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

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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 BOB AYALA 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, Bob Ayala, 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. old. Internet Use 5. 6. I have used a computer since 1994. I have used the screen reading software "JAWS" to access computers and, especially, the I am 55 years old. I reside in Nashua, New Hampshire. I was born with retinitis pigmentosa and I have been legally blind since I was 16 years

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internet since 2000. 7. I use the internet every day for a variety of functions and activities in my daily life,

including: browsing, email, shopping, and research for work. 8. I shop online rather than go to a physical store because I find it significantly easier to do

so. To go to a physical store, I must schedule a time with my wife to go to the store. 9. It is significantly more convenient for me to use the internet to shop than to try to go

shopping at physical stores. 10. 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 11. I have shopped at several Target stores that are within 15 minutes of my house. Harms Experienced Because of the Inaccessibility of Target.com 12. I would like to shop at Target.com because traveling to the physical retail location

necessitates a significant expense of time, energy, and money. 13. 14. I have attempted to access Target.com with my screen reader. I have found it extremely difficult, and at times impossible, to browse for and purchase

products on Target.com using my screen reader.
National Federation of the Blind, et al. v. Target Corporation, et al. Case No.: C 06-01802 MHP Declaration of Bob Ayala 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]

15.

Upon accessing Target.com on several occasions, I have become frustrated with

inexplicable code and garbled text. 16. In December 2005, two of my friends were getting married and were registered at Target.

I went to Target.com to purchase a gift for them; however I found the site inaccessible and so frustrating that I had to find time to go to the physical store in person. This occurred during the Christmas rush and my wife, who works in retail sales, found it difficult to find the time to go to Target in person, thus she had asked me to try and take care of it online. Also, we have other friends getting married on May 6, 2006 who are also registered at Target and find ourselves in the same predicament. 17. I first visited Target.com about two years ago after hearing about a specific pepper

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grinder product on the National Public Radio cooking program "The Splendid Table." Since Target was one of the program's sponsors, I went to the site assuming they might carry the grinder. I found the site to be inaccessible to my screen reader, as it would only announce strings of numbers and letters that were unintelligible. I became so frustrated that I gave up looking for the product. 18. I attempted to access the weekly advertisements page on Target.com. However I found

that I was unable to access the page correctly with my screen access software. 19. I have been told that there is also a baby registry on Target.com in addition to the

wedding registry, and if the site were accessible I would much prefer using those features to traveling to the physical stores in order to purchase gifts. 20. I have found the entire process of attempting to access Target.com to be extremely

frustrating and discouraging. 21. If Target.com were an accessible website I would visit the website and make purchases at

the website. 22. My inability to use Target.com thwarts my independence and forces me to rely on others

unnecessarily.

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

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