FYI
Press Release
February 28, 2003
NFB OF PENNSYLVANIA AND BLIND STATE EMPLOYEES SUE COMMONWEALTH,
GOVERNOR
MEDIA CONTACTS: Patricia A. Maurer Director of Community Relations
National Federation of the Blind [log in to unmask] (410)
659-9314, ext. 272
Betsy Zaborowski Director of Special Programs [log in to unmask]
410-659-9314, ext. 357
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFB OF PENNSYLVANIA AND BLIND STATE EMPLOYEES SUE COMMONWEALTH,
GOVERNOR
PHILADELPHIA, PA (February 27, 2003)-Three blind, Pennsylvania state
employees and the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania
(NFBP) filed suit today against the state and its Governor, Edward
Rendell, asserting that the state's multi-million-dollar computer system
upgrade for use by all state employees is inaccessible to blind
employees and, therefore, in violation of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA).
James Antonacci, Celia Fagnani, and Sue Davis, each of whom works
for the Pennsylvania state government, contend that blind workers cannot
access information previously available. Blind employees can now only
examine their payroll information by permitting sighted individuals
access to what would otherwise Be private and confidential.
In 2001 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania entered into a contract
with SAP Public Sector & Education, Inc. for the purchase of a new
statewide computer system. These computer packages typically include
accounting, budgeting, payroll, personnel, and purchasing. The contract
to design and implement the computer system over a three-year period was
for more than $40 million and is dubbed Imagine PA.
"People who are blind can and do regularly operate computers, using
screen access software that converts computer text into synthesized
speech or Braille," says Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National
Federation of the Blind (NFB), a consumer-based organization
representing more than 50,000 blind Persons throughout the United
States.
"Unfortunately, in choosing software that is incompatible with
screen access programs, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has failed to
remove significant communications barriers, denying blind employees
independent access to the state's information system and ultimately
undermining the ability of blind individuals to do their jobs, all of
which are in violation of the ADA," Dr. Maurer explains.
Two years ago, the Arkansas Administrative Statewide Information
System (AASIS) ran into similar access problems for blind employees. The
chief contractor for that conversion was also SAP Public Sector and
Education, Inc. Two blind Arkansas state employees filed a lawsuit at
that time, which was intended to prevent further use of the SAP system
without the necessary access modifications.
When Imagine PA becomes effective all Pennsylvania state employees
will keep time and attendance information using the computer system.
Employees will track expense vouchers and a host of other functions,
including budgeting, accounting, and procurement on the new system, all
of which will be inaccessible to the state's blind employees.
The Imagine PA project is being implemented in "waves." To date, a
number of agencies have begun using the new setup with additional
agencies scheduled to implement Imagine PA over the next several months.
Training has already been conducted for the Imagine PA system.
Neither the plaintiffs nor any other blind employees of the Commonwealth
have been able to sign up for or participate in the training sessions
because they are inaccessible.
Attorney Daniel Goldstein, a partner with the firm of Brown,
Goldstein & Levy that represents both the NFB of Pennsylvania and the
plaintiffs in this suit, notes that in the technology arena,
discrimination against blind people "often begins with the blind being
overlooked, follows with them being told to wait, and ends with them
being told that, while it would have been inexpensive to make the system
accessible in the first place, it is now far too expensive to fix and
that they must wait until the next edition of the software."
Mr. Goldstein adds, "This suit is intended to try to change that
pattern."
If successful, the suit will prohibit the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania from widening the use of the SAP system until it has been
made accessible to all potential users, including the blind.
The National Federation of the Blind, with more than 50,000 members
and 700 local and state affiliates and chapters, is the largest and most
influential membership organization of blind people in the United
States. As a consumer and advocacy organization, NFB is the leading
force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind.
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