La Salle Final Agreement

The LaSalle Final Settlement Agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and co-counsel Amy Peterson of the Chicago-based Equip for Equality using Structured Negotiations on behalf of the Metropolitan Chicago affiliate of the American Council of the Blind. In the Agreement, LaSalle institute a Talking ATM and alternative format program in all states in which it operated and agreed to upgrade its website to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) promulgated by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium. Read more… La Salle Final Agreement

Dollar General Settlement Agreement

The Dollar General Point of Sale (POS) Agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and co-counsel Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations on behalf of the American Council of the Blind (ACB), the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), and blind Dollar General shopper Lela Behee. In this agreement, Dollar General has agreed that all of its more than 8,000 stores across the United States will have tactile point of sale devices so that blind and visually impaired customers can independently enter their PIN and other confidential information. The devices will be installed in all stores over the next fifteen months. Read more… Dollar General Settlement Agreement

Fleet Bank Initial Settlement Agreement

The Fleet Bank initial settlement agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and co-counsel Stan Eichner of the Disability Law Center in Boston, Massachusetts, using Structured Negotiations on behalf of the Bay State Council of the Blind and other Massachusetts advocates. Fleet, which was subsequently purchased by Bank of America, agreed in this document to install Talking ATMs, adopt a comprehensive alternative formats policy, and make its website accessible. Structured Negotiations offers the flexibility to have multiple agreements when all parties agree. In the final Fleet settlement agreement, the bank agreed to install Talking ATMs at 100% of its ATM locations. Read more… Fleet Bank Initial Settlement Agreement

CVS Accessible Web Site and Point of Sale Settlement Agreement

In the CVS Accessible Web Site and Point of Sale Settlement Agreement below, CVS agreed to install tactile point of sale devices in every CVS store in the United States and to upgrade its website to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) promulgated by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium. The Agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations on behalf of the American Council of the Blind (ACB), the American Foundation for the Blind, and the California Council of the Blind (CCB). Read more… CVS Accessible Web Site and Point of Sale Settlement Agreement

First Union Final ATM, Web and Alternative Format Agreement

This settlement agreement is the second First Union agreement negotiated by Lainey and Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations on behalf of representatives of the blind community in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Tom Earle, formerly with the Disabilities Law Project in Philadelphia, now known as the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania, also represented the Claimants. In the initial First Union agreement, the bank began its Talking ATM roll-out. In this agreement, First Union, subsequently purchased by Wachovia, expanded its Talking ATM commitment, agreed to make its website accessible, and adopted a comprehensive alternative format policy. As of early 2008, Wachovia has thousands of Talking ATMs throughout the United States. Read more… First Union Final ATM, Web and Alternative Format Agreement

First Union Preliminary Talking ATM Agreement

This settlement agreement was negotiated by Lainey and Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations on behalf of representatives of the blind community in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Tom Earle, formerly with the Disabilities Law Project in Philadelphia, now known as the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania, also represented the Claimants. This was the first of two agreements that First Union, subsequently purchased by Wachovia, negotiated with the blind community. In this agreement, the bank agreed to install the first Talking ATMs in North Carolina, Maryland, and New Jersey. As of early 2008, Wachovia has thousands of Talking ATMs. Read more… First Union Preliminary Talking ATM Agreement

Cinemark Audio Description Settlement Agreement

The settlement agreement posted here is a result of Structured Negotiations between the California Council of the Blind, Cinemark patrons with visual impairments, and Cinemark, a leading domestic and international motion picture exhibitor. Linda Dardarian, of the Oakland, California civil rights firm Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen and Dardarian, and the Law Office of Lainey Feingold worked with the blind community on this initiative. Audio Description provides vocal description of key visual aspects of a movie, such as descriptions of scenery, facial expressions, costumes, action settings, and scene changes, described audibly during natural pauses in dialogue or critical sound elements. Narration of these elements is then woven into the soundtrack of the program or film, so that the finished version is a mix of program audio and descriptive narration. The description, which is provided by movie studios, is available only to members of the audience who choose to receive it via personal headsets and a receiver provided at the theater. Read more… Cinemark Audio Description Settlement Agreement

Bank of America Credit Card Rewards Website Agreement

Bank of America has long been a leader in its commitment to accessible digital content. The agreement posted here concerns accessibility enhancements to the bank’s travel rewards redemption site. This agreement was reached through Structured Negotiations, a collaborative dispute resolution process. Structured Negotiations has been used for twenty years to successfully resolve accessibility claims without lawsuits. Read more… Bank of America Credit Card Rewards Website Agreement

Fleet Bank Final Talking ATM Agreement

The Fleet Final Talking ATM agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and co-counsel Stan Eichner of the Disability Law Center in Boston, Massachusetts, using Structured Negotiations on behalf of the Bay State Council of the Blind and other Massachusetts advocates. Fleet, which was subsequently purchased by Bank of America, agreed in this document to install Talking ATMs at all of the Bank’s locations. The initial Fleet Agreement resulted in the first Talking ATMs in New England and a comprehensive alternative formats policy. It was the second agreement in the United States to require that a bank’’s website be accessible. Read more… Fleet Bank Final Talking ATM Agreement

Bank of America Final National Agreement

The Settlement Agreement below is the third agreement that Bank of America negotiated with the California Council of the Blind and individual members of the blind community using the process of Structured Negotiations. This final agreement contains the bank’s commitment that 100% of its ATM locations will have at least one Talking ATM. As of early 2008, the bank is on the road towards far exceeding this goal, with over 11,000 Talking ATMs, and multiple Talking ATMs at many locations. Read more… Bank of America Final National Agreement