The Digital Accessibility Legal Summit

2022 Speaker Bios and links

Julian Brinkley

Julian Brinkley, PhD, PMP, is an Assistant Professor of Human-Centered Computing at Clemson University. Julian's research lies at the intersection of accessibility, design, and software engineering, exploring how best to leverage technology to support the social good. Recently, his research is focused on understanding the inclusive design of self-driving vehicle technologies with the goal of making this potentially life-changing technology accessible for people with a broad range of disabilities and older adults. Julian and his team have authored some of the first and most widely cited papers on self-driving vehicle accessibility and we explore a variety of topics related to vehicular automation technologies.

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Hollister Bundy

Hollister Bundy, esq. is President of Inclusion Solutions. Hollister is an expert on both the real-life needs of election authorities and on the importance of accessibility in the electoral process. As a trusted problem-solver and advisor, he provides election officials nationwide with solutions that make elections open, accessible, and compliant with federal mandates. Hollister has reviewed surveys of more than 10,000 polling locations across the United States to provide accessibility solutions. His solutions are affordable and impactful in remediating identified gaps in accessibility. Hollister is the editor of an international election accessibility newsletter and has spoken at numerous conferences for both disability advocates and election officials on how to protect election accessibility for voters with disabilities. Previously, Hollister served as an adjunct professor of law at John Marshall University and worked in private legal practice. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and Duke Law School.

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Stephanie Enyart

Stephanie Enyart is the Chief Public Policy and Research Officer at the American Foundation for the Blind. Stephanie has 20 years’ experience advocating for people with disabilities. After joining AFB, Stephanie launched the Public Policy and Research Institute, which conducts mixed-methods research that informs AFB’s policy advocacy. She provides strategic leadership for the policy and research functions across the key focus areas of education, employment, aging, and the intersectional issues of technology and transportation. Stephanie holds a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law where she served as an Editor-in-Chief of Recent Developments for the UCLA Women’s Law Journal. During law school she also founded the National Association of Law Students with Disabilities and served as its first President.

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David Ferleger

David Ferleger has a national law and consulting practice, specializing in practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, appellate courts, and in public interest, civil rights and disability law. He has litigated landmark cases, written, lectured and consulted nationally, and taught at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the New York University Law School. His legal work has encompassed both class actions and individual cases. Mr. Ferleger has served federal courts, presiding over hearings and assisting courts in various cases, including as Special Master, as court-appointed monitors, and as Technical Advisor. He has participated in eleven cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and argued five times before that court. Mr. Ferleger is a founding member of the Academy of Court Appointed Masters (ACAM), and on the publications committee for its Bench Book for judges. His books include "The Handbook for Expert Witnesses," and "The Future of Disability Law." He is also the author of numerous law review and other articles, and is cited as an authority by various courts. Mr. Ferleger’s litigation and writing has encompassed both constitutional and Americans with Disabilities Act issues. For example, he was counsel in the Gil v. Winn Dixie (web access) case through its journey in the federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals; he is counsel in Liberty Resources, Inc. v. City of Philadelphia (E.D. Pa.) (ADA class action on access to public rights of way); authored Planning for Access: Sidewalks and the ADA, Planning and Environmental Law (2012); and co-author of Jonathan Lazar & David Ferleger, A Reconceptualization of Website Accessibility Under the ADA: Resolving The Inter-Circuit Conflict Post-Pandemic, 39 Santa Clara High Tech, L. 63 (2022).

More information: David Ferleger

W. Ben Jackson III

Ben Jackson is the Senior Subject Matter Expert for Accessibility at the United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Since joining the EAC last year he has worked to ensure the EAC produces products that promote accessibility in all aspects of the voting process. Under his direction, our Clearinghouse Division has added new products aimed at sharing best practices for state and local officials looking to serve or improve accessibility for voters. Prior to joining the EAC he was a staff attorney at Disability Rights Maryland, where he was the primary attorney for the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grant. While at Disability Rights Maryland he was tasked with ensuring the electoral process was accessible from voter registration through ballot casting. In addition to his voting work he represented clients receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) security benefits who had barriers to employment. While working in Maryland Ben Jackson was appointed by governor to serve on the Maryland Commission on Disabilities, the advisory body for the Maryland Department of Disabilities, which is charged with unifying and improving the delivery of services to people with disabilities. He was also appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Board for Telecommunications Relay (GABTR).

More information: Ben Jackson

Kristina Launey

Kristina Launey is in the Labor & Employment Department of Seyfarth Shaw LLP and Managing Partner of Seyfarth’s Sacramento office. She is an efficient and effective litigator and counselor, specializing in employment and civil rights laws, who provides clients with options and helps them achieve results in light of their business realities. A leader of Seyfarth’s ADA Title III Specialty Team, Kristina regularly advises and defends clients in litigation arising under Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related federal and state laws. She has defended disability access lawsuits ranging from the very complex and contentious to those resulting in relatively simple settlements, and is experienced in structured negotiations. Ms. Launey has counseled clients on issues ranging from physical accessibility, to compliance with service animal, reservations, effective communication, ticketing requirements of California law and the ADA 2010 Standards, to cutting-edge digital accessibility issues. She is co-editor of Seyfarth’s www.adatitleiii.com blog, and frequently writes and speaks on accessibility issues.

More information: Kristina Launey

Susanna Laurin

Susanna Laurin (CPACC) is the Chief Research and Innovation Officer at Funka, a European based market leading consultancy focusing on accessibility. She has been a thought leader in the field of digitalisation, inclusion and e-government for more than 20 years and she is a frequent international lecturer and debater. Susanna is currently the Chair of the ETSI/CEN/CENELEC Joint Working Group on eAccessibility, responsible for the development and update of the EN301549, to reflect presumed conformance of the Web Accessibility Directive and the European Accessibility Act. Susanna is leading strategic assignments and research projects on EU level, nationally and across the world. Current assignments for the European Commission include the formal review of the Web Accessibility Directive and a study on cognitive accessibility. Susanna is the Representative to the EU and also the Past Honorary Chair of the IAAP, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals as well as the Representative to the EU for the UN-initiative G3ict.

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Chris Law

Dr. Law is the President of Accessibility Track Consulting, LLC, and Executive Director, Standard Accessibility Reporting, Inc. Since 2015, Accessibility Track has delivered innovative projects with and for the accessibility community. In 2016 he co-founded the annual Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Accessibility Testing Symposium. In 2019 he founded the annual Digital Accessibility Legal Summit. Chris is the lead developer and lead author of the National Federation of the Blind’s Accessibility Switchboard information portal. The Switchboard brings together a community of practice of over thirty organizations to produce resources and guidance to help newcomers to the field of digital accessibility. Chris was previously chair of the Organizational Development Committee of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). He is also the organizer and executive director of a new organization formed in 2022, addressing the need for Industry Consensus Standards for Accessibility Reporting.

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Angela Matney

Angie Matney is counsel in Reed Smith's Entertainment and Media Industry Group. As a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US), Angie helps companies protect their digital assets by providing counsel in the areas of information privacy, data security, and digital accessibility. She supports clients in a wide range of industries including health care, pharmaceuticals, entertainment and media, consumer packaged goods, retail, real estate, hospitality, travel, and financial services. Angie is Deputy Chair (US) of LEADRS (Looking for Excellence and Advancement of persons with disabilities at Reed Smith), the firm’s business inclusion group that supports persons with disabilities of all types at Reed Smith.

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John Medcalf

John Medcalf is a 43 year developer and supporter of voter registration and election products for county and state government. Mr. Medcalf's software career began in high school after winning several New Jersey math contests and being solicited by the life insurance industry. Moving on from insurance, Mr. Medcalf was able to create software in many arenas in the 60s and 70s including positron tomography, nuclear waste disposal, satellite telemetry, ocean bottom mapping, mobile electrocardiograms, and a compiler and operating systems for Data General computers. Then came elections as Data General was the leader in mini-computer punch card counting and Mr. Medcalf was well versed in Data General. Mr. Medcalf's products for punch card counting were the majority sellers in the 1990s. The first was under contract to Computer Election Systems. The second was with the company he founded and where he continues as CEO, VOTEC Corporation. VOTEC transitioned from punch cards to voter and elections database in order to continue in service to the voting public. Computerized poll books followed in the late aughts. In 2014, VOTEC Mr. Medcalf recognized that voters deserved a kiosk format check-in station in order to have proper agency in the process. This also fit well with HAVA requirements for "Uniform and Nondiscriminatory Election Technology and Administration". This format was quickly recognized by Doug Towne as a format that could be configured for accessibility in the check-in process. Working with his WelcomeVoter Kiosk, Mr. Medcalf has learned a lot about accessibility in general and especially using touch screens to afford accessibility. This work continues.

More information: John Medcalf

Laura Boniello Miller

Laura Boniello Miller is the Director of Business Development at Vispero, the world’s leading assistive technology provider for the visually impaired. Laura helps to make kiosks accessible with consulting and software services from the Vispero family of companies. She is a kiosk industry expert, working to make kiosk deployments accessible for all. Laura's specific strengths include utilizing social media, blogs, and other online technologies to communicate on the need for and deployment of accessible kiosks.

More information: Laura Boniello Miller

Robert D. Resuali

Rob Resuali is Managing Director of BASE IV, LLC and a seasoned technical business development manager with over 34 years of professional experience, over 20 of them in the elections industry. Rob was one of the founding members of AutoMARK Technical Systems, having been business and finance manager for the patent licensing firm that created the AutoMARK Voter Assist Terminal. Being technology minded in business, he was able to bridge the technical gap between engineers and end users acting as a liaison between election officials, developers, and the disabled community. As Director of Certification and Sales, Rob facilitated the collaboration between several different disability organizations in the development of the final product that led to several product endorsements and the production of 50,000 units deployed for elections in 35 states providing access to the paper ballot. Most of today’s ballot marking technology is modeled after the original AutoMARK Voter Assist Terminal. Rob currently consults with election technology companies as well as others spanning the financial and logistics industries. He is a graduate of Marquette University as well as Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business.

More information: Robert Resuali

Megan E. Schuller

Megan Schuller is a trial attorney with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in the Disability Rights Section. She has worked for over a decade enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and protecting the rights of people with disabilities throughout the country. Megan has investigated, litigated, and successfully resolved a wide range of disability discrimination cases, both individual and systemic, against state and local government entities, large corporations, and small businesses. These cases have resulted in changes to state regulations, extensive policy reform and training, and large nationwide compensation funds. Most recently, she worked on the Department’s litigation against Uber Technologies, Inc., which was successfully resolved through a court-enforceable agreement that provided both injunctive and monetary relief to over 65,000 Uber riders with disabilities. Megan has spoken at White House events and major conferences throughout the United States about disability discrimination and the protections of the ADA, including presenting at NFB’s Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium on digital accessibility issues. Megan is a graduate of Yale University and UC Berkeley School of Law.

Doug Towne

Douglas George Towne is the Chair and CEO, Access Ready, Inc, and the Chair of the Board of Directors of Standard Accessibility Reporting, Inc. Doug became one of the first blind students to graduate from public school under a new law in 1976, going on to study history and journalism at the State University of New York. His continuing education has yielded several professional licenses and designations throughout his progressive career. In 2001 he founded Disability Relations Group (DRG) to return to his first love of advocacy and public policy in the disability arena. As Chairman of DRG and its chief consultant, for 17 years he spent a great deal of time writing and has penned a number of policy works and many social enterprise plans. His social enterprise work has come as the result of his certification by the State of Florida as a Certified Business Technical Assistance Consultant (CBTAC). Throughout his career he has spoken to groups both large and small from local civic clubs in the majority of the state capitols and before members of Congress in Washington. He created Access Ready Inc. as a nonprofit, cross disability advocacy organization with a concentration on accessible information and communications technologies.

More information: Doug Towne

Jessie Weber

Jessie Weber is a partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy. Jessie enjoys helping clients navigate a diverse range of difficult legal issues, with a focus on civil rights, including disability and LGBTQ rights, employment law, including wage and hour cases, and appellate litigation. She is known for her groundbreaking work obtaining equal access for individuals with disabilities to voting, websites, and government information and services. Jessie is well versed in both complex litigation and negotiations and enjoys using a range of tools to obtain justice for her clients. In the Robles v. Domino’s Pizza case, Jessie successfully argued on behalf of amici the National Federation of the Blind and other disability rights groups in the Ninth Circuit, resulting in a published decision in 2019 clarifying that public accommodations must make their web and mobile services accessible now and cannot wait until the DOJ issues website-specific regulations. She later joined the Plaintiff’s legal team in the trial court, obtaining a court order in 2021 holding that Domino’s violated the ADA by maintaining an inaccessible website and requiring Domino’s to make its website accessible.

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Aaron Wilson

Aaron Wilson is the Founder and CEO of Enhanced Voting. Aaron is a security engineer, software architect, and election technology expert. He has a passion for building innovative and secure election technology and founded Enhanced Voting in 2013 with that vision. Aaron recently served as the Senior Director of Election Security for the Center for Internet Security (CIS). At CIS, Aaron led all election security best practice development efforts including the publication of A Guide for Ensuring Security in Election Technology Procurement, Security Best Practices for Non-Voting Election Technology, and Managing Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risks in Election Technology. Aaron was also the creator of the Rapid Architecture Based Election Technology Verification (RABET-V) Process and Pilot Program. Aaron spoke at the 2020 RSA Conference on securing non-voting election technology and is often quoted in security articles on ways to improve election security. Aaron began his career testing and conducting security evaluations of voting systems for the Florida Division of Elections. Aaron has also served as the Vice President of Products and Services for Greenshades Software and the Director of Product for Clear Ballot Group, a federally certified voting system manufacturer. In 2010, he led the deployment of the first MOVE-act compliant electronic ballot delivery systems for overseas civilians and military voters in 10 states. Aaron holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Florida State University and a Master of Science degree in Software Engineering from University of North Florida.

More information: Aaron Wilson