DRA represented a class of all students in Alaska with learning disabilities who were required to take the Alaska High School Graduation Qualifying Examination (HSGQE). The parties reached a comprehensive settlement agreement on Monday, August 2, 2004. Among other critical new access features to the testing program, the settlement included a broad expansion of the … Continue reading “Noon v. Alaska”
The Spieler v. Mt. Diablo Consent Decree negotiated in 2000, represents the most sweeping school access settlement to date under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Consent Decree created equal access to school buildings, educational programs, and social programs. Mt. Diablo School District has committed $20 million over ten years to ensure equal access for … Continue reading “Spieler v. Mt. Diablo Unified School District”
In 2004, the California Youth Authority (CYA), the state’s juvenile prison system, agreed to a major overhaul of the entire CYA system to address the inhumane and illegal conditions of confinement which affect young inmates in the CYA system. The case was brought under state law to stop the CYA from perpetuating illegal conditions within … Continue reading “Farrell v. Allen”
The Law School Admission Council’s (LSAC) website is the gateway for aspiring law students to apply to law schools and to register for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Yet, LSAC operated a website that was not accessible to blind law school applicants who use screen reader software. To challenge LSAC’s inaccessible website, DRA and … Continue reading “National Federation of the Blind (NFB), et al. v. Law School Admissions Council (LSAC)”
In January of 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court granted Stephanie Enyart, a blind law school graduate, the right to use assistive technology to take the Multistate Bar Exam and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam. The court issued a landmark ruling that established that testing entities are required to provide accommodations that best ensure exams measure … Continue reading “Enyart v. National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE)”
Nationwide, college students with print disabilities – individuals who cannot read standard print because of vision, physical, developmental, or learning disabilities – face major barriers and disparities to academic success because colleges and universities fail to provide these students with text books, course readers, and library research materials in alternative formats they can read. These … Continue reading “UC Berkeley Accommodations Initiative Structured Negotiations”
As technology plays a central role in many facets of our lives from communication to purchasing goods, enrolling in classes and seeking employment, it is important now more than ever to bridge the digital divide between technology and people with disabilities. In 2006, DRA represented the National Federation of the Blind and three blind plaintiffs … Continue reading “National Federation of the Blind (NFB), et al. v. Target Corporation”
The City and County of Los Angeles have experienced multiple natural disasters ranging from earthquakes, fires, and landslides; the County of L.A. has declared a state of emergency over twenty-four times since 1980. L.A.’s vulnerability to disasters highlighted the critical need to ensure that the City and County of L.A. include the safety of people … Continue reading “Communities Actively Living Independent and Free (CALIF), et al. v. City of Los Angeles”
DRA reached a settlement through structured negotiations with Amazon.com on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind. Under the settlement, Amazon.com agreed to make its website, as well as several affiliated websites, fully accessible to people with disabilities who use assistive technology to read and navigate internet websites. This was a monumental achievement for … Continue reading “Amazon.com Structured Negotiations”
This federal class action lawsuit was filed in September of 2011. More than a decade after 9/11, New Yorkers with disabilities continued to face disproportionate risks of catastrophic harm and death during disasters – as Hurricanes Irene had shown, and as Sandy soon demonstrated. The class of 900,000 New York residents with disabilities included people with vision, … Continue reading “Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID), et al. v. Mayor Bloomberg, et al.”