[nfbwatlk] Fw: Oracle Software Cannot Be Used By Blind Texas Employees

[Mike Freeman]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pare, John" <JPare at NFB.ORG>
To: "Pare, John" <JPare at NFB.ORG>
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 6:46 AM
Subject: Oracle Software Cannot Be Used By Blind Texas Employees


Oracle Software Cannot Be Used By Blind Texas Employees

National Federation of the Blind Files Suit for Equal Access




Austin, Texas (February 5, 2007): The National Federation of the Blind and 
three blind Texas employees filed suit today to enforce a provision of Texas 
law requiring all information technology purchased by the state to be 
accessible to blind employees.  The suit was brought because the blind 
cannot use software manufactured by Oracle Systems and used by state 
employees.



The newly acquired software replaced another software package that had, in 
large part, been accessible to blind users.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: 
"Access to information technology is critical to success on the job for 
everyone in the twenty-first century, and this is no less true for the blind 
than it is for the sighted.  The National Federation of the Blind is 
committed to improving access to all information technologies, and we will 
take all steps necessary to do so, including litigation."



Tommy Craig, President of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas, 
said: "The state legislature of Texas recognized the need for equal access 
for the blind by passing a law requiring it, and it is unconscionable that a 
state agency is violating that law.  The National Federation of the Blind of 
Texas will not rest until all of the employees of the state of Texas have 
equal access to all the information they need to function effectively."



The suit, which names as defendants the directors of the Health and Human 
Services Commission and the Texas Workforce Commission (the agencies for 
which the blind employees work) and the state's acting chief technology 
officer, arises from the state's continuing renewal of contracts to purchase 
Oracle's human resources software and other products, despite the fact that 
the software cannot be used by blind Texas employees.  The plaintiffs have 
asked a Texas court to require the software to be made accessible to the 
blind and to require that the state discontinue its purchases of 
inaccessible software.



Blind people access computer software by means of screen access programs, 
which convert what is on the screen into synthesized speech or allow it to 
be displayed in Braille.  The Oracle software, which is used by state 
employees for various human resources tasks, does not provide equal access 
to blind persons using screen access technology.  For example, blind 
employees cannot access their pay and leave records, and those in 
supervisory positions cannot create or review performance evaluations.



Edwin Kunz, one of the blind plaintiffs who directs a rehabilitation center 
for the blind within the Health and Human Services Commission's Department 
of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, said: "I am unable to review and 
enter information such as my hours worked and leave taken unless a sighted 
person helps me to do so.  Even worse, I can't access critical information 
about the employees that I supervise without the assistance of a sighted 
person.  Because I must have sighted assistance for all of these personnel 
functions, both my privacy and the privacy of my employees are routinely 
violated.  I've complained about the problems with the software, but nothing 
has been done to fix them.  I hope this lawsuit will spur Oracle to move 
quickly to correct this problem; otherwise the state will have to purchase 
human resources software from someone else."



The plaintiffs are represented by the Baltimore, Maryland firm of Brown, 
Goldstein & Levy, LLP and Scanlan, Buckle & Young of Austin, Texas.



John G. Paré Jr.
Director of Public Relations
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore, Maryland  21230
Telephone:  (410) 659-9314, ext. 2371
Cell phone:  (410) 913-3912
Fax:  (410) 685-5653
Email:  jpare at nfb.org