On September 4, 2020, AudioEye, Inc. sued accessiBe, Ltd for patent infringement. The lawsuit between these two very well-funded digital accessibility companies was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and reported in Justia Dockets and Filings. Read the September 4, 2020 complaint in AudioEye v. accessiBe. (An amended…
Read more… AudioEye Sues AccessiBe for Patent Infringement
Today is the first time I had to update an article before I posted it. The original article, which you’ll find below, is about a planned session at the Zero Project accessibility conference (#ZeroCon) in February. The session was organized by a member of the German chapter of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP).…
Read more… Overlays and Ethics: a conference panel that hurt my heart
This post originally shared four developments in the legal space about web accessibility overlays. Three are very troubling. One gives hope for stemming the tide of quick-fix “not-solutions” that can actually make websites less usable by people with disabilities. Updates add new content to the original four developments. New to the overlay issue? I first…
Read more… Legal Update: Accessibility Overlay Edition
The Society of Human Relations Management (SHRM) describes itself as “the foremost expert, convener and thought leader on issues impacting today’s evolving workplaces. With 300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 115 million workers and families globally.” Now, as a result of a lawsuit filed in…
Read more… Professional development courses must be accessible: New lawsuit settlement in case against SHRM
Last updated 03.04.21 with new resource from Joe Dolson. Original excerpt: Web accessibility overlays and widgets are Artificial Intelligence (AI) software tools that promise “ADA compliance with one line of code.” These products are the very antithesis of the Capitol Crawl and all that the ADA represents.
Read more… Honor the ADA: Avoid Web Accessibility Quick-Fix Overlays
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
On December 4th, 2016 60 Minutes aired a 13 minute story on “drive by lawsuits” under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The segment, which followed a puff piece on Paul Ryan, questioned lawsuits filed by three lawyers, two of them being sued by their disabled clients for malpractice. Anderson Cooper, the show’s host, did not…
Read more… 60 Minutes Slams ADA, Boosts Trump Agenda
A 177% jump in the number of web accessibility lawsuits filed in federal court over two years. A handful of lawyers filing hundreds of cases, settling quickly, with no public statement about any accessibility improvements. Industry associations looking to roll-back the ADA, state legislatures limiting the right to sue about digital accessibility. So called experts…
Read more… Ethics in the Digital Accessibility Legal Space: ADA Enforcement Cases or Something Else?