Digital Accessibility in the New Political Reality

Posted on Updated on January 2, 2017
Five days before the election I wrote a post about what a Donald Trump presidency could do to the ongoing struggle for equality in the digital space. I wrote from my heart and from a place of fear. While I am despondent over the election, and still believe what I wrote on November 3, I realize it was only half the story. Now I feel a new responsibility: to remind us all that digital accessibility is here to stay. That despite obstacles the new administration will throw in the path of progress, disabled people will continue to insist on their civil rights. And the law, possibly battered and bruised, or temporarily in retreat, will be there to help. Read more… Digital Accessibility in the New Political Reality

Digital Accessibility Legal Update (CSUN 2015)

Posted on Updated on December 30, 2016
This post is a version of the presentation Lainey Feingold gave in March 2015 at CSUN – the International Technology and People with Disabilities conference held annually in San Diego, California and sponsored by California State University Northridge (CSUN). The presentation covered legal developments in digital accessibility since CSUN14 (March 2014 through March 7, 2015). Read more… Digital Accessibility Legal Update (CSUN 2015)

Post-Trump Digital #A11y Legal Update

Posted on Updated on November 14, 2016
As I’ve spoken and written about advancements in digital accessibility for the past few months, I’ve felt momentum is finally building for accessible information and technology, issues my clients, co-counsel and I have worked on for two decades. I’ve been excited to report how the United States Department of Justice is an accessibility champion and how the Deaf community is fighting (and winning) for the right to captioned media. It’s been gratifying to share information about disabled students claiming their right to accessible course materials, supported by the federal Department of Education. And I’ve been proud to report on the organizations that continue to work collaboratively, without lawsuits, in Structured Negotiation, the subject of my just-published book. All that is at stake in this election. Read more… Post-Trump Digital #A11y Legal Update

Care about Digital Access? Let the U.S. Government Know

Posted on Updated on October 5, 2016
The United States Department of Justice needs to hear that web accessibility regulations matter to disabled people. Can you help? This post will explain how. A new government notice  asks 123 questions about public sector web accessibility.  You can read the full notice, but you don’t have to read all the questions, or even answer any particular one.  The most important thing people who care about full digital equality and inclusion can do is tell the government why public sector web accessibility matters. Read more… Care about Digital Access? Let the U.S. Government Know

Bank of America Announces New Initiative for Accessible Mortgage Documents

Posted on
May 4, 2016 Press Release: Bank of America announces it has begun an initiative to enhance the accessibility of its online mortgage documents for visually impaired customers. The bank worked in Structured Negotiations with Jessie Lorenz, a visually impaired customer, and with Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian on the initiative. Read more… Bank of America Announces New Initiative for Accessible Mortgage Documents

Houston Transit Agency Digital Access Settlement Agreement

Posted on Updated on March 21, 2016
This is the settlement agreement between Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County and blind transit riders about the accessibility of the agency’s website and mobile application. The authority is the regional transit operator in Houston Texas. This agreement was negotiated in Structured Negotiation; no lawsuit was filed or needed. The blind riders were represented by Christopher McGreal of Disability Rights Texas with the assistance of the Law Office of Lainey Feingold. The agency agreed to bring its digital properties into compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Level AA. In doing so Houston METRO, as the Authority is known, assumes a national leadership position on providing all riders with digital access. Read more… Houston Transit Agency Digital Access Settlement Agreement

Can’t Someone Read that to You? Dissolving Stereotypes of Blindness

Posted on Updated on March 13, 2016
On June 25, 2013, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, reached agreement on an historic document designed to provide access to reading materials for people who are blind or have other print disabilities. The draft WIPO treaty changes copyright law to reflect that blind people need formats other than standard print in order to read. These alternative formats, or accessible formats, include Braille, audio, Large Print, accessible web content and other accessible electronic documents. The lack of accessible, available formats, and not blindness, is why blind people cannot read huge swaths of information available in standard print format. The need for accessible information has been at the core of many of the settlement agreements reached as a result of Structured Negotiations. Many of those negotiations began with stereotypes about blind people and their right, desire, and need to read independently. Read more… Can’t Someone Read that to You? Dissolving Stereotypes of Blindness

Web Accessibility Report includes Lainey Feingold’s Law Office Web Site

Posted on Updated on March 13, 2016
The Law Office of Lainey Feingold is pleased to announce that this web site has been included in the web accessibility implementation report issued as part of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 implementation process. The process is an international, multi-year effort to revise the accessibility standards for web sites. Details of the current status of the implementation process are at the end of this post. Read more… Web Accessibility Report includes Lainey Feingold’s Law Office Web Site