Civil Rights Or Shakedowns: Ethics Of The Digital Accessibility Legal Space
Speaker: Lainey Feingold
Twitter: @LFLegal
Slide Deck: https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=F5D2D4A3678AE5E4!142&ithint=file,pptx&authkey=!AL60YzU2DwGDPvI
Why is the law part of Digital Accessibility?
Accessibility is a human right of disabled people!
- a11y is about participation
- Right to information
- Security
- Privacy
Some people with disabilities require help to fill information / forms.(Security & Privacy)
Human rights ideas are baked into laws. Human rights LAWS can be foundd them here:
- ADA
- Accessible Canada Act
- Section 508
- Canadian Human Right Act | Charter Rights and Freedom
- AODA | US state laws
- CRPD (United Nations)
The laws have to be implemented! The laws are not baked until they are enforced!
Four strategies to enforce a Law
1. Activism
Section 504 (US Law)
Protest in the 70s, camp outside the building for 30 days
Accessible Canada Act, will become implemented in the future. It requires time.
An example is a Kiosk that doesn’t talk
Accessibility is not optional !
2. Collaboration | Structured Negotiation
Blind people can’t be independent, they can’t withdraw money from ATMs without help.
RBC had the first Talking ATM in the word in the 1997.
3. Civil Rights Lawsuits
- 66 Million Dollar Website
- Voting | Higher Ed
- Kiosks | Retail sites
The importance of civil rights lawsuits:
- There’s a case pending in the State of California, they payed 66Million US$. It wasn’t accessible.
- Web company made a false claim the website was accessible, and it wasn’t
- Supreme Court had the opportunity to considered Domino’s case.
They said no.
4. Government Action
- Public Sector
- Private Sector
- Education
What does this 4 strategies have in common?
- Focus on disabled people
- Recognize expertise of disabled people
- Well researched
- Effort to resolve before suing
- Primary goal is accessibility
What makes a stategy unsucessful?
Red flags that indicate shakedown not Civil Rights.
- Too many cases to pursue with care
- No transparency, no research, quick search
- No concern about backslash
- Not collegial
- Not monitoring or follow through
○ There has to be a map.. a plan… to fix it
○ A lawsuit itself won’t fix it
- No effort to resolve w/o lawsuits
- Money only (lawsuits only bring money)
Why does this matter?
- Creating an atmosphere of fear!
a. Why do we think fear will create inspiration
- Fear creates 65% of the problem
- Gives lawyers an out-sized role
- Encourages negative media
Puts focus only on websites
Currently is only on websites, but it’s moving to mobile apps, and Kiosks
Lawsuits puts focus only on websites, however #a11y needs to be considered holistically; think of mobile apps, kiosks, checkout systems in stores