[blindLaw] Westlaw and Accessibility

Thu Feb 20 15:19:32 UTC 2020

All,

Is there a good resource for learning the most advanced functions of
JAWS? Many of you have some serious JAWS-jitsu.

Sanho

On 2/20/20, Tim Elder via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 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
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> BlindLaw mailing list
>>> BlindLaw at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> BlindLaw:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/nsingh%40cov.co
>>> m
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> BlindLaw mailing list
>>> BlindLaw at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> BlindLaw:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/slabarre%40labarrelaw.
>>> com
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> BlindLaw mailing list
>>> BlindLaw at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> BlindLaw:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/laura.wolk%40gm
>>> a
>>> il.com
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> BlindLaw mailing list
>> BlindLaw at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> BlindLaw:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/brianunitt%40hol
>> steinlaw.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> BlindLaw mailing list
>> BlindLaw at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> BlindLaw:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/laura.wolk%40gma
>> il.com
>>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> BlindLaw mailing list
> BlindLaw at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> BlindLaw:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/sanho817%40gmail.com
>