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Assert One's Rights

Asserting your rights means taking formal action to demand accessibility -- through legal complaints, policy escalation, or public accountability. It's a last-resort compensation when every other avenue has failed. It requires knowledge of the law, courage to speak up, and often, personal resources that many don't have.

Role in the ENABLE Model​

This is where the burden falls when care fails repeatedly across every pre-launch stage. The onus shifts to the individual to fight institutional neglect -- often alone. It reveals just how late the system is to recognize the harm already done.

Why it happens​

When barriers persist despite feedback, workarounds, or assistive tools, users may have no choice but to escalate. They're forced into roles as advocates, plaintiffs, or whistleblowers -- not because they want to, but because neglect left them with no other path to access.

Examples​

  • The National Federation of the Blind files complaint against Uber for its inaction around discrimination. (2014)
  • Filing an ADA complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice.
  • Suing a rideshare company for failing to accommodate wheelchair users.
  • Bringing inaccessible websites to the attention of OCR (Office for Civil Rights).
  • Joining a class-action lawsuit against an employer's inaccessible hiring platform.
  • Repeatedly contacting a university's disability office over inaccessible course materials.

Compensation sounds like​

“I filed a complaint with the DOJ. I didn't want to, but they weren't listening.”
“They finally made the PDF accessible -- after I got a lawyer involved.”
“I showed them the WCAG violations and gave them 30 days to fix it.”

Burden sounds like​

“I spent hours documenting every failure on their site, just to be taken seriously.”
“I'm not a lawyer. Why should I have to become one just to access my bank?”
“I had to relive everything in front of a hearing board. I just wanted to use the service.”

Real-world Scenario​

After being locked out of his student portal due to inaccessible CAPTCHA challenges, Jordan, a blind graduate student, reported the issue multiple times. When nothing changed, he filed an OCR complaint with the Department of Education. The university only took action after the investigation began -- updating their login system months later. But in the meantime, Jordan missed critical deadlines and felt isolated from the rest of campus life.