From San Francisco Chronicle, Bay City News wire/CBS5 San Francisco:

A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Social Security Administration’s benefit notice methods violate federal law because they do not provide equal access for approximately 3 million recipients who are blind or have limited vision.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the agency to give people the option of receiving notices in Braille or audio computer discs. Presently, notices are sent by mail with the option of a follow-up phone call.

… Alsup said the Social Security Administration refused to acknowledge that it was even covered by the anti-discrimination law until after the suit was filed in 2005, and “has been quick to find lame excuses for noncompliance.”

… “This is a huge benefit,” said attorney Silvia Yee of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund in Berkeley, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. She said the ruling will allow many recipients “to have an independence in working with the (Social Security Administration) that they’ve never had before.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 6:43 pm and is filed under ADA, blindness/visual impairments, law, social security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.