[blindLaw] Tackling Inaccessible Government PDF Forms: Employer Accommodations vs. Seeking Assistance from Responsible Government Agency

[Nikki Singh]

Hi! I think either could work out fine. You are also thinking about the
right ideas. I like the internal rout because it is generally more
efficient, especially if you have access to a reader. I am not sure that a
live human is available at an agency to provide assistance in a timely
manner. Note that I have a lot of time-sensitive work, so getting things
done fast is a premium for me. That includes filling out necessary
government forms/online series of fillable screens.



Using an agency rep can definitely open more questions about maintaining
client confidentiality. Since the information is going to be disclosed to a
third party anyway, due to the form going to whatever ultimate destination
at the agency, you have to consider if the initial time spent with an
agency rep to fill in the form actually divulges truly confidential or
privileged information that belongs to your client. For instance, your
completing an authorized rep form will pretty much give away the fact that
you are XYZ person’s attorney. Does taking the help of an agency rep at the
pre-submission stage present any disclosure issues that would not become
moot by the time you submit the authorized rep form? I am not sure what
your engagement letters look like, but clients should understand that their
expectations of confidentiality and privilege have to be reasonable yet
flexible enough for the type of advocacy agreed to. That does not mean that
you do not take measures to safeguard privileged or confidential
information. Forms, by their nature, will disclose information to someone
else; any client should appreciate that.



The one caveat is the nature of your practice. I know those in national
security or tax or M&A, for example, do have to think about disclosure
beyond the vanilla privileged and confidential categories. You should know
if there are practice-specific professional rules or disclosure statutes
that you should follow. Maybe for those, you may need consent and/or a
waiver from the client or else use internal solutions.



Sincerely,

Nikki

On Tue, Aug 13, 2024 at 4:56 PM Michal Nowicki via BlindLaw <
blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Greetings,
>
>
>
> I may have mentioned in a previous thread on this list regarding
> inaccessible government forms that nearly all PDF forms I have encountered
> on state public utility commission (PUC) websites are not sufficiently
> accessible for me to fill out on my own. These forms range from simple
> filings like telephone company name change or authorized representative
> designation forms, to registration forms to provide telecom services in a
> state, or applications for related licenses. Almost all of these forms,
> even
> if fillable electronically, are not properly labeled for screen readers.
> Thus far, when I have been asked to fill out such forms from clients, I
> have
> been generally relying on the assistance of support staff at my firm;
> occasionally, I've been able to hand off the assignment to another attorney
> in exchange for other work.
>
>
>
> Have any of you in this situation sought assistance from the responsible
> government agency instead of, or in addition to, requesting internal
> support? For example, have you contacted the government agency explaining
> the access barriers and tried to schedule a call to fill out the form over
> the phone with the help of an agency representative? If so, I would love to
> hear how doing so turned out for you.
>
>
>
> I would also appreciate your input on the potential ethical implications of
> this approach. For example, before asking a state PUC to help me fill out a
> form for a client, would I need to obtain the client's informed consent in
> order not to violate my professional duty of confidentiality?
>
>
>
> I am exploring the potential viability of the government agency assistance
> approach because if permissible and effective, it might speed up long
> overdue accessibility improvements to these forms. That is, each time the
> issue is brought to an agency's attention, the need to make these forms
> accessible is reinforced and communicated to the agency.
>
>
>
> Thank you in advance for your observations and recommendations.
>
>
>
> Best,
>
>
>
> Michal Nowicki
>
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