Ethics in the Digital Accessibility Legal Space: ADA Enforcement Cases or Something Else?

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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?

More than Mickey: Digital Accessibility Law in Anaheim, March 2019

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Anaheim California is best known as the home of Disneyland, that place of childhood wonder and crass commercialism. In March 2019 Anaheim will be the site of something else: Lots of learning and conversation about the digital accessibility legal space. On March 12 Lainey will be speaking at the first ever Digital Accessibility Legal Summit.… Read more… More than Mickey: Digital Accessibility Law in Anaheim, March 2019

First Accessibility Agreement in U.S. to Use WCAG 2.1: Reached With Structured Negotiation (Alameda County accessible voting case)

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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 (Alameda County accessible voting case)

Sue Ammeter, Blind Disability Rights Champion, Dies at 69

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The list of Sue Ammeter’s advocacy roles could fill this post.  Board member (and often officer) of the American Council of the Blind, the Washington State Council of the Blind, and the National Braille Press are just some of the organizations Sue Ammeter volunteered with on top of her paid work. Organizations that will miss the talent, commitment, and unstoppable advocacy of the Washington state resident who died on April 7, 2018. Read more… Sue Ammeter, Blind Disability Rights Champion, Dies at 69

Denny’s Announces Digital Accessibility Initiative

Posted on Updated on April 2, 2018
Denny’s Introduces Newly Enhanced Website and Mobile Application Upgraded Platforms Offer Enhanced Accessibility and Functionality for All Users SPARTANBURG, S.C., January 6, 2016 – Denny’s Corporation (NASDAQ: DENN), franchisor and operator of one of America’s largest franchised full-service restaurant chains, today announced its newly upgraded website and mobile application offering an enhanced user experience and greater accessibility for all consumers. Read more… Denny’s Announces Digital Accessibility Initiative

Gratitude for a Poached Egg (an Accessibility and Negotiation Strategy)

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Whenever I travel, I try to eat in local restaurants serving traditional foods. That’s how I found myself at 417 Union in Nashville last month eating poached eggs, grits and a biscuit. The eggs were perfect and I asked the waitress to thank the cook for me. She came back later and told me: “His day is going to go a lot better now that he knows he done good.” Her comment sums up my experience as a negotiator in the digital accessibility space. Everyone wants to know they have “done good.” Telling them so is a powerful negotiating strategy. Read more… Gratitude for a Poached Egg (an Accessibility and Negotiation Strategy)

Lawyers as Changemakers: The Global Integrative Law Movement

Posted on Updated on January 7, 2018
The New York Times ran a powerful obituary on July 26, 2017 about Scharlette Holdman, an unsung woman who devoted her life to inmates on death row. The obituary described those who sought to emulate Holdman’s career by saying “Many mitigation specialists who followed in her footsteps are journalists and social workers. ‘It’s the antithesis of being a lawyer; it’s all about human feeling and connection..'” Is that true? Is human feeling and connection the “antithesis” — the opposite — of being a lawyer? Read more… Lawyers as Changemakers: The Global Integrative Law Movement

Chicago Structured Negotiation and Digital Access Events in October ’17

Posted on Updated on October 14, 2017
This post has information about Lainey Feingold’s Fall speaking events in Chicago. Lainey will be presenting at the Chicago Digital Accessibility and Inclusive Design MeetUp, at a free CLE for lawyers sponsored by Equip for Equality and JPMorgan Chase, and at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law with Chicago. disability rights lawyer Andres Gallegos. She is excited to return to Chicago, and is grateful for friends and colleagues in the Windy City making this trip possible. Read more… Chicago Structured Negotiation and Digital Access Events in October ’17

ABA Journal Highlights Structured Negotiation

Posted on Updated on May 31, 2017
Catching flies with honey is not the default strategy most attorneys use to resolve disputes. But Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian, both longtime California advocacy lawyers, have worked out a method that avoids conflict, costly litigation and protracted time in court—while still yielding beneficial results for their clients. The process they call “structured negotiations” has been used mainly to achieve improved access for the blind, including ATM machines that talk, websites embedded with code to decipher text and photos, and tactile point-of-sale devices in grocery stores. Read more… ABA Journal Highlights Structured Negotiation