Website Accessibility: Providing an Entry Ramp into your Website & Avoiding Pot Holes on the Way

Richard P. Jacobson
Jacobson Law Group, PLLC
Trademark, Copyright, Internet and Advertising Law

Rich Jacobson has practiced law exclusively in the IP space for more than 20 years.  He runs his own firm, Jacobson Law Group, and advises retail, media and hospitality companies about trademark, copyright and advertising matters.  Rich helps clients navigate the minefield of regulations and class action threats inherent to cosmetics, OTC drugs and consumer products.  Rich also oversees litigation involving the wide range of IP and related issues that are relevant to e-commerce and retail brands, while at the same time tirelessly counseling clients on how to avoid litigation.

In 2015, Rich noticed an emerging litigation trend.  While ADA claims have long been brought against retail stores that deprived physical access to disabled persons, a few years ago plaintiffs’ attorneys began filing ADA claims charging websites, particularly those involved in e-commerce, with depriving access to visually impaired persons.  After tracking these cases for several months and alerting his clients about potential challenges, he soon began defending these claims and has negotiated several settlements involving website accessibility.  As the program will address in more detail, the law is constantly changing in what are still uncharted waters.  But the requirement of accessibility is inevitable, and it is critical to understand what access means and how it can be implemented.

Haydn Adams
Developer, Educator, Designer, Author, Wine Critic

Haydn holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Art University. Along with being an alumnus, he is also faculty in the department from which he graduated—the School of Web Design + New Media.

Haydn has spent nearly 20 years designing and building web and interactive work. Starting in the middle ‘90s, he was involved with beta testing the early editions of Flash and coding online. Not long afterward, he began working in the print world, learning the methodologies of color theory and paper stock. Soon he was speaking two languages—print and the web.

In addition to being faculty at the Academy of Art University where he teaches in the Web Design & New Media department, both in graduate and undergraduate levels Haydn also runs Nautilus Designs. Haydn is armed with over 20 years of knowledge and is continually on the pulse of technology. He is the immediate past National President of the Graphic Artists Guild; a 50+ year old union of artists.

If Haydn is not writing code, he’s writing about wine. He is a published author and wine critic.