Blind Access Journal

Check out this incredibly disturbing story of four blind and visually impaired employees who lost their jobs due in large part to the purchasing and implementation of inaccessible technology without consideration of our needs. It seems the VA Medical Center decided it might be appropriate and acceptable to simply throw away these people like yesterday’s newspaper. In many cases, we are the only ones who will suffer consequences. I hope the Federation’s lawsuit is successful, the medical center pays for their wrongdoing and valuable lessons are learned about making sure the technology required on the job is made reasonably accessible.

Louisville Courier-Journal, KY, USA
Sunday, October 08, 2006

Vision-impaired workers sue over job loss

By Patrick Howington

Four released from VA Medical Center

Lonnie Swafford, who is legally blind, was a switchboard operator at the VA Medical Center in Louisville for more than three years. But that ended last fall when the Department of Veterans Affairs decided it shouldn’t rely on blind people for the job.

That was discrimination, Swafford and three other operators who lost their jobs contend in a recent lawsuit against U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson. The change of workers was triggered by the medical center’s switch last year to a different alarm system. The VA said the new system required that switchboard operators, who monitor alarms and issue alerts to hospital personnel, have good vision. The lawsuit says the VA could have altered the system so that vision-impaired people could monitor alarms more effectively, but chose not to.

Even without such adaptations, legally blind operators manned the new system for several months with no problems before they were let go, said Swafford, 25. “All of us had been in this job with no problems for years,” he said. “I feel angered. I feel like we were excluded just because of our visual impairment.” “I was still able to function and do my job,” said Charla Shown, another former VA operator. Because she is totally blind she didn’t monitor the screens, but performed other functions such as issuing alerts.

Shown, 52, said she lost her apartment because she couldn’t pay the rent after losing her job. She moved in with a daughter, while her 18-year-old son who had lived with her moved in with his older brother. “It’s a big change, not having your own place. But we have to do what we gotta do.”

Shown, Swafford and other blind operators were replaced by people with other disabilities, under a government program to provide such employment opportunities. The VA Medical Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs declined to comment because the litigation is pending. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville by an attorney for the National Federation for the Blind. It has five plaintiffs — the four former operators and another man who kept his position but claims he was denied a promotion because of poor vision. The Department of Veterans Affairs hasn’t yet submitted a response to the complaint, which was filed Aug. 14. That’s because the department hasn’t been served with a copy of the complaint, a spokesman said.

Swafford and the other former operators were employed by Raleigh Lions Clinic for the Blind, which had a contract to provide switchboard operators for the center, 800 Zorn Ave. The nonprofit North Carolina agency is associated with National Industries for the Blind. Under the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act, federal agencies must purchase some services from nonprofit organizations that employ blind or disabled people, including agencies in National Industries for the Blind’s network. In addition to working the phone system at the medical center, Raleigh’s operators monitored alarm systems that detected fires, patient emergencies and other problems. That involved reading text messages on screens at their desks. Swafford said he and two other legally blind operators could see well enough to do that, sometimes using magnifiers.

“They were good employees,” said Janet Griffey, president and chief executive of Raleigh Lions Clinic for the Blind. “I even offered jobs to them here in Raleigh.” But in spring 2005 the center installed a new fire and security alarm system, Swafford said. Instead of a screen at a desk, it displayed messages on a wall panel, he said. Swafford, who has 20/600 vision in one eye and none in the other, said he could read the panel, but had to walk across the room to do so. He said two other former operators had better sight than he does.

Swafford said the three were able to use the new system, but the VA didn’t give them a chance to prove it. When the contract with Raleigh came up for renewal, the VA specified that one operator on each shift must have 20/70 vision or better, the lawsuit says. That effectively kept blind operators from working the evening and overnight shifts, since only one operator works then, the lawsuit says.

Raleigh lost the contract last fall to Employment Source, a Fayetteville, N.C., agency that employs workers with disabilities — but with sight. Employment Source is affiliated with NISH, formerly called National Industries for the Severely Handicapped. Employment Source’s president declined to be interviewed.

Swafford and Cathy Jackson, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Kentucky, said the VA could have adapted the new alarm system for vision-impaired employees. Technology exists to translate written alarms into spoken ones, Swafford said. The National Federation of the Blind has a department that researches such adaptations, Jackson said. “They chose not to ask anyone who is blind, who works with the blind, any of these questions,” Jackson said. “They just said it couldn’t be done, and that was that.”

“I understand where the VA was coming from, to a degree, as far as it being a safety concern,” Swafford said. But in their months of monitoring alarms under the new system, the blind operators “demonstrated that we were able to do it.” The lawsuit seeks to recover lost wages and benefits and other damages.

Swafford now works at a Citigroup call center in eastern Jefferson County. He said he earns less money, but has better benefits. He bought his Clifton-area house so he could walk to his job at the medical center, Swafford said. Now he rides the bus or with a co-worker. “I got a feeling of satisfaction with helping the veterans,” Swafford said. “To be honest, it may have been a better move in the long run, to go to where I am now. But still, it doesn’t justify what happened.”

Reporter Patrick Howington can be reached at (502) 582-4229.

phowington@courier-journal.com

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061008/BUSINESS/610080367/1003

Many of us have relied on BlogLines to read and organize our blogs and other RSS feeds. Unfortunately, recent changes to the service have rendered it virtually inaccessible to those of us who rely on screen readers to access our computing world. Despite attempts at contact by several blind and visually impaired users, BlogLines has, thus far, persistently turned a blind eye and deaf ears to our accessibility concerns. Perhaps, the BlogLines folks just aren’t hearing from enough of us to make the right decision to take our needs seriously. I urge all blind and visually impaired BlogLines users to take two actions right now. First, use the contact form to ask the BlogLines developers to restore and insure continued accessibility to the service for everyone, including those of us whom happen to be blind or visually impaired. Second, write a short note to Darcy Cobb, the press contact for Ask.com (the owner of BlogLines.com), letting her know about the loss of accessibility and asking her to investigate the matter for the sake of the company’s positive ongoing public relations.

If any response is received from Ask.com or the BlogLines people directly, either positive or negative, please report it to us so that we may either take the appropriate additional actions or thank the appropriate people for doing the right thing. The BlogLines folks don’t understand what they have done to us. They may not be hearing from a sufficient amount of people to make the proper decision to take us seriously. Let’s fix that by constantly sending them accessibility requests from as many blind and visually impaired, and those who care about us, as possible to get our point across effectively.
Thanks for reading and, hopefully, for taking the actions necessary to restore access to a useful resource.

The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado is pleased to announce that we will be streaming this year’s state convention on the Internet. The stream will be available on Friday the 6th of October from 11 A.M. until 1 P.M. for the initial session and the legislative lunch. It will then be available all day Saturday for the general sessions and the banquet. The final day is Sunday. The stream will be up from 9:00 until 11:30 A.M.

You will need either Winamp or Windows Media Player to listen to this stream. We can support a maximum of 30 listeners at any given time. If you hear a message stating that the stream is either down or full, please try again in a few minutes.

Listen Live

Over the past week, I have heard from several blind people concerning recent changes made to sports related web sites, including the American Hockey League, that resulted in their becoming largely useless to blind web surfers. I decided to do some basic initial advocacy by writing a letter to Infinity Pro Sports, the designers of the AHL web site, asking them to consider making accessibility enhancements to their sites and providing resources and suggestions for getting started effectively. In less than a day’s time, I received a note from Uri Geva, President of Infinity Pro Sports, indicating a commitment on the company’s part to make the American Hockey League and other web sites they develop accessible in the very near future. I responded with a nice, short thank-you note.

We’ll be watching for improved accessibility to the American Hockey League and other sports related web sites very soon. Like our sighted peers, many blind and visually impaired people enjoy participating in or watching sports. This includes all the associated online activities. It stands to reason that all possible attempts should be made to insure our ability to participate on terms of equality with the sighted when it comes to sports related web sites, and we hope this commitment by Infinity Pro Sports represents just one of many more steps in the right direction.

Listen to us podcast, as live as podcasting can get, as we sit at the gate at the airport awaiting our flight to Denver. We’re going back to our old stomping ground, where we met back in 1995, to attend Karen’s little cousin Richie’s wedding, and visit with friends.

Download and Listen

For many years now, Karen and I have been able to purchase rolls of quarters at our nearest Circle K convenience store. We primarily need quarters for doing laundry. Our ability to obtain quarters is essential, since the washers and dryers do not accept any other form of payment. Imagine my surprise this afternoon when my request was denied.

As I usually do, I went up to the counter and asked to purchase a $10 roll of quarters. The young man at the counter told me the rules have been changed. Now, each customer may obtain a maximum of $2 worth of quarters each day. Apparently, according to this employee, banks charge extra for these rolls and the store was losing money selling them to customers. I asked him if, due to the fact that I am blind and it is difficult for me to find another possible source (especially due to all the construction work in the area), he could possibly consider making an exception in my case or having the manager come to the counter to make a decision. Unfortunately, the manager “had to go home early” and there was to be no empathy for my situation. So, logic would dictate I had two choices; right? I could just take the $2 and go home, or take the $2 and go somewhere else, hoping I could find more quarters. After all, $2 is insufficient to do two loads of laundry when it costs $1 for a wash and another $1 for drying. I wasn’t about to let this guy off easy, especially after the total lack of caring for my situation he had just demonstrated. So, creatively, much to the annoyance of the clerk and the line of customers behind me, I decided to make a third choice.

The rules were that I could have only $2 in quarters. So, after making the purchase, I gave the customer next in line another $2 and asked him to hand it to the clerk for another $2 worth of quarters. After doing this same deal another three times, I finally had the $10 I required. So much for Circle K being “the best and most convenient place to shop”. Though following the rules and getting what I needed, I managed to slow down both the clerk and all the other customers in the process. In fact, one of the people in line behind me had the nerve to whine about this, complaining that I was slowing everyone else down. Do I feel at all sorry about doing this? No! Not a bit. The clerk didn’t show an ounce of empathy toward me, wouldn’t put me in touch with someone else who might be able to make a more favorable decision and, in general, just acted like a jerk about this whole situation. Do I feel at all sorry for the other customers in the line? Heck, no! They’re all driving away from that store to live out their easy lives as people without disabilities, while I walked home for more than half an hour, part of that time being out in the street, through some potentially dangerous construction work!

It really is too bad the battery in my iRiver had gotten low enough so it would no longer record. That would have been excellent material for another podcast!

The podcasting community would like Apple to clarify its intentions with respect to concerns it may be attempting to take the term “podcast” as part of its iPod trademark. Many of us believe this is inappropriate and potentially harmful to the podcasting community. iPods are certainly not required to play podcasts and iTunes is not the first or only available software for receiving podcast enclosures. Further, the ongoing inaccessibility of Apple’s iTunes player on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms means that any attempts on Apple’s part to close the ability to receive “podcasts” to alternative software could spell unmitigated disaster for blind listeners. I have signed, and urge everyone to do likewise, the ‘Podcast’ is NOT Apple’s Trademark online petition asking Apple to stop sending cease and desist letters to podcasting related companies and explain the company’s intentions toward the podcasting community.

Todd is incredibly unhappy about Apple’s apparent moves to use its iPod trademark against the podcasting community, and so am I! What is Apple really trying to do here? Do they want us all to play our “podcasts” on their iTunes software? If so, well, the blind community says “no thanks”! iTunes remains largely inaccessible. Apple should be glad there are alternatives to receiving podcasts, otherwise they may actually find themselves in a world of hurt, with their iTunes University offering in clear violation of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act with respect to accessibility concerns. I hope this all doesn’t turn out to be our downfall as a community, with the bulk of all podcast listeners now using iTunes, to the detriment of all other podcatchers. Not quite certain what should be done yet, but I’m quite sure the fur is going to fly at the expo next weekend. Too bad I’ll be missing the action!

Check out this early morning (5:30) walk to scope out another bus stop. This one is much better. There are no significant obstacles. The bus route stopping there is workable if the necessary arrangements can be made at the other end of the line.

Download and Listen

Listen as I chat with all of you while trying to walk down the street to check out the bus stop Karen would use if she rode to work using that method of public transportation. You’ll get a sense on just how unsafe the situation remains with respect to the construction work in the vicinity of the stop and in many other places along the route back home. It is quite frustrating to have so much construction in one area!

I would also like to remind everyone to avoid eating any raw spinach, including that packaged in bagged salads, for the time being due to the potential for E. coli poisoning. Be very careful!

Download and Listen