Full opinion text
Jack B. Weinstein, Senior United States District Judge: Contents I. Introduction...368 II. Settlement...369 III. Law...370 A. American's with Disabilities Act...370 B. Quasi-Class Action...371 C. Settlement Standard of Review...372 D. Sealing Attorneys' Fees...373 IV. Hearing and Submissions...374 A. Visually Impaired Users' Access to the Internet...374 1. Screen Reading Software...374 2. Visually Impaired Users' Access to Properly Functioning Websites...374 3. Blick's Website...376 4. Access to Training and Resources...380 B. WCAG 2.0 Level AA Guidelines...381 C. Implementation and Timeline of Guidelines to Blick's Website...383 D. Class and Quasi-Class Action Issues...384 V. Application of Law to Facts...385 A. Elimination of Class Allegations...385 B. Reasonableness of Settlement Terms...385 C. Sealing of Attorneys' Fees and Fee Approval...386 VI. Conclusion...387 App. A: Declaration of Victor Andrews...387 App. B: Declaration of Mark Riccobono...388 App. C: Declaration of Aaron Cannon...400 I. Introduction Equal opportunity for the disadvantaged-so far as practicable-has been a major goal of the United States since World War II. This case deals with one aspect of that struggle-providing the visually impaired with an effective opportunity to use the internet for procuring consumer products. See Andrews v. Blick Art Materials, LLC , No. 17-CV-767, 2017 WL 3278898, 268 F.Supp.3d 381 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 1, 2017) (" Andrews I" ). There has been a cascade of litigation over the past several years, with at least 750 lawsuits, concerning access to the internet by visually impaired individuals. Vivian Wang, College Websites Must Accommodate Disabled Students, Lawsuits Say , N.Y. Times, Oct. 11, 2017 at A20. Sitting at the intersection of technology and disability, these cases, including the present litigation, cry out for speedy, just resolutions. The blind, like the deaf, can, demonstrations during the present litigation have shown, achieve high internet communication skills if they are trained and have appropriate cooperation from merchants in providing the proper technology and software. See, e.g. , Oliver Sacks, Seeing Voices xiii (First Vintage Books Ed. 2000) ("[T]he almost unlimited plasticity and resources of the nervous system, the human organism, when it is faced with the new and must adapt ... the infinite resources for survival and transcendence which Nature and Culture, together, have given us."). This memorandum and order, approving the parties' settlement, provides an example of a reasonable resolution of the issues, providing significant expansion of internet access to the visually impaired. This putative class action was brought by a blind person, Victor Andrews, against Blick Art Materials ("Blick"), a major national vendor of art materials in stores and over the internet. Andrews, who holds a college degree in Radio and Broadcasting Technology, claims that Blick could adjust its website's code so that visually impaired individuals could more readily purchase art materials on its primary website, dickblick.com. In a prior opinion, the court ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), New York State Human Rights Law, New York State Civil Rights Law, and New York City Human Rights Law apply to Blick's electronic merchandising. See Andrews I . Scientific demonstrations in court, testimony, and argument demonstrated that there are well-established, developing guidelines for making websites accessible to visually impaired people. Dickblick.com does not follow these guidelines, so defendant's website is largely inaccessible to those who are visually impaired. The plaintiff was denied, a jury could find, equal access to Blick's stores, as well as to the numerous goods, services, and benefits offered to the public through dickblick.com. The plaintiff moves to withdraw the class action allegations. Both parties seek approval of a settlement agreed to by them. Embedded within the scope of review raised by the parties' settlement are two questions: first, was it appropriate for the plaintiff to have abandoned the class action aspect of the case for individual relief that will necessarily inure to the benefit of the putative class members; and second, are the terms of the settlement substantively reasonable, equitable, and fair. The court reviews the settlement in this case using its inherent power. Cf. Stephen Bergstein, Second Circuit to Decide Whether District Courts Must Approve 'Cheeks' Settlements Under Rule 68 , N.Y L.J., Dec. 13, 2017 at 4 (discussing cases where district courts must approval settlements because of the wide-ranging effects on individuals). Although there has been no motion for class certification, this case can be properly characterized as a quasi-class action. In other quasi-class actions, courts have used their inherent power to review the reasonableness of settlements. See Infra Part III(B)-(C). Withdrawal of the class action allegations is allowed. As modified at the request of the court, the settlement is approved. II. Settlement The Parties submitted their settlement to the court in the form of a proposed judgment. The submission is included in full below. The court's suggested changes are in italics. Judgement HAVING CONSIDERED Plaintiff's Unopposed Motion for Entry of Judgment, approving settlement of this litigation, the court finds that: A. Defendant Blick Art Materials, LLC ("Defendant") operates certain websites at the address www.dickblick.com, www.utrechtart.com, and www.dickblick.com/ara (the "Websites") at which it offers for sale and sells art supplies; B. Plaintiff is a blind individual who claims that Defendant's Website is not fully accessible to, and independently usable by, visually impaired people in violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq. ("ADA"), New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law, Article 15 ( Executive Law§ 290 et seq. ), and the New York City Human Rights Law, N.Y.C. Administrative Code§ 8-101 et seq. C. Defendant denies that the Website fails to comply with Title III the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA") or any other applicable laws; D. Defendant [deletion by court ] has: a) been working to improve the overall functionality and accessibility of the Website and the Other Websites; b) been awaiting guidance from the Department of Justice ("DOJ") which has yet to promulgate guidelines on website accessibility; and c) retained a website accessibility technical coordinator to assist it in auditing the Websites and improving accessibility to customers and potential customers who suffer from disabilities. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion to approve settlement of the case and elimination of class allegations is granted and that: 1. Defendant and its parents, subsidiaries, and related entities bring the Websites into substantial conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA, which are hereby determined by the court to be an appropriate standard to judge whether Defendant is in compliance with any accessibility requirements of the ADA, New York State law, or New York City local law on or before December 31, 2019, implementing changes to the website in a piecemeal fashion, as practicable . 2. The court shall reasonably modify the accessibility standards applicable to Defendant's Websites if a. the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") promulgates a final ADA Title III regulation setting out a website accessibility technical standard applicable to Defendant's Website and Other Websites; or b. there are changes to international standards or technology related to sighted impaired individuals' access to the internet. c. Defendant will take reasonable and necessary efforts to ensure legal compliance with the Court's modifications to the settlement. 3. The court shall retain foot of the decree jurisdiction to enforce the implementation of Defendant's compliance with WCAG 2.0 AA, including assessing and awarding any damages, costs, or legal fees reasonably and necessarily incurred by Plaintiff's counsel in post-judgment enforcement proceedings. 4. The Clerk is directed to close the case. III. Law A. American's with Disabilities Act The purpose of the ADA is "to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities." 42 U.S.C. § 12101(b)(1) ; see PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin , 532 U.S. 661, 674, 121 S.Ct. 1879, 149 L.Ed.2d 904 (2001) ("Congress enacted the ADA in 1990 to remedy widespread discrimination against disabled individuals."). Unlike other anti-discrimination statutes that only prohibit action, the ADA requires individuals and companies, in some instances, to take affirmative steps to eliminate barriers that inhibit the disabled; in a sense it prohibits inaction. See 42 U.S.C. § 12182(b)(2)(A)(ii) ("[D]iscrimination [under the ADA] includes-... a failure to make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, when such modifications are necessary to afford such goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to individuals with disabilities, unless the entity can demonstrate that making such modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of such goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations."). "Congress concluded that there was a 'compelling need' for a 'clear and comprehensive national mandate' to eliminate discrimination against disabled individuals, and to integrate them 'into the economic and social mainstream of American life.' " PGA Tour , 532 U.S. at 676, 121 S.Ct. 1879 (citing the ADA). It provided a "broad mandate" in the ADA prohibiting discrimination against disabled individuals "in major areas of public life." Id. at 675, 121 S.Ct. 1879. "The 'broad mandate' of the ADA and its 'comprehensive character' are resilient enough to keep pace with the fact that the virtual reality of the Internet is almost as important now as physical reality alone was when the statute was signed into law." Andrews v. Blick Art Materials, LLC , No. 17-CV-767, 2017 WL 3278898, at *10, 268 F.Supp.3d 381 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 1, 2017). B. Quasi-Class Action Although Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e) generally does not require approval of an individual settlement in a putative class action when the settlement does not bind the class, "[u]se of the court's supervisory authority to police the conduct of proposed class actions under Rule 23(d) may be appropriate." David Herr, Annotated Manual for Complex Litigation § 21.61 (4th ed. 2013). cf. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e) (2003) (changing rule to only require court approval of settlements of claims of a certified class). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41 usually allows dismissal of a case without court approval, but when the statutory scheme indicates the serious importance of an issue, potential for abuse and ability to effect non-parties, review may be appropriate. Cf. Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc. , 796 F.3d 199, 206 (2d Cir. 2015), cert. denied , --- U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 824, 193 L.Ed.2d 718 (2016). This case was filed as a putative class action and the settlement, as a practical matter, may affect many persons, as well as provide standards for website accessibility for the visually impaired in cases involving other providers. A private agreement between individuals that has "many of the characteristics of a class action [ ] may be characterized properly as a quasi-class action subject to the general equitable power of the court." In re Zyprexa , 433 F.Supp.2d 268, 271 (E.D.N.Y. 2006) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(g)(1)(C)(iii) ; Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(h) ; Fed. R. Civ. P. 1 ("just ... determination of every action"); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e)(1)-(2) (dealing with approval of terms of settlement)); In re Air Crash Disaster at Florida Everglades on Dec. 29, 1972 , 549 F.2d 1006, 1012 (5th Cir. 1977) (noting that the circumstances of the case "created a penumbra of class-type interest on the part of all the litigants and of public interest on the part of the court and the world at large"). The "quasi-class action" label is most often used in the context of Multi District Litigation ("MDL") cases. See Charles Silver & Geoffrey P. Miller, The Quasi-Class Action Method of Managing Multi-District Litigations: Problems and A Proposal , 63 Vand. L. Rev. 107, 113 (2010) ; but cf. Linda S. Mullenix, Dubious Doctrines: The Quasi-Class Action , 80 U. Cin. L. Rev. 389, 390 (2011). This label may be appropriate in other contexts where relief will accrue to the class through a private individual's settlement of claims. The relief fashioned in the settlement requires Blick to revise its website in order to make it more accessible to visually impaired individuals. All such individuals wishing to use the defendant's website will benefit from these reforms. Certifying a settlement class in this case would cause substantial additional expense with little or no added benefit to class members. But, if the court did not use its inherent power to police the settlement, putative class members would be unprotected from the potential for inadequate relief or abuse of the class action vehicle. See David Herr, Annotated Manual for Complex Litigation § 21.61 (4th ed. 2013) ("[T]he settlement of individual claims [in a putative class action] can represent an abuse of the class action process. For example, a party might plead class allegations to promote forum-shopping or to extract an unreasonably high settlement for the sole benefit of potential class representatives and their attorneys."). Pursuing a class settlement in the instant case would create a riddle: a putative class member must be given the opportunity to opt out from the class, but the equitable relief here will necessarily inure to the benefit of all putative class members without exception; how could the court protect a putative class member's right to opt-out while still ensuring adequate relief for the class? Unlike monetary relief, which must be affirmatively distributed in aggregate litigations in a fair and equitable way, injunctive relief-public in nature, as is the injunction here-automatically benefits-or burdens-those affected by the settlement. Goals laudable in certain aggregate cases-notice, and other formal mechanism-would be an unnecessary burden here. The critical issue for the court is whether the equitable relief obtained through the settlement is fair and reasonable. It is noted that counsel in related cases were present to observe the science day hearing that is relied on by the court. See Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. And at least one case appears to have been settled on the terms now approved. See Nov. 28, 2017 Hr'g Tr., Wu v. Dos Toros LLC , 17-cv-05121 (E.D.N.Y. filed Aug. 30, 2017); id. Letter of Justin Zeller, ECF No. 26, Dec. 14, 2017. C. Settlement Standard of Review In a class action settlement, a district court reviews the settlement to determine if it is "fair, adequate, and reasonable, and not a product of collusion." Joel A. v. Giuliani , 218 F.3d 132, 138 (2d Cir. 2000). The fairness of the substantive terms of a proposed class action settlement is governed by Grinnell factors: (1) the complexity, expense and likely duration of the litigation; (2) the reaction of the class to the settlement; (3) the stage of the proceedings and the amount of discovery completed; (4) the risks of establishing liability; (5) the risks of establishing damages; (6) the risks of maintaining the class action through the trial; (7) the ability of the defendants to withstand a greater judgment; (8) the range of reasonableness of the settlement fund in light of the best possible recovery; and (9) the range of reasonableness of the settlement fund to a possible recovery in light of all the attendant risks of litigation. City of Detroit v. Grinnell Corp. , 495 F.2d 448, 463 (2d Cir. 1974), abrogated on other grounds by Goldberger v. Integrated Res., Inc. , 209 F.3d 43 (2d Cir. 2000). "It is proper to consider as a tenth factor the social utility of the proposed settlement ." Berkson v. Gogo LLC , 147 F.Supp.3d 123, 131 (E.D.N.Y. 2015). This factor "may entail going beyond the four-corners of the complaint, considering issues related to the specific claims alleged, and evaluating how the proposed settlement will impact those issues and persons not in the class." Id. Although this is not a class action, these ten factors are useful guideposts in reviewing the settlement. In other quasi-class actions, courts have used their inherent power to review the reasonableness of fee arrangements and settlement matrixes. See In re Zyprexa Prod. Liab. Litig. , 424 F.Supp.2d 488, 491 (E.D.N.Y. 2006) ("The large number of plaintiffs subject to the same settlement matrix approved by the court; the utilization of special masters appointed by the court to control discovery and to assist in reaching and administering a settlement; the court's order for a huge escrow fund; and other interventions by the court, reflect a degree of court control supporting its imposition of fiduciary standards to ensure fair treatment to all parties and counsel regarding fees and expenses."); In re Vioxx Prod. Liab. Litig. , 650 F.Supp.2d 549, 559 (E.D. La. 2009) ("[I]t is appropriate for the Court to exercise its equitable authority to examine fee agreements for reasonableness."); In re Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Prod. Liab. Litig. , No. MDL 05-1708 DWF/AJB, 2008 WL 682174, at *12 (D. Minn. Mar. 7, 2008), amended in part , No. MDL 05-1708 DWF/AJB, 2008 WL 3896006 (D. Minn. Aug. 21, 2008) (reviewing a fee award in a quasi-class action). Given the nature of the injective relief provided for in the settlement, many of the Grinnell factors are inapplicable. The court reviews the proposed settlement primarily to ensure that the parties have not abused the class action vehicle by placing individual relief over the rights of the putative class members, See David Herr, Annotated Manual for Complex Litigation § 21.61 (4th ed. 2013), and to ensure that the injunctive relief is reasonable in light of prevailing technological and community norms. D. Sealing Attorneys' Fees The court allowed the parties to file information about attorneys' fees and supporting documentation under seal. Oct. 24, 2017 Order, ECF No. 39. The parties then jointly moved to seal portions of the declaration of plaintiff's counsel because it contained fee information. Mot. to Seal, ECF No. 40, Nov. 22, 2017. There is a general presumption in favor of allowing access to court documents. See U.S. v. Amodeo , 71 F.3d 1044, 1048 (2d Cir. 1995). A three-step process has been constructed by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for determining whether a document may be sealed. Id. First the court determines whether a document is a "judicial document." Id. at 1048-49. Whether a document is judicial is determined by seeing if it "bear[s] on the exercise of Article III judicial power." Id. Only judicial documents are entitled to a strong presumption of access by the public. Id. If the court finds that a document is judicial and entitled to the presumption of public access, the court then looks to the importance of the document and the weight of the presumption to be afforded on the basis of the document's significance. Id. The court's "judgment" about whether a document should be sealed is "informed in part by tradition." Id. at 1050. "Where such documents are usually filed with the court and are generally available, the weight of the presumption is stronger than where filing with the court is unusual or is generally under seal." Id. The court balances the presumption against countervailing factors and the interests that the parties seek to protect through sealing. Id. 1050-52. IV. Hearing and Submissions The court held a combined fairness hearing and "science day" on October 19, 2017. Plaintiff's attorneys demonstrated the software commonly used by visually impaired individuals to access the internet, known as "screen readers." They showed webpages that properly functioned with this software, as well as Blick's present website, dickblick.com, which did not permit the visually impaired to easily navigate the website. The parties also discussed class and quasi-class issues. The parties submitted additional declarations requested by the court after the hearing. The declarations explained the basis for the attorney fee, the plaintiff's credentials, the availability of training for visually impaired individuals, and the reasonableness of the settlement terms and timeline. See Infra Appendixes. A. Visually Impaired Users' Access to the Internet 1. Screen Reading Software Visually impaired individuals cannot rely on sight to guide them through the internet. Instead, they rely on "screen readers." Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. 7:15-8:5. This software translates the visual internet into an auditory equivalent. At a rapid pace, the software reads the content of a webpage to the user. Id. 16:1-19:21. Many visually impaired individuals use a braille keyboard, in conjunction with the screen reader, to facilitate internet navigation. Id. 32:23-25. The internet is an interactive tool. The screen reading software uses auditory cues to allow a visually impaired user to effectively use websites. For example, when using the visual internet, a seeing user learns that a link may be "clicked," which will bring her to another webpage, through visual cues, such as a change in the color of the text (often text is turned from black to blue). When the sighted user's cursor hovers over the link, it changes from an arrow symbol to a hand. The screen reading software uses auditory-rather than visual-cues to relay this same information. When a sight impaired individual reaches a link that may be "clicked on," the software reads the link to the user, and after reading the text of the link says the word "clickable." Id. 13:22-14:2 ("I want to tell the Court you keep hearing the word 'clickable.' So what the screen reading software is doing it's reading the header and then it'll say it's clickable so that you know it's a function that you can click on. And if you click on it, you will go to that page. You will hear the word 'clickable' a lot.). Through a series of auditory cues read aloud by the screen reader, the visually impaired user can navigate a website by listening and responding with her keyboard. 2. Visually Impaired Individual's Access to Properly Functioning Websites Plaintiff Andrew's Attorneys guided the court through the steps a sight impaired individual takes when navigating the internet. They first demonstrated the screen reading software with several websites that currently comply with the international standards for access by the visually impaired. Visually impaired individuals, like many of their sighted counterparts, have the basic typing and computer skills to easily access a web browser. Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. 24:5-25:14. From there, they can access a website or a search engine, such as google.com, which can direct them to the content they seek to access. Id. Once a visually impaired user has arrived at the appropriate website, she can navigate through the website by listening to prompts from the screen reader. The plaintiff navigated through the British Broadcasting Corporation ("BBC") website, displayed in figure 1. As the sighted user will immediately become aware by looking at the home page of this website, it contains an amalgamation of text, links, pictures, and advertisements. For the visually impaired user, however, this large amount of information can only be revealed by sound. Australia Citizenship Overhaul Hits Senate Hurdle , British Broadcasting Company, Oct. 19, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-41674895 (last visited Nov. 17, 2017). In order to approximate the experience of a sighted user, a properly functioning website will employ "alternative-tags" and short cuts. The "alternative-tags" for pictures allows the screen reader to read a description of the picture provided by the website. This allows the visually impaired user to get a sense for the entirety of the visual screen that is before her. Id. 16:14-17 ("Did you hear how it just read the Australia flags copyright. That was the description of all of these Australian flags that the image is showing, and it says "Copyright, Getty Images."). The plaintiff also demonstrated the "skip to content feature." This feature allows the screen reader to bypass the "non-content" text-such as advertisements or links to other webpages-that appears on the screen. Id. 15:22-25 ("And instead of going through the menu, I am going to skip right to the content. It'll read the title, the date, the section, the caption and then it'll proceed directly into the story."). This feature saves the visually impaired user time and energy, and allows her to attain parity with the sighted user, who may guide his eyes directly to the main content, bypassing other features as he chooses. The plaintiff also demonstrated a properly functioning ecommerce page, the ticketing page of the American Museum of Natural History (a relatively simple webpage). This page allows visually impaired users to purchase tickets to the museum online, in a clear, digestible format (Figure 2 displays the website to sighted users). Id. 30:2-5 ("So the American Museum of Natural History is a website that allows you to check out in purchasing like Blick does, but the way it's coded you can understand what you're buying."). American Museum of Natural History Ticketing Page, https://ticketing.amnh.org/#/tickets (last visited Nov. 17, 2017). This page allows screen reading software to read to the user the type of ticket, the benefits of a particular package, and the price. Once the user is able to toggle through the various options, she may then make her selection. Id. 30:14-17 ("I'm an adult, I'm going to pay $28. I'm good with this. I'm going to tab through this link and I hit enter on the 'Get Started.' My keyboard focus was on it and I click enter on the link."). 3. Blick's Website The current functionality for visually impaired users of Blick's main website, www.dickblick.com, was demonstrated at the October 19, 2017 hearing by the plaintiff. It is an ecommerce, art-supply website with many thousands of products sold and millions of pictures. Id. 35:11-17. Figure 3 shows a picture of the homepage. Blick Art Materials, https://www.dickblick.com. (last visited Nov. 17, 2017). The plaintiff walked the court through the process a visually impaired user would follow accessing and attempting to purchase a product-in this demonstration, crayons-from Blick's website. The plaintiff began the search for crayons by visiting google.com, a search engine, and typing in "crayons." Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. 25:17-27:8. The screen reader then read aloud all of the options listed in the search results, eventually reaching an entry for crayons on Blick's website for Crayola brand crayons (figure 4 displays this page). Id. After clicking on the link to Blick's website, the demonstrator explained I know that I'm on the Crayola crayons page of the Blick website because the ... the search [engine] read it out loud. So I understand that I'm on the Crayola crayons page. What I want to do is I want to read the description of the crayons. I want to understand how much they cost, how many crayons I get, what color. And what this website should do is that I should be able to tab directly from the address bar which is where the keyboard focus originally starts. I should be able to tab and hit "skip to content" so I can immediately start going through all of the materials about the crayons. Unfortunately, what happens with this website is I have to continue tabbing through every single menu option above. Id. 26:10-23. The plaintiff then demonstrated how a visually impaired user would currently navigate Blick's website: Okay. So, right now, I'm on the "My Account" link. I'm going to have to tab through all of these ... links in order to get to the description of the crayons. So that's what I'm going to do right now, and for the sake of this demonstration, I'm going to click quickly tab through it .... So what happened is I clicked the description of the crayons, and what should happen is that it should also start reading crayons. Even though my mouse is sitting on this text, it's not reading it aloud. So even with the use of the mouse, which a blind person wouldn't have, there is no way for them to understand the description of crayons. So, unfortunately, what will happen is it actually skips from this "100 Percent Satisfaction Guaranteed" link and it skips all the way down to the bottom, the "See also Crayola construction paper crayon packs." So, with a mouse, I can click through these .... I can click through the tabs that show about the crayons, but I can't access that using the keyboard. So a blind person trying to buy crayons won't actually be able to know what they're purchasing. And this continues scrolling down the page. So even though I don't know what I'm buying, I decided that I want to buy some crayons. What happens is that when I tab through this table that gives the description of the products that I can buy, it will read the item description, literally, just item and description. So it reads the titles of the chart, it doesn't actually end up reading the crayons, the prices, or any description at all. It'll simply give the quantity. Id. 27:12-29:3. Using this example, the plaintiff identified three interconnected difficulties with Blick's website: (1) product descriptions are not accessible to screen readers; (2) the website can interact only with a point and click mouse system-which visually impaired users do not utilize-but not with a keyboard system-which visually impaired users rely on; (3) the only text that is picked up by the screen reader is the item quantity, which provides little help to a visually impaired user attempting to purchase a product. Id. These system errors do not allow a visually impaired user to understand the products (or their price) that she is purchasing from Blick's website. The plaintiff also demonstrated that Blick's "1(800)" number (listed at the top of figures 3 and 4) shown on the website may not be accessible to visually impaired individuals. The plaintiff claimed that no matter how a visually impaired user attempted to move through the website, it would never be read aloud to the user. Id. 21:12-21. Blick, however, contended that the consultant it had hired to bring its website into conformance with modern accessibility standards had verified that it is currently working. Id. 39:2-40:4. Blick Art Materials, Crayola Crayons, https://www.dickblick.com/products/crayola-crayons/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2fnnzq7G1wIVCcNkCh2BFAIDEAMYASAAEgLJo_D_BwE#description. (last visited Nov. 17, 2017). Throughout the settlement process, Blick has shown a willingness to improve its website and processes in order to bring them into conformance with modern accessibility standards. Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. 33:6-15 ("Blick Art has no design desire to be at odds with any kind of impaired-visually impaired, audio impaired, clients or customers. And, in this case, we are not seeking to litigate against them. We are seeking to be compliant and we have stipulated [to the WCAG] guidelines."); see also Infra Part IV(C). 4. Access to Training and Resources For many sighted persons, using the internet without sight can seem almost impossible. THE COURT: Well, I can see how with practice you could understand this. But does this system require, first, a high level of intelligence? [ ] I see the plaintiff is shaking his head no. That doesn't mean he doesn't have high level of intelligence, but does it require a high level of education. He's shaking his head no. Does it require extensive training in this system? And he's saying yes. Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. 18:10-19. The plaintiff explained that with training, most visually impaired individuals can learn to use screen reading software. THE COURT: How long would it take to train a person with a GED, average intelligence .... MR. ANDREWS: Your Honor, it took me, because I started back when I was in junior high school, so it took me about a month. Id. 25:8-14. In Mr. Andrew's opinion, "it is easy to learn how to use screen reading software." Andrews Decl. ¶ 7, ECF. No. 41, Exh. 2, Nov. 21, 2017 ("Andrews Decl.") (App. A). Andrews explained that he is aware of several organizations that provide internet training for the blind including, "Lighthouse, Visions Services for the Blind and Helen Keller Services for the Blind." Id. ¶ 8. Andrews himself received training on screen reading software from his middle school in Brooklyn, New York, and this is now a standard part of special education training in New York City. Id. ¶ 7. A declaration submitted by Mark Riccobono, the President of the National Federation for the Blind ("NFB"), outlined the services available to train visually impaired individuals in the use of screen readers. See Riccobono Decl. ¶ 6, ECF. No. 41, Exh. 3, Nov. 21, 2017 ("Riccobono Decl.") (App. B). "The NFB is the oldest and largest national organization of blind persons ... with affiliates in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico." Id. ¶ 9. To further its mission of "the complete integration of the blind into society," the NFB provides "numerous programs relating to accessible technology." Id. ¶¶ 10,12. One program is the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind (IBTC), which is the world's largest and most complete evaluation and demonstration center of adaptive technology used by the blind. At a cost in excess of $2,000,000, the IBTC has collected all categories of access technology for the blind currently available in the United States. The IBTC tests and evaluates that technology and trains blind trainers in their use. In addition, the IBTC publishes reviews of the many speech and Braille programs and devices. Id. ¶ 12. The IBTC runs a hotline that fields questions from visually impaired individuals about technology. Id. ¶ 14. It receives an average of seven inquires a day, most of which are about screen readers. Id. "Each year the NFB trains more than 100 trainers, that is blind persons, who teach others in the use of screen reader software." Id. ¶ 15. The NFB also maintains three training centers that provide instruction on screen reading software. Id. ¶ 43. In addition to the training provided by the NFB, other free and low-cost screen reading trainings are available. Id. ¶ 41. Training is available "online, by telephone or Skype, and in person." Id. A recent survey showed that "over half of disabled users of screen reader technology (52%) report that they are proficient using the technology at an advanced level" with 42% percent reporting intermediate proficiency, and only 8% describing themselves as beginners. Id. ¶ 42. Screen readers are "widely available" to visually impaired persons, and are "commonly provide[d]" by state vocational rehabilitation agencies and as a reasonable accommodation at schools. Id. ¶ 39. "A 2015 survey of screen reader users reported that 39% of screen reader users purchased their screen readers themselves, while 19% received it from a government agency, 14% received it from their employer, and 17% received it as a free download." Id. ¶ 40. B. WCAG 2.0 Level AA Guidelines The parties' settlement calls for Blick to bring its website into compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA. The parties' described this as the leading and only existing standard for visually impaired internet access. See Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. 41:7-9. WCAG is published by World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). See Riccobono Decl. ¶¶ 64-65. The working group that publishes the guidelines brings together 129 participants plus 26 additional experts. Id. ¶ 65. The participants include: technology companies, such as Microsoft, Boeing, IBM, Oracle, SAP, Adobe, and Google; publishers and educational services, such as Pearson, Educational Testing Service, VitalSource, and Thomson Reuters; technology accessibility experts, such as SSB Bart Group, Deque Systems, Raising the Floor, and the Paciello Group; and disability groups, such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People. Id. WCAG 2.0 was published in 2008. Id. ¶ 69. It has been "widely accepted as providing for full and equal access in accordance with federal law." Id. ¶ 74. A long list of countries, state and local governments, and companies have adopted the WCAG 2.0 guidelines: Countries : Canada, Australia, Denmark, European Union, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. In addition, China, France, Germany, Norway, and South Korea have adopted derivatives of WCAG 2.0. Companies : Blackboard, Cengage, Cisco, Deloitte, Elsevier, Microsoft, Oracle, and Uber. State and Local Governments : County of Hawaii, Orange County, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, New York City, and Washington. Educational Institutions : Brandeis University, California Polytechnic University, City University of New York, Yale University, University of Montana, Penn State, Stanford University, Oregon State University, and Ohio State University. Id. ¶¶ 77-79. The NFB uses the WCAG 2.0 Level AA as its own standard for accessibility of its website. Id. ¶ 80. And the Federal Government, in implementing the Air Carrier Access Act and the Rehabilitation Act, requires conformance with the WCAG 2.0 Level AA. 14 C.F.R. § 382.43 ; 36 C.F.R. § 1194, App. A, pt. 205.4; see also Riccobono Decl. ¶ 75. The WCAG 2.0 Level AA guideline is a "stable, referenceable technical standard" that is technology-neutral-i.e., it applies broadly to different web technologies now existing (such as phones, smart watches, and computers), and can also be implemented with future technologies. Riccobono Decl. ¶ 55. It is based upon four principles: a website must be "perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust." Id. ¶ 58. The four principles are broken down into twelve guidelines, with "success criteria" for web developers to follow. Id. ¶¶ 58, 61. The success criteria provide web developers with tangible goals to work towards, turning the more abstract principles and guidelines into actionable mandates. The WCAG 2.0 guideline for non-text content provides a useful example: Principle 1: Perceivable -Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. Guideline 1.1 Text Alternatives : Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, Braille, speech, symbols, or simpler language. 1.1.1 Non-text Content : All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose, except for the situations listed below. (Level A) • Controls, Input : If non-text content is a control or accepts user input, then it has a name that describes its purpose. (Refer to Guideline 4.1 for additional requirements for controls and content that accepts user input.) • Time-Based Media : If non-text content is time-based media, then text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content. (Refer to Guideline 1.2 for additional requirements for media.) • Test : If non-text content is a test or exercise that would be invalid if presented in text, then text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content. • Sensory : If non-text content is primarily intended to create a specific sensory experience, then text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content. • CAPTCHA : If the purpose of non-text content is to confirm that content is being accessed by a person rather than a computer, then text alternatives that identify and describe the purpose of the non-text content are provided, and alternative forms of CAPTCHA using output modes for different types of sensory perception are provided to accommodate different disabilities. • Decoration, Formatting, Invisible : If non-text content is pure decoration, is used only for visual formatting, or is not presented to users, then it is implemented in a way that it can be ignored by assistive technology. Id. ¶ 61. There are three "levels" of compliance within the WCAG Guidelines: A, AA, and AAA. It appears to be the consensus that the AA Level should be used by companies when bringing websites into compliance. As Blick's consultant explained: the WCAG standard warns: "It is not recommended that Level AAA conformance be required as a general policy for entire sites because it is not possible to satisfy all Level AAA Success Criteria for some content." In practice, level AAA compliance is almost never attempted or reached, except in rare circumstances, as it is extremely difficult to achieve, and does not substantially benefit most disabled users-particularly users who are blind. The general consensus of experts is that Level AA is the appropriate level for the vast majority of organizations to pursue, and all laws which I am aware of require this level as well, including the refreshed Section 508 agency guidelines. Cannon Decl. ¶ 6, ECF. No. 41, Exh. 5, Nov. 22, 2017 ("Cannon Decl.") (App. C). WCAG 2.0 Level AA addresses the major barriers the visually impaired encounter, many of which were demonstrated at the science day in this court, such as a failure to provide "alt tags" for pictures, controls that cannot be navigated with the keyboard, and improperly coded navigation that does not allow a screen reader to skip repetitive content. Riccobono Decl. ¶ 52. W3C has announced that in 2018 it will publish an updated guideline, WCAG 2.1. Id. ¶ 70. The new guidelines' primary focus will be on accessibility for those with low vision and learning disabilities, as well as increasing mobile access. Id. "WCAG 2.1 is designed to be 'backwards compatible' so websites that conform to WCAG 2.1 will also conform to WCAG 2.0." Id. ¶ 71. As of now, it does not appear that WCAG 2.1 will require substantial changes from WCAG 2.0. Id. ¶ 70-73. C. Implementation and Timeline of Guidelines to Blick's Website In September 2017, Blick hired a consultant organization, Accessible360 (A360), to conduct an audit and bring its website into compliance with WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Cannon Decl. ¶¶ 1-2, 7. A360's lead engineer, Aaron Cannon, himself a blind individual, has overseen approximately 75 website's transition to compliance with WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Id. ¶ 3. A360 is currently conducting an audit of Blick's website in order to develop a compliance plan. Id. ¶¶ 7-8. Once the plan is completed, A360 will implement it and then conduct ongoing monitoring and training to ensure continued compliance. Id. ¶ 8. The parties' settlement calls for a two-year timeline for Blick to implement changes. See Supra Part II. At the science and settlement hearing, the court urged Blick to, if possible, implement changes to its website piecemeal, in order to provide benefit to users as soon as possible. See Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. 37:18-22. Blick's consultant explained that its process conforms with the court's preference for piecemeal implementation: It is likely that users of the Blick website will see a major improvement in the accessibility of the site much sooner than the two year deadline . Part of the service that A360 provides to all its clients is helping them to identify the most critical issues, so they can address them first. We refer to these issues as "blockers," because they can block a large number of disabled users from completing tasks on the site. Once the blockers are addressed, A360 clients can then move on to fixing the rest of the issues that, while they may pose an inconvenience to disabled users, should not prevent them from using the major functions of the site. Rarely can a business update its site's accessibility all at once. It is much more common to implement these changes piecemeal because it gives the organization a chance to better gauge the impact of the changes, as well as helping the organization deliver incremental improvements to its customers sooner than would otherwise be possible. Cannon Decl. ¶ 10 (emphasis added). Blick has already begun to implement changes to its website. The site now contains an accessibility statement and the toll free number-which the plaintiff claimed was not accessible by screen readers-has been verified as working by A360. Id. ¶ 7. Both plaintiff and defendant agree that a two-year timeline is reasonable. Plaintiff's counsel, who has substantial experiences in ADA-access-to-internet cases referred to this time period as the "general market standard." Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. 37:3-17. Blick's website presents particular compliance difficulties because it has "thousands and thousands of items, [and] millions of pictures." Id. 35:11-17. Blick's consultant opined: Given the number of issues A360 has already found on the http://www.dickblick.com site, coupled with the size and complexity of the site, and the number of products on offer there, it is my opinion and experience that two years is a reasonable and not uncommon amount of time to bring this site into substantial compliance with the WCAG 2.0 AA standard. The audit process is underway, but based on information currently available, I believe Blick will be able to achieve this goal by December 31, 2019. During this period, I believe Blick's toll free number will remain accessible to visually impaired people via screen reader technology. Cannon Decl. ¶ 9. The plaintiff has expressed his satisfaction with the settlement terms. Andrews Decl. ¶ 10. D. Class and Quasi-Class Action Issues The court and parties discussed the reasons why the plaintiff abandoned the class action aspect of his case in favor of individual relief. Plaintiff's counsel described three mechanisms for resolving cases like the present litigation. [Plaintiff's Counsel]: You can settle them on an individual basis and people just kind of walk away and you drop the case and everybody goes their individual paths. You can attempt to do a class settlement for injunctive relief which my firm has also done, or we can attempt to do what we're doing here which is asking the Court to sign off on the settlement and to retain jurisdiction over disputes arising under the Blick website. So I'll go through the pluses and minuses of each scenario. So the first scenario which I described where people just walk away, that is usually the cheapest way for everybody involved. But, unfortunately, that puts defendants in a position of being sued after they've been sued the first time and they've already agreed to update their website and they're getting sued in the interim while they're fixing their website. So to get around that, some parties have decided to just do a class settlement and get a court approval of Rule 23 for injunctive relief, so that if anybody wants to sue [ ] they would object. But, otherwise, the case, I guess, other plaintiffs would be precluded unless if they were to object or opt-out. Now, I'm currently doing a class settlement right now with Judge Koeltl in the Southern District. For certain logistical reasons, Judge Koeltl has found that process to be hard and I'm currently working with the Court, with Judge Koeltl, because Judge Koeltl was concerned that there was more opt-out options for the class and the rationale was because the website is being fixed, everybody is going to be able to enjoy it, so there is no opt-out availability because you're basically on- THE COURT: I'm not interested in any opt-out. I'm not interested, really, in a class action at this stage. Because if a satisfactory process is established, every sight-impaired person will have it available. So we can cut through the class action and proceed here. I don't think it's res judicata, but I would find it very difficult when we have representatives of these other actions here if this is declared reasonable to go forward on a position for summary judgment in these other cases. I'm not deciding that, but it seems to me that's a reasonable view, and I don't want to go through this again. So I'm prepared to go ahead on this .... Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. 45:14-47-6. The parties have charted a middle ground between a purely individual settlement and resolving the case through the formal strictures of a class action. V. Application of Law to Facts A. Elimination of Class Allegations The parties seek the benefits of court review, approval, and continuing jurisdiction, without the costs that would be associated with a class action settlement. Unlike the purely individual settlement, where the court has no role and the defendant has no protection from future suits, charting the course of a quasi-class action provides a degree of assurance that the defendant will be less likely to face suit while updating their websites. The putative class members, who will necessarily be effected by the injunctive relief, are afforded a degree of protection from court review, which ensures that the relief is reasonable. An individual plaintiff is less likely to be bought off when the court reviews the settlement. See Supra Parts III(B)-(C). Given that the injunctive relief in this case will necessarily inure to the benefit of the putative class, the parties have thoroughly negotiated and supported the terms of the settlement, and provided the court the opportunity to review the settlement and suggest changes, it was proper for the plaintiff to settle this case individually. There is no sign of any collusion by the parties that would prejudice possible class members, and as discussed infra , the relief appears to be fair and reasonable. B. Reasonableness of Settlement Terms Given the nature of the injective relief, many of the factors traditionally reviewed by courts in approving class action settlements are inapplicable. The court reviews the proposed settlement primarily to determine that the parties have not abused the class action vehicle by placing individual relief over the rights of the putative class members, see David Herr, Annotated Manual for Complex Litigation § 21.61 (4th ed. 2013), and to ensure that the injunctive relief is reasonable in light of prevailing technological and community norms. At science day, the parties demonstrated to the court that with training and access to technology, the visually impaired can, in general, participate more readily in internet age processes. Through the court demonstrations, it was evident that most visually impaired individuals can learn to use the internet with screen reading software, as long as the website was navigable by the screen reader. Blick's website, the plaintiff demonstrated, currently had issues that prevented it from being accessed by users relying on screen readers. The testimony of Plaintiff Andrews along with the Declaration of Mark Riccobono, the President of the NFB, convinces the court that there is adequate access to training for the visually impaired. Andrews explained that it took him about a month to learn to use the technology and that it does not take a high degree of intelligence to learn to use the software. See Oct. 19, 2017 Hr'g Tr. 18:10-19; Id. 25:8-14. Mr. Riccobono informed the court that screen readers are "widely available" and training is commonly held at schools and state vocational rehabilitation centers. Riccobono Decl. ¶ 39. The NFB itself trains more than 100 trainers each year. There are online and telephone sources of training available as well. Id. ¶¶ 15, 41, 43. Importantly, the guidelines that the parties have chosen to adopt, the WCAG 2.0 Level AA, appear to be nearly universally accepted. They provide adequate controls to allow visually impaired individuals to access the internet. There is a large list of countries, state and local governments, technology companies, and educational institutions that have adopted these guidelines. The NFB, a leading advocacy organization for the blind, has adopted it, and the federal government has used it. See Supra Part IV(B). Blick's technical consultant, who has years of experience making websites accessible to the visually impaired, is "unaware of the existence of any current competing standards." Cannon Decl. ¶ 5. There are, as of now, no competing standards from the Federal Government. If the government were to promulgate regulations, the parties have given the court the power to modify the settlement in light of those changes which are practicable. The WCAG guidelines are set to be updated in 2018 (see Supra Part IV(B)) and the parties have given the court the ability to modify the settlement, if needed, after those changes. See Supra Part II. In the absence of competing standards, and through demonstrating that the standards are nearly universally accepted as providing adequate access to the visually impaired, the court can appropriately accept the present guidelines as presently adequate. Plaintiff Andrews has expressed his satisfaction with the settlement terms. Andrews Decl. ¶ 10. He has been using screen reading software for 20 years, and has extensive knowledge and experience with various ecommerce websites. Id. ¶¶ 3,6. He believes that this settlement will allow him and others to better access Blick's website. Id. ¶ 10. The parties have demonstrated that the two-year timeline is reasonable. Blick has already begun working to bring its website into compliance with the WCAG 2.0 Level AA guidelines. See Cannon Decl. ¶¶ 6,8. Its technical consultant is using a method that will implement the changes to the website in piecemeal fashion, focusing first on the most critical issues that are currently blocking access to the visually impaired. Id. ¶¶ 7-8. This method will allow the website to see a "major improvement" well before the two-year timeline for total completion. Id. Blick's ecommerce website is unique in scope and complexity. The two-year timeline, while necessary in this case, may not be appropriate as a benchmark timeframe in all cases. The two-year timeframe must be viewed in light of the ongoing partial improvements Blick has agreed to undertake. C. Sealing of Attorneys' Fees and Fee Approval The parties agree that the fees should be sealed in this case. The court agrees, despite the general presumption in favor of access to court documents. Should an intervening party seek to unseal the fees, the court will revisit its decision. The parties argue that little weight should be given to the presumption of public access because the information is not relevant to the performance of the judicial function. Mot. to Seal, ECF No. 40, Nov. 22, 2017. They also argue that sealing the documents might protect the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrines, as well as the confidentiality of the negotiations between the parties. Id. This case, a quasi-class action, sits between an individual settlement agreement, which does not ordinarily require court approval, and a class settlement, which does require approval. Because it occupies this middle ground, there is no clear procedural history or tradition. See U.S. v. Amodeo , 71 F.3d 1044, 1048 (2d Cir. 1995) (noting that the court's "judgment" about whether a document should be sealed is "informed in part by tradition. Where such documents are usually filed with the court and are generally available, the weight of the presumption is stronger than where filing with the court is unusual or is generally under seal."). This settlement, although it will necessarily effect all visually impaired individuals seeking to access Blick's website, more closely resembles an individual settlement than a class settlement. Unlike other quasi-class actions that are large, multidistrict litigations involving thousands of claimants and millions of dollars, this case requires an injunction directing action on the defendant's part. The weight afforded to the presumption of public access is, accordingly, lower than it ordinarily would be. Balancing this weight against the protection of the privilege as well as the confidentiality of the negotiations, the documents should be kept under seal. The court has reviewed the sealed affidavit of counsel concerning the attorneys' fees and concludes that the negotiated fee is reasonable. The parties skillfully litigated the threshold issue in this case about whether the ADA applies to the internet. See Andrews v. Blick Art Materials, LLC , No. 17-CV-767, 2017 WL 3278898, 268 F.Supp.3d 381 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 1, 2017). There is no reason to believe that the fee negotiated between the parties was not the product of arm's length appropriate bargaining. Plaintiff's counsel demonstrated skill and experience in shepherding this case through the settlement process. The relief obtained for the putative class in the settlement is fair and adequate. Counsel ably supervised and coordinated the demonstrations at science day and collected and submitted helpful declarations after the hearing. In view of his experience and skill, and the amount of time expended on the case, the award is reasonable. VI. Conclusion The parties' settlement, including the attorneys' fees, is approved as fair and reasonable. The attorneys' fee information shall remain under seal. Plaintiff shall promptly provide a copy of the judgment approved by the defendant. The clerk of the court shall close the case upon signing of the judgment of settlement by the court. SO ORDERED. Attachment Appendix A DECLARATION OF VICTOR ANDREWS I, VICTOR ANDREWS, under penalty of perjury, affirms as follows: 1. I am completely blind. 2. I received a college degree in Radio and Broadcasting Technology from Kingsborough Community College in 2014. I sometimes work as a DJ for parties and live sound events. 3. My preferred method of shopping is purchasing products online through my personal computer. As opposed to shopping at a physical store, online shopping enables me to purchase products from my home anytime during the day or night. Online shopping also provides me more privacy and security because I can complete a purchase without relying on other's assistance. I frequently buy products such as electronics, food, clothes and accessories online. 4. I cannot use a computer without the assistance of screen reading software. 5. When I perform certain functions on a keyboard, screen reading software reads the content of the website and allows me to navigate to the next step. 6. I have been using screen reading software for approximately 20 years. I received training in how to use screen reading software when I was studying in junior high school, Middle School 142, located at 610 Henry St., Brooklyn, NY 11231. 7. Middle School 142 provides free training for blind students to teach them how to use screen reading software. In my opinion, it is easy to learn how to use screen reading software. I became familiar of the screen reading software after one month of using it. All blind individuals now receive screen reading software training as part of their special education training. 8. I know there are also other institutions that provide training for blind individuals, such as Lighthouse, Visions Services for the Blind and Helen Keller Services for the Blind. 9. I frequently find websites that contain accessibility barriers. The barriers prevent me from using screen reading software to access products and services. 10. I am satisfied with the settlement of this matter. Making Defendant's websites comply with WCAG 2.0 AA standard will enable me and other blind individuals to access Defendant's products and services using screen reading software. I affirm, under penalt