Hi All,

As the time to file taxes draws near, I thought it was worth revisiting an
old press release on the topic of accessible tax filing on-line.

 From the web page:

http://www.cslnet.ctstateu.edu/attygenl/press/2000/health/blind.htm

Connecticut Attorney General's Office
Press Release
Attorney General, National Federation Of Blind Applaud On-Line Tax Filing
Services For Agreeing To Make Sites BLIND-ACCESSIBLE For 2000 Tax Season


Date: April 17, 2000

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today was joined by Dr. Marc Maurer,
President of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), in announcing
agreements with four companies -- HDVest, Intuit, H & R Block, and Gilman &
Ciocia - - that provide on-line federal income tax filing services to make
their Internet sites accessible to the blind.

The four companies have agreed to work with the Attorney General and the
NFB to change the coding for each of the five websites in question --
hdvest.com, turbotax.com, e1040.com, hrblock.com, and taxcut.com -- to
enable blind individuals to access the sites. According to the Attorney
General, the changes will greatly improve the ability of blind individuals
to access the sites through the use of standard screen reader programs,
which can translate screen information to Braille or computerized speech
formats.

These code changes will include implementation of recommendations by the
World Wide Web Consortium, an international organization that works to
develop universal standards for HTML coding. HTML is the computer language
used to create and design websites. It allows users to move from page to
page within and between websites.

"The blind should have equal rights and effective access in traveling the
Internet's information highway. Disabled Americans should not have to
reinvent or reassert such basic rights in the new Information Age, just
because the means of access now is a computer rather than stairs or
sidewalks," said Blumenthal. "Filing tax returns electronically is one
example -- but only one -- of essential access that should be guaranteed.
Rights must be protected -- kept real, not virtual -- even in this age of
new technology."

"Blind people can and do make extensive use of computer programs and the
Internet, so naturally we are thrilled these companies have decided to work
with us to ensure that their sites are accessible to the blind," said
National Federation of the Blind President Marc Maurer. "The world of
technology is constantly growing and changing, however, so this is a first
step in a longer journey."

Each company's web site was recently listed on the Internal Revenue
Service's official web site as an on-line partner for the purpose of
electronically filing federal income tax returns. Each site, however,
proved inaccessible to the blind upon testing by the Attorney General and
the National Federation of the Blind. The Attorney General and the NFB
alerted the four companies that their web sites were in violation of Title
III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires public
accommodations to take reasonable steps to ensure accessibility to
individuals with disabilities. The four companies have issued written
assurances that they will work with the Attorney General and the NFB to
make their web sites accessible to the blind in time for the 2000 tax season.


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