Accessibility Laws and Regulations

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

Access Board Considers ADAAG Coverage for Self-Service Kiosks

Posted on Updated on June 22, 2021
The United States Access Board is currently considering proposed changes to the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) that would require certain self-service kiosks to be accessible to people with disabilities. Based on their experience with Talking ATMs and tactile point of sale devices, the Law Office of Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian of Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian, prepared comments on the Board’s proposal for use by persons interested in accessible devices. Those comments, all or parts of which were incorporated into submissions filed with the Board by several organizations, are posted here. Read more… Access Board Considers ADAAG Coverage for Self-Service Kiosks

Proposed Public Rights-of-Way Guidelines (Finally) Coming July 26

Posted on Updated on April 25, 2021
The United States Access Board has announced that it will (finally) publish proposed Public Rights-of-Way Guidelines on July 26 – the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The guidelines will address access to sidewalks and streets by people with disabilities, including accessible pedestrian signals, crosswalks, roundabouts, curb ramps, street furnishings, parking, and other components of public rights-of-way. Technical specifications on these issues will be welcomed, but it is important to remember that the Americans with Disabilities Act has required such access for more than twenty years. Read more… Proposed Public Rights-of-Way Guidelines (Finally) Coming July 26

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