[blindLaw] Questions Regarding Blindness and Accessibility in Law School & the Legal Profession

[Syed Rizvi]

Hi Natasha,



Congrats on beginning your legal journey!



I am a blind law school student and will try my best to answer your
questions.



Regarding your second question, how do you currently do the bulk of your
reading? Many blind lawyers employ the use of a screen reading software,
such as Job Access With Speech, to quickly and accurately read through
large amounts of text. I think acquiring this skill would also be helpful
for law school and not only for work. You can potentially receive training
in how to use such software from your state’s vocational rehabilitation
agency. I’m happy to jump on a call to show you how I use this tool.



Regarding your first and last questions, I wondered about the same
potential barriers in my own career. While there are ever growing
technological solutions to such visual barriers, sometimes the easiest path
is the low tech one. It is common for sighted attorneys to employ the
services of paralegals and professional assistants. Blind attorneys, like
their sighted counterparts, also receive assistance in their work from such
support staff. However, the type of assistance they may receive from their
support staff for particular tasks may differ. It is most important for you
to do your job efficiently. If that entails asking your support staff to
provide you with a description of an image or check for a signature on a
printed page, then that is a perfectly acceptable solution that does not
hinder your own independence.



I am happy to connect and discuss further if you would like.



Best of luck!

-Syed



On Thu, Jan 18, 2024 at 10:46 AM Natasha Ishaq via BlindLaw <
blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> I will be starting law school in the fall and have a few specific questions
> regarding blindness and accessibility in law school and the legal
> profession as a whole.
>
> First, I was wondering whether anyone on this mailing list who is a
> prosecutor, defense attorney or judge would be willing to speak with me
> about navigating accessibility within their work. As someone interested in
> pursuing criminal law, I understand that viewing photographic images and
> videos are often part of the job when it comes to reviewing evidence. I
> would like to know how blind attorneys and judges are best able to overcome
> this kind of accessibility barrier and still maintain independence in their
> line of work?
>
> Second, what is the best software application that can be used to review
> annd navigate through electronic documents that are hundreds of pages long?
>
> Finally, what is the best approach to take when given inaccessible
> documents, such as inaccessible scanned PDFs or handwritten files?
>
> My goal is to have the solutions for the above barriers planned out prior
> to starting law school so that i can better focus on coursework, clinics
> and professional training without having to feel “stuck” because of
> inaccessibility. Essentially, I want to have a plan I can immediately
> follow to prevent these problems from arising in the first place.
>
> I am grateful for any and all insight and help. Thank you all so much.
>
> Warm Regards,
> Natasha
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