In November of 2019, the National Association of the Deaf and Harvard University entered into a landmark settlement ending four years of legal battles regarding captioning in online content. In that settlement, Harvard agreed to caption new video files consistent with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA and to provide text-only…

This article argues that business and professional communication practitioners, instructors, and students, besides becoming better informed about the legal context of website accessibility, should also become more aware of the ethical considerations of creating digital communication products that are inherently accessible for people with…

The results of recent cases indicate that residences and dormitories owned by higher education institutions should be considered "dwellings," and thus subject to the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act (1968) as amended requires that the providers of dwellings accommodate assistance animals, which includes not only service animals,…

This article explores the legal implications for U.S. higher education administrators who make admissions decisions regarding students with disabilities. A review of federal legislation, case law, and government agency rulings pertaining to higher education admissions and students with disabilities informs administrators of current law.…

This article examines the legal and policy complexities involved with students who are self-selecting into haven charter schools. Haven charter schools are those that intend to create a safe place for students with complex histories who may have been intimidated by a dominant group in their former schools. For the purpose of this study, haven…

Research demonstrates that students with disabilities are harassed more than their nondisabled peers. Students with disabilities who have been severely harassed have argued that they are not receiving a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) as required by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…

For legal issues in the field of disability compliance, this is an exciting time in postsecondary education. The twentieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) signals a reawakening of the commitment to provide equal access to individuals with disabilities. This chapter explores three of the compliance issues that will be of…

Special education leaders need to be aware of long-standing general regulatory requirements under [image omitted]504 for which school districts are often vulnerable. Special education leaders also have to keep current on recent legal developments for "[image omitted]504-only" students, including the effects of the Americans with…

Recent efforts to change the teaching profession and teacher preparation include a number of innovations to use portfolio assessment, value added measures (VAM), accountability metrics and other corporate education reform ideas. These approaches may provoke considerable potential legal consequences. Traditional constitutional and civil rights…

In recent years the rights and responsibilities of students who have disabilities have received considerable attention. Professors routinely accommodate students with a front-row seat in class or extended time on an examination. Faculty members who have disabilities have received far less attention. This report from a subcommittee of Committee A…

The purpose of this research was to examine the patterns and themes of litigation in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) disability discrimination cases charged under the theory of disparate impact. Specifically, this study used Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALR) to identify and review all U.S. Appellate Court ADA disparate impact cases as…

For decades, postsecondary institutions have focused more on the line between compliance and noncompliance, balancing the rights and responsibilities of institutions with those of students with disabilities. The danger for postsecondary institutions in focusing on a "line in the sand" approach was to further perceptions that students…

There is no evidence that physically restraining or putting children in unsupervised seclusion in the K-12 school system provides any educational or therapeutic benefit to a child. In fact, use of either seclusion or restraints in non-emergency situations poses significant physical and psychological danger to students. Yet the first round of data…

As a hybrid between a college or university student and an elementary or secondary school employee, the student teacher is in a special situation. The potential for being a plaintiff (the party who sues), the defendant (the party who is sued), or a third party that is integrally involved in a lawsuit is higher because the bodies of law pertinent…

Legal issues have increasingly come to the forefront in academic libraries in recent years. Most of these issues involve The Rehabilitation Act, Section 504 (1973) or Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), complaints related to discriminatory practices with regard to accommodations or assistive technologies. This article provides a brief synopsis…