This article is written by Eve Hill, one of the leading disability rights lawyers and digital accessibility legal specialists in the United States. (More about Eve at the end of this article.) Eve shares information about a lawsuit her law firm recently filed against a United States public university under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The suit is about the failure of the university to provide accessible technology and other accommodations to two blind graduate students.
As Eve writes below, the lawsuit reminds us that the ADA currently prevents discrimination against disabled students in public universities even though regulations with technical requirements for web and mobile accessibility are not yet in effect. The lawsuit is also a welcome reminder that private civil rights lawyers will continue to enforce the law and protect the rights of disabled students during this time when we can no longer count on federal agencies for this work.
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What this case is about
Two blind students, the National Federation of the Blind, and its West Virginia affiliate filed a lawsuit against West Virginia University last week for using inaccessible technology and materials, failing to offer readers, and placing blind students in inaccessible field placements. (An image of a large brick building on campus accompanies this article.)
The two students, Miranda Lacy and Harold Thomas Rogers, are in the online Social Work Masters program at WVU. In stark contrast to their undergraduate experiences at other universities, WVU required the use of inaccessible learning and collaboration platforms and inaccessible educational materials including text books. According to the NFB press release, the University’s
use of inaccessible software, such as Blackboard, VoiceThread, and Tevera, prevents blind students from navigating their coursework and logging required internship hours independently.
As if that weren’t bad enough, they would not provide human readers to help blind students access these materials.
Mr. Rogers and Ms. Lacy have spent hours of their own time advocating with WVU to address accessibility barriers and helping WVU address those barriers, instead of being able to study or rest and relax, as sighted students can. WVU also required Ms. Lacy and Mr. Rogers to work at field experiences that were not accessible, leading to Mr. Rogers having to delay his graduation.
The suit seeks to require WVU to adopt policies and procedures to ensure learning technology and materials are accessible in advance. It also seeks damages (payments to the clients) for the educational benefits that were denied to the students and attorneys’ fees for the students’ lawyers as allowed by law. The students are represented by Eve Hill, Erin O’Neill, and Julie Orozco of the civil rights firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy and Disability Rights of West Virginia.
- Read a press announcement about the case from the lawyers representing the blind students.
- Read a press announcement about the case by the National Federation of the Blind
- Read the ADA Complaint against West Virginia University
The ADA still applies even though the 2024 Title II website regulations are not yet in effect
This case is another reminder that, even though the new ADA Title II website and mobile app Rule is not yet in effect, colleges and universities already have obligations to ensure equally effective communication with students with disabilities. The Rule goes into effect in 2026 or 2027, depending on the size of a public organization.
For another recent legal action with the same message, see the article on this website titled Web Accessibility Lawsuit Moves Forward Against the State of Louisiana: Judge refuses to throw case out of court just because deadlines for Title II technical standards are in the future.
About Eve Hill
Eve Hill, one of the nation’s leading disability and civil rights attorneys, is a partner in the civil rights law firm of Brown, Goldstein, & Levy. Inclusivity, started by Eve, is the strategic consulting arm of the firm. She previously served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, where she was responsible for oversight of the Division’s disability rights enforcement and educational civil rights implementation. Her responsibilities included enforcement, regulation, and policy development regarding accessibility requirements for websites and other digital technology; Olmstead community integration requirements in employment and education; and disability rights in education, law enforcement, and health care.
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