Legal Updates

The articles on this page are about the law as it relates to the ability of disabled people to participate in the digital world. There are cases about web and mobile access. Other cases are about kiosks, voting machines, ATMs and other tech. There is information about lawsuit, settlements, and laws. The articles are about Lainey Feingold’s work and the work of other lawyers, clients, organizations, and government agencies. If you are looking just for Lainey Feingold's cases, please visit the Settlements page. The posts here are for your informational only. They are not legal advice. If you think you have a specific legal question you should contact a lawyer.

Digital Accessibility Laws Around the Globe

Posted on Updated on November 8, 2021
[Most recent updates to Australia and Luxembourg section in May 2021 [Previous updates [to Israel section] in February, 2021. [to France section] also in February, 2021. –Originally posted on May 9, 2013 (Global Accessibility Awareness Day).] This list of digital accessibility laws and policies around the globe is intended to serve as a resource only. It is not legal advice and it is not exhaustive. Read more… Digital Accessibility Laws Around the Globe

U.S. Federal Judge Rules for Walmart, against Blind Shoppers, in Self-checkout Kiosk Case

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On October 12, 2021 a United States federal judge in Maryland ruled that Walmart does not have to make its self-check kiosks accessible to blind shoppers. This is a disappointing result in a case that started when a Walmart employee stole $40.00 from two blind shoppers while the employee was assisting them with the inaccessible self-check kiosk. Read more… U.S. Federal Judge Rules for Walmart, against Blind Shoppers, in Self-checkout Kiosk Case

Digital Accessibility Legal Update (Summer 2015)

Posted on Updated on October 10, 2021
This post is part of an occasional series about recent legal developments impacting technology and information access for people with disabilities. This post covers activity from March 12, 2015 through August 10, 2015. You can find earlier Updates in the Legal Updates Category of this website. The series is illustrated by a toolbox — because law has proven an effective tool to improve the accessibility and usability of digital content, print information and technology for everyone. There are many ways to use the law, reflected by the many tools in the toolbox and by the updates reported in this post. Read more… Digital Accessibility Legal Update (Summer 2015)

Digital Accessibility Legal Update (December 2015)

Posted on Updated on October 10, 2021
This post is part of an occasional series about recent legal developments impacting technology and information access for people with disabilities. This post covers activity from August 11, 2015 through December 10, 2015. This update includes Department of Justice activity, the settlement of cases against Scribd and the General Services Administration, Structured Negotiation with Humana, an important new voting rights case, and other developments. Read more… Digital Accessibility Legal Update (December 2015)

U.S. Federal Appeals Court Slams Unethical ADA Practice

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On August 17, 2021 judges in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld sanctions against a Florida lawyer (Scott Dinin) and his client (Alexander Johnson) because of unethical conduct in cases brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar Florida law. Sanctions are a way that a court can punish lawyers and clients for bad behavior. In this case the sanctions included requiring Johnson and Dinin to pay money to a disability-based nonprofit or the court and preventing them from filing ADA cases without the court’s permission. Read more… U.S. Federal Appeals Court Slams Unethical ADA Practice

In 2021 The Proposed Online Accessibility Act in US Congress is [STILL] Bad for Digital Inclusion

Posted on Updated on April 3, 2021
[APRIL 3, 2021 UPDATE] On February 12, 2021, the (so-called) Online Accessibility Act was re-introduced in the United States Congress. This proposed piece of legislation is identical to the bill introduced last year and has all the problems of last year’s bill described in the article here. Read more… In 2021 The Proposed Online Accessibility Act in US Congress is [STILL] Bad for Digital Inclusion

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

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

U.S. Supreme Court Passes on Domino’s Case: Commenters Misunderstand

Posted on Updated on September 29, 2020
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