News and Articles

Alphabet Soup of A Name; Giant Commitment to Digital Access

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This post is about an unsung hero of web accessibility — the Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The W3C WAI EOWG :  Now you understand why I put ‘alphabet soup’ in the title of this post. But don’t let a clunky name deceive you. If you care about digital accessibility you need to know EOWG and probably already rely on its work without being aware of it. Read more…

Marlaina Lieberg and Ken Metz: Advocates Extraordinaire

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The past two months have seen too much loss in the blind advocacy community in the United States. In April I wrote about the death of Sue Ammeter, the blind activist behind a successful Structured Negotiation with the American Cancer Society. Then in May came news that Marlaina Lieberg and Ken Metz had died within days of each other. Both were committed advocates and Structured Negotiation champions. Read more…

Accessibility Culture

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Digital accessibility means disabled people can use and interact with technology and digital content.  It is about good design, development, and coding; appropriate testing and training; an inclusive workforce, and a host of other details. It’s an ongoing commitment to including all users in all technology. Mistakes and back sliding are less likely with a culture of accessibility. Read more…

Building Accessibility into Technology Vendor Contracts

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Want to make sure that accessibility becomes — and stays — part of your organization’s way of doing business? Want to stay ahead of the legal curve and make sure the technology you purchase works for everyone, including your disabled students, customers, patients, employees and members of the public? A key component is having technology vendor contracts that include accessibility. The article posted here offers smart practices for this important aspect of technology procurement. Read more…

Sue Ammeter, Blind Disability Rights Champion, Dies at 69

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The list of Sue Ammeter’s advocacy roles could fill this post.  Board member (and often officer) of the American Council of the Blind, the Washington State Council of the Blind, and the National Braille Press are just some of the organizations Sue Ammeter volunteered with on top of her paid work. Organizations that will miss the talent, commitment, and unstoppable advocacy of the Washington state resident who died on April 7, 2018. Read more…

Recipe for Staying Ahead of the Legal Curve: Bake Accessibility into Your Organization

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At the 2018 CSUN Assistive Technology Conference last month I had the wonderful opportunity to present with Microsoft lawyer Sue Boyd. Our session was titled Beyond Compliance: Staying Out in Front of Digital Accessibility Legal Trends. Our talk focused on the ingredients needed to bake accessibility into an organization. The audience even got homemade chocolate chip cookies to drive home the theme. Check out this post for the full recipe! Read more…

E*Trade Accessibility Agreement Amendment

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The Settlement Agreement Amendment posted here extends the digital accessibility settlement agreement reached between E*Trade and two blind investors in Structured Negotiation. In extending the agreement, E*Trade continues its leadership role in making its website, mobile applications, and trading platforms available to investors and members of the public with disabilities. Read more…

Gratitude for a Poached Egg (an Accessibility and Negotiation Strategy)

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Whenever I travel, I try to eat in local restaurants serving traditional foods. That’s how I found myself at 417 Union in Nashville last month eating poached eggs, grits and a biscuit. The eggs were perfect and I asked the waitress to thank the cook for me. She came back later and told me: “His day is going to go a lot better now that he knows he done good.” Her comment sums up my experience as a negotiator in the digital accessibility space. Everyone wants to know they have “done good.” Telling them so is a powerful negotiating strategy. Read more…

Digital Accessibility Legal Update (and more) at CSUN 2018

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Want to know what’s happening in the digital accessibility legal space? I’m happy to let attendees of the 33rd annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference know that I will be offering the Digital Accessibility Legal update three times this year. (This will be one presentation repeated three times so everyone who wants to attend can!) Lainey will also be co-presenting a fourth session (not the legal update) with Sue Boyd, an Assistant General Counsel in Microsoft’s Regulatory Affairs group who leads a legal and policy team focused on accessibility. Sue and I will be talking about best practices for staying ahead of the curve when it comes to accessibility. Read more…