[Nfbnet-members-list] ABA-3D] Monster.com agreement w/NFB announced

[David Andrews]

Subject: [ABA-3D] Monster.com agreement w/NFB announced

FOR IMMEDIATE 
RELEASE 


<http://MONSTER.COM>MONSTER.COM FIRST IN INDUSTRY 
TO MAKE WEBSITE ACCESSIBLE FOR BLIND USERS

Effort a Result of Agreement Between Monster 
Worldwide and the Attorney General’s Office and 
National Federation of the Blind; First Job 
Search Website to Be Fully Accessible



BOSTON – The popular job search website 
<http://Monster.com>Monster.com will be the first 
job search and recruitment website in the 
industry to provide job seekers who are blind 
with full and equal access to all of its products 
and services including mobile applications, 
Attorney General Martha Coakley, Monster 
Worldwide, Inc. and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) announced today.



The announcement is the result of an agreement 
with the AG’s Office and the NFB and provides 
meaningful benefit to individuals nationwide who 
are blind or visually impaired, including more 
than 35,000 residents in Massachusetts. As part 
of the agreement, Monster will contribute $50,000 
to the Commonwealth that will be used to fund the 
Massachusetts Commission for the Blind’s (MCB) 
job internship program. Monster will also make a 
$50,000 contribution to the NFB and serve as the 
title sponsor of the NFB’s annual convention in 2013.



“Unemployment and underemployment in the blind 
community are significant problems and given the 
extent to which computers and the Internet have 
become integral to our daily lives, it is 
essential that websites are accessible to 
everyone,” AG Coakley said. “We are pleased to 
have worked with the NFB and Monster to make the 
company’s valuable products and services 
accessible and to provide better employment 
opportunities to job seekers who are blind, 
visually impaired or have other print 
disabilities such as dyslexia.  We are hopeful 
that with the ability to access written 
information in an audible text to speech format, 
these users will now have access to jobs, and 
better jobs, than ever before.  We want 
technology to improve people’s lives, not create obstacles or barriers.”



“Over the past year, a team at Monster has been 
working closely with teams from the National 
Federation of the Blind and the Massachusetts 
Attorney General’s Office to enhance our 
<http://Monster.com>Monster.com website in a way 
that will provide more opportunities for blind 
job seekers to find jobs,” said Mark Conway, 
Chief Information Officer, Monster Worldwide. 
“Although portions of our site were already 
accessible, we all agreed we could do more. Based 
on the work of these teams, the 
<http://Monster.com>Monster.com site will be 
enhanced to make its website and mobile 
applications accessible to blind job seekers. 
This has been an enormous undertaking and is an 
exciting accomplishment for which we can all be proud.”



“The National Federation of the Blind works for 
full and equal access by blind Americans to all 
forms of digital information,” said Dr. Marc 
Maurer, President of the National Federation of 
the Blind. “Access to digital information and 
applications is critical to success in the 
twenty-first century in all areas of life, 
including searching and applying for career 
opportunities. We are therefore pleased that 
Monster is making this commitment to full and 
equal access to its website and mobile 
applications. We also thank the Attorney General 
of Massachusetts for being such a strong partner 
and advocate for accessibility.”



“We are excited to partner with Monster and the 
National Federation of the Blind to provide 
access to job opportunities available to 
individuals who are blind,” said Commissioner 
Janet LaBreck of the Massachusetts Commission for 
the Blind. “The MCB internship program enables 
individuals the opportunity to access early work 
experience.  Utilizing accessible technology 
available on Monster’s website to conduct a job 
search ensures that individuals who are blind can 
independently and successfully perform the same 
tasks as other job seeking candidates.”



To make its website and mobile applications 
accessible to job seekers who are blind, Monster 
is  making them compatible with innovative 
technology called screen access software that 
renders on-screen information into Braille or 
speech so that blind individuals can use keyboard 
commands to access the same information as sighted users.



In accordance with the agreement, Monster is in 
the process of making its desktop and mobile 
websites fully and equally accessible and will 
have its mobile applications accessible within 
two years. Monster has also ensured the templates 
employers use to post job advertisements on its 
site will be fully and equally accessible within six months.



Monster will also train its customer service 
representatives to assist users who are blind and 
will establish a standing committee to oversee 
implementation of the agreement and other issues 
related to accessibility in the future. In 
addition, Monster has agreed to work with the NFB 
to encourage higher education programs to 
incorporate accessible design and assistive 
technology in to their core curricula.



             The agreement is the most recent 
result of collaboration between AG Coakley’s 
Office and the NFB. Past collaborations have 
included making Apple’s iTunes services and 
Cardtronics ATMs fully and equally accessible to the blind.



             State and federal laws not only 
prohibit disparate treatment of individuals with 
disabilities in employment and housing, but also 
require that all businesses operating places of 
public accommodation provide people with 
disabilities with full and equal enjoyment of 
their goods, services, and facilities.



<http://Monster.com>Monster.com is the worldwide 
leader in connecting people to jobs and provides 
a full array of job seeking, career management, 
recruitment and talent management products and 
services in more than 40 countries.



This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney 
General Genevieve C. Nadeau and Paralegal Bethany 
Brown of Attorney General Coakley’s Civil Rights 
Division, and Assistant Attorney General Maura 
Healey, Chief of Attorney General Coakley’s 
Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau.



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