Visually impaired and employer won't provide alternate application. Do I have a case?

Question

I am not blind, but I have limited vision. I can see well enough to ride a bike, for instance, but not well enough to drive. I can read large type and I use a computer by enlarging the screen. However, I can't read small or medium print, or see clearly enough to complete a standard job application. Thus, I do better if I can access an on-line or electronic app (could even be a scanned copy of a regular application on CD, that I can enlarge and complete and shrink back to normal size) or take the app home to have someone read and record my responses, and I sign it..

Recently, a major employer indicated that they were hiring. I requested an application and they handed me a regular app. I politely mentioned that I have difficulty seeing and asked if it would be possible to come back and get a 'vision-friendly' application or an electronic version, and explained that I'm visually impaired. I asked if I could 'come back later' so that the employer could have some time to make up a vision-friendly version. (I try to accommodate others, just as others accommodate me)

They told me that three wasn't one, there was no other form but that one, and that I had to complete the form on site. I then asked if there was someone who could assist me with the process, and I would be happy to set up a time for another day if it wasn't convenient right then. I was told 'No, the application has to be completed individually.' I explained that all I was asking was for someone to read the questions aloud, and record my responses in the spaces as I gave them. I was still denied. The position I was seeking was not heavily sight dependent, and what vision-heavy tasks there were could have been accommodated with a normal computer, just like I 'm doing here. Thus, the application on CD, where I could load it, enlarge the screen so that I can see and answer the questions, then shrink it down to normal size for printing would solve the problem just fine. Denied again, even when I offered to complete the app on site in this manner. Thus, I was effectively denied a chance to apply for the job, in my take on it, simply because of my vision. I refuse to call myself disabled; I'm just a person who needs extra help to see, and I just do things a bit differently because of my low vision. Yet, that's exactly the term used for people with 'deficits' of all kinds, whether it be mobility, vision, hearing, etc. Nonetheless, I hate the term. All of us, while alive, are able to do SOMETHING-- even if it's just smiling and making someone else happy. We are only truly disabled when we can no longer do anything at all. We call that being 'DEAD'. I am not there yet!

Does this sound like discrimination under ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)?

Answer 1

Yes it does

Failure to make a reasonable accommodation

Suggest you write polite business letter to head of HR, store manager, company prez

Does require use of the D word

Answer 2

The key word here is probably 'REASONABLE' accommodation. That can be a very gray area of the ADA, and creating a special application to accommodate your problem, when most people with low vision could be accommodated with a magnifying glass to use normal application, would not likely pass that test.



A better way for them to handle it might have been for someone there help you fill out the application. You don't say what the job was that you were applying for, so this might not apply: but for many jobs, filling out the application is a critical part of the process to check the person's reading, spelling and grammar skills and this would be bypassed with your requested accommodation. The fact that they require applicants to fill it out on-site makes me think that something like that was going on here.



If it was a clerical person handing out the applications, you might have handled it better by asking to talk to a senior HR person, who might have been able to find some kind of workable compromise.



Please don't think I'm just assuming you can't fit into the workplace. I have had a totally blind from birth computer programmer work for me at a large corporation, so am aware of how much can be worked out with a little creativity.



Without more info it's hard to say whether ADA was violated of not. If they just assumed that visually impaired means incapable, yes. If you were talking to a clerical person who was following the policy that the applicant must fill out the application without assistance, probably not.



In any case, good luck with your job search.

Answer 3

Do I think you have a case under the ADA?

The company might be in violation of the ADA = unless the company is Google or Coca Cola or some other super high profile client, I don't think there is a lawyer who would take your case because your damages are very small.



Why don't you just carry a magnifying glass with you, if all you need is bigger print.

Answer 4

you might, but I don't think so. they are not really saying you can't apply, I thing most things would apply after you got the job, not before. you could bring in a resume'.