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 STEVE JACOBSON 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, Steve Jacobson, 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 55 years old. I have been blind since birth. I reside in Edina, Minnesota. I have been a member of the National Federation of the Blind since 1972. Internet Use 6. For thirty years, I have been employed in the computer field as a programmer and a

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Systems Analyst on IBM mainframe computers and I have some experience with Teradata hardware and databases as well. 7. Since the personal computer came into common use over twenty years ago, I have been

using one in conjunction with screen reading software used by blind people to access computers, both on the job and at home. 8. years. 9. I use the internet for a variety of functions and activities in my life, including: performing I have been actively browsing the internet with screen access software for more than ten

job functions, purchasing groceries, purchasing music and compact discs, and gathering information. 10. 11. I consider myself a fairly sophisticated user of computers and the internet. 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. 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.

National Federation of the Blind, et al. v. Target Corporation, et al. Case No.: C 06-01802 MHP Declaration of Steve Jacobson 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]

Experience with Target Retail Stores 13. As a resident of the Twin cities area of Minnesota, my family frequently shops at Target

stores. I have come to count on Target for quality products and low prices. In addition, the Target Corporation is regarded as a good corporate citizen of our state. As a regular Target shopper who is also blind, I have also been very interested in using the Target web site because of the ability to more easily browse and compare products and the convenience of having them delivered. My family has purchased some merchandise through the Target web site with the help of a sighted person. Harms Experienced Because of the Inaccessibility of Target.com 14. I would like to shop at Target.com because traveling to the physical retail location

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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. 15. I have attempted unsuccessfully on numerous occasions to access Target.com with my

screen reader. 16. 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. 17. In my experience, the Target web site contains a number of links and images that do not

have labels that could clearly identify what they do, making access to the site nearly impossible. 18. My screen reader often shows a frame with an indication that the server is not found,

even though the remainder of the page loads correctly. This information does not appear on the computer screen, as reported by sighted members of my household. I have never seen this behavior before as an experienced computer user. 19. There is yet another problem that is of the highest significance. On February 8, 2006,

after searching for products and adding them to my cart, I proceeded to checkout using the "Proceed to Checkout" link. Once the next window appeared, though, I seem not to be able to
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