The NFB Files Complaint Against Baltimore City Public Schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Mark Riccobono, Executive Director
National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2368
(410) 935-4019 (Cell)
mriccobono@nfb.org

National Federation of the Blind Files Complaint
Against Baltimore City Public Schools

Says Plan to Buy Nook E-readers Discriminates Against Blind Students

Baltimore, Maryland (January 4, 2012): The National Federation of
the Blind (NFB), the nation's leading advocate for access to
technology by the blind, announced today that it has filed a
complaint with the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights
Division, requesting an investigation of the Baltimore City Public
Schools' proposed acquisition of NOOK devices. The NFB filed the
complaint because the Baltimore City Public Schools recently
announced a partnership with the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg
Foundation to overhaul the school libraries in six middle schools in
the district. As part of the partnership's plan, the selected
school libraries will acquire an unspecified number of NOOK e-reader
devices. These devices are inaccessible to blind and other
print-disabled students. The NFB raised its concern with leaders in
the Baltimore City Public Schools but has been told that the
district is moving forward with its plans to implement these devices
while it seeks "alternative emerging technology"-- in other words, a
needlessly segregated technology for students with print
disabilities. Because the NOOK is inaccessible to blind students,
the Baltimore schools' use of the devices violates Title II of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
said: "The National Federation of the Blind will not tolerate blind
students receiving an unequal education. If e-reading devices are
available in school libraries, they must be accessible to all
students, not just the sighted. Appropriately, the date of this
comAplaint falls on the birthday of Louis Braille, who first brought
literacy to the blind and fought for the right of blind students to
read independently. He would not stand for this glaring inequity
and neither will we. That is why we have asked the United States
Department of Justice to act swiftly and decisively to ensure that
blind students receive the same education as their sighted peers."

The National Federation of the Blind is represented in this matter
by Daniel F. Goldstein and Daniel A. Ross of the Baltimore firm
Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP.


About the National Federation of the Blind
With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind
is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind
people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people's lives
through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs
encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading
force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's
blind. In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of
the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center
in the United States for the blind led by the blind.