The National Federation of the Blind has filed complaints with the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, in which it requests investigations of nine law schools (among them the University of Chicago and Washington and Lee University) for violating the civil rights of the blind.
The gist of their complaint centers around the use of LSAC.com as the primary tool with which to apply to law school. Because LSAC is not blind-accessible, they argue, blind people are being impeded from pursuing their goals of getting into law school.
First reaction: it’s always a fun dip into irony when law schools get basically sued.
Second reaction: I can only imagine legal work is very difficult for blind people, but that certain shouldn’t impede them from going into the field.
Third reaction: This is proof, if you needed any other, that the era of the paper law school application is dead.
The only way a complaint like this would seem to work is if it can be proven that LSAC.com is more or less the only way to apply to law school. And in my past couple of years as I’ve seen friends and clients apply to law school, I have yet to see any actually apply via a paper application. So long, pen and paper. We hardly knew ye.
So, short story longer, this complaint will probably end with the LSAC.com website being changed to make it blind-accessible, and the world will be a shinier, fairer place.