National Federation of the Blind et al v. Target Corporation

Filing 20

MOTION for Preliminary Injunction filed by National Federation of the Blind, Bruce Frank Sexton, the National Federation of the Blind of California. Motion Hearing set for 6/12/2006 02:00 PM in Courtroom 15, 18th Floor, San Francisco. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit of Dr. James W. Thatcher# 2 Affidavit of Marc Maurer# 3 Affidavit of Anne Taylor# 4 Affidavit of Bruce F. Sexton# 5 Affidavit of Bob Ayala# 6 Affidavit of Tim Elder# 7 Affidavit of Steve Jacobson# 8 Affidavit of Robert Stigile# 9 Affidavit of Tina Thomas# 10 Affidavit of Terri Uttermohlen# 11 Affidavit of Ken Volonte# 12 Proposed Order Granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction)(Paradis, Laurence) (Filed on 5/8/2006)

National Federation of the Blind et al v. Target Corporation

Doc. 20 Att. 10

Case 3:06-cv-01802-MHP

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DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES 2001 CENTER STREET, THIRD FLOOR BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 94704-1204 510.665.8644

LAURENCE W. PARADIS (California Bar No. 122336) [e-mail] MAZEN M. BASRAWI (California Bar No. 235475) [e-mail] DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES 2001 Center Street, Third Floor Berkeley, California 94704 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] TTY: [phone] TODD M. SCHNEIDER (California Bar No. 158253) [e-mail] JOSHUA KONECKY (California Bar No. 182897) [e-mail] SCHNEIDER & WALLACE 180 Montgomery Street, Suite 2000 San Francisco, CA 94104 Telephone: [phone] Fax: [phone] TTY: [phone] DANIEL F. GOLDSTEIN (pro hac vice) [e-mail] BROWN, GOLDSTEIN & LEVY, LLP 120 E. Baltimore St., Suite 1700 Baltimore, MD 21202 Telephone: [phone] Fax: [phone] UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND, the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF CALIFORNIA, on behalf of their members, and Bruce F. Sexton, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. TARGET CORPORATION, Defendant. Case No.: C 06-01802 MHP CLASS ACTION DECLARATION OF TERRI UTTERMOHLEN IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION Hearing Date: June 12, 2006 Time: 2:00 p.m. Judge: The Honorable Marilyn Hall Patel

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Dockets.Justia.com

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DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES 2001 Center Street, Third Floor Berkeley, CA 94704-1204 [phone]

I, Terri Uttermohlen, declare as follows: 1. The facts in this declaration are based upon my personal knowledge. If called to testify,

I could testify competently to the facts described in this declaration. Background 2. 3. 4. 5. I am 45 years old. I have been legally blind since 1975 and totally blind since 1983. I reside in Baltimore, Maryland. I have been a member of the National Federation of the Blind since 1996. Internet Use 6. 7. I have used a computer since 1989. I have used the screen reading software "JAWS" to access computers and, especially, the

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internet for nine years. Before that, I used different screen access software. 8. I use the internet every day for a variety of functions and activities in my daily life,

including: email, technical research, information gathering, shopping for groceries and pharmacy products, pet food, travel planning, airline tickets, airline check-in, and consumer research. 9. 10. I consider myself a fairly sophisticated user of computers and the internet. I also utilize the internet for work. I provide training and technical assistance on federal

disability programs. I must research work-related questions frequently on the internet. 11. I often shop online rather than go to a physical store because I find it significantly easier

to do so. Particularly for items like groceries, shopping online allows me to read product information like labels that I would not be able to read in a store without assistance. Because my husband is also blind, shopping online saves us the cost of using taxis to get to and from the store, as well as saving us time and energy. 12. Using my screen reader to access the internet has significantly improved my own view of

my independence to conduct personal business without the help of others. Experience with Target Retail Stores 13. I have shopped at a Target store that is about 10 miles from my home.

National Federation of the Blind, et al. v. Target Corporation, et al. Case No.: C 06-01802 MHP Declaration of Terri Uttermohlen in support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction

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DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES 2001 Center Street, Third Floor Berkeley, CA 94704-1204 [phone]

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For me, shopping at Target's physical location near my home requires finding a friend to

drive me there or paying for a taxi, which generally costs about $25 to that location. When there, I need assistance from a friend, or a Target employee, to find what I need. Harms Experienced Because of the Inaccessibility of Target.com 15. I would like to shop at Target.com because traveling to the physical retail location

necessitates a significant expense of time, energy, and money. It also means that I must depend on others to provide direction and product information. Unlike my experience in the store, I can access price, color, and other product information autonomously from accessible websites. 16. I have attempted unsuccessfully on numerous occasions to access Target.com with my

screen reader. 17. I often come to Target.com through searches I conduct on Google.com when looking for

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products I wish to purchase. I would like to use the information on Target.com in order to compare prices and product information with other information I find on different sites. 18. Most recently, I searched on Google.com for places to purchase a grill, grilling tools, and

gloves for my husband. When I completed this search, pages on Target.com were popular search results. However, I found it impossible both to read product descriptions and to complete any purchase on Target.com. 19. I have found it extremely difficult, and at times impossible, to browse for products on

Target.com using my screen reader. I have avoided the site because of the poorly labeled graphics and the site's inaccessibility. 20. Upon accessing Target.com on several occasions, I have become frustrated with

inexplicable code and garbled text that has prevented me from continuing to navigate through the site, and I have never navigated past the home page except on the occasions I found a direct link through Google.com. When I get there, I back out as soon as I realize that I won't be able to access the site successfully. Even though Target may have good prices, or good products, I am barred from purchasing from them online.

National Federation of the Blind, et al. v. Target Corporation, et al. Case No.: C 06-01802 MHP Declaration of Terri Uttermohlen in support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction

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