[blindlaw] totally blind 1L curious about Westlaw and Lexis

Laura Wolk laura.wolk at gmail.com
Thu Oct 17 10:48:05 UTC 2013


Hi Patrick,

I also am a totally blind jaws user, though I am also a 1l so probably
not as experienced as other folks here.

I have not had a problem with lexis. can you provide examples of
things you have not been able to do/would like to be able to do on
lexis that you can't currently? since you can do quite a lot on both
databases, having a more definitive starting point to answering your
questions would be helpful.

also, do you have a legal research class and a legal research
professor? if so, I highly recommend becoming best friends with him. I
have spent more than a few hours in my legal prof's office, teaching
him how to communicate nonvisually with me and to learn how to switch
from saying things like "click on the blue box" to using terminology
that I can readily understand and follow. I have sometimes outrightly
not gone to class if he feels that he cannot figure out how to
communicate how to use the areas of the database in a meaningful way
during class and have instead just met with him one on one to go over
it.

anyway, if you let me know what specifically you are having trouble
with or would like to be able to do, I can help you.

there is one thing in lexis which I cannot access, of which I have
made them aware. This pertains to accessing the outline of lexis
nexis headnotes (i.e., if you pull open a case and you want to expand
the headnotes to find other cases on point by clicking on them). sine
lexis's headnotes are far inferior to westlaw anyway, this practically
has not been a problem for me, though it will be if employment makes
it one.

Laura

On 10/16/13, Stewart, Christopher K <chris.stewart at uky.edu> wrote:
> Hello All,
> I am a 1L student interested in making my research as timely and
> cost-effective as possible. In general, I have had more success with
> Westlaw. Do any totally blind users of JAWS have advice for Lexis and
> Westlaw? Is Westlaw mobile a viable alternative? Do any practicianers
> know if the mobile site is more expensive for potential employers? As
> a new-comer to this list, I do not know if this question is covered
> too frequently for people's patience. If so, anyone can feel free to
> email me off-list at
> chris.stewart at uky.edu.
>
> Best,
> Chris Stewart
>
>
> --
> Chris K. Stewart
> University of Kentucky College of Law,
> J.D. Candidate, 2016
> California Institute of the Arts, B.F.A. 2010
> Ph:
> (502)457-1757
>
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