Donna Jodhan, blind, wins ‘discrimination’ case
p2pnet view P2P:- Donna Jodhan (right) has struck a telling blow for Canadians who can’t see.
A legally blind Toronto woman, she sued Harper’s federal government for discrimination “because its online services aren’t fully available to blind people”, says the Toronto Sun.
And she won.
Jodhan, “a special needs consultant who has certified skills with Microsoft and Novell programs, as well as a master’s degree in international business and finance from McGill University”, launched the constitutional challenge in September, says the CBC, going on, “Government lawyers had argued there was no discrimination because those same services are provided in other formats, such as on the phone, in person or by mail.
“One of the saddest things is that government has spent a lot of money fighting this case”, she said when the case opened, asking, “Why are you fighting me on this?” – according to the story.
“Why are you spending taxpayers’ money?”
Toronto Sun – Top court: Feds must make websites accessible to blind, November 29, 2010
CBC – Blind woman wins case against federal government, November 29, 2010
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November 29th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
“Why are you spending taxpayers’ money?”
Kudos to Donna for throwing this most appropriate question at them!
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“Government lawyers had argued there was no discrimination because those same services are provided in other formats, such as on the phone, in person or by mail.”
…Options that, we all know, accomplish sooo very, very much with the Government!
I often get the impression our government didn’t want the Public to have the choice of using the Internet to communicate with them. After all, it does offer everyone the capability to prove it when they’re being ignored – something that doesn’t come as easy with other venues.
November 29th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
How can I make my web site available for blind people?
November 30th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
By not using constructs or plugins such as ‘flash’. They prevent the tools that blind people use from working because the content is hidden from them.