[blindlaw] Kaplan LSAT Support

Tom Ladis tom at tomladis.com
Sun May 30 03:02:58 UTC 2010


Thanks.  Equipped For Equality is a law firm in Chicago that takes on issues 
that help to level the playing field for people with disabilities.  They 
seem to have their hands in things from Education to Online Banking to 
Workplace equality issues.  I was not able to find a web site for them, but 
will get a phone number or web address from them and publish it here if they 
allow.  Maybe I can get someone from their firm to publish their mission 
statement or something like that to this list.  I will get back with more 
info.


Tom

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <ckrugman at sbcglobal.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2010 6:54 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Kaplan LSAT Support


Congratulations, This is the type of action that needs to occur when
organizations or companies blatantly fail to comply with ADA and other
legislation. SWhat is Equipped for Equality as I'm not familiar with that
organization?
Chuck
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Ladis" <tom at tomladis.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 7:20 AM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Kaplan LSAT Support


This has all been a big drag.  Luckily, Equipped For Equality is concerned
and will be representing me to get things straightened out and wake them up
a little bit.  If they are not able to get them to do something under a
cooperative agreement it may go to the next level.  It may take litigation
to get them to make permanent changes, but we will take it one step at a
time.


Either way, Kaplan and LSAC are both out of touch with the spirit of the ADA
legislation and need blind people to keep whacking at them until they can
level things off for the next guy.


Tom
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "William ODonnell" <william.odonnell1 at yahoo.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 10:35 AM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Kaplan LSAT Support


You will not be able to utilize there "accessible software" and online
exercises.  I outsourced and used readers who were from local agencies who
volunteered there time.  I would start to make consumer complaints since you
are not getting what you paid for.--- On Wed, 5/26/10, Tom Ladis
<tom at tomladis.com> wrote:

> From: Tom Ladis <tom at tomladis.com>
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Kaplan LSAT Support
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 8:11 AM
> Hello Dennis and All,
>
> Sorry to have dropped off for a while. I have been
> trying to catch up with the reading that I have been able to
> do. Kaplan has not yet provided the books in PDF files
> that are tagged correctly, and I have been using what they
> have sent me but not reading the stuff that has formatting
> issues due to table conversion issues. I have also not
> done any of their online exercises. Once I am able to
> take the LSAT in June I will have more time to pursue all of
> these issues with Kaplan.
>
> At this point, I was able to find a friend who was willing
> to act as a reader / scribe for my first practice
> exam. To my amazement, after using the Princeton
> Review method of guessing on the Logic Games section, I was
> able to score a 137. Not great or high enough to get
> into many schools, but probably a good first attempt.
>
> I was also told by an employee at Kaplan, although I have
> not verified her statement, that the LSAT is being
> administered on a computer starting this year. If that
> is true, it looks like they are moving in a direction that
> will put everyone into the same ball park. They are
> still going to provide my test in a printed format along
> with a reader and scribe. This tells me that they are
> not able to administer the test with JAWS or another screen
> reader application. She reported that people did not
> like the computer format because it did not allow them to do
> their roadmaps and notation on the booklet, which is how
> Kaplan trains test takers.
>
> More later as I try to get another practice exam or three
> done before the actual test.
>
> Dennis. I will call you today to try to arrange
> sending the Lesson Book PDF to see if you have any better
> luck with the tables. I have just been avoiding the
> question text that got jumbled during conversion, and
> appreciate your offer of support.
>
>
>
> Tom
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis Clark" 
> <dennisgclark at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2010 12:07 AM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Kaplan LSAT Support
>
>
> Hello Tom,
> I have been trying to get the playing field leveled for
> about 20 years now
> since I graduated from law school and I have had some
> success over the
> years dealing with the LSAC. I would be happy to
> convert the PDF's that
> Kaplan gave you into possibly more accurate files than you
> can do with Open
> Book. The files are too large to be sent as email
> attachments but if we can
> talk by phone I can help you send them to me using a file
> transfer service
> that I use. I would also like to talk with you about
> the legal problems
> raised by the inaccessibility of the Kaplan course.
> Over the years I have
> taken Kaplan courses for the GRE and LSAT, and neither was
> accessible, but
> my Kaplan experience preceded the passage of the ADA.
> However, the ADA has
> been in effect now for 18 years and it is time that they
> get their act
> together and provide complete course accessibility.
> Please give me a call
> if you would like to talk at (310) 285-0244. I am
> located in California,
> but I am also licensed to practice law in Illinois. I
> look forward to
> talking with you.
> Warmest regards,
> Dennis Clark
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Ladis" <tom at tomladis.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2010 6:15 PM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Kaplan LSAT Support
>
>
> Thanks for all of the great info. LSAC has been very
> difficult to work with
> to date. They seem to prefer doing things by email
> instead of human
> interaction. They are not willing to give much
> information over the phone,
> and have posted a scanned image of an accommodation letter
> in PDF files for
> me to view. Funny, huh? I would like to see
> them add some more check boxes
> to their accommodations forms to assign accommodations
> advisors to people
> who are blind.
>
> Regarding Kaplan, a fellow blind student recommended
> Kaplan, but it appears
> that taking the course when you are able to use ZoomText
> and when you need
> to use JAWS are quite a bit different. The PDF files
> all seem to have
> formatting issues, even if they are tagged. I spoke
> with Freedom Scientific
> about the problem and their conclusion is that the
> files are not formatted
> to be accessible. They suggested scanning the PDF
> files using OpenBook and
> saving it to a Word file, but even that leaves all sort of
> junk in the file
> because of their multi column structure and the books being
> for the Premier
> classes instead of the Standard classes. Trying to
> keep up with a class
> when you have the wrong books and distracting junk embedded
> in the test is a
> problem.
>
> It seems that a law firm could spend all of their time just
> trying to level
> the playing field for blind people who are already in or
> trying to get into
> the legal profession. Any ideas on how to get the
> playing field leveled and
> attorney fees paid are welcome.
>
>
> Tom
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Derek Wilson" 
> <dwilson.lists at gmail.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 9:25 AM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Kaplan LSAT Support
>
>
> Hi Tom,
>
> I also took an LSAT prep course with Kaplan, though mine
> was online
> and self-paced. Kaplan provided me with PDF versions
> of the study
> materials as well. I had no difficulty accessing the
> PDF files with
> ZoomText, but I did have some trouble with what I believe
> were
> flash-based tutorials and quizzes. They were much
> less accessible, as
> the text did not appear to be tagged so the reading cursor
> jumbped
> around the screen at random.
>
> In my case, I needed to arrange for a reader through
> LSAC. Kaplan had
> nothing to do with this. I am a Canadian who took the
> LSAT in Tokyo
> last September and again last December.
>
> One word of caution, you would be wise to do your best to
> prepare for
> the LSAT under the same conditions as you will write on
> test day. I
> prepared online with a screen-reader, but was given only 2
> options by
> LSAC in the way of accommodation: 1. a large-print test
> book, or 2. a
> human reader. The nature of my disability makes large print
> difficult
> for me to read, as it is an 18-point font. I am able
> to read only 14
> or 16-point font, and only with great difficulty for short
> periods of
> time. To make a long story short, my test day score
> was 15 points
> lower than my timed practice test score. Other reasons
> aside, the
> nature of my interaction with the test material was a huge
> factor in
> my performance. As I was not in a position to pay a
> human reader to
> help me study, my options were limited. I don't what
> the implications
> are for you, but I wanted to bring this to your attention.
>
> If you decide to go with a human reader, I strongly urge
> you to meet
> with them in person prior to test day and assess their
> reading skills
> at this level. They will need to be quick, clear,
> competent, and have
> the stamina to last for many hours. LSAC will pay for
> them to meet
> with you for up to 3 hours for the purposes of screening
> and
> acquaintance, and you have the right of refusal if you deem
> them unfit
> for the task.
>
> After my first time writing the LSAT in September of last
> year, I
> asked LSAC point blank if I could take the test on a
> computer using
> Access Technology, and they flat out said "No, that is not
> possible at
> this time." I asked if LSAC was planning to offer a
> computer-based
> alternative in the future, and the representative repeated
> flatly "No,
> not at this time." I have since learned that two of
> my acquaintances
> in Canada, both of whom are visually impaired, were able to
> write on
> test day with the use of a PC and Access Technology.
> I would not go
> so far as to say that LSAC is arbitrary in their
> accommodation
> decisions, since I do not have all of the facts, but it is
> clear to me
> that the playing field is far from level.
>
> I sincerely hope that you find this information useful in
> some way,
> and I wish you the best of luck on test day!
>
> Regards,
> Derek Wilson
> www.twitter.com/culturemate
> http://jp.linkedin.com/in/culturemate
>
> On 5/13/10, Tom Ladis <tom at tomladis.com>
> wrote:
> > I am pretty sure that it will all get worked out, but
> the class has started
> > and I am falling behind. It took them a month to
> get me the PDF files just
> > 3 days before the class started. My fault for
> starting late and I have not
> > been able to find anyone at Kaplan that knows how to
> deal with getting me
> > the materials in a JAWS friendly
> format. I was finally able to get
> > OpenBook to read the PDF this morning, but that is not
> the greatest solution
> > either.
> >
> > Thanks for your thoughts,
> > Tom
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Rod Alcidonis, Esquire." <attorney at alcidonislaw.com>
> > To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 10:32 AM
> > Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Kaplan LSAT Support
> >
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > Kaplan will work with you. Just tell them what you
> need and why. Kaplan has
> > demonstrated to me times and again that they are
> committed to complying with
> > the ADA. This was when I signed up with them for the
> SAT, LSAT, and Bar
> > Prep. They will find a solution even it may not be
> perfect. Have a
> > constructive dialog with them.
> >
> >
> > Rod Alcidonis, Attorney and Counselor at Law
> > Alcidonis Law Office, LLC
> > 6907B Rising Sun Ave., 1st Fl
> > Philadelphia, PA 19111
> > Tel: (215) 305-8085
> > Fax: (215) 525-0999
> > Attorney at alcidonislaw.com
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
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> may be protected by
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> are not the intended
> > recipient, you are hereby notified that any retention,
> dissemination,
> > reading, or copying of this communication is strictly
> prohibited.
> >
> > If you have received this communication in error,
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> and permanently delete
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> > Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §
> 2510-2521.
> >
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------
> > From: "Tom Ladis" <tom at tomladis.com>
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 10:18 AM
> > To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> > Subject: [blindlaw] Kaplan LSAT Support
> >
> >> Hello All.
> >>
> >> I have started the Kaplan LSAT class and requested
> the course material in
> >> a digital format. They sent the material on
> a CD-ROM in PDF files. Some
> >> of the files are HUGE, as in 30 megabytes, and not
> manageable by JAWS.
> >>
> >> I got what I asked for, but it is not
> usable. Kaplan has not been able
> >> to provide anything besides the PDF files.
> >>
> >> Does anybody have the ability to save a 30
> megabyte ? PDF to a Word
> >> document?
> >>
> >> In addition, isn't Kaplan responsible for
> providing a reader and scribe
> >> for the practice tests?
> >>
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> Tom
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
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