[blindlaw] college complaint

[Steve Jacobson]

Brian,

Individual situations often require individualized approaches so I am really
glad you can connect with Noel who is very knowledgeable of the specific
laws.  As one who is not a lawyer  but who has followed and promoted
legislation for many years, I wanted to comment on one of the replies you
received.  I know of no law that requires every company to make their
software accessible.  Generally, the law puts the burden on those who buy
software to only buy accessible software.  There are many cases where an
educational institution, governmental agencies, and companies that have
public locations have to make websites and other processes that are used by
the public accessible.  This helps and covers many situations, but it does
not affect all companies or all software.  We can also sometimes affect
companies who develop software to add accessibility by affecting their
ability to sell to an important part of their market.  If it appears that we
can prevent them from selling to educational institutions, for example, it
then becomes in their interest to make their software accessible.  Many of
us feel that the restrictions on software sold to schools helped push Apple
to make their products accessible.  Apple, of course, has denied that in the
past, saying they did it because it was the right thing to do.  Who can say
for certain.

Another part of this is whether there is an accessible alternative that is
just as functional.  If there isn't a competing product to Cisco's packet
tracer that has the same functionality, it makes it more difficult for a
complaint to stick.  However, getting customers, like colleges, to push back
is an approach to reach the decision makers in a company in a way that we
can't as individuals.  You may need to explain to your instructor that
filing a complaint gives your instructor and your college more leverage in
helping you deal with Cisco, but perhaps Noel will have other approaches.

Finally, as someone who worked in the computer field for many years, I
occasionally found it helpful to learn and understand software that I could
not use.  I do not say this to discourage your efforts to change this
situation, but working with a reader to learn the processes being taught can
be helpful.  For example, I have had to decide which tool was best to get a
given result even though it was not going to be my job to use that tool.
This was in an environment where accessibility was not mandated in any way.
I was able to help make the decision because I understood the software even
though I could not effectively use it.  This isn't ideal but is another
thing to consider.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bryan
Schulz via BlindLaw
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 5:19 PM
To: 'Blind Law Mailing List' <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Cc: b.schulz at sbcglobal.net
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] college complaint

Hi,

Of course that is an accommodation!
You didn't process the question.
Is there no issue to pursue because an accommodation was provided?
Bryan


-----Original Message-----
From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Roanna
Bacchus via BlindLaw
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 9:27 AM
To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Cc: rbacchus228 at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] college complaint

Yes it is an accommodation to have a human person sitting next to you as a
leader in class. All software companies are required to make programs
accessible to users with disabilities.

Sent from my iPad

> On Jan 25, 2018, at 10:32 PM, Bryan Schulz via BlindLaw
<blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> 
> I want to know if it is possible to file a complaint, or suit against 
> a software company without including the college setting where it is 
> being used.
> 
> 
> 
> The situation is a college course is using cisco packet tracer and it 
> is completely unusable with jaws but the instructor is trying to 
> figure something out.
> 
> If a human is sitting next to me, is that a valid accommodation and 
> that's the end of it while I'm not learning anything?
> 
> Bryan
> 
>