ecourt, lawyers with disabilities, and the ada

eCourt, Lawyers with Disabilities,

and the ADAPosted on 02/23/2015

In October of 2014, the PLF added At the Corner of Law Practice and Disability

to its collection of CLEs available on the PLF website.

This program discusses EEOC and ADA requirements; work at home/telework as

a reasonable accommodation; practical ways a small firm can accommodate an

attorney with disabilities; ethical concerns and best practices for lawyers who

have an unplanned medical emergency; resources for attorneys with disabilities;

and social security disability. Speakers included Amber Bevacqua-Lynott, Cheryl

Caon, Melissa Kenney, Kendra Matthews, Lisa Porter, Helle Rode, and Camilla

Thurmond with special content provided by Alice Plymell.

Kudos to Oregon Women Lawyers for sponsoring this CLE. It raised awareness,

offered concrete resources, and generated some interesting questions. Here

is one that occurred to me:

What happens at the Corner of Disability and Mandatory eCourt?

Consider this scenario: Lawyer A is visually impaired. Using an interactive

website, such as Oregons Odyssey eFile & Serve eCourt System, is difficult if not

impossible. What can (or should) Lawyer A do?

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First Order Issues

It does not appear that the eFile & Serve website can be used by impaired users.

Searching Self-Service Support on the Odyssey eFile & Serve website

produces this less-than-clear result:

Article #4263 Does your website work with accessibility programs for

impaired users? KB4263. In general, an information technology system is

accessible to people with disabilities if it can be used in a variety of ways

that do not depend on a single sense or ability. For example, a system that

provides output only in audio format would not be accessible to people with

hearing impairments, and a system that requires mouse actions to navigate

would not be accessible to people who cannot use a mouse because of a

dexterity or visual impairment. Section 508 focuses on the overall

accessibility of electronic and information systems, not on providing

accommodations at individual worksites. Individuals with disabilities may still

need specific accessibility-related software or peripheral devices to be able

to use an accessible system.

Can other technology, like a screen reader, come to the rescue? Not really.

Screen readers are software programs that allow blind or visually impaired users

to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech

synthesizer or braille display. They can be free, but may also cost upwards of

$1200.

Screen readers are a help to users who have difficulty seeing content on a Web

page, but they are not usually a good solution for interactive sites with fill-in

fields and pick-lists.

What is the Answer?

If the eFile & Serve website cannot be used by impaired users, Lawyer A has

three options:

1. Try to use GoToAssist, the support program used by Tyler Technologies to

remote in and take control of the users computer. [Follow the link. See

Article 2517.]

2. Request a waiver of the eFiling requirement.

3. Delegate eFiling to someone else.



In the interest of full disclosure, I have real doubts about the viability of the first

solution:

Lawyer As visual impairment may interfere with her ability to invoke GoToAssist, which is a mouse-based selection on the main login page.

GoToAssist is intended for use in resolving discrete technical issues. It is not a repetitive, day-to-day filing solution.

What about the ADA?

Good question. I dont know the answer.

Since eCourt is mandatory, it feels right to conclude that the lawyer is entitled to

an ADA accommodation. The most logical resolution: a waiver of the eFiling

requirement.

Follow the links to my posts on eFiling waivers and delegating eFiling for a

complete discussion of those topics. Your thoughts?

[All Rights Reserved 2015 Beverly Michaelis]

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