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Accessibility in the News – January 25, 2019

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Accessibility in the News — 1/25/19.

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AITN Quote of the Week

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

I am pleased to offer you, as an “Accessibility in the News” reader, a comprehensive legal analysis of court decisions that have set website accessibility litigation precedent in the United States. Authored by Paul Trahan and Nathan Damweber, attorneys at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, and Microassist’s chief technology officer Hiram Kuykendall, “Website Accessibility: The Legal Landscape,” appears in the just-released issue of “The Banking Law Journal”,  a renowned banking law journal from LexisNexis. Download an accessible PDF copy of this robust, 33-page analysis and commentary for an in-depth look at key legal cases and website accessibility litigation decisions, the reasoning behind each decision among the different courts, an introduction to website accessibility standards, and a checklist for litigation-wary organizations who want to minimize their risk.

National News (U.S.)

2018 Online Accessibility Legal News Recap

January 24, 2019   |  Source: Microassist

Final numbers are still coming in, but by anyone’s measure, 2018 was a record-setting year for website accessibility activity. Financial services, restaurants and grocers, casinos, pizza chains, wineries, sports teams, universities, and others all found themselves on the receiving end of complaint letters and litigation regarding their digital environments. But the legal churn didn’t stop with litigation activity. The United States and Canada each offered up legislation affecting people with disabilities, with various results…

Texas School For The Blind And Visually Impaired Calls On Scooter Riders To Be More Mindful

January 14, 2019   |  Source: KUT

Sixty-two-year-old Joe Paschall was walking near Burnet Road and Koenig Lane last November when he almost tripped over a dockless scooter. “I was able to catch myself, but I had no idea that it was there,” he said. Paschall has ocular albinism, a genetic condition that makes his eyes sensitive to light. He remembers it being a really bright day, so he was wearing sunglasses and squinting. He says he’s worried that other people – especially those with visual impairments like him – could trip over a scooter and even fall into traffic because they’re blocking the sidewalk…

NAU part of group receiving $1 million grant to improve accessible learning

January 17, 2019   |  Source: NAU News

Northern Arizona University and six other universities known as leaders in accessibility received a $1 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund Federating Repositories of Accessible Materials for Higher Education, a two-year project that aims to streamline the process of providing resources for students with print disabilities. The participating universities will work with their libraries, disability services offices and in some cases, presses to share information through digital source files, create new workflows and identify and adapt to potential delays in the publishing process…

City’s new director of ADA compliance is ready for Philly to (finally) make the accessibility grade

January 17, 2010   |  Source: Philadelphia Weekly

If you call the main number for the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities that oversees its respective commission, you’ll most likely, at least from the time of this reporting, get their answering machine. “Hello, you just reached the Mayor’s Commission on Disabilities. Please leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you very much and have a good day.” But the chance anyone will get back to you in a reasonable amount of time, if at all, is unlikely. Understaffed, the commission a staff of just three has been manned by only two people in the past few months…

How your business website could land you in trouble

January 18, 2019   |  Source: Memphis Business Journal

Most companies are familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in employment. It requires that reasonable accommodations be offered absent a showing of undue hardship. Title III of the ADA prohibits places of public accommodation, such as restaurants and retail, from discriminating against disabled persons with respect to the goods and services they offer. It also requires covered businesses to eliminate barriers that prevent disabled persons from having equal access to goods and services…

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How to make your content more accessible to the visually impaired

January 18, 2019   |  Source: Marketing Land

Globally, it’s estimated that approximately 1.3 billion people live with some form of distance or near vision impairment. In the past, vision impairment may have hampered their online screen experience, but thanks to the tech advancements of today, virtually anyone can jump online and search up the latest news, new restaurant reviews, or their next vacation destination. Making sure businesses and marketers develop online content that is accessible to anyone and everyone is the big idea behind inclusive marketing…

Crowdsourcing Accessibility

January 18, 2019   |  Source: LeadingAge

Residents of Portsmouth, NH, and a number of other New England towns are benefiting from an effort to identify and catalogue accessibility information for public spaces. Employees of JSA, Inc., a Portsmouth senior living and health care architecture firm, have created Access Navigators, an effort to inform residents with mobility impairments about accessibility in local businesses and public attractions. LeadingAge spoke to Todd Hanson, a principal at JSA, and Anne Weidman, community engagement director for the firm, about their efforts…

Microsoft’s ‘inclusive design’ will increase its focus on accessibility in 2019

January 18, 2019   |  Source: Windows Central

If it seems like Microsoft’s accessibility efforts are getting almost as much attention as its cloud, Windows and productivity businesses, you’re not mistaken. Since becoming the company’s CEO, Satya Nadella has made “inclusive design” a core part of the company’s business model. It is almost impossible to see a major Microsoft event or hear a significant Microsoft announcement without hearing how accessibility is woven in. Nadella acknowledged that historically companies, including Microsoft, would build products and address an accessibility “checklist” after the fact…

How design can make the world more accessible to everyone

January 18, 2019   |  Source: World Economic Forum

From my office overlooking Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in the Carnegie Mansion in New York City, I can see the daily flow of visitors from all walks of life entering our historic garden—a rare gem of enclosed green space in the city. When the industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie first occupied his ornate residence in 1902, a high iron fence and stone pillars signaled the garden was strictly a private sanctuary for the steel magnate’s family. Its design remained largely intact for many decades until—over a century later—the museum embarked on a mammoth restoration and renovation…

Cincinnati family melts hearts, builds wheelchair-accessible snow fort so everyone can play

January 18, 2019   |  Source: WXYZ & KCRA & Fox& MEAWW

The 10-foot snow fort outside Gregg Eichhorn’s Cincinnati home began as an igloo and grew into an opportunity to show thousands of strangers the importance of making sure all kids can enjoy their childhoods equally. Eichhorn is the father of nine adopted children, eight of whom live with physical or mental disabilities. When they began building the snow fort, they wanted to make sure everyone could play inside. That meant widening the entrance so 19-year-old Zahara and 11-year-old Elijah, both of whom use wheelchairs, could comfortably fit…

Technology is changing how we grow old and die

January 18, 2019   |  Source: CNN

This is a story about how life could end for many of us: at home surrounded by high-tech sensors, voice assistants and automated pill dispensers. And there’s a “companion” robot to ward off loneliness. Or it’s a story about being able to age in your own house instead of an assisted-living center, and maintaining your independence and video chatting with your grandkids. Technology to help monitor, comfort and care for the elderly is becoming increasingly mainstream. But we’re only just starting to consider how it will change the way we age…

Aging in place is not the way to go

January 19, 2019   |  Source: CommonWealth

Most of us can expect to live longer than ever before. This longevity bonus gives us more time to build the society we want, and we must start by considering how we’ll live as we grow old. But for starters, we need to shift our thinking about what it is we really desire if we want to age affordably and live well.  We need to stop thinking about aging in place, but instead shift our thinking and planning towards aging in community. There are two disturbing trends we need to consider: First, most people have insufficient income and savings to meet ever-growing housing and medical costs as they get older…

Why Is AI And Machine Learning So Biased? The Answer Is Simple Economics

January 20, 2019   |  Source: Forbes

As AI and machine learning have infused themselves over the last half decade into nearly every corner of our lives, there has been a growing interest in how the biases of these models may be silently impacting society. Much of this focus has been on the issues of biased training data and a homogeneous workforce that lacks sufficient diversity of experience to recognize bias. However, lost in this conversation is the far bigger driving force: the lack of economic incentive to minimize bias in the technologies that increasingly power our lives…

Are Your Company Meetings, Conferences, Town Halls, & Scrums Accessible to People with Hearing Loss

January 21, 2019   |  Source: Women in Technology International

According to 3PlayMedia, 60% of those who have hearing loss are either in the workforce or in an educational setting. 20% of Americans are deaf or hard of hearing. That’s 48 million Americans. The good news is that, technology, when correctly used, helps overcome barriers in the workplace. The principal barrier to communication accessibility to people who are deaf or hard of hearing is that most stakeholders don’t even know they’re stakeholders. Their lack of knowledge can be a barrier to communication accessibility and a violation of civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act…

Government Shutdown Takes Toll On People With Disabilities

January 21, 2019   |  Source: Disability Scoop

People with disabilities are feeling pressure from the nation’s longest-ever government shutdown, whether they work for a shuttered federal agency, live in subsidized housing or receive food stamps, advocates say. Although some of the primary federal agencies that serve people with disabilities are open, such as the Social Security Administration, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the U.S. Department of Education, the effects are still widespread. For instance, new direct support workers to help those with disabilities can’t get hired and furloughed parents of children with disabilities are struggling to pay for therapies.

Advocating for inclusion in the workplace

January 22, 2019   |  Source: WTVR (Video)

Debra Ruh recently placed at number 14 on a list of the Top Global 100 Digital Influencers. She is a global inclusion strategist, who is an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. She joined us to talk about why this is so important, especially in the corporate workforce…

GW meets first federal deadline to make online content more accessible

January 22, 2019   |  Source: GW Hatchet

After GW and the Office for Civil Rights pushed back the University’s first federal deadline to improve online accessibility, officials established a plan to make online content more user-friendly for those with disabilities. At the close of a federal investigation into GW’s online accessibility last March, the University agreed to implement a plan to improve online services by Oct. 1 but then pushed the deadline to Jan. 15. Over the next three months, officials said they laid out a plan with resources and staff training to make GW’s websites more accessible for those with vision impairments…

Accessible EV Charging a Must for Risk Management

January 22, 2019   |  Source: GlobeSt.com

As electric and hybrid vehicles in California continue to gain popularity, there is a growing proliferation of electric vehicle charging stations in the parking areas of hotels, theaters, stadiums and mixed-use properties. While owners and managers of these facilities are providing a much-needed service to guests, many are unaware that at least in California if those facilities provide electric vehicle charging stations, a certain number of them must be accessible to the disabled…

Our Biased Web: Why Don’t We Care About Making The Web Accessible For All?

January 22, 2019   |  Source: Forbes

As society has increasingly awoken to the dangers of algorithmic bias in the machine learning and AI systems that underlie an ever-greater portion of our lives, it is notable that for all of the attention and funding being focused on AI bias, there has been in comparison a deafening silence on the topic of accessibility bias. As the web rushes ever faster towards a multimedia-first existence, why is it that there is comparatively so little conversation about making this content accessible to those with differing physical abilities?…

Meet the Blind YouTubers Making the Internet More Accessible

January 22, 2019    |  Source: WIRED

To be blind on the internet, at its worst, is to be told that you are a liar. “Every time I say I’m visually impaired,” says Casey Greer. “someone will try to shut me down, saying ‘Well then how did you type this comment?!’ It feels silly that in 2019, I always have to explain that blind people use and love the internet just as much as anybody else.” The antidote? YouTube’s thriving community of blind creators, which includes Greer. These creators have become voices for a poorly understood and often overlooked group of people, who, apparently unbeknownst to many sighted people, share digital space with them every single day…

Microsoft’s Code Jumper makes programming physical for children with visual impairments

January 22, 2019   |  Source: TechCrunch

Microsoft just unloaded a whole bunch of news in time for the BETT education show. The most interesting bit of the bunch, however, is probably Code Jumper. The tethered hardware device is design to teach children who are blind or have otherwise impaired vision how to code. The device is a continuation of Project Torino, which the company announced back in early 2017. Microsoft’s Cambridge, U.K. lab designed a “physical programming language,” which tasks kids with building programs by connecting pods…`

Number of ADA Title III Lawsuits Filed in 2018 Tops 10,000

January 22, 2019   |  Source: Seyfarth Shaw

ADA Lawsuits Are on the Rise, Website Complaints Biggest Targets

January 24, 2019   |  Source: Law.com

The number of ADA Title III lawsuits filed in federal court in 2018 hit a record high of 10,163 – up 34% from 2017 when the number was a mere 7,663.  This is by far the highest number of annual filings since we started tracking these numbers in 2013, when the number of federal filings was only 2,722.  In other words, the number of cases has more than tripled.  California, New York, and Florida led the pack by a wide margin as the states with the most ADA Title III lawsuits, with Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Alabama making the top ten but trailing far behind…

How Instagram Democracy Is Leaving Accessibility And Inclusiveness Behind

January 22, 2019   |  Source: Forbes

Governments and their elected officials have long sought to reach past intermediators like the news media to communicate directly with their constituents. From the party paper to Roosevelt’s fireside chats to today’s social media, politicians in the United States have evolved to make use of the latest technology of the day to speak directly to the nation’s citizenry on their own terms. As the first generation of political leaders made use of social media, their messages were largely textual in form, ensuring they were as accessible to those of all physical abilities as traditional government communications…

ADA lawsuits targeting hotels’ websites for not disclosing how accessible they are

January 22, 2019   |  Source: Miami Herald

A Fort Lauderdale woman and her attorney who have reached settlements with at least 20 hotels and motels in Florida over the businesses’ websites not explaining how their properties meet the needs of people with disabilities have set their sights on two Keys resorts. Cheri Honeywell and her attorney, Jessica Kerr, of the Advocacy Group in Fort Lauderdale, filed lawsuits this month in federal court against the Glunz Ocean Beach Hotel and Resort in Key Colony Beach and Casa Morada in Islamorada…

Airlines should follow United lead on seatback IFE accessibility

January 23, 2019   |  Source: Runway Girl Network

Earlier this month, United Airlines began flying the Boeing 787-10 between Newark and Los Angeles. While discussing the carrier’s decision to debut the -10 Dreamliner on this route on Twitter, the topic of United’s inflight entertainment system came up. Being blind, I said that IFE doesn’t matter to me since I can’t use it. RGN contributor Jason Rabinowitz highlighted a line from a previous United press release stating that the 787-10’s IFE has “the world’s most extensive suite of accessibility features on a seatback entertainment system, which accommodates any level of vision, as well as provides support for customers with hearing and mobility issues”…

Accessible Websites Are No Longer An Option—They’re Law

January 23, 2019   |  Source: Automation Alley

An accessible website is one that includes certain features that create a comparable experience for all visitors, particularly for those who may have challenges experiencing the web. Most people are not aware that using the web is not an apples to apples experience for everyone. A quadriplegic for example, might browse webpages with a joystick powered by the tongue. Blind individuals have browsers that read websites to them. What would happen to either individual, if they encountered a site with all images and no text, or drop menus that required excessive mouse movements?…

CUNA and Michigan League Support Credit Unions in ADA Cases

January 23, 2019   |  Source: CUNA

Credit Union National Association (CUNA) partnered with the Michigan Credit Union League to continue its aggressive nationwide defense of credit unions who are facing lawsuits due to uncertainty about how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to websites. The organizations filed two amicus briefs Tuesday in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals defending credit unions facing a lawsuit due to confusion over how the ADA applies to websites…

Apple’s ‘Everyone Can Code’ courses are now available in braille

January 24, 2019   |  Source: Computerworld

It’s possible the next big thing in app or operating systems development may be created by a blind or partially sighted developer, as Apple takes another step to make coding accessible to everybody. Apple’s Everyone Can Code curriculum is already in use in schools, colleges, and homes worldwide. Now it has partnered with the world-famous RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) to make its coding skills curriculum more accessible. Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s director of accessibility programs, told me: “One of the things we found is that some blind students didn’t think coding was accessible to them…

Jack Fact —Fewer than 40 percent of those with a hearing disability work full time, according to the Yang-Tan Institute at Cornell University’s analysis of 2016 American Community Survey data.

Hit The Road Jack — The beach BECKONS

International News

McDonald’s Israel Becomes First Restaurant Chain to Adopt App Giving Full Access to Blind Customers

January 16, 2019   |  Source: The Algemeiner- Israel

McDonald’s in Israel is set to become the first restaurant chain in the world to offer full access for blind and visually-impaired customers at all its locations. According to the Hebrew news site Mako, McDonald’s is using a voice navigation app called RightHear, which will interact with a series of sensors in each restaurant and convey voice instructions to blind customers, allowing them to navigate the space. Idan Meir, CEO and co-founder of RightHear, described the app as “a ramp for the blind,” comparing it to forms of wheelchair access…

Greens $1.5b plan to boost accessibility

January 18, 2019   |  Source: 9news- Australia

Public spaces across Australia would be made more accessible for people living with disability through a $1.5 billion fund under a Greens proposal. Another $400 million would be spent on making public transport more accessible. Acting Greens leader Jordon Steele-John says the plan comes at a time when half of disabled people are unemployed and 45 per cent live at or below the poverty line. Intellectually disabled people also have a life expectancy 26 years below those who aren’t disabled, the senator said…

BTS Fails to Keep Accessibility Promises for 4th Year

January 18, 2019   |  Source: Khaosod- Thailand

The BTS Skytrain remains inaccessible to all commuters four years after a historic legal victory for disability activists. Activist Manit Inpim this week accused the city of failing to do its job, saying he is unaware of any progress since 256 million baht was approved nearly eight months ago for construction of elevators at all exits of every station. Monday will mark five years since the Supreme Administrative Court gave the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, or BMA, a one-year deadline to make stations throughout the elevated rail system accessible to commuters with disabilities…

Disabled people share experiences on Twitter as #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow trends

January 18, 2019   |  Source: Express & Star- UK

Thousands of people on Twitter have been sharing their experience of disability on the hashtag #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow which spawned in response to new film The Upside. “‘You don’t look disabled’ and ‘I don’t consider you disabled’ aren’t compliments,” was the most liked tweet on the subject on Friday, among nearly 19,000 sent. Others discussed accessibility issues for disabled people going to shops and restaurants, ham-fisted attempts by able-bodied people to make conversation and the hidden costs of disability which able-bodied people don’t incur…

Plains, Trains and Wheelchairs: U of G grad Drew Cumpson advocates for the disabled

January 19, 2019   |  Source: Guelph Today- Canada

Drew Cumpson was a second-year University of Guelph student spending a summer in Peru in 2011 when his world changed forever. A spinal injury suffered while body surfing left him a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down and dependent on a ventilator for the rest of his life. A short time after that his mother was stricken with cancer. “My mom told me to get my education and live life to the fullest,” Cumpson told the roughly 100 people attending Saturday’s TEDxGuelphU event at HOPE House…

Blind leads the blind in computer literacy

January 20, 2019   |  Source: Business Inquirer- Philippines

When talking about a newly published local computer literacy manual for the visually impaired, “the blind leading the blind” is its best description except for its negative connotation as all of the manual’s modules were developed by visually impaired professionals who are just as adept in using a computer as the next sighted person. Codeveloped by the nonprofit organization Adaptive Technology for Rehabilitation, Integration and Empowerment of the Visually Impaired (Atriev) Computer Training Center for the Blind, Microsoft Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University’s education department…

The limits to legislating workplace accessibility

January 20, 2019   |  Source: Toronto Star- Canada

Accessibility and inclusion aren’t about legislation, they are about a social and cultural shift and deep understanding of community. The Ontario government tried to legislate change when it passed the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act in 2005. The act is intended to identify and break down barriers for people with a disability and is multi-faceted. The legislation covers areas such as customer service, information and communication, employment standards, transportation standards and design of public spaces…

Get set for #Sabkeliye, India’s biggest & boldest accessible shopping initiative ever

January 20, 2019   |  Source: NewzHook- India

Be it dedicated priority counters, Quiet Hours for shoppers with autism, or a body wash in Braille packaging, Future Retail Limited has shown a strong and steady commitment towards making shopping accessible to India’s disabled community. Now, in its boldest and biggest initiative, India’s leading retailer has announced a Preview Day Sale on 21 January across all 357 Big Bazaar stores in India, exclusively for people with disabilities. In a statement, Vineet Saraiwala, Deputy Manager, Future Group said, “Everyone wants offers and discounts and shoppers with disabilities are no different…

HRCSL requests allocation of funds in budget to make state buildings accessible to disabled

January 21, 2019   |  Source: Colombo Page- Sri Lanka

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has submitted a recommendation to Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera to allocate funds from the 2019 Budget to make state buildings and transportation accessible to persons with disabilities in line with national laws as well as interactional obligations of Sri Lanka. The HRCSL noted that during the past three years the Commission has engaged in numerous activities to ensure persons with disabilities have access to public buildings and transport, such as conducting training programs…

Accessible device and app guide launched

January 21, 2019   |  Source: CIO- Australia & Disability Support Guide- Australia & TechRepublic

A guide to mobile handsets, tablets, apps and software for people with disabilities has been launched by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN). The Accessible Telecoms project – which takes the form of a website and helpline – allows users to select the accessibility features they need from a device and search through the suitable models. Launched today covering mainstream mobile and fixed line handsets, teletypewriters and accessories; the project will eventually cover other devices, apps and assistive telecommunications equipment…

New video series to support Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard of Hearing wireless consumers

January 21, 2019   |  Source: Newswire- Canada

Canada’s wireless service providers have launched a new video series to support Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing (DDBHH) wireless customers. The new ASL and LSQ video series is designed to support DDBHH consumers in understanding the terminology commonly used by wireless service providers. The new Wireless Terminology series – which is available on the Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association’s (CWTA) wirelessaccessibility.ca website, as well as the websites of carriers – is part of the on-going collaboration between service providers and the DDBHH community…

‘Accessible Japan’: Wheelchair-Bound Blogger Helps PWDs Enjoy Japan

January 22, 2019   |  Source: JAPAN Forward

Josh Grisdale is a Japanese citizen originally from a small town in Canada. He was in a wheelchair, but this did not stop him from traveling to Japan and falling in love with the country — so much so that he moved here, permanently. Recently, Grisdale attracted attention by creating Accessible Japan, a travel information website for people with disabilities. JAPAN Forward sat down with him to discuss how his incredible adventure in Japan began, the philosophy behind Accessible Japan, and the challenges that remain to be overcome…

Disabled Students’ Campaign accuses Vinyl of legal accessibility requirements breach

January 23, 2019   |  Source: Varsity- UK

In a tweet published last Wednesday, 16th January, the CUSU Disabled Students’ Campaign (DSC) accused Cambridge nightclub Vinyl of breaching its legal responsibility to adequately accommodate disabled club-goers. This followed one student’s inability to access the club due to the stairlift’s failure to hold the weight of her powerchair. Since Vinyl, commonly known as ‘Life’ is located underground, lift access is crucial for many disabled individuals. Anna Ward, a fourth year student, said that the lift was unable to hold the weight of both her and her electric wheelchair, and so she could not use it to go down to the club…

Canadians anxious about accessibility issues as they age

January 22, 2019   |  Source: The Province- Canada & GlobeNewswire & Angus Reid Institute

A new survey released by the Rick Hansen Foundation shows Canadians are anxious about accessibility issues as the growing and aging population means more people face disabilities and mobility limitations. Two-thirds of Canadians are anxious about developing disabilities and challenges in the next decade that will impact where they live, shop and go for any reason, and about a quarter of Canadians say they already have mobility, vision or hearing challenges, according to a survey to be released today by the Rick Hansen Foundation…

Keeping Montreal’s transportation on track to accessibility

January 22, 2019    |  Source: The McGill Tribune- Canada

Many commuters, including students, rely on infrastructure like public transit, sidewalks, and bike lanes to get around the city. But, sometimes, infrastructure fails: On Jan. 9, three out of four metro lines were closed due to a pepper-spray incident, and, on Jan. 17, the blue line closed due to an electrical explosion in Rosemont station. Even when everything is functioning properly, access to Montreal’s transit system is inequitable, and physical and structural barriers render the city’s infrastructure inaccessible to many Montrealers…

Maharashtra government strives to make poll booth disable-friendly

January 22, 2019   |  Source: Daily News & Analysis- India

On a mission to ensure wider participation by people, the state government planning to make better physical infrastructure available for physically disabled at the booth level. This will cover ramps and vehicles for access to polling booths and voter slips in Braille. The authorities are marking out physically challenged voters on lists as part of this “accessible elections” agenda. This will enable booth-level officers direct amenities towards such voters based on the nature of their disability…

Government of Canada improves accessibility for persons with disabilities

January 22, 2019   |  Source: Markets Insider- Canada

Today, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility, the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, announced financial support for close to 400 organizations across Canada through the small projects component of the Enabling Accessibility Fund (EAF). With programs such as the EAF, the Government of Canada is breaking down the barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from fully participating in all aspects of Canadian society, ensuring that everyone has equal access and equal opportunity…

Apple Introduces New Accessibility Tools As It Aims To Make iPhone And iPad Open To Everyone

January 23, 2019   |  Source: The Independent- UK

There’s something powerful hiding in your iPhone. Buried in the settings – right between the option to make your phone talk to your car and the page that will tell you how much space you’re using – are a range of features that could be the difference between being able to use an iPhone and not. They are Apple’s accessibility features, and they’re ones about which the company is particularly proud. Clicking that option means being introduced to a whole range of different features…

This Quebec MNA wants all riding offices to be wheelchair-accessible

January 24, 2019   |  Source: CBC- Canada

Quebec Solidaire MNA Sol Zanetti wants wheelchair access to be mandatory in all riding offices in the province. On Tuesday, Zanetti submitted a letter to Quebec’s National Assembly, asking it to amend the rules for riding offices, making it obligatory that they all be accessible to people in wheelchairs. “We asked that there be an obligation for MNAs to make their offices accessible to everybody,”  said Zanetti, who represents the riding of Jean-Lesage in Quebec City’s Limoilou and Montmorency neighbourhoods…

Blindness and Accessible Books: From Marrakesh to Marella Gunta Palem

January 24, 2019   |  Source: BananaIP Counsels- Morocco

Marrakesh is a busy city in Morocco. It is a popular tourist destination. The Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate accessibility of published works to persons with blindness was signed in and named after the city. Marella Gunta Palem is a small, agricultural village in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. Less than hundred families live in the village, which has basic information and communication infrastructure. It has been approximately six years since the Marrakesh Treaty was signed, and just more than two years since it came into force…

For these performers, accessibility isn’t an afterthought — it’s a creative opportunity

January 24, 2019   |  Source: CBC- Canada

Most commonly, accessibility is an afterthought in the arts — if it’s a thought at all. But producers in disability arts are working to make access part of the performance. In Crip Shorts — part of the Cripping the Arts conference and festival in Toronto this month — the performers and producer have tried to build in access for audiences with an array of accessibility requirements. The show features performers in a variety of disciplines, from dance to poetry to circus arts, performing five short pieces around the theme of disability in the arts…

Buhari signs disability bill into law, criminalises discrimination

January 24, 2019   |  Source: Pulse- Nigeria

The president’s assent of the bill was disclosed by his Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, on Wednesday, January 23, 2019. The act criminalises all forms of discrimination against people living with disabilities in the country and enforces their rights and privileges to education, healthcare, priority in accommodation and emergencies. It prohibits discrimination against the physically challenged in public transportation facilities, including seaports, railways and airports, and compels service providers to make adequate provisions for them…

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Have you received an accessibility demand letter because of your website or application? Please contact us for any questions you have about our accessibility services and how we might support your organization.

Services include:

  • Accessible Website and Application Development— We rely heavily on accessibility best practices and using HTML5 and ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) standards to build WCAG-compliant and human-tested accessible environments. Our teams are proficient in open source technologies such as WordPress, Drupal and Moodle, as well as custom frameworks in .NET, PHP, AngularJS, and other frameworks. Our Learning and Development team can also help you create accessible custom training.
  • Accessible Document Services—  Whether you’re dealing with a few or a warehouse of Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, or other files, there are several ways Microassist can enable your team to offer documents and materials that meet stringent accessibility standards.
  • Accessibility Remediation— Our accessibility remediation services help you fix existing materials so that they conform to WCAG, Section 504 and 508, Department of Education OCR, and ADA Title II/III requirements. We remediate websites, applications, documents, and elearning, recommending re-creation when that is more efficient and economical. Especially for website and applications, to find out what is in need of remediation, we’ll start with an Accessibility Audit.
  • Accessibility Training— With several courses available for developers, testers, and content creators, your team can become equipped to consistently and expertly produce accessible digital products and online environments.
  • VPAT®Evaluation Services— Primarily used by government purchasers and government vendors during the procurement and sale of ICT products and services under Section 508, a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT) attests to the accessibility of a given product or service. Contact us to make sure the VPAT you write or review is accurate and meaningful.

Learn More About Digital Accessibility

Our Digital Accessibility Digest blog covers our Accessibility in the News archives as well as expert commentaries on digital accessibility issues.

Our most popular commentaries include:


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