In 2021 The Proposed Online Accessibility Act in US Congress is [STILL] Bad for Digital Inclusion

Posted on Updated on April 3, 2021
[APRIL 3, 2021 UPDATE] On February 12, 2021, the (so-called) Online Accessibility Act was re-introduced in the United States Congress. This proposed piece of legislation is identical to the bill introduced last year and has all the problems of last year’s bill described in the article here. Read more… In 2021 The Proposed Online Accessibility Act in US Congress is [STILL] Bad for Digital Inclusion

WellPoint (Anthem) Accessibility Press Release

Posted on Updated on April 1, 2021
WellPoint Announces Accessibility Initiative INDIANAPOLIS (February 12, 2014) — Consistent with its commitment to being a valued health care partner, WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) today announced an initiative to make its affiliated health plan websites, mobile applications, and print information more accessible and inclusive for all members. WellPoint’s initiative will especially improve the member experience for health plan members with visual impairments. Read more… WellPoint (Anthem) Accessibility Press Release

The First U.S. Web Accessibility Agreement was Signed Twenty Years Ago this Week

Posted on Updated on February 3, 2021
Twenty years ago this week (on March 14, 2000) Bank of America became the first company in the United States to sign an agreement to make its website accessible to people with disabilities. The agreement referenced the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 at a time when the standard was less than one year old.… Read more… The First U.S. Web Accessibility Agreement was Signed Twenty Years Ago this Week

West Valley College improves technology for students in Structured Negotiation

Posted on Updated on January 18, 2021
On August 26, 2020, the TRE Legal Practice announced a settlement with West Valley College that ensures blind students have access to critical educational technology, including immersive virtual language tools. Reached in Structured Negotiation without a lawsuit, among other things the agreement mandates that future procurement contracts must include provisions requiring technology vendors to deliver… Read more… West Valley College improves technology for students in Structured Negotiation

Boston Globe Story about Brian Charlson and MLB.com Access Improvements

Posted on Updated on October 27, 2020
Blind Sox Fan Gets MLB to Even Game Like any true Red Sox fan, Brian Charlson attends as many games as possible and listens to the rest, play by play, on the radio. But when it came to reading stats, his blindness sometimes got in the way. Not any longer. At the urging of Charlson and fellow advocates, Major League Baseball rolled out a series of accessibility features this week on all league and team websites aimed at making statistics, ticketing, and other information fully accessible to the visually impaired. “It’s exciting that MLB has joined with us in this effort, hearing what the blindness community needs to take full advantage of this wonderful thing that is baseball. They are setting the stage for other sports to do likewise. Next season I’ll be asking the NFL, and I’ll say, ‘See what MLB can do? You don’t want to be outshined by the MLB.’” Read more… Boston Globe Story about Brian Charlson and MLB.com Access Improvements

CSUN 2014 Annual Legal Digital Accessibility Update

Posted on Updated on October 6, 2020
Curious about how the law has been used in the past year to increase access to print and digital information for people with disabilities? For many years Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian have done a Digital Accessibility Legal Update at the annual CSUN International Conference on Technology and People with Disabilities conference. This post summarizes the highlights from this year’s presentation and includes links to further information. Read more… CSUN 2014 Annual Legal Digital Accessibility Update

Bank of America Honored for Accessibility Work; Structured Negotiation Gets Shout Out

Posted on Updated on September 29, 2020
On October 21, 2019 friends and supporters of Disability Rights Advocates, a national nonprofit disability rights legal center, gathered in New York to celebrate the organization and honor this year’s Eagle Award recipients. One of the honorees was Bank of America, a long-time digital accessibility and disability inclusion leader and Structured Negotiation champion. The picture… Read more… Bank of America Honored for Accessibility Work; Structured Negotiation Gets Shout Out

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

2019 CSUNATC Digital Accessibility Legal Update

Posted on Updated on September 29, 2020
On March 13, 2019, I presented the 2019 Digital Accessibility Legal Update to a packed house at the annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference. With so much content, and no recordings, I try to follow up the powerpoint with a post like this one — summarizing this year’s updates with links to more information for those who are curious. And since it took me a month to get this out, there are even two new items in this post that were not part of the update. Read more… 2019 CSUNATC Digital Accessibility Legal Update