- From: David Poehlman <poehlman@clark.net>
- Date: Sat, 06 Nov 1999 16:59:30 -0500
- To: WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
I hope I did not send this twice. It mentions w3c and lg. Thanks! -------- Original Message -------- Subject: tech: even more on aol lawsuit Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 14:38:23 -0600 From: Kelly Pierce <kelly@RIPCO.COM> Reply-To: Kelly Pierce <kelly@RIPCO.COM> To: VICUG-L@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU The Boston Blobe AOL sued by blind Net users They say service doesn't accommodate their needs By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff, 11/05/99 Nine blind citizens of Massachusetts went to court yesterday against America Online Inc., in a lawsuit that could force the redesign of thousands of Internet sites. The citizens joined with the National Federation for the Blind to argue that federal law requires that AOL design its Internet service so that blind people can use it. ''Blind people have the same rights as everybody else to take part in the information age,'' said federation president Marc Maurer at a press conference in Boston. If the suit is successful, AOL would be forced to make its software compatible with a variety of computer products that let blind people ''read'' a computer screen. In addition, Maurer hopes the suit will force similar changes at every Internet retailer, from the smallest electronic storefront to the largest on-line bookstore. The case against AOL, filed in US District Court in Boston, rests on the federation's reading of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a law passed in 1990 that aims to give disabled people access to equal opportunities in employment and public services. A section of the law requires ''public accommodations,'' such as businesses, to make reasonable efforts to make their services available to disabled people. The federation hopes to convince a court that AOL and other Internet-based businesses are public accommodations under the law, and must be made accessible. Although there are legal precedents concerning the need for businesses to make facilities and services available to people with handicaps, lawyers for the federation said they knew of no case involving the Internet ever going to trial. AOL spokesman Rich D'Amato refused to discuss details of the lawsuit, but said AOL is committed to working with disabled people to make their software easier to use. ''We have a team of people that are working on these issues and it's a top priority for us,'' D'Amato said. He added that the next version of AOL software, due for release next year, will be compatible with screen reading software for blind people. Concerns about access to the Internet are understandable, given its burgeoning importance to the economy and society. Forty percent of all Americans communicate via the Internet, according to Neilsen NetRatings. Forrester Research, based in Cambridge, predicts Americans will spend $20 billion at on-line retail stores this year, and $184 billion five years from now. Ben Isaacson, executive director of the Association for Interactive Media, a trade group that represents 400 Net firms including AOL, Disney and Yahoo, is worried the suit could lead to government interference with business on the Internet. ''Web sites shouldn't have to comply with any government regulatory interest but should be doing self-regulatory programs,'' said Isaacson. He said his organization has no plans to become involved in the case, but added that he would be willing to contact members and urge them to do more to accommodate disabled Internet users. ''This industry will do anything,'' Isaacson said. ''They will bend over backward for additional market share.'' Maurer, the federation president, said blind Americans must not be shut out. ''I'm determined that we will have access,'' he said. ''We insist on access to everything.'' Larry Goldberg, director of the National Center for Accessible Media, based at public television station WGBH in Boston, said his group has recently begun working with AOL to make the Internet company's software accessible to blind people. ''AOL approached us four to six months ago, and having recognized that they had a problem, asked if we could help them,'' Goldberg said. Chuck Hitchcock, who designs software for disabled people at the Center for Applied Special Technology in Peabody, expressed doubt that a court would stretch the disabilities act to include the Internet. ''I hope they do,'' he said, ''but I'd be quite surprised.'' But Harvard law professor Elizabeth Bartholet said, ''It makes some sense in that the ADA is an extraordinarly broad act.'' Bartholet said the law specifically requires telephone companies to provide services for disabled people; applying it to the Internet may simply be the next logical step. ''It's not a frivolous issue,'' she said. AOL is the world's largest Internet service provider with 20 million users. The service prides itself on its custom-made software, which many people find much easier to use than other kinds of Internet software. The AOL software also gives its customers access to a variety of services not available on the rest of the Internet, including discussion groups, chat rooms and on-line shopping areas. But AOL's software lacks features that would make it possible for blind or visually-impaired people to use the service with screen reader software that can read pages aloud. Screen-reader programs are compatible with many computer programs, such as Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system and Apple Computer Corp.'s Macintosh operating system. The standard Internet browsers from Microsoft and Netscape Communications Corp., now owned by AOL, also work with screen readers. The AOL software also forces people to use a mouse to go from feature to feature on the screen. Blind people generally can't use a computer mouse and must rely on the keyboard. Many programs make it possible to use the keyboard instead of the mouse to maneuver through the program. But many features of the AOL software can only be activated with the mouse. AOL isn't the only company with problems. Goldberg said that only ''a small handful'' of the Internet's major sites are accessible to blind people, even though solutions to the problem are well understood. The World Wide Web Consortium in Cambridge, the organization that sets standards for Web site design worldwide, has created guidelines for Web site designers to help them make their sites accessible to blind people. But most Web sites simply ignore these guidelines. Brandy Rose of Taunton, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, is a student at Bristol Community College. She said she wanted to use AOL as an aid to her studies, but only got as far as the opening screen. ''I got that far and the screen reader stopped reading,'' Rose said. ''So I gave up.'' Theresa Jeraldi of Watertown says she wanted to use AOL's chat rooms to stay in touch with her grandchildren. ''But I was told by other blind people ... not to even bother with it because it was so inaccessible to the blind.'' Both Rose and Jeraldi have signed on to other Internet services. This story ran on page C01 of the Boston Globe on 11/05/99. VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List. To join or leave the list, send a message to listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu. In the body of the message, simply type "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations. VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
Received on Saturday, 6 November 1999 17:00:24 UTC