier for the public to comment on proposed new federal regulations requiring air travel websites and airport check-in kiosks to be fully accessible to travelers with disabilities.

Travelers with disabilities, web designers, usability experts and others with an interest in this proposal can use CeRI’s online participation site, Regulation Room, to get easy-to-read explanations of the proposal, look at the cost and benefit estimates, and discuss how the proposal could be improved. CeRI will summarize the discussion on Regulation Room and submit it as a public comment that DOT will consider in finalizing the accessibility regulations.

This is the fourth rulemaking in which DOT and CeRI are using Regulation Room to make it easier for people to participate effectively in important government policy decisions.

The Cornell e-Rulemaking Initiative (CeRI) is a multidisciplinary research collaboration bringing together Cornell University faculty and students from computing and information science, law and the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution.

Working with legal informatics professionals at the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, CeRI researchers consult with government agencies on, and engage in theoretical and applied research about, the technology and practice of e-rulemaking and related areas of e-government.

Regulation Room is a CeRI pilot project that provides an online environment for people and groups to learn about, discuss and react to selected rules proposed by federal agencies. Contributions become part of a formal public comment prepared by CeRI researchers and submitted to the federal agency for use in preparation of a final ruling.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are more than 15 million adults in the United States with vision, auditory or mobility disabilities. About 30 percent of adults with disabilities travel by air, and the DOT expects this number to rise if it were easier to buy tickets and other services online, and to check in using kiosks. Airlines and online travel agencies have argued, however, that the costs of achieving full accessibility are too great.

DRA Investigates UC Berkeley Student Access Barriers

Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a non-profit legal center, is investigating complaints regarding services for students with disabilities within the University of California, Berkeley system. If you are a UC Berkeley student who has experienced difficulties obtaining accommodation services, they want to hear from you.

DRA is investigating both the quality and the timeliness of the following services:

• Note-taking and scribe services
• Availability of documents including textbooks, handouts and other course materials in accessible formats
• Mobility assistance
• Accessible equipment & technology denial and/or delay in receiving other needed accommodations.

They are also investigating the following issues:

• Lack of information regarding access features on campus
• Lack of information regarding accommodation policies and procedures for students with disabilities, whether the delay or denial of accommodations has forced you to rely on alternative resources such ss:
• Advocating on your own behalf for accommodations from your professor
• Relying on friends and social networks for note-taking and/or other needed services

To share your stories, contact Kara Werner at kwerner@dralegal.org or. 510-665-8644, ext. 138. All communications will be kept confidential.

CCB Fundraiser Set for October 8

You are invited to attend the 2011 fundraiser for the California Council of the Blind’s Bayview Chapter. This bountiful lasagna dinner will be held on October 8th from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the East Bay Center for the Blind. Cost is just $10 and all are welcome to attend. For further information, call Cathy Skivers at 510 357-1986.

Courts Rule in Favor of JetBlue

In a closely watched case against JetBlue Airways, United States federal judge Joseph Spero ruled on August 3, 2011, that state anti-discrimination laws do not apply to airline websites and kiosks

Brought by the California Council of the Blind and three blind JetBlue customers, the case pertained to access barriers on JetBlue’s website and the inaccessibility of the airline’s airport check-in kiosks to people with visual impairments.

Read additional details about the ruling here.