The First U.S. Web Accessibility Agreement was Signed Twenty Years Ago this Week

Posted on Updated on February 3, 2021
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

West Valley College improves technology for students in Structured Negotiation

Posted on Updated on January 18, 2021
On August 26, 2020, the TRE Legal Practice announced a settlement with West Valley College that ensures blind students have access to critical educational technology, including immersive virtual language tools. Reached in Structured Negotiation without a lawsuit, among other things the agreement mandates that future procurement contracts must include provisions requiring technology vendors to deliver… Read more… West Valley College improves technology for students in Structured Negotiation

William Loughborough: Web Geezer Extraordinaire

Posted on Updated on December 8, 2020
Accessibility advocate, gadfly and big thinker Bill Loughborough died on April 7. The news, with abbreviated tributes, was all over Twitter, as it should have been. They say Twitter is for the young, and you’re a Tweezer over age 40. Or is it 30? But the first line on Bill Loughborough’s WebGeezer page says: “Those of us past 80 years old find it amusing that old folks are still thought of as Resistant to learning new things.” Read more… William Loughborough: Web Geezer Extraordinaire

Bank One Preliminary Talking ATM Agreement

Posted on Updated on November 8, 2020
The Talking ATMs installed pursuant to the Bank One preliminary agreement were the first in Illinois. The agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations on behalf of Chicago blind activists Kelly Pierce and Anna Byrne. The final Bank One Agreement, which also addressed web access and alternative formats, is posted in the Settlement Agreement Category. As of early 2008, Chase Bank, which purchased Bank One and continued its accessibility services, had over 9,000 Talking ATMs. Read more… Bank One Preliminary Talking ATM Agreement

MLB Accessible Website Agreement

Posted on Updated on November 8, 2020
This post contains the Settlement Agreement between the digital arm of Major League Baseball (MLBAM) and the American Council of the Blind, the Bay State Council of the Blind, and the California Council of the Blind. MLB collaborated with these organizations in the Structured Negotiations process to reach this historic agreement, which addresses not only the accessibility of mlb.com, but also the accessibility of every baseball club in the major league. Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian were the lawyers for the blind organizations. Read more… MLB Accessible Website Agreement

Washington Mutual Talking ATM, Web and Alternative Format Agreement

Posted on Updated on November 8, 2020
The Washington Mutual Agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations on behalf of the the California Council of the Blind (CCB), the Florida Council of the Blind, and several blind individuals. In the Agreement, Washington Mutual agreed to install Talking ATMs across the country, upgrade its website to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and provide banking materials in alternative formats. Washington Mutual was the first bank to offer Talking ATMs in Spanish. Read more… Washington Mutual Talking ATM, Web and Alternative Format Agreement

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

CSUN 2014 Annual Legal Digital Accessibility Update

Posted on Updated on October 6, 2020
Curious about how the law has been used in the past year to increase access to print and digital information for people with disabilities? For many years Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian have done a Digital Accessibility Legal Update at the annual CSUN International Conference on Technology and People with Disabilities conference. This post summarizes the highlights from this year’s presentation and includes links to further information. Read more… CSUN 2014 Annual Legal Digital Accessibility Update

Feingold and Dardarian Receive California Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award

Posted on Updated on October 3, 2020
The Law Office of Lainey Feingold is honored to announce that Lainey has received a 2014 California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) Award for her work in 2013. She shares this year’s CLAY award for disability rights with Linda Dardarian of the Oakland civil rights firm Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho. While maintaining their own law firms, Linda and Lainey have worked as partners in the truest sense of the word since 1994. Read more… Feingold and Dardarian Receive California Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award