People in the News

This topic includes articles about people in the digital accessibility or disability rights communities.

Becky (Welz) Griffith (1971 – 2015)

Posted on Updated on September 28, 2020
Becky Griffith was a valuable member of the blind community and a valued Structured Negotiations participant. She died earlier this month at the too-young age of 44. Becky was a claimant in successful Structured Negotiations with Safeway grocery chain. (A Structured Negotiations claimant is the equivalent of a plaintiff in a lawsuit. We use different terminology to emphasize that Structured Negotiations is a collaborative, not an adversarial process.) The Safeway effort convinced the company to upgrade its online grocery shopping site to satisfy the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Level AA so blind people (and everyone else) can use it. In this post you can read more about her participation in the Safeway negotiations, and about the qualities that made Becky a strong advocate for the rights of blind people. Read more… Becky (Welz) Griffith (1971 – 2015)

Sue Ammeter, Blind Disability Rights Champion, Dies at 69

Posted on
The list of Sue Ammeter’s advocacy roles could fill this post.  Board member (and often officer) of the American Council of the Blind, the Washington State Council of the Blind, and the National Braille Press are just some of the organizations Sue Ammeter volunteered with on top of her paid work. Organizations that will miss the talent, commitment, and unstoppable advocacy of the Washington state resident who died on April 7, 2018. Read more… Sue Ammeter, Blind Disability Rights Champion, Dies at 69

Cynthia Waddell: Early Leader in Web Accessibility Legal Theory and Advocacy

Posted on Updated on April 2, 2018
Cynthia Waddell, a pioneer in developing and advocating for legal theories to support website accessibility for people with disabilities, died on April 2, 2013. In 1998, two years before the first Structured Negotiations web accessibility settlement, eight years before the Target web litigation was filed, and long before the U.S. Department of Justice stated its intention to issue web accessibility regulations, Cynthia wrote articles and gave speeches explaining the legal basis for universal design in the development of webpages. Before Twitter and its ubiquitous #a11y and #ux hashtags, Cynthia was an international advocate for an inclusive web, open to all. Read more… Cynthia Waddell: Early Leader in Web Accessibility Legal Theory and Advocacy

ABA Journal Highlights Structured Negotiation

Posted on Updated on May 31, 2017
Catching flies with honey is not the default strategy most attorneys use to resolve disputes. But Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian, both longtime California advocacy lawyers, have worked out a method that avoids conflict, costly litigation and protracted time in court—while still yielding beneficial results for their clients. The process they call “structured negotiations” has been used mainly to achieve improved access for the blind, including ATM machines that talk, websites embedded with code to decipher text and photos, and tactile point-of-sale devices in grocery stores. Read more… ABA Journal Highlights Structured Negotiation

Clarence Whaley (1947 – 2008)

Posted on Updated on March 10, 2016
Clarence Whaley, who died on June 14 at the too young age of 60, was an unsung hero of Structured Negotiations. Along with blind advocate Paul Parravano, Clarence was a Claimant in the negotiations with American Express about Braille and Large Print statements. Clarence’s calm yet forceful presence was crucial to the outcome: a binding settlement agreement with American Express in which the company agreed to provide Braille and Large Print statements to all visually impaired account holders in the United States. Read more… Clarence Whaley (1947 – 2008)

August Longo: Advocate for Accessible Health Care through Structured Negotiations

Posted on Updated on March 10, 2016
The disability community lost a strong advocate on April 6 when San Francisco Human Rights Commissioner August J.P. Longo died unexpectedly in his home. In addition to his Commissioner title, August was well known for his role on the City’s Access Appeals Board, his position as Regional Director of the State Democratic Party, and other activism in state and local politics. Less known was his advocacy for accessible health care. It was in this capacity that my co-counsel Linda Dardarian and I came to know and appreciate August Longo. Read more… August Longo: Advocate for Accessible Health Care through Structured Negotiations

Linda Dardarian: Structured Negotiations Leader Recognized as California Super Lawyer

Posted on Updated on March 10, 2016
For the sixth year in a row, Linda Dardarian has been named a California Super Lawyer by her peers in the legal community. Linda, a partner in the Oakland California civil rights firm of Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian, has been Lainey Feingold’s principal co-counsel in Structured Negotiations cases for the past fifteen years. Linda has played a critical role in developing Structured Negotiations as an advocacy and dispute resolution method and in effectively implementing it in a wide variety of cases. Read more… Linda Dardarian: Structured Negotiations Leader Recognized as California Super Lawyer