Michael R. Masinter

Recent events offer no clarity on accessibility standards for free public service websites

Web accessibility standards for free public service websites operated by postsecondary schools continue to be uncertain. In my column in the August 2016 issue, I wrote that the potential development of “caption or censor” rules for web servers on which faculty and students post video and audio content as a public service were proceeding in both Department of Justice rulemaking proceedings and in lawsuits brought by the National Association of the Deaf against Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Events since publication have, if anything, created even more uncertainty on both the rulemaking and lawsuit fronts.

Best practices report from LSAC settlement offers guidance

In an earlier column, I reported on the settlement of the Department of Justice lawsuit against the Law School Admissions Council. The settlement consent judgment required the creation of a panel of experts tasked with preparing a report with best practices for the LSAC to follow in reviewing test accommodation requests, including requests for extended time. The panel recently released its report.

Consider your campus housing policy on emotional support animals in light of legal claims

In 2011, the Justice Department sued the University of Nebraska at Kearney and several of its officials under the Fair Housing Act. DOJ alleged two basic claims — the defendants unlawfully denied requests by two students to permit emotional support animals in campus housing as accommodations for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, and the institution had a pattern and practice of disability discrimination against students seeking to live with emotional support animals as accommodations for psychiatric disabilities.

LSAC settlement offers tips for evaluating testing accommodation requests

The U.S. Department of Justice and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing settled a lawsuit against the Law School Admission Council challenging documentation requirements for accommodations on its Law School Admission Test. The settlement consent decree (see www.ada.gov/lsac_consentdecree.htm) offers valuable insights into how the DOJ interprets documentation requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act.