AOL avoids lawsuit from blind users

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by Aaron Pressman

(IDG) -- The National Federation for the Blind agreed to drop a lawsuit Wednesday against AOL after the company committed to make the upcoming version 6.0 of its software accessible to screen-reading programs.

The federation filed the suit in November in Massachusetts federal court alleging that AOL, the nation's largest Internet service provider, was in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act because its service was not compatible with screen-reading programs used by visually impaired people.

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In agreeing to drop the lawsuit, the Baltimore-based federation warned that it would re-file the case if AOL's new software, to be released in the fall, failed to live up to Wednesday's promises.

"This is not a settlement agreement," explains federation lawyer Joseph Davis. "What we agreed to do is give AOL time to put out an accessible product."

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Barry Schuler, president of AOL's online service group, said the company was simply executing existing plans to make its software more accessible. "We look forward to continuing our dialogue with the disabled community," Schuler says.

Wednesday's developments do little to resolve the legal uncertainty over how the Americans With Disabilities Act, which turned 10 years old Wednesday, applies to the Internet. Under the law, places of public accommodation, such as stores, restaurants and hotels, must take reasonable steps to make themselves accessible to those with physical limitations. But the law was written before the Web went mainstream, and may or may not apply to online services and Web sites.

Screen-reading software reads content out loud or translates into braille text. The programs can stumble when options or commands are presented as graphic images, however. On AOL's current software, for example, navigation is done primarily by clicking on images that screen readers can't translate. Many commercial Web sites cause the same problems for screen readers.

The Federation for the Blind, along with the Connectitcut attorney general's office, has challenged several inaccessible sites to improve or face legal action. A group of leading financial sites responded to that challenge earlier this year by agreeing to make its Internet tax-filing services accessible by next year. Other sites could soon face similar pressure.

The federal government also is struggling to make its many Web sites accessible. Rules that were to take effect Aug. 7, requiring all federal-agency Web sites to meet accessibility guidelines, have been delayed and likely will not take effect until some time next year.

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Disability divide
(The Industry Standard)
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(LinuxWorld
Does the disabilities act apply to cyberspace?
(Computerworld)
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(FCW)
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(Civic.com)

National Federation of the Blind homepage

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