Accessibility Laws and Regulations

Fall 2015 Update: More Delay for DOJ Web Regulations

November 22, 2015Updated on April 2, 2018

Every six months, agencies in the United States federal government must notify the public about the status of pending regulations. On November 19, 2015, The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) gave an update about pending regulations regarding the accessibility of websites. As the agency has done many times before, the update boils down to a five letter word: Delay. Read more…

Web Accessibility for Grocers: Winn-Dixie Wasn’t Paying Attention

July 7, 2017Updated on August 11, 2017

Last month the Winn-Dixie grocery chain lost the very first trial under the Americans with Disabilities Act about the accessibility of a private company’s website. A blind shopper had sued the chain when he couldn’t access online coupons and other parts of the company’s website. The judge’s verdict was big news; unlike most accessibility stories it was covered in the mainstream media. But web accessibility for grocery stores is nothing new. If Winn-Dixie had been paying attention, it would have known over three years ago that grocery chains were making their websites accessible. Winn-Dixie should not have waited for the legal knock on the door. When it came, it should not have put up a fight. Read more…

Digital Accessibility in the New Political Reality

November 14, 2016Updated on January 2, 2017

Five days before the election I wrote a post about what a Donald Trump presidency could do to the ongoing struggle for equality in the digital space. I wrote from my heart and from a place of fear. While I am despondent over the election, and still believe what I wrote on November 3, I realize it was only half the story. Now I feel a new responsibility: to remind us all that digital accessibility is here to stay. That despite obstacles the new administration will throw in the path of progress, disabled people will continue to insist on their civil rights. And the law, possibly battered and bruised, or temporarily in retreat, will be there to help. Read more…

Digital Accessibility Legal Update (CSUN 2015)

March 12, 2015Updated on December 30, 2016

This post is a version of the presentation Lainey Feingold gave in March 2015 at CSUN – the International Technology and People with Disabilities conference held annually in San Diego, California and sponsored by California State University Northridge (CSUN). The presentation covered legal developments in digital accessibility since CSUN14 (March 2014 through March 7, 2015). Read more…

Post-Trump Digital #A11y Legal Update

November 3, 2016

As I’ve spoken and written about advancements in digital accessibility for the past few months, I’ve felt momentum is finally building for accessible information and technology, issues my clients, co-counsel and I have worked on for two decades. I’ve been excited to report how the United States Department of Justice is an accessibility champion and how the Deaf community is fighting (and winning) for the right to captioned media. It’s been gratifying to share information about disabled students claiming their right to accessible course materials, supported by the federal Department of Education. And I’ve been proud to report on the organizations that continue to work collaboratively, without lawsuits, in Structured Negotiation, the subject of my just-published book. All that is at stake in this election. Read more…

Care about Digital Access? Let the U.S. Government Know

July 29, 2016Updated on October 5, 2016

The United States Department of Justice needs to hear that web accessibility regulations matter to disabled people. Can you help? This post will explain how. A new government notice asks 123 questions about public sector web accessibility. You can read the full notice, but you don’t have to read all the questions, or even answer any particular one. The most important thing people who care about full digital equality and inclusion can do is tell the government why public sector web accessibility matters. Read more…

Spring 2016 Digital Accessibility Legal Update

May 12, 2016Updated on July 28, 2016

This post includes recent legal developments about digital accessibility between December 11, 2015 and May 7, 2016. The update is part of an occasional series about legal activity impacting technology and information access for people with disabilities. Digital accessibility is a civil right, and there is a lot happening in the legal space. Read more…

Landmark Victory for Blind Advocates in Hungary: CRPD means Talking ATMs

May 23, 2013Updated on May 25, 2016

Szilvia Nyusti and Péter Takács are blind advocates in Hungary who wanted their bank (the largest bank in their country) to install Talking ATMs. After all, they paid the same fees as sighted customers, why shouldn’t they have the same access to services and technology? After a five year legal battle in Hungary, they took their claims to the United Nations. On May 16, 2013, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities issued an historic ruling finding that Hungary violated the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) by failing to ensure that Hungarian banks had Talking ATMs. Congratulations to Szilvia and Peter. Congratulations to the United Nations. Congratulations to the CRPD for working as it should in protecting the rights of people with disabilities. Shame on the United States for failing to ratify the treaty. Read more…

More Delay for Federal Pedestrian Signal Regs

November 30, 2015Updated on March 19, 2016

In 1999 a little known federal agency called the United States Access Board had a good idea. Nine years after passages of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Board issued an official notice of its “intent to establish a Public Rights-of-Way Access Advisory Committee.” The committee’s job was to make recommendations for accessibility guidelines for public rights-of-way covered by the ADA. Read more…