April 23, 2008
Braille and other formats also to be made available
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The nation’s three major consumer credit reporting companies today unveiled a comprehensive program to provide improved access to important credit information for people who are blind or visually impaired. The initiative, crafted with the American Council of the Blind, its California affiliate and several individual members of the blindness community, will help protect the credit information of individuals who cannot read a standard print credit report.
Under the plan announced today, Equifax (NYSE: EFX), Experian (EXPN.LN), and TransUnion have begun working to make online credit reports and related information accessible through their jointly operated website, AnnualCreditReport.com, the official site to help consumers obtain free credit reports. Accessible credit reports for people with visual impairments will be available online by October 31 of this year. By the end of the year, the companies will also make credit reports available in braille and other formats at no charge to qualified individuals who cannot access print information.
“We are thrilled with the commitment of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to provide credit information in accessible formats,” said Melanie Brunson, Executive Director of the American Council of the Blind. “The initiative being announced today will help people with visual impairments fight identity theft by independently monitoring and reviewing their credit reports as all members of the public should.”
“By creating AnnualCreditReport.com, Equifax and the other two nationwide credit reporting companies gave consumers easy access to their credit information and this latest initiative is yet another example of how, as an industry, we are extending this access to consumers with visual impairments,” said Dann Adams, President, Equifax U.S. Consumer Information Solutions.
“Experian has a long history of providing quality credit products and services
to consumers, and we were excited by the opportunity to improve access for
consumers with visual impairments to these important tools,” said Kerry
Williams, group president, Credit Services & Decision Analytics, Experian
Americas.
“TransUnion is very pleased to be a part of this important effort that will help empower visually impaired consumers to manage their own credit health," said Mark Marinko, president of Consumer Services at TransUnion.
Web Site Access
Today’s initiative includes a commitment to design online credit reports and related web pages in accordance with guidelines issued by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (www.w3.org/wai). The guidelines, which do not affect the content or look and feel of a web site, ensure that web sites are accessible to people with visual disabilities. The guidelines are of particular benefit to blind computer users who use screen reader or magnification technology on their computers and who rely on a keyboard instead of a mouse.
“Web site accessibility is of great importance to both the blind community and to people with disabilities generally,” said Jeff Thom, ACB board member and president of the California Council of the Blind. “We applaud the leadership role taken by all the credit reporting companies in committing to address the accessibility of AnnualCreditReport.com and online credit reports, helping to protect the financial security of a wide range of online consumers.”
“We truly appreciate the credit reporting companies’ willingness to engage in discussions with us to find a solution to the problem of inaccessible credit reports,” said Paul Parravano, a blind MIT employee in Cambridge, Mass., who was involved in the discussions. “Today’s announcement, reached as a result of the collaborative process, is an important milestone in the blind community’s quest for independent control over their financial information.”
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