Articles
This page has short summaries of every article posted on Lainey Feingold's website with links to the full articles. Visit the Writings Page to read Lainey's articles that were first posted in other publications. Visit the Topics Page for all 300 plus articles on this website organized into 38 topics including web accessibility settlements and Talking ATM press releases.
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 for Deaf Plaintiff in VR Captioning Lawsuit
As a public speaker and writer, I am always looking for good photos for presentations and articles I write on this website. What do I mean by “good”? I look for images that reflect what I’m trying to say, add to the story, amplify the message. And I look for images that don’t perpetuate or…
Read more… Stock Photo Sites for Inclusion
[Latest UpdateJune 28, 2022] Digital accessibility is not just about websites, and the law is taking notice. This post, updated with new developments, highlights cases about kiosk accessibility. I use the term “kiosk” broadly to include tablets and any piece of technology offering services, products, and information. Who will use that technology? People — and that means disabled people.
Read more… Kiosk Accessibility: The Law is Paying Attention
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.
On September 28, 2022 the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act was introduced in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. (This is called “bicameral legislation” because the same proposed bill was introduced in both parts (Senate and House ) of the US Congress.) In the Senate the bill was…
Read more… Proposed web and software accessibility legislation introduced in United States Congress
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
On December 9, 2021, the National Association of the Deaf (“NAD”) and Disability Rights Advocates (“DRA”) filed a lawsuit against SiriusXM, Stitcher, and Pandora. The companies do not provide transcripts or captions for podcasts. (Sirius purchased Stitcher in 2020 for 325 million dollars. In 2019 it acquired Pandora in a $3.5 billion all-stock transaction.) The…
Read more… Podcasts Need Transcripts: December 2021 lawsuit against SiriusXM
Recently I had the opportunity to ask an audience the first words that came to mind when I said “law in the digital accessibility space.” I heard what I often hear: “threatening” “ambiguous” “confusing.” Yet I heard something else too. I heard reference to the law in the digital space as a “powerful enabler”and a…
Read more… #ADA32: The ADA has applied to digital for decades
During the previous United States presidential administration some very committed disability rights lawyers hunkered down in the Department of Justice (DOJ). They did what they could to protect the Americans with Disabilities Act during that challenging time. But there were very few proactive developments in the digital accessibility space. Today things are different! Recent developments show that the DOJ is once again a champion of disability rights generally and digital accessibility specifically,
Read more… Legal Update: U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorneys Offices, Championing Digital Access
The ancient Greek story of Sisyphus tells of a doomed King sentenced forever to push a boulder uphill, only to witness it tumble down again just as he reaches the summit. The centuries-old story carries over to modern day English in the phrase “sisyphean task.” Dictionary.com defines such a task as one that is “seemingly…
Read more… Deja Vu All Over Again? DOJ Announces Intent to Adopt Web Accessibility Regulations for State and Local Governments
