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.
Posted: February 28, 2003