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

[Natasha Ishaq]

Thanks Syed! I am indeed a JAWS and VoiceOver user. I have been exploring
various apps that can potentially help with navigating inaccessible
documents, such as scanned PDFs or other PDFs that are inaccessible with
JAWS. I’ve heard that VoiceDream is great for this. I’m also looking into
apps such as Seeing AI or potentially even AIRA to assist with visuals and
images. If you have any additional suggestions or recommendations, I’d love
to learn about them!

Thanks!

Regards,
Natasha


On Fri, Jan 19, 2024 at 2:38 PM Syed Rizvi <syedrizvinfb at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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>