{"id":553,"date":"2012-01-05T08:50:39","date_gmt":"2012-01-05T13:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.equipmentlink.org\/blog\/?p=553"},"modified":"2012-01-05T08:50:39","modified_gmt":"2012-01-05T13:50:39","slug":"assistive-technology-lawsuits-part-2-152012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.equipmentlink.org\/blog\/?p=553","title":{"rendered":"Assistive Technology Lawsuits, Part 2, 1\/5\/2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

Assistive Technology Lawsuits to Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n

As 2011 draws to a close, TAP would like to note that it was a year that included several important or interesting AT-related lawsuits worth watching. The outcomes of these lawsuits could have a big impact on assistive technology users in the years to come!<\/p>\n

March 2011: National Federation of the Blind filed a complaint with the Department of Justice against Northwestern University, New York University, and several Oregon universities. The complaint concerned the schools\u2019 use of Google Apps for Education in their classrooms. Google Apps for Education is a free software suite that Google describes as \u201cfree email and collaboration tools for schools.\u201d\u00a0 It was discovered that not all of the components of Google Apps for Education are fully accessible to screen reader programs used by persons who use screen readers to access information on their computers.\u00a0 The complaint contends that by using Google Apps for Education as a primary means of sharing educational materials that are not fully accessible, universities deny equal educational opportunities to students and other members of the university community who
\nhave visual or print disabilities.<\/p>\n

More about the complaint here: http:\/\/www.nfb.org\/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=771<\/a>\u00a0 It should be noted that in September, Google did make changes to Google Docs, which is a component of the Google Apps for Education suite.\u00a0 Read MDTAP\u2019s review of
\nGoogle Docs in its previous post!<\/p>\n

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