Accessibility in the News— 6/22/18.

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― Stephen Hawking

National News (U.S.)

INCLUSION BRANDING: REVEALING SECRETS TO MAXIMIZE ROI

How brands can learn to engage with the community of persons with disabilities and other minorities to create solid ROI and positive social impact. This book is essential for every CEO and entrepreneur.

Devastated by ALS, trying to save others

June 13, 2018 | Source: Washington Post | ALS, Awareness, Health, Research

Rahul Desikan sits at his dining room table, a large computer screen before him, and works on his latest scientific paper. He types a single letter, then another, then another. For a man in a hurry, desperately trying to rid the world of terrible diseases, it’s an excruciatingly slow process. Using a special mouse strapped to his forehead that detects his smallest movement, Desikan moves a cursor around an on-screen keyboard. When he finds the letter he wants, he clicks a button with his right thumb, and it appears in a white space to the side…

AI could help remove barriers for the disabled, UN conference hears

June 14, 2018 | Source: ITP.net | Artificial Intelligence, Tech, UN, Accessible Cities

AI could help remove barriers to people with disabilities from participating in their communities, a discussion group at the UN Conference on disabilities has heard. Dr. Victor Pineda and James Thurston of Smart Cities for All hosted a discussion on the role AI can play in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. AI and machine learning can have an impact across diverse areas such as creating education programs that better meet the needs of people with disabilities, or designing urban environments that are able to accommodate all users equally…

Making WSJ.com More Accessible

June 14, 2018 | Source: Dow Jones

As I write this, the WSJ.com team is launching a brand new homepage experience for small screens. It’s one of our biggest subscription-drivers, a page that hundreds of thousands of people see every day. The new experience builds on the award-winning design of the WSJ iOS and Android apps. It’s curated specifically for mobile reading by an amazing editorial team. It’s also our first step towards making WSJ.com more accessible to all of our users. For many products — especially media platforms — accessibility is a bullet point on a QA checklist. I want to set a much higher bar for our products…

Cycling program creates more accessibility opportunities in New York City

June 15, 2018 | Source: Spartan Newsroom

Susan Genis has limited vision. When she’s out, she wears dark, bulky sunglasses that cover all sides of her eyes to protect the vision she has left from the sun. She doesn’t use a walking stick or need a guide dog’s help to navigate the hustle and bustle of New York’s streets – she has already been doing that for years. But when it comes to some things, Genis needs a little help. One of those things is riding a bike. “It wouldn’t be safe,” Genis said. Almost every Saturday morning, Genis makes her way to the East 90th Street entrance of Central Park and meets a group of about 20 that gather in front of a row of tandem bikes…

City plans ADA overhaul, some say changes are long overdue

June 15, 2018 | Source: Montgomery Advertiser

When Taylor Wilkins came to Montgomery for a his son’s school field trip, what he saw upset him. Several popular tour destinations were difficult or near impossible to access by wheelchair for one of his son’s classmates. At one point, the student was forced to watch the tour through a door when he couldn’t get inside a building in Old Alabama Town. The city of Montgomery has said it wants to address disability access issues like these in the area and put together a comprehensive plan to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act…

How accessible is the village? Girl Scouts survey the scene

June 15, 2018 | Source: The Ridgefield Press

Handicapped access is more than a theoretical concern to the Girl Scouts from Branchville School’s Troop 50669, with their friend and fellow scout Dina Jamshed, a wheelchair user. The troop went up and down Main Street on two visits this spring, checking the accessibility of 27 businesses for Dina in her wheelchair. “The girls found 15 out of the 27 shops were accessible for Dina,” said Pam Banks, who joins Louise Kennerley and Madiha Jamshed as the troop’s adult leaders. Some of the shops that Dina could enter had barriers that made wheelchair entry more difficult — they weren’t completely inaccessible, but getting inside was a challenge…

Emmet County Observatory Not Accessible To Public For ADA Codes

June 15, 2018 | Source: 9&10 News

The Headlands International Dark Sky Park is a popular destination for people to view the cosmos. And one of the best ways to view the sky is through a telescope. The observatory at the Dark Sky Park is home to thousands of dollars’ worth of telescopes but many are now not accessible to the public, as of two weeks ago. “We discovered that according to the way the building was built and building code and ADA rules, that the second floor where the observatory resides, is not accessible,” said Emmet County administrator John Calabrese…

$25,000 grant aims to make southern Colorado equally accessible for people with disabilities

June 15, 2018 | Source: Fox21

The Independence Center partners with Colorado Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities and ADA Services and Plans (ASAP) on a project to make southern Colorado more accessible for people with disabilities, including a $24,500 grant. For the month of June, the Independence Center is kicking off the “Better Access is Better Business” campaign. ASAP will provide businesses with compliance assessments during the month of June, and business owners will get a complimentary step-by-step plan on how to become ADA compliant…

The End of Dyslexia

June 16, 2018 | Source: Wired

I’m going to tell you a secret. It’s something almost no one in my professional life knows. I’m dyslexic. Given that knowledge, my chosen career—writer—might seem odd. But while I was cursed with poor spelling skills, I’ve always been drawn to storytelling. The career-planning report that accompanied the aptitude test I took at 13 even tried to dissuade me from a “literary” career, but even back then I had enough bravado to overrule that piece of computer-generated advice…

No Need To Apologize: Navigating Work with a Disability

June 17, 2018 | Source: Psychology Today

Jeremy sits in front of the screen, computer mouse hovering over the “send” button of an email that makes his stomach twist into knots. The conflict within is paralyzing. Does he ask his supervisor to clarify the expectations for his next project? Or should he “wing it” and try to just figure it out on his own? His mind flashes back to the moment he received the project instructions, in the center of a large workspace, sounds buzzing around as various office workers answered phones and shouted directives across the room.

Is your company’s website compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act?

June 18, 2018 | Source: EmployerLINC

A recent wave of lawsuits and demand letters alleging violations of the Americans with Disability Act has begun hitting businesses across the United States. Their new target: company websites. Last year, plaintiffs filed over 800 federal lawsuits — many of which were filed as class actions — in which they alleged businesses were violating the ADA by not providing websites that were accessible to disabled individuals and, in particular, those with visual or hearing impairments…

Xbox adaptive controller breaks down gaming’s disability barrier

June 18, 2018 | Source: Stuff

We’ve all been there – a curious older relative or someone who doesn’t have much experience with video games is keen to “have a go” on the latest game you’ve been banging on about until you hand over the controller and the wave of confusion hits them. You might have well have passed them an alien artifact. The control pad is a simple tool of the trade for most gamers, but for the uninitiated, the interface can be daunting, to say the least. A standard Xbox controller has 17 different buttons, two analogue control sticks and a d-pad…

This autistic boy’s classmates had never heard him speak. At graduation, he took the mic

June 18, 2018 | Source: The Washington Post

People who know Sef Scott know he doesn’t normally speak. The 17-year-old from Plano, Tex., has autism, and other than quoting lines from favorite movies, he is mostly nonverbal. So the members of the Plano Senior High School Class of 2018 — along with Sef’s relatives and even his father — were stunned June 9 when he took the mic and addressed his fellow graduates. “I would imagine that to the seniors that know who I am that it is entirely unexpected that I would be standing here giving a speech,” he said. “Just by my being here speaking to all of you — me — that alone is unexpected.”…

Ensuring Poll Access for Disabled Voters Still a Big Problem

June 18, 2018 | Source: Who What Why

When Monica Bartley goes to the polls, she depends on her status as a longtime voter whom poll workers recognize. She maneuvers her wheelchair up a temporary ramp. The poll workers have already prepared the ballot-marking device she uses to complete her ballot. They no longer need to hover over her shoulder as she casts her vote, or insist on taking the ballot from her and inserting it into an optical scanner. Thanks to several years of explanations from Bartley, they understand that her disabilities do not interfere with her ability to vote privately and independently, as is her constitutional right…

These apps help defeat barriers and keep you on the road

June 18, 2018 | Source: Los Angeles Times

Of all the memories of my first trip to New Orleans, this stands out: wandering through the French Quarter in search of an upscale restaurant that offered wheelchair access. After several failed attempts, I arrived at a lovely Bourbon Street establishment that had a level entrance, meaning no steps at the front door. Dinner was sublime, but the frustration beforehand left a sour taste. If you want to enjoy the former and avoid the latter, there may be an app for that. In fact, finding the right apps may save you time, money and aggravation when accessibility is non-negotiable…

Gaming addiction classified as mental health disorder by WHO

June 18, 2018 | Source: MSN

Many parents will have thought it for a long time, but they now have a new argument to limit their children’s ‘screen time’ – addiction to video games has been recognised by World Health Organization as a mental health disorder. The WHO’s latest reference bible of recognised and diagnosable diseases describes addiction to digital and video gaming as “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour” that becomes so extensive that it “takes precedence over other life interests”…

Alabama’s Capital Looks to Increase Accessibility

June 18, 2018 | Source: U.S. News & World Report

When Taylor Wilkins came to Montgomery for his son’s school field trip, what he saw upset him. Several popular tour destinations were difficult or near impossible to access by wheelchair for one of his son’s classmates. At one point, the student was forced to watch the tour through a door when he couldn’t get inside a building in Old Alabama Town. The city of Montgomery has said it wants to address disability access issues and put together a comprehensive plan to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act…

More Good News On ADA Litigation

June 18, 2018- The New York Credit Union Association

Carroll v. ROANOKE VALLEY COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION is the latest victory for credit unions arguing that the individuals seeking to bring claims against credit unions because their websites violate the ADA lack standing to bring these suits. This case involved a blind individual who argued that the credit union’s website. Among other things lacked alternative text which prevented visitors from obtaining vocal descriptions of the credit union’s graphics…

Equine-assisted therapy may help autism, PTSD and pain. Why isn’t it used more?

June 18, 2018 | Source: CNN

Belle Swersey knows firsthand how therapeutic horseback riding can be. The 7-year-old girl, who is in remission from a rare type of muscle cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma, has been using equine therapy to help ease her pain for the past 2½ years. “Horseback riding helps me forget about my cancer. It’s fun,” said Belle, of Newton, Massachusetts. Belle’s dad, Jonathan Swersey, was skeptical of the practice at first. But he soon realized that it was transforming his daughter’s ability to cope with the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation…

Disability Applications Plunge as the Economy Strengthens

June 19, 2018 | Source: New York Times

The number of Americans seeking Social Security disability benefits is plunging, a startling reversal of a decades-old trend that threatened the program’s solvency. It is the latest evidence of a stronger economy pulling people back into the job market or preventing workers from being sidelined in the first place. The drop is so significant that the agency has revised its estimates of how long the program will continue to be financially secure. This month, the government announced that the program would not run out of money until 2032, four years later than its previous estimate last year…

Artists Who Lose Their Vision, Then See Clearly

June 19, 2018 | Source: The New York Times

Pablo Picasso probably wasn’t thinking about macular degeneration when he remarked: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist as we grow up.” But the statement has more than a grain of truth in it for Serge Hollerbach, 94, a Russian-born artist in Manhattan. Mr. Hollerbach painted throughout every aspect of his vision loss caused by macular degeneration, a disease that affects 10 million Americans, often in their twilight years — typically depleting their central vision and leaving most legally blind, but with some remnant of sight…

Alexa, I can trust you with my checkbook, right?

June 20, 2018 | Source: The Wichita Eagle

Hey Alexa, what’s my bank account balance? Big banks and financial companies have started to offer banking through virtual assistants — Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google’s Assistant — in a way that will allow customers to check their balances, pay bills and, in the near future, send money just with their voice. And with the rapid adoption of Zelle, a bank-to-bank transfer system, it soon could be possible to send money to friends or family instantly with voice commands. But the potential to do such sensitive tasks through a smart speaker raises security concerns…

Hope in sight: Ending the infection that scrapes eyes blind

June 20, 2018 | Source: CNN

The pain is so intense that people don’t dare blink. To do so could mean scraping away what little sight they have left. Instead, they resort to tying scarves around their heads in hopes of keeping their eyes from closing. Others carry tweezers and pluck out eyelashes and bring relief from the constant pain and impairment; these hairs, inverted by their disease and rubbing against their eye, are to blame. But the real culprit is a bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis. Repeated or prolonged infection with it scars a person’s eyelids until they turn inward, causing lashes to rub against the eye constantly…

How can app and web developers better serve people with disabilities?

June 20, 2018 | Source: Silicon Republic

The internet is a source of connection, information and entertainment for everyone. From crowdsourced knowledge on Wikipedia and YouTube to new friendships formed on Twitter, the opportunities to bring people together are innumerable. All that aside, there are still people who cannot fully engage with the internet and digital tools due to accessibility issues, and what good is the internet if it doesn’t serve people of all abilities? Nancy Kastl’s career has been dedicated to improving the quality of applications and websites through testing…

Microsoft Teams with RIT to Boost Student Accessibility via AI Transcription

June 20, 2018 | Source: EdTech Magazine

As technology integration grows, developers are looking for new, exciting ways to bridge classroom accessibility gaps using the latest digital innovations. When attending college, classrooms should be a place where students have an equal opportunity to learn. While institutions work hard to ensure students of various backgrounds are accepted, certain circumstances can make accessing parts of the curriculum difficult. In a 2018 survey conducted by the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, 900 education community members ranked education accessibility as one of the most important key issues in teaching…

NAFCU files 13th ADA-related amicus brief, first appellate defending DOLFCU

June 20, 2018 | Source: CUinsight

The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) today filed its 13th amicus brief in support of credit unions facing litigation over unclear website accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This amicus, in support the Department of Labor Federal Credit Union, is NAFCU’s first in a federal court of appeals; DOLFCU’s case was initially dismissed in February. The association stood by DOLFCU during its first hearing earlier this year…

11th Circuit Revives Website Accessibility Lawsuit Against Hooters

June 20, 2018- Law.com & The National Law Review & Ogletree Deakins

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has revived a lawsuit filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act demanding that the Hooters restaurant chain make its website accessible for those with vision impairment, holding that a plan to come into ADA compliance does not render moot a related lawsuit. A panel of three judges in a precedential decision Tuesday in Haynes v. Hooters reversed a ruling from U.S. District Judge Robert Scola Jr. of the Southern District of Florida dismissing the lawsuit…

Bipartisan House panel calls for ADA clarity

June 20, 2018 | Source: Credit Union Journal & CUinsight & ABA Banking Journal & Seyfarth Shaw

More than 100 members of the House called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice to provide guidance and clarity in how the Americans with Disability Act applies to credit union websites. In a letter circulated by Reps. Ted Budd (R-NC) and Lou Correa (D-CA). According to NAFCU, House members told Sessions “unresolved questions about the applicability of the ADA to websites as well as the Department’s abandonment of the effort to write a rule defining website accessibility standards, has created a liability hazard that directly affects businesses in our states and the customers they serve.”…

Judge signs off on accessibility rules at Red Rocks

June 20, 2018 | Source: 9News

A federal judge earlier this month approved a set of rules to ensure that people who require accessible seating get access to the first four rows of seats during Red Rocks shows. The city of Denver first implemented the rules — which require that tickets in the accessible section only be sold to, given to and used by people who require accessible seating — in fall 2017. That was about a year after a coalition of local disability-rights organizations in winter 2016 filed a class action suit against the city claiming it denied patrons who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices the opportunity to meaningfully access Red Rocks Amphitheatre…

Students increasingly accessing online courses via mobile devices

June 21, 2018 | Source: Education Dive

A recent report on access and accessibility from the Online Learning Consortium underscores the importance of making sure all online courses and materials accessible to students with disabilities — remediating materials provided by vendors without accessiblity measures “can be time-intensive, expensive, and publicly embarrassing process” if institutions are not careful to ensure such considerations were taken on the front end. institution’s learning management system, 41% to conduct research and 40% to complete assignments…

Local organization offers help to businesses in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act

June 21, 2018 | Source: KOAA News 5

Is your business or parking lot compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act? Although ADA regulations have been in place since 1990, many businesses throughout Colorado are not in compliance. The Independence Center in Colorado Springs has partnered with a new ADA compliance consulting firm called “ASAP” to provide assessments of parking lots to improve accessibility for those with special needs. ADA Surveys and Plans (ASAP) launched following a series of News 5 investigations into people who used the ADA to make money by suing for violations and then demanding thousands of dollars to settle…

Has Your School Been Investigated for Civil Rights Violations?

June 21, 2018 | Source: ProPublica

Every year, the U.S. Department of Education investigates thousands of school districts and colleges around the country for civil rights violations ranging from racial discrimination in school discipline to sexual violence. For the first time ever, ProPublica is making available the status of all of the civil rights cases that have been resolved during the past three years, as well as pending investigations. See if your school district or college is being investigated for civil rights violations and why…

Jack Fact — According to a recent report by Rutgers University, voter turnout for people with disabilities in the 2016 general election was 5.7 percentage points lower than among people without disabilities.

International News

Reducing waste by banning plastic straws shouldn’t come at the expense of accessibility

June 15, 2018 | Source: CBC- Canada

There’s a group of people whose needs are often overlooked when we talk about banning single-use plastic straws: people with disabilities. These are people who rely on using plastic straws on a daily basis — people like myself, a Canadian thalidomide survivor born with essentially no arms, for whom holding any cup or glass is virtually impossible. Experience has shown me that a bendable straw is the only safe method. And considering our country is aging, there will be more and more people who will suffer with conditions such as arthritis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, with which gripping cups becomes quite difficult…

Easter Seals Newfoundland and Labrador opens accessible playground

June 15, 2018 | Source: The Telegram- Canada

Easter Seals House on Mount Scio Road will be the home of a new accessible play space for all children to play together. Easter Seals NL had the opening for the Jeremy Cross Memorial Playground on Thursday. The play space was named in memory of the late Jeremy Cross, son of former Bonavista North MHA, Eli Cross. “They would be in the classroom or in the library on hot days and say, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we could be outside now and swing or play or do something?” Cross said as he watched the children enjoy the playground…

The monitoring of accessibility was presented in Stolin

June 15, 2018 | Source: EuroBelarus- Belarus

Over the past year, Stolin has gained fame as one of the most active cities under the campaign “Agenda 50”, while the mini-project being implemented in the city attracts attention not only of the organizers, but also of members of the campaign from all over Belarus. The project “Equal to Equal” evaluated accessibility of different institutions of Stolin and of Stolin district. The result of the project will be an accessibility guide that already exists in the working version. Initially, we planned to examine 40 objects, but in the end we managed to examine twice as much…

Montreal moves on mobility, accessibility, housing for seniors

June 15, 2018 | Source: Montreal Gazette- Canada

Mobility, affordable housing and accessibility of public infrastructure are all issues addressed in the city of Montreal’s new action plan for senior citizens unveiled Friday. The first steps of the three-year plan include an annual investment of $3 million to make public areas such as parks and municipal buildings more accessible, while introducing stricter accessibility criteria in the city’s urban planning bylaws. The city has set a tangible goal of elevators in 27 métro stations by 2030, according to Rosannie Filato, a member of the executive committee responsible for social development and inclusion…

Apps lag behind in making cities more accessible for wheelchair users

June 15, 2018 | Source: The Straits Times- Ireland

“An access app must be easy to use and it should provide relevant information,” said Mr Matt McCann, chief executive and founder of Access Earth, an Irish-made app. “The app needs to keep pace with innovation. Technology has opened so many doors by improving accessibility and we want to be at the forefront of that.” For wheelchair users and others living with a disability, map-based apps for access – to restaurants, bathrooms, parking, public buildings and services – seem like an obvious solution to navigating new places. So why does it feel like apps are lagging behind?…

Wheelchair tennis program launches in Thunder Bay

June 15, 2018 | Source: CBC- Canada

Wheelchair athletes in Thunder Bay, Ont. will be able to hit the court this summer, as part of a new tennis program. “It’s been something that I’ve personally wanted to do for a long time,” said Jamie Grieve, head pro at the Thunder Bay Tennis Centre, which is teaming up with the Thunder Bay Accessible Sport Council to launch a wheelchair tennis program this summer. Last year, a ramp was added to the centre’s club house to make it accessible, he said, opening up new possibilities…

With tactile art, curators are helping the visually-impaired develop a sense of form

June 16, 2018 | Source: The Sunday Guardian- India

Art galleries and museums in India are not the most disabled-friendly in the world. But some prominent venues in our big cities are attempting to integrate art with accessibility by building exhibitions around tactile artworks for the blind, writes Bhumika Popli. An upcoming retrospective of Sayed Haidar Raza, Traversing Terrains, at Mumbai’s Piramal Museum of Art—which opens on 24 June— will have a whole section devoted to tactile recreations of his paintings, for the benefit of the visually-impaired…

Portugal app empowers Handicapped to win better access

June 16, 2018 | Source: Independent Recorder-Portugal & First Post & AOL (Video)

Sick and tired of the obstacle length of Lisbon’s slim footways and staircase in doorways, wheelchair person Ricardo Teixeira has obtained matters into his hands, providing disabled people the chance to fight back and immediately report offenses by means of a telephone app. Developed together with Portugal’s handicap charity Salvador Association, +Acesso has been thought to be the entire world’s first software enabling users to record official complaints against public buildings and businesses that do not fulfill regulations…

An embarrassed disabled 21-year-old just wants to be able to use the toilet without his mum’s help

June 18, 2018 | Source: Wales Online- Wales

A 21-year-old wheelchair user from Llanelli is campaigning for more public toilet facilities for those with limited mobility. Josh Rosenthal, who has cerebral palsy, believes it is a problem which affects the entire country, with not enough facilities available in towns and cities and next to nothing in other areas. Llanelli, where Mr Rosenthal lives, has no fully accessible toilets, meaning his mother has to assist him on occasion, to his embarrassment. The majority of Wales’ facilities are in the south-east of the country…

UK’s ‘most accessible region’ for disabled drivers revealed

June 18, 2018 | Source: Access and Mobility Professional- UK

Edinburgh has been named as the most accessible region in the UK for disabled motorists when it comes to refuelling at petrol stations, according to new figures produced by an assistive tech firm. The city district has, per head, the highest number of petrol stations signed up to a wireless key fob service which enables drivers to call for assistance from their car. The ‘MyHailo’ system is designed to enable drivers with mobility problems to avoid blasting their horn or wave out of the window to summon an attendant…

Why accessibility and interpretation services will be the headline act this festival season

June 19, 2018 | Source: The London Economic- UK

With summer upon us, festival season is well and truly underway. Yet, there is one glaring gap in the calendar, and it isn’t Glastonbury. According to the latest annual survey from Attitude Is Everything, the UK’s leading charity for accessibility within the arts, 82% of deaf and disabled respondents “had experienced problems booking access”, and 79% were deterred from buying concert tickets as a result. However, the report also notes that 75% of those surveyed feel like the landscape for accessibility at concerts and live events has improved…

Indian-American underlines need for accessible, inclusive society for people with disabilities at UN

June 19, 2018 | Source: Times of India- India

An Indian- American IT professional has on Tuesday showcased a unique mobile app at the UN that would help in creating mass awareness and inspire government officials, engineers, civic planners and business community for collective action to ensure a life of dignity and equality for people with disabilities. Pranav Desai, a polio-survivor and founder of the Voice of Specially-Abled People (VOSAP), last week addressed a session during the 11th Conference of State Parties (COSP) to the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities here…

Nigeria To Attain Polio-free Status Soon

June 19, 2018 | Source: Leadership Newspaper- Africa

The federal government has reiterated its commitment to attaining polio-free status sooner than expected. The minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, stated this at the opening ceremony of the meeting of African Regional Certification Commission, yesterday in Abuja. He said the country would continue to provide all the required human and material resources to finish the job of polio eradication. “We are certainly not resting on our oars,” he stated…

Courtesy parking for disabled drivers ends as automated enforcement hits Edmonton streets

June 19, 2018 | Source: Toronto Star- Canada

A new automated parking enforcement system that is supposed to free up Edmonton bylaw officers will cost drivers with disabilities. When the city starts using automated parking enforcement — replacing beat officers issuing written tickets with a camera system mounted to the top of city cars that will automatically mail out tickets to offenders — in EPark zones on city streets and parkades on July 15, courtesy parking for drivers who have an accessible parking placard on their car will come to an end…

Seema Malhotra MP: The digital revolution must be accessible for everyone

June 20, 2018 | Source: PoliticsHome.com- UK

Today in Parliament I am hosting a round table on Digital accessibility in Education as part of work of the APPG on Assistive Technology which will be publishing a report on this issue. The roundtable is set to bring together representatives from learning and technology teams from universities, charities and technology companies to look at how the education sector should respond and what the Government needs to do to promote awareness. This forms part of a wider inquiry by the APPG on what steps can be taken to close the disability employment gap…

Antique to conduct accessibility audit for first time

June 20, 2018 | Source: Philippine News Agency- Philippines

An accessibility audit of establishments, including schools in this province will be carried out as part of the observance of the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week (NDPRW) this coming July. Paolo Castillo, head of the Provincial Disability Affairs Office (PDAO), said in an interview Wednesday that they have decided to hold the accessibility audit to raise awareness among establishment owners and school heads on the importance of providing access to their customers or students with disability…

After ‘affordability’, Indian handset market needs to address ‘accessibility’

June 20, 2018 | Source: Deccan Chronicle- India

There is no doubt the mobile telephony has been growing rapidly in India. Yet the divide between rural and urban mobile penetration is still as wide as 41 per cent. The major reason for this divide is the lack of awareness and user-friendly devices. Though the rural mobile penetration has seen an increase in the recent past due to various government initiatives like affordability and accessibility, there is a long way to go before India reaches complete mobility…

Indian-American showcases Voice of Specially-Abled People app at UN

June 20, 2018 | Source: The Indian Express- India

An Indian-American IT professional has showcased a unique mobile app at the UN that would help in creating mass awareness and inspire government officials, engineers, civic planners and business community for collective action to ensure a life of dignity and equality for people with disabilities. Pranav Desai, a polio-survivor and founder of the Voice of Specially-Abled People (VOSAP), last week addressed a session during the 11th Conference of State Parties (COSP) to the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities here…

Canada’s first national accessibility law tabled in Ottawa

June 20, 2018 | Source: The Province- Canada & Sault Online- Canada

Canadians with disabilities felt a surge of tempered optimism on Wednesday as they watched Canada table its first piece of federal legislation aimed at improving accessibility for people with disabilities. Disabled residents and advocacy organizations said the introduction of the Accessible Canada Act marked a key step towards greater inclusion and contained several critical points community members had named as priorities during a lengthy cross-country consultation process that helped shape the new bill…

Government Increasing Number Of Accessible Hotel Rooms In Japan

June 21, 2018 | Source: Accessible Japan

With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics just two years away, Tokyo is scrambling to have enough hotel rooms for all the visitors expected to come to the events. For visitors with disabilities requiring an accessible hotel room, the search for a room was even harder as only hotels with over 50 rooms were required to have an accessible room, and even then the hotel was only required to have one such room. So, even a hotel with hundreds of rooms was only required to have one wheelchair accessible room by law…

Disability rights advocates welcome national legislation

June 21, 2018 | Source: The Star- Canada

Disability rights advocates welcome long-awaited national accessibility legislation, tabled in Ottawa Wednesday, but say the law needs significant strengthening to meet its goals. “It’s a good starting point and certainly the most substantial piece of legislation introduced by any government in Canada,” said Toronto lawyer David Lepofsky, who is blind. “But it’s going to need substantial additions and improvements to be effective, including a deadline to reach full accessibility,” said Lepofsky, who has been advocating for provincial and national and accessibility legislation more than 30 years…

When Will India Truly Become Accessible For People With Disabilities?

June 22, 2018 | Source: Feminism India

Earlier this year, in the month of March, I took a train ride back to my city Kolkata from Cuttack. I had to be carried into the train and off it because our trains do not have doors wide enough to let wheelchairs in. While getting off the train, I was groped and manhandled by the porters who carried me out of the compartment. Faced with a similar situation, in 2017, Virali Modi, a Mumbai based activist filed a petition seeking reforms in the Indian Railways’ infrastructure because for a wheelchair-user, the railways are not accessible at all…

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Accessible Website and Application Development — An inaccessible website or application is increasingly seen as violating the ADA. Let’s talk about creating an online presence that reaches all your customers and reduces your litigation risk.
Audit and Testing Services — A thorough accessibility audit against recognized accessibility standards will show you where you may be under-serving your customers and putting your organization at risk.
Accessible Document Services — Digital assets such as Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, and audio and video files need to be accessible to individuals with disabilities, too. We can help you establish creation processes or remediate historical documents so that they meet accessibility standards and are usable by people with disabilities.
Remediation Services — Whether for a time-sensitive response to a legal action, or for proactive remediation, we can fix what doesn’t meet accessibility standards.
Accessibility Training — Contact us to get your teams introduced and informed about accessibility best practices.

Please contact us for any questions you have about our accessibility services and how we might support your organization.

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