Law Office of Lainey Feingold
Disability Rights Legal Advocacy

2008 was the 14th year that Structured Negotiations were used to resolve class-wide disability access claims without litigation. This year, the Law Office of Lainey Feingold and co-counsel Linda Dardarian negotiated five new agreements using the Structured Negotiations process, and Lainey and co-counsel Amy Peterson of Equip for Equality in Illinois negotiated one new agreement. Linda and Lainey continued monitoring agreements signed in previous years, and were also involved in other Structured Negotiations that we hope will result in settlement agreements in 2009.

Effective December 17, 2008, people who are blind or visually impaired can obtain their free annual credit reports in accessible formats. As a result of an agreement signed earlier this year by the American Council of the Blind, the California Council of the Blind, and others, credit reports are now available in an accessible format on-line. Reports in Braille, Large Print and Audio formats can also be ordered by phone. In this post, you can read about how to obtain accessible reports on-line and how to order Braille, Large Print and audio reports by telephone. There is also information about the Accessible Credit Report settlement agreement.

In 2000, Bank of America was the first bank in the United States to sign an agreement to make its web site and on-line banking accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. In the almost eight years that have passed since the bank signed the first of three agreements with the blind community, significant work has been done both by members of the blind community and by countless Bank of America employees to make sure the agreements work as they are supposed to. Recently, we learned that one of those bank employees — Amy Vaughn — had died.

Dollar General’s New Point of Sale Equipment Praised by Blind Community

Tactile devices will protect financial privacy

Goodlettsville, TN (December 10, 2008)– Dollar General, one of the nation’s largest discount retailers, today announced that it has begun installing new point of sale equipment that will protect the privacy of Dollar General shoppers with visual impairments. The new devices have tactile keys arranged like a standard telephone keypad. They will allow Dollar General shoppers who have difficulty reading information on a touchscreen to privately and independently enter their PIN and other confidential information.

The Dollar General Point of Sale (POS) Agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and co-counsel Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations on behalf of the American Council of the Blind (ACB), the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), and blind Dollar General shopper Lela Behee. In this agreement, Dollar General has agreed that all of its more than 8,000 stores across the United States will have tactile point of sale devices so that blind and visually impaired customers can independently enter their PIN and other confidential information. The devices will be installed in all stores over the next fifteen months.

TCF BANK TO INSTALL TALKING ATMs AND ENHANCE OTHER SERVICES FOR CUSTOMERS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS

Bank Announces Collaboration with the Illinois Council of the Blind and Equip for Equality

Wayzata, MN, (December 3, 2008)– TCF Bank (TCF), a subsidiary of TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE: TCB), the Illinois Council of the Blind, an affiliate of the American Council of the Blind, and Equip for Equality announced today that TCF has launched a major initiative intended to provide easier access to its banking services for individuals with visual impairments.