LAS VEGAS --
McCarran International Airport is the target of a lawsuit filed by the National Federation of the Blind, which claimed the airport’s new ticket kiosks aren’t accessible to the visually impaired.
In the lawsuit, the group accused the airport of failing to modify the touch-screen machines, which allow people to check into flights and print boarding passes.
“McCarran could easily add an audio interface, a tactile keypad, or interactive screen reader technology that works with touch-screens to its kiosks, or purchase kiosks with these features, but has neglected to do so,” the group said in a statement.
It accused the airport of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
McCarran released a statement that stated: "McCarran International Airport attorneys are in the process of researching the facts and issues raised in the case just filed. We cannot comment on this matter until our attorneys have reviewed the allegations."
Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, called McCarran’s actions the “greatest threat to the privacy and independence of blind air travelers that we have seen.”
McCarran was singled out in the lawsuit because it is one of the only airports that owns and operates its own kiosks. In other airports, the airlines operate their own kiosks, federation spokesman Chris Danielsen said.
"The Americans with Disabilities Act specifically says that public entities have to make the benefits they provide to non-disabled people to the disabled, and since McCarran is run by Clark County, it is a public entity," Danielsen said.
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