Modern touchscreen systems, like other modern computers, phones, and tablets, are readily adaptable for use by blind people through mechanisms such as tactile keyboards that a user can feel nonvisually and audio ports for plugging in headphones so the system can “speak” privately to users. (Both of these are in widespread use at bank ATMs, for example.) A company that does not include these common accessibility features when installing a touchscreen system excludes many disabled…

With strong and bipartisan support, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law on July 26, 1990. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees absent an undue hardship. As President Bush explained, “This act is powerful in its simplicity. It will ensure that people with disabilities are given the basic guarantees for which they have worked so long…

We know that filing complaints takes time and can be inconvenient when you are simply trying to reach your travel destination. However, your complaints to Uber and Lyft, and to the National Federation of the Blind’s testing program, are making a difference. Below are some tips for filing effective complaints that will help Uber, Lyft and our legal team better ensure that drivers are properly handled under the policy changes set forth in…

TRE Legal Practice is pleased to have played a role in facilitating the efforts of E la Carte, Inc., creators of the PrestoPrime™ EMV System™ for full-service restaurants,  Applebee’s® Neighborhood Grill + Bar, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), and the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired of San Francisco to produce a text-to-speech capability for the PrestoPrime EMV System that will be incorporated into all current and future Presto tablets,…

eatsa, an innovative fast-casual restaurant featuring innovative automat-style self-serve kiosks with locations in California, New York, and D.C., agreed to make its mobile apps, kiosks, and food-pickup cubbies accessible to blind customers. eatsa uses the latest technology to allow customers to order food either on in-store iPads or via a mobile phone, with no cashier and no line. Customers then pick up made-to-order bowls in a personalized cubby. TRE Legal Practice, representing Darian…

In 2015, Tina Thomas, who is blind, tried to book a trip with Greyhound’s website, but her text-to-speech software couldn’t interpret Greyhound’s site. When she called instead, she was charged a “convenience fee” for booking by phone — even though she explained she could not use the website. Earlier this year, she tried again, but the experience was no better. Because of experiences like hers, Ms. Thomas, along with four other blind Californians working with…