Blind employees sue for equal access to state’s software
02/05/2007
Associated Press
Three blind state employees filed a lawsuit Monday against Texas, claiming the software the state uses cannot be accessed by the blind.
Blind people typically access computer software when what is on the screen is turned into speech or displayed in Braille. But with the Oracle software the state uses, blind employees can’t access their pay and leave records, or create or review performance evaluations, according to a news release from the National Federation of the Blind.
“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,” said Tommy Craig, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas.
“I am unable to review and enter information such as my hours worked and leave taken unless a sighted person helps me do so,” said Edwin Kunz, one of the blind plaintiffs.
“Even worse, I can’t access critical information about the employees that I supervise without the assistance of a sighted person,” said Kunz, who directs a rehabilitation center for the blind within the Health and Human Services Commission’s Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include the directors of the Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Workforce Commission, the agencies for which the blind employees work. Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle was also made a defendant because it may be an interested party, the lawsuit said.
A spokeswoman for the Texas Workforce Commission said she could not get into details of the lawsuit, but the organization issued a statement that it is “committed to providing work environments that accommodate all employees … including those of us with disabilities.”
Ted Hughes, a spokesman with the Health and Human Services Commission, said the agency hasn’t received the lawsuit.
A message left with Oracle was not immediately returned Monday.
Link: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8N3OJGG1.html
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