LibraryLaw Blog

Hooray - I figured out how to use tags instead of categories in this blog

As I suspected, it's much easier and more flexible.  So if any of you are looking for new posts based on categories, you may not find them. Use the technorati tags at the bottom of a post instead. If it works like I think it will, I'll probably stop using categories altogether.

Update: It looks as if users who click on a technorati tag below will get everyone in the world's posts with those tags. That's useful, but it would be nice to have an option to limit it to this blog, the way flickr does.  Well, there's always the search button in the blog...

Law of Libraries and Archives

Just discovered a website on the Law of Libraries and Archives, by Bryan M. Carson. It's an adjunct to his book published in December 2006 by Scarecrow Press, which I just ordered :>

Disability access prevails over historic preservation claim at Copley Square

A federal appellate court ruled in favor of using the Boston Public Library steps for an inbound elevator that goes to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), despite neighborhood claims that this violated historical preservation statutes.  Each case of disability access v. historic preservation must be made on a case by case basis - slightly different facts could turn a case like this in a different direction.   

Neighborhood Ass'n of the Back Bay, Inc. v. Fed. Transit Admin., No. 06-1029, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, 463 F.3d 50; 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 23394, September 14, 2006

The facts and reasoning are below:

Is that what they mean by legally blind? Bad news for web users with visual impairments

Access Now lost its appeal to make the Southwest Airlines website accessible to users with visual impairments. The district court said that the website was not a "place of public accommodation" as defined by Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Upshot: since it's not a physical place, so it didn't have to be accessible. Some innovative arguments were raised on appeal, but the 11th Circuit court said it would not consider these arguments since they had not been raised in the district court. Perhaps the next case will fare better.

What does it mean for libraries? Private libraries (including private university and school libraries) are subject to Title III, and under the facts of this case, their websites need not be accessible to users.

Public libraries (including public university and school libraries) are subject to Title II which has different criteria for accessibility under the ADA.

Access Now v Southwest, ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 02-16163 (Sept 24, 2004)

via Stanford Center for Internet and Society

Great news - IMLS grant will help make library websites accessible to users with disabilities

As part of an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant, the University of Buffalo library school will train students to make websites accessible to library users with disabilities. This is part of a $995,960 grant to recruit and educate librarians using "hands-on" teaching libraries, a collaborative effort that includes the New York State Library, 13 library systems and programs in library and information science at six colleges in New York state.

p.s. to my friend in Michigan who told me this blog was depressing her - does this help?

What your architect might not tell you -- but you should know

When I worked for a disability rights law firm, I learned that many architects and product manufacturers say they are "ADA-compliant" when in fact they are not. One lawsuit I worked on was against a library. Did I hesitate when asked to go after a library? No, I was eager. Of all places, libraries should be fully accessible!

Libraries are not off the hook if an architect incorrectly tells them that their plans are Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant. Nor should they be ... library users need to get in the doors and be able to use all library services. Libraries should check out ADA compliance for themselves or hire a qualified consultant to do so.

If you're planning a new building or renovation, you should know that on July 23, 2004, the Access Board issued new ADA guidelines that will apply soon. The guidelines, a decade in the making, will apply to virtually all types of libraries, covering items from drinking fountains to parking spaces to protruding objects.

Although they will be effective September 21, 2004, the guidelines will not become enforceable standards until the Department of Justice adopts them, most likely sometime in the next year. 69 Fed. Reg. 44,084, et seq., (July 23, 2004)

p.s. Don't forget to check your state law, which may have additional requirements.

Calif. Judge orders disabled patron to pay nearly $30,000 to city in library cat case

Judge orders man to cover city's legal fees in library cat case

Last modified Saturday, July 31, 2004 10:29 PM PDT By: BEN FRUMIN - Staff Writer, North County Times

ESCONDIDO ---- A disabled man has been ordered to pay nearly $30,000 in attorneys' fees incurred by the city of Escondido defending a lawsuit stemming from the attack nearly four years ago on his assistance dog by a cat living in the city library, officials said Saturday.

"The case was frustrating for our office from the beginning," Senior Deputy City Attorney Steve Nelson said Saturday. "We put a lot of time and energy into it."

Nelson said Superior Court Judge Yuri Hofmann on Friday ordered Richard Ramon "Rik" Espinosa to pay the city $29,362.50 ---- 25 percent less than the city's request for $225 per hour for 174 billable hours.

Harvard Law Bulletin issue on Intellectual Property - including disability access to copyrighted materials

The Harvard Law Bulletin has a special Summer 2004 issue on Intellectual Property.

Be sure to take a look at the article about Martha Minow's project (yes, my sister :> ) that would make textbooks accessible to students with disabilities in a timely manner.

Even though copyright law was amended in 1996 to allow for digitization of materials for people with disabilities 17 USC 121, students get the materials long after their classmates if at all. Students with disabilities that are not visual (such as students with learning disabilities who could benefit from listening to a book using a screen reader versus reading the text) are not clearly included. If publishers submitted digital copies using uniform standards of digitization, schools could provide their students with books in time to actually use them.

Hurray! Supreme Court upholds ADA guarantees to local government courthouse

Hurray! Didn't know how that would turn out, since prior decisions have not been too good. The Supreme Court just ruled in favor of George Lane who uses a wheelchair and sued because he had to crawl up two flights of stairs to get to a courtroom. Later, he refused to crawl again or to be carried by officers to the courtroom. He consequently was arrested and jailed for failure to appear.

The Government claimed that the ADA didn't apply to it. It argued that Title II of the ADA, which requires state and local governments to make their facilities and services accessible, was unconstitutional. It argued that Congress had overstepped its authority in passing the ADA when it came to regulating states.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court upheld the ADA. It ruled that Lane has the right to sue and seek money damages.

It would have been a deep body blow to disabled patrons of state and local libraries if it had turned out the other way - and it was a close one. 5-4 decision.

Tennessee v Lane Supreme Court decision May 17, 2004. For more on ADA, see Dept of Justice site.

For regulations on physical access to libraries see ADAAG, especially No. 8. See also Dept. of Justice info on Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities which directly applies to state and local library websites.

Library web site design - Make it accessible

I can't emphasize enough how important I think it is to make library web sites accessible to people with disabilities. Patrons may be using text readers, alternative input devices etc.

I used to use voice input when I had miserably bad RSI.

Believe me, I wanted to shoot the folks who wrote web pages without giving keyboard alternatives (voice could compensate) for mouse clicks (voice could not).

This came up just now because I'm on a bit of a blogfest ... checking out other people's blogs (I can see that this could be a definite time sink).

Here's a good presentation from Jessamyn West's blog on how to make your library's web site accessible. The presentation is dated April 20, 2004.

She points out that using accessibility standards can help a variety of people:

"Users who can't see, hear, move, or process some types of information
Users who have difficulty reading or comprehending text
Users who may not be able to use a keyboard or mouse
Users who have a text-only screen, a small screen, or a slow Internet connection
Users who may not speak or understand English fluently
Users who may have older browsers, or different browsers or operating systems"

This is like putting ramps leading to library front doors... allows not only patrons who use wheelchairs in, but makes it easier for parents with strollers, staff with book carts and various others.