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.
Congratulations to Patreon! Posted here is the digital accessibility settlement agreement the company reached with the American Council of the Blind and individual blind patrons and supporters. The agreement was reached with Structured Negotiation, a collaborative way to solve legal problems. No lawsuit was needed.
Read more… Patreon Digital Accessibility Agreement
I’m always looking for ways to talk about digital inclusion without reference to legal hammers. This post gathers some yummy analogies for accessibility that can be used to raise awareness and help develop skills. Think blueberry muffins, curry and peanut butter.
Read more… Accessibility is Delicious: Food analogies for digital inclusion
Twenty years ago this week (on March 14, 2000) Bank of America became the first company in the United States to sign an agreement to make its website accessible to people with disabilities. The agreement referenced the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 at a time when the standard was less than one year old.…
Read more… The First U.S. Web Accessibility Agreement was Signed Twenty Years Ago this Week
After days of agonizing, I have decided not to attend and present at the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference in Anaheim next week. It would have been my 20th time attending and my 17th (more or less) time presenting. (The picture illustrating this post shows me with a Bank of America spokesperson in the CSUN exhibit…
Read more… I’m not going to CSUN in 2020 – I wish I were
Joseph Karr O’Connor died last month at the age of 65. As I get ready to attend the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference next month — for the 20th time — Joseph is on my mind and in my heart. He was a regular attendee and presenter at the conference, using the in-person gathering to cement…
Read more… Joseph Karr O’Connor, Accessibility Champion (1953 – 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
In 2008 I heard that Jim Thatcher was coming to Berkeley as part of his role as the expert in the Target web accessibility case. I had been working in the digital accessibility legal space for ten years. Of course I had heard of Jim, but we had never met. I called and asked if…
Read more… Jim Thatcher, Accessibility Giant, Dies at 83
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
I’m sitting in the airport on my way home from two conferences put on by #A11yTO. I’ve been trying to figure out what made the three days in Toronto so great. This post is what I’ve come up with. #A11yTO is a volunteer-run digital accessibility community in Toronto. Puzzled by the title? A11y (that’s A-eleven-Y)…
Read more… Community in Toronto: What Made the #A11yTO Conferences So Spectacular?
I made a rookie mistake after tweeting about my post on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Order in the Domino’s Pizza web accessibility case: I read the comments. Then I compounded that mistake and read comments on articles about the case on main stream media. The comments were disheartening. Some were downright mean and screamingly ableist.…
Read more… U.S. Supreme Court Passes on Domino’s Case: Commenters Misunderstand
