News at a Glance

 

Target settles lawsuit over web access

In a victory for visually impaired consumers, Target Corp. has agreed to settle a two-year-old class action lawsuit and pay a $6 million settlement. The settlement was announced August 26. Visually impaired web users contended that they were blocked from using the target.com web site because of technical issues. The plaintiffs alleged that Target could have fixed the web site but chose not to.

The federal lawsuit was filed in San Francisco by the National Federation of the Blind, a Baltimore-based group. The Federation filed on behalf of Target web customers who were unable to use elements of the web site. The basis of the lawsuit was that the lack of accessibility violated two California state laws. The court rejected a third claim, that Target was also violating federal law.

Visually impaired people can access websites by using keyboard controls to move to mouse or by listening to text-to-speech software that reads aloud site content. The software can identify web features including web links, drop-down menus and other items. The lawsuit alleged that customers could not use the target.com site because the checkout button could not be read by the software.

The settlement means the case won’t go to trial and that Target will complete accessibility improvements to the website by February 28, 2009. The settlement will be split by an undetermined number of blind consumers, who will have to submit sworn statements detailing their inability to use the Target web site. The maximum claim per person will be $7,000.

Source: Associated Press, Star Tribune

 

Autism case numbers among Somalis raise concerns

Fears about a possible surge in autism have swept Minnesota’s Somali community. Autism, a brain disorder that can cause disruptive and withdrawn behavior, has been rising rapidly throughout the country. The discovery of a cluster among Somalis, experts say, could help scientists shed light on why. Or, it could just be a statistical fluke.

In Minneapolis, fears have been fueled by some puzzling statistics. Last year, Somali children made up just fewer than 6 percent of the school population, but 17 percent of those in the early childhood autism programs (14 of 81 children). The numbers have been creeping up for several years, especially among young children.

”People are worried,” said Saeed Fahia, who heads a Somali community group. “Nobody remembers any autistic children in Somalia. I’m sure there must have been some, but there were not that many.” Somali children appear to have a more severe form of the condition, said Dr. Dan McLellan, a developmental pediatrician and autism specialist at Children’s Hospital. He estimates that 10 percent of his patients are Somali. “I do think there’s something up with this,” he said. “I don’t know what it is.”

As of July, 3.6 percent of Somali students were in autism-related programs in the Minneapolis Public Schools—about twice the district average.

For now, state and federal officials say they’re not sure whether Somalis in Minnesota are getting autism at an unusual rate or whether there’s another explanation. But they’re taking it seriously enough to look closer. ”We want to understand the numbers. That’s my goal,” said Judy Punyko, who is heading a study group for the Minnesota Department of Health.

Source: Star Tribune

 

Deaf activist, spouse file lawsuit against city, county

Douglas Bahl, a longtime deaf community activist, has filed suit in Ramsey County District Court against the city of St. Paul and Ramsey County sheriff’s office. The civil lawsuit was filed August 20, in connection with a traffic stop and Bahl’s subsequent incarceration in November, 2006.

The 57-year-old St. Paul resident was “seriously beaten, arrested and isolated in jail for three days with no adequate or effective means of communicating with jail staff or of communicating with his family or other people outside of the jail,” according to the lawsuit. The Minnesota Disability Law Center is representing Bahl, who has been a sign language trainer at St. Paul College for several years.

Bahl’s wife, Susan Kovacs-Bahl, is a co-defendant in the lawsuit. She was hospitalized at the time of his arrest and he was on his way to visit her when he was stopped by St. Paul Police for running a red light. Bahl gestured to the police officer that he wanted to write, but the officer wouldn’t communicate with him in that way. The lawsuit alleges that the officer pepper-sprayed Bahl, struck him and pulled him from the vehicle.

Bahl also alleges he was held in jail for three days without an American Sign Language interpreter to describe the charges against him, jail procedures and how he could be released. He was also given no special aids or way to reach his family.

At trial last year Bahl was convicted of misdemeanor obstructing legal process but acquitted of the more serious charge of obstructing legal process with force. He was sentenced to four days’ time served, a 60-day suspended sentence and one year’s probation. Police reports indicate that Bahl wouldn’t speak with officers at the traffic stop grabbed the officer’s jacket and punched and bit the officer.

In the lawsuit Bahl is alleges that the city and county violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act and the Minnesota Human Rights Act. He and Kovacs-Bahl are seeking more than $50,000 plus punitive damages. They also are trying to change the way police and jail personnel interact with deaf and hard-of-hearing persons in the future. The city has filed notice to move the lawsuit to federal court, saying that court has the authority to rule on ADA-related matters. The Bahls want the case to remain in Ramsey County District Court.

Source: Star Tribune, Pioneer Press

 

Redesign and reconstruction of two streets will alter the transit landscape downtown

Groundbreaking began in August on a $34 million transit project in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. This marks the start of an ambitious multi-year project that will reshape how people get into, out of and around downtown. It will include accessibility improvements.

A reconstruction of Marquette and Second avenues from First to 12th streets south, a project known as MARQ2, will dramatically increase bus capacity on those streets, letting those buses move more efficiently through downtown. It will also affect other major downtown streets, such as Hennepin Ave. and Nicollet Mall.

“Passengers will be spending a lot less time sitting, waiting on an express bus as it moves slowly through downtown,” said City Council Transportation and Public Works Committee Chair Sandy Colvin Roy.

“That will make using buses more attractive to thousands of commuters who work here and make our city more accessible than ever before.”

When the MARQ2 project is completed in late 2009, other changes will come to downtown streets. Express buses will no longer run on Nicollet Mall, opening it up to more bike traffic and reducing peak-hour bus traffic by 40 percent. Also, Hennepin Ave and First Ave North will be converted into two-way streets.

MARQ 2 is one of the major components of Access Minneapolis, the City’s comprehensive ten-year transportation action plan. This plan addresses a full range of transportation options and issues facing Minneapolis, including pedestrians, bicycles, transit, automobiles, and freight.

For more information on MARQ2, go to: www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/public-works/marq2. For more information on Access Minneapolis, go to: www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/public-works/trans-plan

Source: City of Minneapolis

 

Evergreene Digest seeks board members

Evergreene Digest, an on-line monthly journal, is seeking board members. The vision for Evergreene Digest is to be the preferred one-stop online source for people with disabilities, activists, women, communities of color, working people, veterans, pacifists, spiritual seekers, progressives, environmentalists, youth and the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. These are groups ignored by the mainstream media as legitimate audiences, sources and subjects for the news.

Evergreene Digest provides links to more than 380 web sites of various groups and publications. More than 150 articles per month are highlighted. Original writing, photos and art are also presented. Until now the work of Evergreene Digest has been carried out by a small but extremely capable and dedicated informal group of volunteers. The journal’s success, however, is leading to organizing more formally as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. A board of directors is needed to set overall policy and direction of the organization. Its first job will be to review, approve, and submit the application for non-profit status the staff has prepared.

Prospective board members should be committed to the purpose of Evergreene Digest and be willing to commit two to five hours a month, Board members should live in or be able to periodically travel to the Twin Cities area.

Adaptability and dealing with ambiguity, ability to work with others as a team, and initiative and risk-taking are other attributes sought in board members.

Anyone interested in the board can contact Evergreene Digest at 952-253-1444, evergreenedigest@earthlink.net, or at the home page of Evergreene Digest www.evergreenedigest.org

Source: Evergreene Digest

 

© All rights reserved to Access Press Ltd.
Last updated on September 12, 2008

Designed and maintained by Info Architect