accessibility glossary

Structured Negotiation

Structured negotiation is a collaborative, non-litigation process for resolving accessibility complaints, where the disabled individual and the business agree to work toward a fix together instead of going straight to a lawsuit.

Pioneered by disability rights attorneys as an alternative to adversarial litigation, structured negotiation typically starts with a letter describing the barriers encountered, followed by both sides agreeing to a negotiation period, information sharing, and a remediation timeline, often resulting in a written agreement rather than a court judgment.

It tends to produce faster, less expensive outcomes than litigation for organizations willing to engage constructively and in good faith, and several well-known accessibility settlements with major retailers and banks originated this way rather than through a demand letter and lawsuit.

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