[blindLaw] Westlaw and Accessibility

Wed Feb 19 20:29:22 UTC 2020

Hi Brian,

To make sure we're talking about the same thing, I'm talking about the
feature where you can highlight a sentence in a case, and then copy
that sentence along with the citation, including the pin cite.  Is
that what you're talking about?

On 2/19/20, Brian Unitt via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Laura,
>
> I have been using Edge for about six months with no problems. (Jaws 020 and
> Chrome) There is a button labelled "copy document citation to clipboard."
> Pressing enter brings up a dialog containing several elements. First is a
> dropdown list of citation formats: standard (Bluebook), Westlaw, and a list
> of states (I choose California as most of my work is in the California state
> courts). Next is a checkbox for including a hyperlink (which doesn't seem to
> work). Next are copy, cancel, and close copy window buttons. When I tab to
> the copy button in this dialog and press enter, there is a slight lag before
> hearing a message that says "citation was copied to the clipboard." Other
> than the hyperlink option, copy citation works well.
>
> There is really not much difference using Edge from the prior version. The
> overruling risk feature is usable, as is the compare version feature for
> statutes. If you have someone from Westlaw walk you through those features
> the first time, I think you will have no problem.
>
> Best,
>
> Brian
> Brian C. Unitt
> Certified Specialist in Appellate Law
> State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization
>
> Holstein, Taylor and Unitt
> A Professional Corporation
> 4300 Latham Street, Suite 103
> Riverside, CA 92501
> P: 951-682-7030
> F: 951-684-8061
> E: brianunitt at holsteinlaw.com
> www.holsteinlaw.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindLaw <blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Laura Wolk via
> BlindLaw
> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 11:09 AM
> To: slabarre at labarrelaw.com; Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Laura Wolk <laura.wolk at gmail.com>
> Subject: [blindLaw] Westlaw and Accessibility
>
> I'm so glad to hear about your positive experiences, Scott and James!
> We were forcibly upgraded, but I reverted back because I didn't want to risk
> it.  James, can you please give step-by-steps on how to use the copy cite
> feature on edge?
>
> On 2/19/20, Scott C. LaBarre via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hey Everyone, we have had a good relationship with Thomson Reuters and
>> their West Law group over the years.  I am happy to approach them
>> under the NABL flag but would like to aggregate issues if I can.  So
>> if there are other issues besides the copy cite problem, please let me
>> know.  By the way, I have converted over to Edge and everything I've
>> tried thus far seems to work well but I am not yet a power user, by
>> any means.
>>
>> Best,
>> Scott
>>
>> slabarre at labarrelaw.com
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: BlindLaw <blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Singh,
>> Nandini via BlindLaw
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 9:25 AM
>> To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Singh, Nandini <NSingh at cov.com>
>> Subject: Re: [blindLaw] Westlaw and Accessibility
>>
>> Laura,
>>
>> I have brought up the copy cite issue each time I call Westlaw about
>> its performance with JAWS. Whoever is assisting me writes it down for
>> West's development team, but maybe there is not a critical mass of
>> people requesting improvement since it has been something I have
>> repeatedly raised.
>> I am not sure what else could be the hang-up in this regard. There
>> should be a technological solution other than my having to copy it
>> from the case frontal matter.
>>
>> I am not sure about Edge and am probably just as concerned as you are.
>> I am also dealing with a disastrous Windows update that has rendered
>> my email and word processing nearly impossible to use, though I admit
>> this is not quite the same problem of an inaccessible environment for
>> JAWS. All the pointless updates and upgrades can really have a
>> negative impact.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Nikki
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: BlindLaw <blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Laura Wolk
>> via BlindLaw
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 11:09 AM
>> To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Laura Wolk <laura.wolk at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [blindLaw] Westlaw and Accessibility
>>
>> [EXTERNAL]
>>
>> All,
>>
>> What is the progress with Westlaw making the (very basic) Copy Cite
>> feature accessible?  This is on my short list of things that NABL
>> should be bringing its clout down , and probably should have years
>> ago.  If I added up all the seconds it takes for me to glean this
>> information that sighted people obtain with the click of a button...
>> I'd be getting a lot more sleep.  Not to mention, Westlaw is used in
>> every law school across the country for teaching purposes.  I'm still
>> not really sure how it and Lexis have not been the subject of
>> litigation on this point by now.
>>
>> Along that same line, apparently like all other companies westlaw has
>> felt the need to update a not broken system to a new product called
>> "Westlaw Edge."
>> https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/insights/articles/announcing-westl
>> aw-edg
>> e
>>
>> I'm sure peoples' firms will be forcibly converted over time to this
>> new platform.  Has NFB had any contact with the developpers to ensure
>> that we don't have another horror show where these "latest and
>> greatest" features are in fact not accessible and result in blind
>> lawyers not being able to do their jobs?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Laura
>>
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>
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