Web and Mobile Accessibility

This topic includes all settlement agreements, press releases, legal updates and other articles on Lainey Feingold's website about web and mobile access, also known as digital access. Lainey has been working on this issue since she and her colleagues negotiated the country's first financial institution web accessibility agreement with Bank of America in 2000.

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

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

Denny’s Digital Accessibility Settlement Agreement

Posted on Updated on September 29, 2020
Posted here is the company’s digital accessibility settlement agreement with the American Council of the Blind and blind Denny’s customer Lisa Irving. The agreement describes the company’s commitment to make its web and mobile content accessible and usable by all users, including those with disabilities. Denny’s is using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA as its web and mobile standard. This agreement was reached in Structured Negotiation; no lawsuit was filed or needed. Read more… Denny’s Digital Accessibility Settlement Agreement

Happy Birthday WCAG — Now You are Twenty!

Posted on Updated on August 24, 2020
On May 5, 1999 the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) issued a press release announcing the publication of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0. The headline was confident: “WAI Provides Definitive Guidance for Web Access by People with Disabilities.” Let’s honor WCAG’s birthday by redoubling efforts to make the promise of the web a reality — let’s make it available to everyone, including people with disabilities. Read more… Happy Birthday WCAG — Now You are Twenty!

Community in Toronto: What Made the #A11yTO Conferences So Spectacular?

Posted on Updated on August 12, 2020
I’m sitting in the airport on my way home from two conferences put on by #A11yTO. I’ve been trying to figure out what made the three days in Toronto so great. This post is what I’ve come up with. #A11yTO is a volunteer-run digital accessibility community in Toronto. Puzzled by the title? A11y (that’s A-eleven-Y)… Read more… Community in Toronto: What Made the #A11yTO Conferences So Spectacular?

Computer Science Ethics Must Include Accessibility (my rejected NYT letter to the editor)

Posted on Updated on August 12, 2020
On February 12, 2018, the New York Times ran a piece in the business section titled Tech’s Ethical ‘Dark Side’: Harvard, Stanford and Others Want to Address It. The article explained that top computer science programs are starting to embed ethics courses in the curriculum. I was glad to see that Stanford’s course would include… Read more… Computer Science Ethics Must Include Accessibility (my rejected NYT letter to the editor)

U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear The Domino’s Case (Hooray!)

Posted on Updated on May 25, 2020
Great news for advocates of digital inclusion for people with disabilities! Today the United States Supreme Court rejected Domino’s Pizza’s efforts to overturn the Ninth Circuit federal appeals court opinion in the Domino’s web and mobile accessibility case. That appeals court opinion said that disabled people can bring claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act if a website or mobile application is not accessible. Read more… U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear The Domino’s Case (Hooray!)

Alphabet Soup of A Name; Giant Commitment to Digital Access

Posted on Updated on March 18, 2020
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… Alphabet Soup of A Name; Giant Commitment to Digital Access

Big Win for Web Accessibility in Domino’s Pizza Case

Posted on Updated on October 7, 2019
[UPDATE: On October 7, 2019 the United States Supreme Court announced it would not hear, would not rule on, the Domino’s case. On June 13, 2019 Domino’s asked the United States Supreme Court to hear this case and reverse this decision. Read the October 7, 2019 post on this website about the Supreme Court’s announcement.]… Read more… Big Win for Web Accessibility in Domino’s Pizza Case