National Federation of the Blind and Blind Business Owner File Complaint with Small Business Administration

NFB Alleges Inaccessible SBA Website Discriminates Against the Blind

On July 22, 2009 The National Federation of the Blind and a blind business owner filed a complaint with the Small Business Administration (SBA), alleging that “the SBA’s website violates Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act because it is inaccessible to blind people who use text-to-speech screen access technology or Braille displays to access information on the Internet,” (see http://bit.ly/MVxKe). This complaint alleges that the inaccessibility of the website prevented the business owner from obtaining a certification that he needed to run his business. Section 508 permits an individual with a disability to file an administrative complaint with the agency or file a civil case in Federal Court.

“Our society is beginning to recognize that the Internet is now a fundamental means of accessing government services and we will likely be seeing an exponentially larger number of complaints like this one in the near future,” noted Ken Nakata, HiSoftware’s Director of Accessibility Consulting Practices and a former Senior Trial Attorney with the Disability Rights Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. “The President’s directive for a more participatory, transparent and collaborative government, and the Administration’s strong push to move government services online only increases the need for compliance solutions for digital inclusion.”

HiSoftware’s customers recognize the importance of and legal requirements for accessible websites. Since 1998, our customers have made HiSoftware the leading company for end-to-end Web accessibility and compliance solutions. As agencies develop and implement their Web 2.0/Gov 2.0 strategies they cannot sacrifice accessibility requirements (e.g. Section 508), risk compromising personally identifiable information or operational security. HiSoftware solutions enable agencies to foster and create a self-sustaining “culture of compliance.” Our automated solutions integrate with your website, portal or collaborative environment to address Web accessibility—as well as other Web governance issues such as privacy, PII, profanity and search engine optimization. HiSoftware solutions work with your development processes and provide ongoing compliance testing.

If you have any questions or we can provide you with additional information please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to continuing to provide you with solutions and services to assist you in meeting these requirements over the next several months. For more information visit http://www.hisoftware.com/govt/Index.html or contact your federal sales representative.

For more insight visit Ken Nakata's blog post on this at http://www.accessibilitywatch.com/?p=134.