United Airlines is currently facing a class action lawsuit in a San Francisco California court. The law suit is filed by three travelers, Michael Hingson, Mike May, and Tina Thomas, residents of California and currently represented by National Federation of the blind. The three are frequently flyers with United Airlines. They filed a class-action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against United Airlines on October 25^th, 2010 and accuse the airline of deploying inaccessible technology at its airport Kiosks.

The National Federation of the Blind is America’s oldest, most prestigious and largest organization of blind people. It is the leading advocate for accessible technology and fights for the rights of blind people.

President of the National Federation of the Blind, Dr. Marc Maurer stated:

The airline industry has an unfortunate history of discriminating against blind passengers, and now United Airlines is repeating that history by deploying inaccessible technology that we cannot use. United is engaging in this blatant discrimination even though the technology to make its kiosks accessible is readily available, has been deployed by others, and will involve little cost to the company. Instead of enjoying the features and convenience of these kiosks, including a quicker and more convenient check-in process, blind passengers must wait in long lines at the ticket counter, even when they have already purchased their tickets and checked in online. We will not tolerate a separate and unequal experience for blind passengers and demand that United cease its discrimination against us as soon as practicable.

Reports also say that United is using a airport kiosks that employ touch screen technology, however there is no audio support to it. For the reason, they cannot be used by blind passengers and the access or benefits of the Kiosks are limited. These Kiosks are important in the sense that they provide information about flights to San Francisco / from or other destinations, check in for flights, print tickets and boarding passes, select seats, upgrade to United’s business or first class cabins, check baggage, and perform other transactions relevant to their air travel plans. The utility makes flying more convenient for United Airline passengers.

According to the claims made in this lawsuit, United is accused of violating the California Disabled Persons Act and the Unruh Civil Rights Act as the services it provides through these kiosks are not available to blind passengers whereas other airlines are already providing an audio interface, a tactile keyboard, or interactive screen reader technology that works with touch screens at their kiosks.