Accessibility in the News— 10/26/18.

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Settlement Agreement Between The United States And Northern Michigan University Under The Americans With Disabilities Act

October 18, 2018 | Source: ADA | Settlement, ADA, University, Mental Health, Discrimination

Today the Justice Department announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with Northern Michigan University (NMU). The settlement agreement resolves complaints under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that NMU discriminated against students with mental health disabilities. Specifically, the Department investigated allegations that NMU took adverse action against certain students with mental health disabilities, including allegations that the University required certain students to sign contracts that barred them from talking, even with their friends at NMU, about self-destructive thoughts or face discipline, including involuntary withdrawal from the University. Under the agreement, NMU agreed to pay a total of $173,500 in compensatory damages to four (4) aggrieved individuals identified by the United States in its investigation. NMU will also adopt and implement policies and conduct training…

Life Insurance Policy Did Not Lapse When Disabled Woman Failed To Pay Premiums, California Appeals Court Rules

October 18, 2018 | Source: The Recorder

An appellate court in California, reversing a trial court’s decision, has ruled that a life insurance policy that included a rider under which the insurer agreed to waive premiums while the insured was disabled if the insured provided the insurer with notice of her disability, did not lapse after the insured became disabled – even though she failed to provide the required notice to the insurer. In December 1993, Maria Carada purchased a flexible premium universal life insurance policy (the “policy”) from Farmers New World Life Insurance Company…

2018 ADA Website Cases Surpass 2017

October 18, 2018 | Source: 3PlayMedia | DOJ, ADA, Digital Accessibility, Litigation

Due to the Department of Justice (DOJ) withdrawing their plans to update the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we won’t be seeing web accessibility regulations anytime soon. However, the lack of regulations under the ADA isn’t equating to a lack of web accessibility lawsuits. The motion to update the ADA was officially withdrawn in 2017, but the number of ADA website cases still surpassed that of 2017 within the first six months of 2018. It’s clear that web accessibility lawsuits aren’t slowing down, making the need for regulations more pertinent than ever before…

User Experience Office helps campus technology fulfill its promise

Oct. 19, 2018 | Source: Office of Communication- Princeton University

Representatives of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired demonstrate special screen readers for people with visual impairments at the workshop “Introduction to Accessibility,” one of six courses offered to Princeton University employees through the User Experience Office. Before Princeton University’s Pace Center for Civic Engagement revamped its website this past year, the center’s Communications Coordinator Gwen McNamara wanted to know more about who was visiting the site and how to make it a better resource for the entire campus…

More than $330,000 raised for kids with special needs

October 19, 2018 | Source: The Daily Herald

Like any mother, Tanya Goodman was eagerly awaiting to hear her son say his first words. It wasn’t until he was 16 months old that he was officially diagnosed with autism. After being recommended to Kindering by her son’s pediatrician, he’s now speaking and just entered the early learning program at Wilburton Elementary School in Bellevue alongside his peers. Keynote speaker Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Microsoft’s chief accessibility officer, spoke of creating technologies, workplaces and communities that celebrate and harness the power of people of all abilities, and how she has found strength through her own disability…

Future Amherst hotel seen as first-of-a-kind for all-access accommodations

October 19, 2018 | Source: WBFO (Audio Also)

Ground was broken Thursday in the Town of Amherst on the site of a future hotel that developers say will be a first in the nation: a “universal design” layout which provides full access to all guests, including those living with one or more of many disabilities. The “universal design” hotel will be erected off Amherst Manor Drive, adjacent to the Northtown Center at Amherst. Universal design, by definition, takes into account accessibility issues for virtually all disabilities, all at once…

Lawsuit alleges ADA violations at Safeco Field

October 19, 2018 | Source: The Seattle Times | ADA, Litigation, Sports/Entertainment, Wheelchair, Disability Rights

Seattle Mariners fans who use wheelchairs are forced to endure a “second-class” experience when they attend games at Safeco Field, according to a new lawsuit against the team and the public facilities district that owns the stadium. A nonprofit disability-rights law firm filed the suit Monday, claiming conditions at the ballpark violate state and federal law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. The firm represents four Washington residents who use wheelchairs and have attended games at Safeco Field this year. Each encountered issues with seating, food service or access to certain parts of the stadium, the suit alleges…

Visually impaired students create film, win first place

October 19, 2018 | Source: KXAN (Video Also)

The makers of an award-winning film are hoping to inspire people with disabilities to reach for their dreams. Students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired won first place for their stop motion film “The Purr-fect Dream” at the annual American Printing House for the Blind competition. “They came up with this idea, all on their own,” said Gretchen Bettes, the school’s art teacher. The students were able to put together their film thanks to the help from Johnny Villareal and his company The Edge of Imagination Station…

Domino’s: Ninth Circuit Hears Web Accessibility Appeal Argument

October 19, 2018 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw & United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Video) | Appeal, Digital Accessibility, Domino’s, Litigation

In the increasing morass of varying state and federal district court opinions in website accessibility cases, we will soon have two additional federal appellate decisions to provide more guidance of precedential value to federal trial courts. Most recently, on

October 12, the Ninth Circuit heard the parties’ oral arguments in Robles v. Domino’s Pizza. On

October 4, the Eleventh Circuit heard oral argument in Gil v. Winn-Dixie. We attended the Robles argument. Sitting on the Domino’s Ninth Circuit panel were Ninth Circuit Judges Watford and Owens, and Arizona District Court Judge Zipps…

Federal officials tell Texas to go beyond plan for special education overhaul

October 19, 2018 | Source: The Texas Tribune

Federal officials said Texas should be doing even more to improve special education — and they’re planning a visit early next year to check. In a letter Friday, officials from the U.S. Department of Education dissected Texas’ proposed plan for overhauling special education for kids with disabilities — in many cases urging state officials to do even more than they had originally planned. Earlier this year, a thorough investigation found Texas had failed to provide students with disabilities with a proper education, violating federal special education law, and demanded it undertake a long list of corrective actions to shape up…

America Needs More Doctors With Disabilities

October 19, 2018 | Source: Huffington Post

I was in my almost-30s when I came home from an appointment with a new primary care doctor at a fancy concierge office ― the kind who has an app you download to schedule appointments and who takes conference calls for common colds. Excitedly, I told my fiancé about the experience: The female doctor was familiar enough with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a degenerative connective tissue disorder I was diagnosed with when I was 26 years old) that she didn’t have to Google it! She sent me home with a slew of referrals!…

University of Bridgeport students win residential accessibility design competition

October 20, 2018 | Source: Westfair Online

Students from the University of Bridgeport’s Shintaro Akatsu School of Design recently won three out of four awards at the Visitability Home Design Contest, a statewide competition, which challenges sophomore-level teams to create residences that can best serve people with disabilities. For Marsha Matto, chairwoman of the university’s interior design program, the challenge of creating this type of dwelling involves having students experience what the residents of such a home would go through…

Parade honoring disabled people held in downtown SA

October 20, 2018 | Source: KSAT (Video)

Individuals with disabilities, their families and friends took to the streets of downtown San Antonio on wheel chairs and on foot Saturday for the Ability STRONG parade, a Tricentennial event. The parade, which featured floats, vehicles and marching units, kicked off the 12th annual Accessibility Fest. Organizers said the parade promotes the belief that disability is a part of human diversity. The parade began at the UTSA Cattleman Square parking lot, went through Nueva, South Flores and West Houston streets before ending at Milam Square…

The New York City subway’s accessibility problem

October 21, 2018 | Source: CBS News

Emily Ladau was panicking. It was rush hour, and she was on her way to an event at the Strand Bookstore in New York City. She had just arrived at the Union Square subway station, which is a feat in itself. Ladau uses a wheelchair because she has Larsen syndrome, a congenital skeletal disorder, and since she lives in West Babylon on Long Island, she relies on functioning elevators on several train platforms before she can even get on the subway almost 40 miles away…

Want To Keep Your Brain Sharp? Take Care Of Your Eyes And Ears

October 22, 2018 | Source: NPR

By age 40, about 1 in 10 adults will experience some hearing loss. It happens so slowly and gradually, says audiologist Dina Rollins. “You don’t realize what you’re missing.” And even as it worsens, many people are in denial. By the time someone is convinced they have a hearing problem, age-related memory loss may have already set in. But there’s good news. Restoring hearing with hearing aids can help slow down cognitive decline. Consider these findings: Researchers tracked about 2,000 older adults in the U.S. both before and after they started using hearing aids…

Audio descriptions, tactile tours increase accessibility at Spencer Museum

October 22, 2018 | Source: KU Today

New resources at the University of Kansas Spencer Museum of Art will make exhibitions and collections more accessible for visitors who are blind, have low vision or have visual perception disorders. The museum now offers audio descriptions of artwork and labels, tactile art tours and Braille maps. “The Spencer is invested in creating an accessible environment for all individuals and communities of diverse abilities,” said Director Saralyn Reece Hardy…

Blackboard Ally provides resources to improve accessibility

October 22, 2018 | Source: Grand Valley Lanthorn

Many students may not have noticed the small, grey arrow added next to files in Blackboard over the summer, but for the nearly 1,600 students with documented disabilities on campus, it may make a world of difference. The visibly subtle change comes as part of an additional tool added to Blackboard called Blackboard Ally, which has been increasing the accessibility of files since its first semester with a full student body this fall. Blackboard Ally is a tool that works in conjunction with Blackboard to analyze files and convert them into a variety of accessible formats to better support students with disabilities…

New Disability Advocacy Club is working to make Mills more accessible

October 22, 2018 | Source: Mills Campanil

The Disability Advocacy Club was recently started to better meet the needs of students with disabilities at Mills College. Originally suggested by Julia Cohen, Director of Accessibility Services at Mills, the Disability Advocacy Club aims to secure accessible technology, collaborate with staff to make buildings and the Mills farm more accessible, and get larger signs for the campus. Julia Cohen, who was hired at the beginning of this semester, proposed the club in order to create provide better representation for disabled students on campus…

Can People with Disabilities Use Your Careers Website?

October 22, 2018 | Source: SHRM

A company’s jobs or careers webpage is often the way potential job candidates first learn about the organization’s mission, opportunities and culture. But if the site is not accessible to people with disabilities because of the way it is designed, then employers may run the risk of alienating a large pool of candidates or being liable for discrimination. A website is considered accessible when it is AA compliant, which means it meets the standards of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA…

Act on Accessibility

October 23, 2018 | Source: American Theatre

“People don’t know where to begin with the topic of accessibility, so they panic—‘What do I do? Where do I start?” says Betty Siegel, director of VSA and Accessibility for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C. To them she offers some clarifying advice: “The first thing you do, is you decide what your commitment is. In our case, the commitment we made is: We welcome people of all ages with disabilities. That’s it. From there it’s just a matter of figuring out how to honor that commitment.”…

Starbucks opens first signing store in Washington, DC

October 23, 2018 | Source: WJLA &Washington Post

Starbucks opened its first sign language store in the United States on Tuesday morning. The new store, located in Washington, D.C., is said to celebrate deaf culture. It’s conveniently located near Gallaudet University, a private school for the deaf and hard of hearing community. Store manager Matthew Gilsbach says he’s a Gallaudet graduate. The store has been renovated to create a unique experience for deaf customers, with artwork and merchandise made by deaf artists — including locals who graduated from Gallaudet…

Task force works to make campus more accessible for all

October 23, 2018 | Source: The Hofstra Chronicle

In an effort to make campus accessible to all faculty and students, Hofstra University has developed a plan to update older buildings and design new facilities that follow the tenets of universal design; however, individuals still remain concerned about the lack of accessibility during an emergency situation. During the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 academic years, Director of Student Access Services (SAS) Julie Yindra, along with SAS and members of the Hofstra community, formed the SAS Task Force…

GSA taps AI to review contract solicitations

October 24, 2018 | Source: FCW & MeriTalk

The General Services Administration is working on an artificial-intelligence-based tool that can automatically tell if an agency’s contract solicitation complies with federal regulations. The GSA’s Solicitation Review Tool, or SRT, will ensure federal contracts comply with Section 508 requirements that all website content be accessible to people with disabilities, according to Marina Fox, dot-gov domain services manager at the agency. Ensuring contract compliance has been an issue for the federal government because of the variety of contracting practices across agencies…

Interim accessibility policy formalizes web standards

October 24, 2018 | Source: Cornell Chronicle

On Oct. 12, an interim Cornell web accessibility policy was announced by David Lifka, vice president for information technologies and chief information officer. University Policy 5.12, Web Accessibility Standards requires new or redesigned Cornell webpages be made accessible to people with disabilities by following nationally recognized design and practice standards as prescribed in the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA…

Tommy Hilfiger’s Newest Campaign Helps Bring More Accessibility to Fashion and Marketing

October 24, 2018 | Source: Adweek

For almost as long as the length of its existence, the fashion industry has thrived on a foundation of exclusion. The bulk of its marketing has mostly centered around a seductive version of inaccessibility, selling an image of products that are only available to those with the best taste, “perfect” (see: thin and able) bodies, and most fortunate of means. In doing so, they’ve failed to address just how much of the industry has effectively boxed out large swathes of the general public, both in function and presentation…

New club raises awareness about disabilities and promotes accessibility

October 24, 2018 | Source: The Ithacan

A new club, Disability Education, Alliance and Resources at Ithaca College (DEAR@IC), has been established at the college and will focus on educating people about disabilities. The idea to create the club came to junior Kimberly Caceci, founder and president of the club, over the summer. The club will help provide a place for members to learn about what accommodations are available for those with disabilities, provide resources on disabilities to those who need them and help able-bodied people become allies…

KISD discusses accessibility improvements

October 24, 2018 | Source: The Killeen Daily Herald

As part of the $235 million section of the Killeen Independent School District bond earmarked for improvements, $14.75 million has been designated for making campuses more accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act. These projects have been entrusted to Huckabee, the architectural firm overseeing several other bond projects. Representatives from Huckabee presented findings of a district-wide accessibility evaluation at the KISD board workshop Tuesday. Fifty-one district facilities were surveyed, including 24 elementary campuses, nine middle schools and six high schools, including the Early College High School and Gateway…

It Might Get Loud: Inside Silicon Valley’s Battle to Own Voice Tech

October 24, 2018 | Source: Fortune

Four short years ago, Amazon was merely a ferociously successful online retailer and the dominant provider of online web hosting for companies. It also sold its own line of consumer electronics devices, including the Kindle e-reader, a bold but understandably complimentary outgrowth of its pioneering role as a next-generation bookseller. Today, thanks to the ubiquitous Amazon Echo smart speaker and its Alexa voice-recognition engine, Amazon has sparked nothing less than the biggest shift in personal computing and communications since Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone…

DOJ confirms websites are covered by ADA, but offers some flexibility to businesses in complying

October 25, 2018 | Source: EmployerLINC | DOJ, Digital Accessibility, Awareness, ADA, Title III

Hundreds of recent lawsuits have claimed that companies must have websites that are accessible to disabled individuals. The idea is that a website is a place of public accommodation under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and therefore must be accessible for all. Common website problems, including incompatibility with screen-reading software, may create barriers for disabled individuals. While the ADA itself does not mention websites, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had long taken the position that websites were covered under the ADA…

Cheerleader with cerebral palsy breaking boundaries in Austin

October 25, 2018 | Source: Austin360 (Video)

Their red bows adorn the tops of their heads as if they’re living Christmas presents, and their pompoms rustle like the leaves outside on this brisk

October day. It’s time for the girls who make up the Southwest Austin Pop Warner Dawgs Mitey Mite cheer squad to take the floor, and 8-year-old Reese Ramirez is front and center, flashing her million-dollar smile. Reese, clad in her red-and-black Dawgs uniform and white cheer shoes and assisted in her walker by her mom, Sasha Akroosh-Ramirez…

Jack Fact — In February 2017, the Department of Work and Pensions estimated that there are 11 million disabled people in the UK and the spending power of their households – ‘the purple pound’ – is almost £250 billion.

Hit The Road Jack — Disability and travel: why Berlin and Hamburg are definitely worth visiting

International News

‘Wales’ new £5bn rail franchise must set cash aside for accessibility upgrades’

October 19, 2018 | Source: Access and Mobility Professional- UK

Charities want Wales’ new rail franchise to make accessibility upgrades across the network a “top priority” when it starts operating on Sunday. They have called for urgent upgrades to be made and for Transport for Wales (TfW) to set money aside from the £5bn franchise because just a third of stations in the country have full step-free access. According to a report by the BBC, almost 25% of Wales’ 247 train stations are not accessible to wheelchairs but TfW has insisted it is committed to creating a fully accessible network…

Mark Lane: Gardeners’ World’s first presenter in a wheelchair

October 19, 2018 | Source: Disability Horizons- UK

Garden landscape designer and writer Mark Lane is the UK’s first disabled presenter to join the long-running BBC Gardeners’ World team. He was born spina bifida and has myalgic encephalopathy, both of which he was diagnosed with in later life. Our writer Zubee caught up with him to find out more about his career to date and love of garden design. Mark’s career as a garden designer is something that he came to later in life after a catalogue of misfortunes. He’d experienced back pain on and off as a teen and had issues with balance…

Accessible parking spots accidentally painted over for designated smoking area

October 19, 2018 | Source: Halifax Today- Canada

Accessible parking spaces painted over to make room for a designated smoking area at the Halifax Forum shouldn’t have happened according to city officials. “That was a miscommunication on our part,” says Halifax Regional Municipality spokesman Brendan Elliott. “We have crews over there repainting them to being disabled parking spots.” He says the map crews at city hall were using to determine where to place the smoking receptacle didn’t indicate disabled parking…

How Silent Cafes Serve Deaf Culture To The Hearing

October 19, 2018 | Source: OZY- France

On a weekday evening at 1000 & 1 Signes, a Moroccan café on the Rue de Charonne in Paris, France, every walk-in follows the same pattern. They enter, in pairs or small groups, ask for a table and take a step back when they realize the waiter can’t hear them. It’s a process expertly navigated by Sid Nouar, 1000 & 1 Signes’ waiter and founder: With a few gestures and a swiftly maneuvered menu, he communicates not just the restaurant’s unusual nature — the waiter and cooks are all deaf, and patrons order by pointing, signing or writing their selections on a whiteboard — but also that everyone is welcome…

Invictus Games: Are host cities like Sydney accessible enough for athletes and visitors with disabilities?

October 19, 2018 | Source: ABC News- Australia

Are our cities accessible for physically disabled veterans?- ABC Local (Audio Story)

The Invictus Games has raised questions about whether host cities like Sydney are prepared enough to cater for the needs of veterans with physical disabilities. Disability advocates believe the games will also highlight the accessibility challenges that local people with disabilities deal with day-to-day. Andrew Emmerson is one of those. He spent a few hours showing AM reporter Katherine Gregory around the city from his point of view. Mr Emmerson is a 47-year-old paraplegic and has limited use of his arms, so he relies on a wheelchair to get around…

The Accessibility Directorate of Ontario Tells the AODA Alliance that One Standards Development Committee is Going Back to Work After a 119-Day Freeze

October 19, 2018 | Source: AODA

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update United for a Barrier-Free Society for All People with Disabilities- After the June 7, 2018 Ontario election, the work of five Standards Development Committees appointed under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act was suspended by the Ontario Government. We have been campaigning for the past 119 days to get the Ford Government to lift that freeze so that these Standards Development Committees can get back to work. They are appointed to recommend what AODA accessibility standards should include…

He was rejected 76 times in job interviews due to his blindness, but his resilient spirit never gave up

October 19, 2018 | Source: EdexLive- India

Raghavendra has been rejected 76 times in job interviews. But that did not stop him from finding his current job as a senior accessibility consultant at Deque Systems. If being visually impaired (he lost his eyesight due to a degenerative eye disorder called Retinitis Pigmentosa) couldn’t stop him, what makes you think the rejections would? “Companies came up with silly excuses when they did not want to hire me but I needed a job desperately. I had finished my graduation, did not know Braille nor did I want to pursue MBA,” says Raghavendra Satish Peri, when we ask him about his motivation…

Tokyo 2020: International Paralympic Committee demands more accessible hotels and transport

October 20, 2018 | Source: ESPN- Japan & Yahoo Sports-Japan

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has warned Tokyo 2020 organisers that more accessible hotels and transport options must be found ahead of the showpiece event. IPC CEO Xavier Gonzalez was critical of the number of hotel rooms that are wheelchair accessible and does not believe there will be enough suitable rooms by the time some teams arrive for pre-Paralympic camps. “The job to deliver the best Paralympic Games ever becomes much harder from now on,” said Gonzalez after a two-day project review meeting in the Japanese capital…

Mayoral race: City must support the 22K citizens with accessibility issues, says Melanson

October 21, 2018 | Source: Sudbury.com- Canada

The city needs to stop treating its 22,000 residents with accessibility issues as second-class citizens, says mayoral candidate Dan Melanson. If elected, Melanson said he’ll work with Access2all — a non-profit organization with the goal of setting up innovative technological concepts and mobility schemes that enable high quality mobility and transportation services for all. He’ll also work with city council, Greater Sudbury Transit and other stakeholders to help ensure that the many people in Greater Sudbury who have accessibility issues can live their lives as we all do…

Accessibility of public places and death trap ramps

October 21, 2018 | Source: Modern Ghana- Africa

‘Some of these ramps are simply death traps,’ Patience Atuah, a physically challenged journalist with the EIB Network echoes responses of many People living With Disabilities (PWDs) on wheelchair access to public places with ramps. Making public places accessible to every individual, irrespective of one’s physical appearance or special needs, ensuring wheelchair user integration and granting PWDs opportunity of participating in daily activities goes a long way to ensuring equality and inclusiveness…

Banking with determination

October 21, 2018 | Source: Gulfnews- UAE

Born with visual impairment, Adnan surmounted incredible odds to complete his education and obtain a job, when he came up against another one — of opening a bank account. As age advanced, Tara realised that her hearing was becoming weak, adding challenges to daily life, as well as making her regular bank visits difficult. And after an unfortunate accident, Mark was back at work but his impaired mobility left him dependent on others for as simple a thing as withdrawing cash from an ATM…

DVLA seeks digital accessibility endorsement

October 22, 2018 | Source: Public Technology- UK

The Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) plans to carry out detailed testing on its suite of digital services to ensure they are accessible to people with a disability. The agency will test that services for citizens and businesses can be used by people with special, physical or sensory needs and by those who use assistive technology, such as screen-reading software. DVLA’s digital services include a facility that allows users to check if a vehicle is taxed and has an MOT and a feature allowing the payment of DVLA fines…

CEC to release Voter Accessibility App for Differently Abled

October 22, 2018 | Source: The Hans- India

Accessible Elections theme for National Voters Day

October 24, 2018 | Source: The Hans- India

Chief Election Commission Om Prakash Rawat will release the Voter Accessibility App for the Differently Abled (VAADA- a promise) on Tuesday. VAADA is a joint initiative of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Election Commission of India (ECI). It has been developed under the personal supervision of Additional Commissioner Harichandana by a team of developers and programmers. DA makes the voting process for the Differently Abled convenient and increases the accessibility factor. Built as an app VAADA has a text, voice as well as GIS (Geographic Information System) interface…

E-learning for the visually impaired

October 23, 2018 | Source: The Star- Malaysia

To make education more accessible and equitable for the blind and visually-impaired (BVI) students, Wawasan Open University (WOU) and St Nicholas Home for the Blind have signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) to make web accessible e-learning educational resources available to BVIs. WOU acting vice-chancellor Prof Dr Zoraini Wati Abas said that WOU was committed to provide knowledge transfer services to St Nicholas Home through technical support on server-related issues and consultations on Learning Management System (LMS) related issues…

Rebecca Herbert: Getting around South London as a wheelchair user

October 23, 2018 | Source: South London Press- England

South London is home to four world famous galleries which are wheelchair accessible and mainly free. On January 7, 1811, art collector Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois RA died, bequeathing to Dulwich College 360 paintings that he and fellow art dealer Noel Desenfans had collected. The paintings were given under the condition that they be for the “inspection of the public” and architect Sir John Soane recommended to create a mausoleum for the men. The world’s first purpose-built public art gallery, integrating the mausoleum into the design, was then founded…

IT&C dept informs on website compliance

October 23, 2018 | Source: Morung Express- India

The Department of Information Technology & Communication in a notification informed that in view of the Accessible India Campaign, conceptualized by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Department of Empowerment of persons with Disabilities, Government of India, New Delhi for accessibility of persons with disabilities, the Government of Nagaland has ordered compliance with the Government of India Guidelines for Government of India Apps and Websites 2018 (GIGAW), which conform to the W3C’s WCAG 2.0, which are internationally accepted standards…

Days out in the West Midlands for children with special needs or disabilities

October 23, 2018 | Source: In Your Area- UK

Families across the West Midlands are always looking for fun things to do with the whole family. When it comes to finding activities suitable for children and adults with special needs or disabilities this can sometimes be difficult. The research it takes to figure out what is suitable and what isn’t can be complicated, and for spur of the moment planning it isn’t always ideal. To help make planning days out with the whole family that little bit easier InYourArea.co.uk have created your ultimate guide of accessible locations to visit…

Fully accessible haunted house delivering scares to people with disabilities

October 23, 2018 | Source: CTV News- Canada

Some of the traditional fixtures of a haunted house — flashing lights, loud noises and creaky stairways — can often force people with disabilities to avoid the Halloween tradition. Robin Frolic, the self-proclaimed haunt overlord of Frolic’s Haunt in Toronto, is aiming to change the way these spooky attractions are built by forming one of the first fully accessible haunted houses in Canada. “We are the only haunt built by disabled people for disabled people,” Frolic said in a recent telephone interview with CTVNews.ca…

Our cities cannot be smart, until they are accessible for everybody

October 23, 2018 | Source: Hindustan Times- India

The Delhi government’s public works department has set December 2019 as the deadline to make more than 500 buildings managed by it accessible to differently abled people, a notification issued by the department this week said. The buildings will have ramps, railings and accessible washrooms, apart from trained staff to assist the physically challenged. At first glance, the State appears to be becoming more sensitive towards the needs of the more than 26.8 million physically challenged people in the country…

Everywhere Venues’ project helped along by accessibility survey

October 25, 2018 | Source: Western Advocate- Australia

Research conducted by Appiwork, the team behind Everywhere Venues, has found that people are caring more about accessibility than ever before. In order to collect data, a survey was conducted online that asked questions regarding the importance of accessibility to people locally. The survey was completed by 73 people. When respondents were asked directly why accessibility was important to them, the most common answer was because they had a family member or friend with accessibility needs…

Two Years Since The Disability Act, Have India’s Technology Policies Failed The Disabled?

October 25, 2018 | Source: Youth Ki Awaaz- India

I remember being at a panel discussion a few years ago – where I made an impassioned case for accessibility in the physical infrastructure. ‘Discrimination starts right in the beginning’, I said. Telling the young audience how someone on a wheelchair struggles even to enter a school, office or hospital, leave alone studying, working or even visiting a doctor. My fellow panellist, the very witty Dipendra Manocha quickly retorted saying “Nipun, yes, on most occasions you cannot enter a room. But nothing can stop you when you do. For me on the other hand, problems start on entering the room…

‘I think people don’t focus enough on accessibility in tech’

October 25, 2018 | Source: Siliconrepublic- Africa

From software development to web development, from front-end to back-end, the career paths you can choose in the world of development are an endless realm of opportunities. Aside from the multiple routes you can take, there are also multiple ways to start out on those routes. Take Ire Aderinokun for example. She is a self-taught front-end developer and user interface (UI) designer based in Lagos, Nigeria. She started her career working as a freelance developer in 2014…

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• Accessibility Audit Services — Our comprehensive audit will map all findings to internationally recognized WCAG 2.0 AA standards and equip you and your technical and content teams to know what areas need to be brought into compliance.
•Accessible Elearning Development — Does your online training reach all learners, whether they’re your employees, resellers, students? Let us help you design effective, engaging training that works for everyone.
•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.
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• 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.
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