1. The Role of Law in the Quest
for an Accessible, Inclusive
Web
Lainey Feingold (LF@LFLegal.com) (@LFLegal)
Linda M. Dardarian (Ldar@gdblegal.com)
CSUN 2012
San Diego, California USA

2. PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
 WHAT laws require the web to be accessible?
 HOW are advocates using those laws?
 What are the results of those advocacy efforts?
 How can you be your own advocate?

3. WEB ACCESS IS A CIVIL RIGHT
Right to:
 Education
Information
 Travel
Services
 Community
Participation
Right to be
free from discrimination

4. WHAT LAWS REQUIRE
WEBSITE ACCESS?
 Americans With  21st Century CVAA
Disabilities Act
 Air Carriers Access Act
 State Laws
 Section 508  International
 Section 504

5. Web
Guidelines
=
More than a
Code

6. HOW CAN WE USE
THE LAW?

7. LEGAL STRATEGIES FOR WEB
INCLUSION
Structured Negotiations
Lawsuits
State Attorney General Investigations
Federal Administrative Complaints

8. LAW + ADVOCACY = ACCESS
 Bank of America  Chase
 Ticket Master  Target
 CVS  Rite Aid
 Major League Baseball  Credit Reports
 American Cancer Society  LSAC
 Staples  HSBC
 Amazon  Price Line
 Travelocity  Ramada
 Penn State  eBay

9. LITIGATION EFFORTS PENDING
 CNN Captioning
 Netflix Captioning
 Disney
 JetBlue Airways

10. SETTLEMENT TERMS
 Accessibility  Training
Standard  Web Development
 Customer Service
 3rd party content
 Term of Agreement
 Monitoring
 Enforcement
 Publicity

11. MONEY IS PART OF THE LANGUAGE
OF THE LAW
 Attorney’s fees and expert costs
 Payments to individuals/organizations
 Damages in class actions
 Money means law is part of the business case

12. Punch in the Stomach
or
Outstretched Hand?

13. Carrot or Stick?

14. CHOOSING A STRATEGY:
FACTORS TO CONSIDER
 Who decides outcome Money
and how? Precedent
 Cost Flexibility
 Risks Relationships
 Who has a voice at the Experts
table?

15. LAW WITHOUT LAWYERS
Advocacy Efforts BEFORE you
Call a Lawyer

16. Complaints to Website Owners
 On-line contact pages
 Toll-free phone numbers
 Facebook
 Twitter

17. Document Document Document
 Keep track of communications
 Give deadlines
 Follow-up

18. Use the Language of the
Law
» Everyone Deserves the Right to
Travel ….
On the Information Highway

19. LEARN MORE
HTTP://LFLEGAL.COM
HTTP://GDBLEGAL.COM
1-800-822-5000