[blindlaw] Law School Experiences

[Nora Devine]

Hi Kolby!

I am an individual with low vision currently attending law school at the
University of San Francisco. I recommend you join the National Association
of Law Students with Disabilities. Go to http://www.nalswd.org/ for more
information and to become a member. Law students with disabilities are
organizing to make law school accessible for all individuals with
disabilities. NALSWD will also be publishing recommendations for requesting
accommodations on the LSAT in the next few week. Check it out at
http://www.nalswd.org/resources.php?option=3!
I'd be happy to discuss more with you via phone if you wish. I am also
interested to learn about the experiences of other students who are blind or
have low vision.

-Problems encountered in law school
I use magnification software and screen readers for all assignments and
readings. The biggest problems I have are with text books and legal research
websites like Lexisnexis and Westlaw.

Law text books often include massive footnotes that span pages. When my
books are converted to e-text the footnotes run into the main text and make
the book extremely hard to follow. I am always searching for the end of the
footnote or the beginning of the same footnote on the following page. It's
very hard to distinguish and navigate the book's main text and the
footnotes. This is frustrating and I hope with the dawn of e-text books for
all this problem with be solved.

Lexisnexis and Westlaw website are difficult to use due to the screen
layouts. The layouts have multiple headers and sidebars that usually cannot
be collapsed. This presents a problem for me sometimes when I magnify the
screen as it limits the size of the window containing the information I need
to read or work with. I have to use various work-arounds (e.g. copying the
relevant information into Word, downloading the information when
possible etc.) to be able to read and work with information presented on
these websites. This is not ideal as it can sometimes be time consuming.

Westlaw does have a separate text-only website that doesn't have this screen
layout problem and is great for basic research, but its features are nothing
compared to Westlaw's regular website.

If anyone has ideas on how to get around these problem, I'd appreciate
hearing from you!

These website issues may not be problems for you though. I hear Lexisnexis
and Westlaw websites work well with JAWS.

Wish you well! and feel free to contact me anytime!

Best Regards,

Nora Devine
Juris Doctor Candidate 2012
University of San Francisco School of Law
Tel: 510-508-4209
devinenora at gmail.com

2010/8/10 Kolby <kolby12091988 at gmail.com>

> Hello Everyone,
> I am a totally blind college student, and I am pursuing my undergraduate
> degree in Communication Studies. I am considering attending law school
> after
> I graduate in two years' time. I would like to know about all of your law
> school experiences if you would not mind sharing them. What law school did
> you attend? What accommodations did you request? What accommodations were
> you provided with? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you
> resolve said challenges? How available and/or accessible are law school
> materials? Would any of you be willing to talk with me via telephone or
> skype? Are there resources available on the internet that I could begin
> exploring?
> Thank you in advance for any feedback on my questions,
> kolby
>
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> --
> Best Regards,
>
> Nora Devine
> Juris Doctor Candidate 2012
> University of San Francisco School of Law
> Tel: 510-508-4209
> devinenora at gmail.com
>
> <http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/devinenora%40gmail.com>
>