[blindLaw] Accommodations When Visiting a Law Library Open to the Public

[James T. Fetter]

Amy,

Under the ADA, you should have equal access to the law library as other 
members of the public. I doubt you could just show up and expect to have 
a computer with Jaws installed, but if you ask for the accommodation 
ahead of time, I can't think of a reason for them to refuse it. If cost 
were an issue for them, would you be willing to suggest, and work with, 
NVDA?

I don't know off the top of my head/without doing research whether your 
complaint could relate back to discrimination you faced as a student. 
Depending on your state's SoL and when they last discriminated against 
you, you may be barred from bringing these complaints in court, unless 
there was additional discrimination. If you want to start with an OCR 
complaint--are you referring to DOJ OCR?--then you may as well include 
the past discrimination. However, I wouldn't hold my breath on getting a 
response from them these days. In other words, if you're serious about 
this, you may want to start looking for private counsel, as soon as you 
are discriminated against.


On 8/21/2019 12:02 AM, Aimee Harwood via BlindLaw wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I'm really not sure why nobody has responded to this. I'm politely asking for your advise. Surely someone here can offer a suggestion or two.
>
> I'm resending this email as I need to do a good bit of legal research very soon. I have requested assistance from this list  for the below concerns. I expect difficulties at the location I must utilize to conduct this research. Can you guys please read and advise on the below information. I want to be fully prepared to respond appropriately when I face the expected resistance for accommodations. If there are additional details needed to effectively answer my questions, I will be glad to provide for clarification. I really do need your assistance and most certainly appreciate any thoughts and or suggestions.
>
> I have a few questions about (1) access at law libraries open to the public, (2) possible accommodations, and (3) if denied accommodations filing an OCR complaint that possibly includes prior issues I experienced there as a student.
>
> (1) Has anybody had experience visiting a law library and receiving  accommodations  to permit them to do independant legal research? I need to visit a law library to do some legal research. The closest one is the school I attended and had so much problems with regarding accommodations. Before I go, I would like to know my rights for accessing content at the library as a member of the public.
>
> (2) What accommodations can I  request? Can I request a computer with JAWS and access to lexis and westlaw?  I have sent them info on Aira since I was dismissed hoping they would utilize it if they ever had another blind student in the future. Could I ask for them to provide Aira access? I do not have a paid Aira subscription and cannot afford one at the moment. So that  avenue will only be helpful if they are a site access.
>
> (3) If I do not get any of the assistance you recommend, can I file an OCR complaint for this incident? Is it possible to relate it back to the issues I had as a student?
>
> I greatly appreciate any and all advice in this matter as I have been very hesitent to do the research but it really needs to be done. Most everything was a fight with them. I have been very apprehensive to approach them with this request.
>
> Aimee
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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