Steven Mendelsohn, Chair Advocacy Committee
Many of us have encountered or soon will encounter inaccessible retail kiosks and terminals in restaurants, stores, medical facilities and other service establishments. As businesses seek to reduce labor costs through use of technology, such automated transactions will become more common. But in all too many cases, the access needs of people utilizing nonvisual access are overlooked or disregarded. In situations where the kiosk is the only means of getting information or services, making a purchase, or performing some other transaction or task, its inaccessibility either prevents us from conducting our affairs, or forces us to give up the speed, privacy and choice that others take for granted.
This is unquestionably a civil rights issue, and many of us are familiar with the legal settlements that have been reached on behalf of our community's technology access rights Such as the settlement with the movie distributor Redbox and of course victories in web access cases such as Target.
If you have encountered a barrier posed by one of these inaccessible machines and been unable to get the store or other facility to provide the human assistance necessary to overcome the problem, you may be thinking about seeking the advice or services of an attorney. The choice of an attorney to represent you is a very important one. Just as in the choice of a doctor, you need someone who is not only knowledgeable and skillful, but also someone you feel comfortable with; someone with the same goals for the outcome of the case; someone with whom you can agree on methods and someone with whom you can communicate effectively. Among attorneys of equal skill, one may prefer to negotiate first, while another may favor filing a lawsuit straight away. One may seek publicity for the case, while another adopts a low-profile approach. One may seek money damages, while another focuses on getting the accessibility fixed. One may be easy to reach when you have a question, another not. One may prefer representing a group of people in one case, while another focuses on individual situations. One may be sensitive to the danger of inadvertently making bad law, while another may not appreciate this risk.
There is no one way that is always right or always wrong. Success and satisfaction depend on the fit between you, the attorney and the case. Each case, each lawyer, and most of all each client needs to be a good fit.
Before deciding to work with any attorney, you should seek a second opinion about the legal diagnosis and the proposed legal treatment, and if a lawyer charges you nothing, find out whether they expect to try and collect fees from the other side and if so, how that desire would affect their handing of the case. Speak to several lawyers if you can in order to find someone with whom you are comfortable; whose approach, methods and advocacy style are right for you; who has the same objectives you do, and most of all, who has the necessary knowledge and experience.
CCB can help. CCB welcomes as many advocates as possible to join in this important work, and over the years, we have worked with a number of attorneys and firms for whose skill, experience and dedication to our members we can vouch. These are people who we know from experience will combine state-of-the-art legal knowledge with a sensitive understanding of many of the issues facing our members in daily life. So if you have decided that you need to consult a lawyer, we hope you will talk to us, but whether you talk to us or not, always try to get a second opinion.
Feel free to contact me (510-357-1844, smendel@panix.com) to talk about it. And even if you're not considering legal action, please let your advocacy committee know about any instances of inaccessibility you encounter and how they effect your life, because that kind of information will help CCB focus its advocacy efforts where they can be most valuable to you, our members.
