ADA Litigation and Digital Accessibility


Wednesday, May 18, 2022
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Eastern Time Zone

Description

When the ADA was enacted in 1990, the internet had not yet become such an important part of people's lives, including the lives of people with disabilities. Now that the internet is such an integral tool for businesses, employers and governmental entities, courts have been grappling with how the ADA applies to websites and other digital information. This issue has become even more acute as a result of pandemic and people with disabilities are using online services more than ever. This webinar will review the different legal theories courts have applied for the ADA and the internet, discuss the most recent case law analyzing this issue, and provide updates on positions taken by the Department of Justice. Don't miss this session so that you'll be up to date on the latest legal developments related to the ADA and digital accessibility.

Continuing Education Recognition Available

Certificate Credit hours
ACTCP 1.5
Certificate of Attendance 1.5

Speakers:

Barry Taylor, VP for Civil Rights and Systemic Litigation, Equip for Equality

Rachel Weisberg, Client Assistance Program Manager and Managing Attorney, Equip for Equality

Questions for presenters:

1 Given the recent decisions against MIT and Harvard regarding their online MOOC courses, and the concept that seems to be forefront in the OCR decisions and consent decrees of equal and equitable (at the same time and in a similar manner), do you see that public colleges need to make sure that all their course materials are fully accessible that are posted on the college's course learning management system? Does it make a different that at community colleges, any student can register for classes up to the first day of class and may show up in a class that does not have accessible materials? What about the small community college that says "we will wait until a student shows up in the class", but there is only one person on campus to provide accommodations and accessibility and no one else will assume additional job duties of converting course materials or captioning videos?
2 Doesn't Title II require governmental bodies to provide accessibility to public meetings equally or better still, equitably (which I think what the legislators intended, they just were semantically influenced to think they mean the same thing). Ex. You may have a hearing assistance device at a public meeting but you have to reserve 1 week in advance. No spontaneous meeting attended therefore.
3 Does the American Disabilities Act apply to digital experiences & technology for US Companies? Will there be an amendment to include technology rights and access to the ADA?

Session Questions

This session is accepting questions from registered users. After you have registered to participate in this session you can submit your questions on your Account Manager page. Please note: the number of questions will be limited and submissions will be closed well before the session starts to provide time to prepare answers.