[blindLaw] Westlaw and Accessibility

Thu Feb 20 15:08:08 UTC 2020

My recall is that there is a way to do it even in the old version of Westlaw.  I did not find it very efficient or reliable as compared to manually copying the text, case name and page number.  It requires some gymnastics with multiple JAWS cursors.  You must leave the text of the case highlighted and change focus to do a simulated mouse click on the copy citation button without disturbing the highlighted text.  Using the virtual cursor alone to navigate to the button will remove the highlight when you try to navigate away.  

I'll also make a plug for Casetext.  They aren't perfectly accessible yet.  They are, however, in a good position to take major market shares from the traditional providers.  

-----Original Message-----
From: Laura Wolk <laura.wolk at gmail.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 12:29 PM
To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blindLaw] Westlaw and Accessibility

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-west
>> l
>> 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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