News and Articles

Who is to Blame for Delay in ADA Web Access Regs? It’s not the DOJ

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The 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) falls on Wednesday, July 26, in just about two weeks. Will that be the day that official notice of long-promised web accessibility regulations for state and local governments in the United States is finally published? The official notice, called a Notice of Proposed Rule Making… Read more… Who is to Blame for Delay in ADA Web Access Regs? It’s not the DOJ

New regulations for kiosks and self-service transaction machines? We’ve been here before.

Posted on Updated on June 22, 2023
On September 21, 2022 the United States Access Board, a federal government agency, issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) about kiosks. The Notice is about the details for making self-service kiosks (alternatively referred to as self-service transaction machines (SSTMs)) independently usable by people with disabilities. The image accompanying this article is an… Read more… New regulations for kiosks and self-service transaction machines? We’ve been here before.

London, Dublin, GAAD 2023!

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This  year, on the 11th anniversary of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, I lived the G in GAAD by spending GAAD week in London, with a side trip to Dublin. Being immersed in the digital accessibility community in the UK was a treat. And after working in the digital accessibility space for 27 years, GAAD 2023 outside… Read more… London, Dublin, GAAD 2023!

$240,000.00 Jury Verdict in Blind Students’ Accessibility Lawsuit against Community College

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On May 26, 2023 a jury in Los Angeles, California awarded two blind students a little over $240,000.00 in their lawsuit against the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). The suit was filed in 2017 by students Roy Payan and Portia Mason under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation… Read more… $240,000.00 Jury Verdict in Blind Students’ Accessibility Lawsuit against Community College

G is for Global: Tribute to Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2013

Posted on Updated on May 14, 2023
On May 9, 2013 people around the world will be gathering for workshops, seminars and other events to celebrate and recognize the second annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day, or GAAD. As explained on the GAAD Facebook page, the day is a community-driven effort whose goal is to focus one day to raise the profile of digital (web, software, mobile app/device, touch screen kiosk, etc.) accessibility and people with different disabilities. The Law Office of Lainey Feingold’s legal practice is entirely focused on digital accessibility, and this post is my tribute to the wonderful idea that is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Congratulations to the grassroots community that is growing GAAD and especially to accessibility activist extraordinaire Jennison Asuncion whose enthusiasm and commitment is significantly responsible for the tremendous growth of this day of awareness. Read more… G is for Global: Tribute to Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2013

Early Win (and Settlement) for Deaf Plaintiff in VR Captioning Lawsuit

Posted on Updated on April 4, 2023
In 2020, lawyers for Dylan Panarra, a deaf man, filed a cutting edge lawsuit against the HTC corporation, one of the biggest electronics companies in the world. The lawsuit stated that HTC violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because there is no captioning on the company’s Virtual Reality (“VR”) content. The first court ruling in the case came on April 15, 2022. Read more… Early Win (and Settlement) for Deaf Plaintiff in VR Captioning Lawsuit

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Posted on Updated on March 10, 2023
I finally read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I thank the Twitter accessibility community for ensuring that I did not miss this 1979 classic. Adrian Roselli’s Twitter profile got me curious: What is a “hoopy frood” I wondered, and why does its towel location deserve a spot in a Twitter 160… Read more… The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Two US Government Agencies Warn about Hiring Technology that Discriminates against Disabled Applicants

Posted on Updated on January 1, 2023
The unemployment rate for people with disabilities in the United States is at an unacceptable high rate. As the US Bureau of Labor Statistics stated in a February 2022 informational release: “Across all educational attainment groups, unemployment rates for persons with a disability were higher than those for persons without a disability.” Two new resources from the US federal government address one type of barrier to the employment of disabled people: Algorithmic and Artificial Intelligence (AI) hiring tools that discriminate. Read more… Two US Government Agencies Warn about Hiring Technology that Discriminates against Disabled Applicants

Structured Negotiations Behind Landmark Hospital Access Settlement

Posted on Updated on October 4, 2022
The Law Office of Lainey Feingold congratulates the lawyers and activists who used Structured Negotiations to hammer out a landmark agreement on hospital access for people with disabilities at two major Boston medical facilities. A press release announcing the accessibility initiative was issued on June 26, 2009. Kudos especially to Dan Manning, Litigation Director of Greater Boston Legal Services, who championed the Structured Negotiations approach to resolve the the Boston Hospital accessibility claims. Read more… Structured Negotiations Behind Landmark Hospital Access Settlement