Caremark Offers Talking Prescription Labels, Braille, Large Print

Posted on Updated on January 11, 2021
Congratulations CVS Health! Today the largest integrated pharmacy company in the United States announced that is now offering talking, braille and large print prescription labels through its mail service pharmacy, commonly known as Caremark. The labels are available to Individuals with vision impairments. This important health, safety and accessibility initiative was reached as a result of a collaboration with the American Council of the Blind and several blind Caremark members. The press release below, announcing the initiative, expands CVS Health’s commitment to its blind members across the country. Read more… Caremark Offers Talking Prescription Labels, Braille, Large Print

Boston Globe Story about Brian Charlson and MLB.com Access Improvements

Posted on Updated on October 27, 2020
Blind Sox Fan Gets MLB to Even Game Like any true Red Sox fan, Brian Charlson attends as many games as possible and listens to the rest, play by play, on the radio. But when it came to reading stats, his blindness sometimes got in the way. Not any longer. At the urging of Charlson and fellow advocates, Major League Baseball rolled out a series of accessibility features this week on all league and team websites aimed at making statistics, ticketing, and other information fully accessible to the visually impaired. “It’s exciting that MLB has joined with us in this effort, hearing what the blindness community needs to take full advantage of this wonderful thing that is baseball. They are setting the stage for other sports to do likewise. Next season I’ll be asking the NFL, and I’ll say, ‘See what MLB can do? You don’t want to be outshined by the MLB.’” Read more… Boston Globe Story about Brian Charlson and MLB.com Access Improvements

Houston Transit Agency Announces Digital Access Initiative

Posted on Updated on October 25, 2020
METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HARRIS COUNTY ANNOUNCES DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY INITIATIVE: HOUSTON (March 17, 2016) — Consistent with its commitment to all of its riders, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (“METRO”) today announced an initiative to make its affiliated websites, mobile applications, and print formation more accessible and inclusive. METRO is taking the lead in the public transportation field regarding online accessibility for individuals with visual impairments. The organization adopted the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.0 level AA as its accessibility standard and is making enhancements to work toward meeting this standard. Read more… Houston Transit Agency Announces Digital Access Initiative

First Accessibility Agreement in U.S. to Use WCAG 2.1: Reached With Structured Negotiation

Posted on Updated on October 17, 2020
On November 2, 2018 Alameda County California, three blind residents, and the National Federation of the Blind announced a settlement designed to protect the rights of blind voters to participate fully in the county’s voting program. It is the first agreement in the United States to include WCAG 2.1 as the accessibility standard. The parties used Structured… Read more… First Accessibility Agreement in U.S. to Use WCAG 2.1: Reached With Structured Negotiation

Book Launch Celebration!

Posted on Updated on September 29, 2020
More than 100 people gathered in Berkeley, California on October 16, 2016 to help me celebrate the publication of Structured Negotiation, a Winning Alternative to Lawsuits. The atrium at the beautiful Ed Roberts Campus was perfect place for the party. Blind activists who have helped Structured Negotiation flourish as a way to resolve legal claims without lawsuits, members of the local disability community, and friends and colleagues from so many strands of my life turned out to celebrate the book despite the first big rain of the season. Read more… Book Launch Celebration!

Catherine Skivers: Organizer, Activist, Friend, Blind Community Leader

Posted on Updated on September 29, 2020
[Update: Catherine Skivers died on December 12, 2019, a week after this post was written.] Catherine Skivers came to California in 1949 at the age of 23 with the man she had married at 16. Within a year, her husband had left her, offering her a one-way bus ticket back to her family in Missouri.… Read more… Catherine Skivers: Organizer, Activist, Friend, Blind Community Leader

Bank of America Honored for Accessibility Work; Structured Negotiation Gets Shout Out

Posted on Updated on September 29, 2020
On October 21, 2019 friends and supporters of Disability Rights Advocates, a national nonprofit disability rights legal center, gathered in New York to celebrate the organization and honor this year’s Eagle Award recipients. One of the honorees was Bank of America, a long-time digital accessibility and disability inclusion leader and Structured Negotiation champion. The picture… Read more… Bank of America Honored for Accessibility Work; Structured Negotiation Gets Shout Out

Ethics in the Digital Accessibility Legal Space: ADA Enforcement Cases or Something Else?

Posted on Updated on September 29, 2020
A 177% jump in the number of web accessibility lawsuits filed in federal court over two years. A handful of lawyers filing hundreds of cases, settling quickly, with no public statement about any accessibility improvements. Industry associations looking to roll-back the ADA, state legislatures limiting the right to sue about digital accessibility. So called experts… Read more… Ethics in the Digital Accessibility Legal Space: ADA Enforcement Cases or Something Else?

2019 CSUNATC Digital Accessibility Legal Update

Posted on Updated on September 29, 2020
On March 13, 2019, I presented the 2019 Digital Accessibility Legal Update to a packed house at the annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference. With so much content, and no recordings, I try to follow up the powerpoint with a post like this one — summarizing this year’s updates with links to more information for those who are curious. And since it took me a month to get this out, there are even two new items in this post that were not part of the update. Read more… 2019 CSUNATC Digital Accessibility Legal Update

Recipe for Staying Ahead of the Legal Curve: Bake Accessibility into Your Organization

Posted on Updated on September 29, 2020
At the 2018 CSUN Assistive Technology Conference last month I had the wonderful opportunity to present with Microsoft lawyer Sue Boyd. Our session was titled Beyond Compliance: Staying Out in Front of Digital Accessibility Legal Trends. Our talk focused on the ingredients needed to bake accessibility into an organization. The audience even got homemade chocolate chip cookies to drive home the theme. Check out this post for the full recipe! Read more… Recipe for Staying Ahead of the Legal Curve: Bake Accessibility into Your Organization