The New York Times

November 4, 1999

Lawsuit Says AOL Shuts Out the Blind
By PAMELA MENDELS

In a test of the idea that virtual spaces must by law be readily accessible
to people with disabilities, a major organization representing the blind
filed suit against America Online Inc. on Thursday, saying that its online
service is almost impossible for blind people to use.
The suit, which accuses AOL of violating the Americans with Disabilities
Act, was filed in Federal District Court in Boston by the National
Federation of the Blind, along with the organization's Massachusetts
chapter and nine individuals who are blind. The organization is a nonprofit
group based in Baltimore that has 50,000 members nationwide.

In bringing the suit, the group hopes to spur increased accessibility for
Web sites and other online offerings as information, commerce, education
and other vital services move into cyberspace, said Marc Maurer, president
of the National Federation of the Blind, in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"There has to be a way for everybody to be able to use this growing body of
digital information," he said. "I believe this lawsuit will help shape the
future of digital information for years to come."

In a 14-page complaint, the plaintiffs say that America Online's services
are largely unavailable to the blind. For one thing, the suit alleges, the
services are often incompatible with "screen access programs," which
convert text on a screen into synthesized speech or Braille and are used
heavily by the blind.

According to the court papers, graphics and icons that are the pathways to
information on American Online have no text that can be "read" by such
software. "All you get is, 'This is a graphic, 938 pixels,'" said Daniel F.
Goldstein, one of the lawyers for the case. He argued in a telephone
interview that to include text descriptors that the software could easily
interpret is "neither technically difficult nor expensive."

Another problem, the suit says, is that screen commands in the service can
often be activated only through clicks with a mouse, not with alternative
keyboard commands commonly used by the blind.

All this means that the blind are effectively left out of using the world's
most popular and some say most user-friendly online service, lawyers
involved in the case said. "The Internet has opened a world for all of us,
and AOL is shutting the blind out of that new world," Goldstein said.

Maurer said that he has received "hundreds of complaints" from members of
his organization about problems the blind have with American Online. He
also said the organization has complained to the company, but received
little response.

Rich D'Amato, a spokesman for America Online, said the company is working
on improving access to the service. "We're sorry that the NFB has filed the
lawsuit, because we are absolutely committed to working with groups
representing people with disabilities," he said.

D'Amato noted that the company's instant messaging feature has been "a
tremendous benefit to members of the deaf community," and that a planned
feature allowing users to have their e-mail read to them over the phone
would appeal to the blind. Making navigation on AOL easier for those using
text-to-speech software "certainly is a challenge, and that's exactly what
we're working on," he said.

The suit asserts that even though it is not a physical place, the America
Online service offers entertainment, sales, services, recreation, education
and other features, and as such qualifies as a "public accommodation" under
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The law requires businesses
and other organizations to make reasonable accommodations for people with
disabilities in order to provide them with access equal to that enjoyed by
others.

Goldstein said he was unaware of any cases that have gone to court
regarding the Internet and access under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Cynthia D. Waddell, disability access coordinator for the city of San Jose,
Calif., who monitors legal developments in this area, said there have been
a number of out-of-court disputes over Internet access for disabled people.
Some suits have also been filed, but she said that as far as she is aware,
they have all been settled out of court.


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