Accessibility in the News — 8/9/19.

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AITN Quote of the Week

“Yesterday is a canceled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, today is cash in hand, spend it wisely.”

― Kay Lyons Stockham

Top “Accessibility in the News” Stories So Far this Year (2019)

This week Accessibility in the News reviews the stories that garnered significant news coverage during the first half of 2019. It’s a mix, of course: Canada and the EU passed important accessibility legislation. On the legal front it has been another active year, the newest targets included, wineries, art galleries, and restaurants. Several big-name lawsuits have finally come to an end with interesting results. State and local governments in Florida have been bombarded with lawsuits. Each of these ten subjects solidly earned their place as one of the top Accessibility in the News stories this first half of 2019, setting the stage for the rest of the year.

National News (U.S.)

Advancing Economic Security for People With Disabilities

July 26, 2019 | Source: American Progress |

This report is an update of a 2015 issue brief from the Center for American Progress titled “A Fair Shot for Workers with Disabilities.” The disability community is rapidly evolving to using identity-first language in place of person-first language. This is because it views disability as being a core component of identity, much like race and gender. Some members of the community, such as people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, prefer person-first language. In this report, the terms are used interchangeably…

Senators Seek Updates & Further Action on Justice Department Efforts to Clarify Website Accessibility Under ADA-

July 30, 2019 | Source: Chuck Grassley & ABA Banking Journal |

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr seeking updates on the Justice Department’s efforts to clarify whether and how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to websites. Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) also joined the letter. The members sent a previous letter to the Department in 2018 urging it to help resolve regulatory uncertainty…

Lyft joins Uber in offering ride-hailing services to wheelchair users in LA County

August 1, 2019 | Source: Los Angeles Times |

Lyft, the ride-hailing company that’s striving to revolutionize transportation for the masses, recently launched a pilot program in Los Angeles and San Francisco to serve customers with disabilities. Lyft joins Uber, which has about 100 wheelchair-accessible vehicles, or WAVs, operating in Los Angeles. Uber is testing its adaptive fleet — vans with lifts or ramps to accommodate fixed-frame wheelchairs and scooters — in several U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Phoenix, and Portland, Ore., and in Britain, India, France and Australia…

Mother files complaints about handicapped accessibility for Thompson Park playground

August 1, 2019 | Source: NNY360 |

A mother who has a 5-year-old boy with cerebral palsy has filed a formal complaint with the city that the Thompson Park playground violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. On Tuesday, the mother, Chantel Taylor, filed paperwork with the city’s ADA officer asserting that the playground does not meet safety or ADA compliance. Ms. Taylor said the loose woodchips make it difficult for her son, Ashton, to maneuver around the playground in his wheeled walker, use any of the stations in the playground or connect with other children…

Domino’s asks the Supreme Court to shut down a lawsuit requiring its website be accessible to blind people

August 1, 2019 | Source: The Verge & Cole Schotz |

a. Domino’s wants Supreme Court to say websites don’t have to be accessible

August 2, 2019 | Source: Ars Technica |

b. Domino’s Fights Website Accessibility Ruling in Supreme Court, Social Media Weighs In

August 2, 2019 Source:Pop Culture |

c. Domino’s asked Supreme Court to shut down the lawsuit filed by a blind man

August 2, 2019 | Source: Tech Observer |

d. Domino’s is locked in a legal battle over the future of web design

August 5, 2019 | Source: Fast Company |

e. Domino’s Pizza delivers a game-changing case to the US Supreme Court

August 6, 2019 | Source: Quartz |

f. Domino’s Could F’ Up the Internet for People With Disabilities Because They Won’t Just Fix Their Website

August 6, 2019 | Source: Gizmodo |

Domino’s, the leading US pizza chain that pinned its remarkable turnaround nearly a decade ago on an investment in technology, is currently waging a legal battle so that it does not have to make its website accessible to the blind. The case, which began three years ago as a lawsuit by blind US resident Guillermo Robles, may go all the way to the US Supreme Court, CNBC reports. The eventual result could become a landmark decision over the rights of people with disabilities and the responsibility of companies to retrofit mobile apps and websites for accessibility…

New Fashion Brand FFORA Launches Sleek Wheelchair Attachment Accessories

August 1, 2019 | Source: Yahoo Lifestyle |

New fashion brand FFORA launched its first set of accessories into the world. And, unlike other brands who make fashionable accessories, FFORA’s products are designed specifically for wheelchair users looking for sleek, functional and adaptive items. FFORA unveiled its first line of wheelchair-accessible accessories on Tuesday, including a colorful line of essentials bags, trendy cupholders and a wheelchair attachment system the company says will fit most manual wheelchair brands. Its goal is to make adaptive fashion mainstream…

Attorneys in MTA Disability Discrimination Suit Seek Mediation

August 1, 2019 | Source: Spectrum News NY1 |

a. MTA plans accessibility upgrades at dozens of subway stops, but has yet to reveal which ones

August 2, 2019 Source:Curbed NY |

Advocates for people with disabilities have long demanded that Gov. Cuomo direct the MTA to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the transit agency of discriminating against people in wheelchairs. “The only thing we want to hear is a binding legal agreement with a schedule to get us to full accessibility, period. That’s it,” Sasha Blair-Goldensohn, a disability advocate and plaintiff in the suit said. “Everything else is just talk, just window dressing.”

Now there’s another chance to settle, without the governor’s help…

Calvert sponsors bill to protect small businesses from ADA ‘serial litigants’

August 1, 2019 | Source: Ripon Advance |

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee is considering a newly proposed bill sponsored on July 30 by U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) to reform the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for America’s small businesses. “Small businesses and the jobs they create continue to be under siege by serial litigants, who manipulate well-meaning laws, like the ADA, just to line their own pockets,” Rep. Calvert said. The congressman introduced the ADA Compliance for Customer Entry to Stores and Services (ACCESS) Act, H.R. 4099, to amend the ADA of 1990 to promote compliance through education…

A Blood Test for Alzheimer’s? It’s Coming, Scientists Report

August 1, 2019 | Source: The New York Times |

For decades, researchers have sought a blood test for beta amyloid, the protein that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Several groups and companies have made progress, and on Thursday, scientists at Washington University in St. Louis reported that they had devised the most sensitive blood test yet. The test will not be available for clinical use for years, and in any event, amyloid is not a perfect predictor of Alzheimer’s disease: Most symptomless older people with amyloid deposits in their brains will not develop dementia…

What Dealerships Need To Know About Website Accessibility Lawsuits

August 1, 2019 | Source: Fisher Phillips |

In a recent web alert, we discussed the compliance challenges that many dealerships face when dealing with employees with disabilities. However, as many dealers have found, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not apply to employees only. Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination based on a disability in places of public accommodations. Those claims generally involve customer complaints relating to tangible physical barriers, such as bathroom accessibility issues and parking lots. But they can also include issues relating to a purely digital domain…

New Haven schools settle discrimination lawsuit for $390K

August 2, 2019 | Source: New Haven Register |

The New Haven school system settled a lawsuit over a teacher’s accessibility to her building for $390,000. Paula Langlois, a Fair Haven School teacher with multiple sclerosis who uses a wheelchair, sued the district over lack of accommodations in February 2017 after filing a formal complaint against the district with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities in May 2016 before being given the right to sue. According to the settlement, which was signed on March 29 and obtained by the Register this week, the school board must pay $132,455 for Langlois’ legal expenses…

When Good Sites Go Bad: The Growing Risk of Website Accessibility Litigation

August 2, 2019 | Source: Pierce Atwood |

For a growing number of companies, websites are not only a valuable asset, but also a potential liability risk. In recent years, the number of website accessibility lawsuits has significantly increased, where plaintiffs with disabilities allege that they could not access websites because they were incompatible with assistive technologies, like screen readers for the visually impaired. If you have never asked yourself whether your website is “accessible,” or think that this issue doesn’t apply to your company, read on to learn why website accessibility litigation is on the rise…

Deafblind Trailblazer Haben Girma Has a Vision of Inclusion

August 2, 2019 | Source: Wall Street Journal |

a. #236: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law, with Haben Girma

August 8, 2019 | Source: Legal Talk Network (Podcast) |

b. Haben Girma: A Zealous Advocate For Disability Rights

August 8, 2019 | Source: Above The Law |

Haben Girma would prefer not to be called “inspiring.” But as a deafblind woman who lives in defiance of the low expectations many people have for the disabled, it is a word she hears often. The daughter of a refugee from Eritrea and an immigrant from Ethiopia, she surfs, she salsa dances, she climbs glaciers, and in 2013, she became the first deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School. (She prefers the term “deafblind,” with no hyphen, to suggest that the disability is “a cultural identity, not merely a medical condition.”)…

Fighting the Art World’s Ableism

August 2, 2019 | Source: Hyperallergic |

This is an open letter to say that we, the art world, are not sufficiently supporting the neurodiverse and disabled communities. As such, we are inadvertently reinforcing the ableism that pervades American society. Ableism, if you are unfamiliar with the term, is a set of beliefs that devalues people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities. Ableism does not always involve malicious intent; one of the most common manifestations is when individuals who are neurodiverse or disabled are simply not acknowledged…

City Reaches Agreement with HUD on Accessibility at Affordable Housing Sites

August 2, 2019 | Source: MyNewsLA &HousingWire |

a. Amid Its War On Fair Housing Protections, HUD Takes A Rare Aggressive Action Against Los Angeles

August 7, 2019 | Source: Pacific Standard |

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an agreement with Los Angeles Friday to resolve a longstanding dispute over access for the disabled at city affordable housing projects. The agreement is expected to free up millions of dollars in federal funding for public housing in the city. “As a result of this settlement, thousands of individuals with disabilities, including those experiencing homelessness in the city of Los Angeles, will have equal access to affordable housing and access to cutting-edge features that will enable them to live independently”…

Grand Teton Is Making Its Biggest Attraction More Accessible To People With Disabilities

August 2, 2019 Source:Wyoming Public Media |

a. First-of-its-kind Wheelchair Finally Gives Visitors With Disabilities Access to Scenic Hiking Trails at National Parks

August 4, 2019 | Source: MSN |

Jenny Lake is one of the most popular destinations in Grand Teton National Park. The area got an upgrade approaching $20.5 through a partnership between the park and its foundation, the Grand Teton National Park Foundation. It mostly focused on trail improvements, orientation and key infrastructure. But it also made an effort to become more accessible for people with disabilities. On a warm, sunny morning I met with Grand Teton National Park rangers under the flagpole at the enhanced Jenny Lake visitor center…

Second California Agency Removes Public Records From State Website

August 2, 2019 | Source: California Globe & BPR |

Last week California Globe reported that thousands of pages of public records were removed from the highly controversial California High Speed Rail Authority website in June. Now, members of the media and anyone seeking information about rail authority spending will only be able to access previously posted documents like detailed information on every project change order, board meeting materials and historical business plans, through a time consuming and unreliable California Public Records Act request according to the Rail Authority website…

Ensuring That Disaster Planning Considers People With Disabilities

August 2, 2019 | Source: Route Fifty |

There was a time when California’s state emergency plan had a one to two page section that specifically focused on issues related to people with disabilities and others who have “access and functional needs.” “It was in the middle of the plan,” L. Vance Taylor, chief of the state’s Office of Access and Functional Needs, said at a recent event Route Fifty held in Sacramento. The state plan serves as a blueprint of sorts for local governments putting together their own emergency management plans for natural disasters and other events…

How A Magazine Cover Helped Me Feel Less Alone As A Mom Of A Child With Disabilities

August 3, 2019 Source:Huffington Post |

I was straightening up my living room when I found it. As I was leafing through old papers in a basket tucked inside one of the cubbies of my coffee table, I discovered the wrinkled piece of paper, edges torn. It was the detached cover of a parenting magazine from February 2013 that I had ripped off before recycling the remainder of it. This is not the kind of artifact most people would hold on to. But, for me, this glossy sheet held so much meaning…

Serial plaintiff, a blind man who sues owners of websites, rebuffed by Seventh Circuit

August 5, 2019 | Source: Legal News Line |

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that a blind plaintiff regarded as a serial litigant seeking quick payoffs lacked standing to sue a credit union over the accessibility of its website. The court made the ruling July 15, with Judge Amy C. Barrett finding the plaintiff lacked standing to sue because he failed to allege an injury in fact and upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss the claim. The ruling states plaintiff Matthew Carello is blind and uses a screen reader to navigate the internet, and the defendant Aurora Policeman Credit Union’s website allegedly does not offer support for the reader…

Abilene City Council to hear access improvement suggestions from disabled residents

August 5, 2019 | Source: Abilene Reporter News |

The Citizens Advisory Board for People With Disabilities will address the Abilene City Council Thursday with recommendations to increase accessibility at the Abilene Convention Center, City Hall and Abilene Regional Airport. Created in October 2017 by a city council resolution, the organization is designed to “serve as a voice for residents of Abilene” on matters of accessibility, according to materials provided to the council. The city has an estimated disabled community population of 12,400 under age 65, with board members and attending residents representing a “broad diversity” of that community…

Delta uniforms will now include sign language as an option

July 30, 2019 | Source: CNN |

Airplanes are often as multicultural as the destinations they’re flying to. And now Delta Air Lines has announced that in addition to spoken languages such as Spanish and Russian, in-flight crew members’ uniforms will now also indicate whether they know a signed language. Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian released the news via a video shared on his personal LinkedIn page. “Our mission is to connect the world, which starts with making travel easier for all people,” Bastian wrote in the post…

ADA Accessible Websites Remain Costly Liability Exposure For Foodservice & Hospitality Businesses

August 6, 2019 | Source: Total Food Service |

a. Is Your Restaurant Website Making The Right Connections?

August 7, 2019 | Source: Total Food Service |

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) based discrimination claims alleging inaccessibility of business websites have increased dramatically over the last several years, potentially costing businesses millions of dollars in settlements as of the latest targeted litigation trends. Enacted in 1990, the ADA prohibits employment discrimination, discrimination by government and other public services organizations and applies to all public accommodations and services provided by private companies…

Iowans with disabilities seek better access to caucuses

August 6, 2019 | Source: KPVI News 6 |

For Kyle Spading, getting into his 2016 precinct caucus was about as difficult as any pass pattern he ran as tight end for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. “It was like a lot of places — an uncertified ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) ramp, a 30-inch door, a hairpin turn immediately inside the door, a narrow passageway through the kitchen,” he recalls. “We almost had to take a wall out.” Spading, a quadriplegic who uses a wheelchair to get around since dislocating his neck when his minivan rolled over in 2011 — a year after playing in the Orange Bowl — doesn’t want to go through that ordeal in 2020…

Department of Transportation backtracks on legal obligation to take action addressing airplane restroom accessibility for travelers with disabilities

August 6, 2019 | Source: Law.com |

Today, Democracy Forward on behalf of Paralyzed Veterans of America requested a federal court to lift its hold on their lawsuit to compel the Department of Transportation to issue a long-overdue rule to make airplane restrooms accessible to travelers with disabilities. Today’s action results from DOT ignoring its Congressional mandate to address this issue and continuing to deny full restroom access for veterans and travelers with mobility impairments…

Blind siblings sue the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration

August 6, 2019 | Source: The Statehouse File |

The Indiana Department of Family and Social Services Administration has been sued in federal court to provide tools that would allow blind Hoosiers to access their benefit information. Siblings Christopher and Sarah Meyer and the National Federation of the Blind filed the lawsuit Tuesday to compel the state and its contractors to communicate in Braille or in screen-to-text speech screen readers. The Division of Family Resources is also named in the lawsuit…

Telling While Showing: New Audio Description Services from Jess Curtis/Gravity

August 6, 2019 | Source: KQED |

When I get to the Fort Mason Fire House early on a Sunday evening in June, the wind is already rolling off the bay and buffeting my bicycle like a bumper car. I’m here to take a preshow haptic tour of Deborah Slater’s Solos Lost and Found, a choreographed work that’s part of the San Francisco International Arts Festival. It’s a revival of some of Slater’s classic pieces, celebrating her company’s 30-year anniversary, but what draws me to this particular performance is a new audio description service by Jess Curtis/Gravity, an experiential dance company with a history of accessibility activism and programming…

Blind Hoosiers File Lawsuit Against the Indiana Division of Family Resources

August 6, 2019 | Source: Brown Goldstein Levy & The Statehouse File & WFYI |

Reviewing and selecting insurance and benefits are important processes that should be personal and private. For Christopher and Sarah Meyer, siblings who are blind, the print-only benefits communications they received from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), its Division of Family Resources (DFR), and their contractors not only forced them to rely on other people to intercept and read their private information, but caused them to lose their benefits…

‘Ma’am, being deaf is not a death sentence’

August 6, 2019 | Source: Non Doc |

People get offended when I don’t answer them because they don’t know I’m deaf. That’s why my Granny Sue piped up, “She didn’t hear you.” I swiveled around, hospital linoleum squeaking underfoot, to face the nurse discharging my grandmother after a scary kidney infection. “Sorry,” I pointed to my hearing aids. “Even with these things, I can’t hear very well.” She had a kind face, but a hesitant smile. A tug at her lips, as if something troubled her. A few minutes later, she revealed her grandchild had just been diagnosed deaf…

New laws enhance access to education for deaf students and families

August 7, 2019 | Source: Press of Atlantic City |

For the first year and a half of his life, Cole Renart lived 60% of his day in language isolation. Born without any hearing, Cole was 17 months old when he began receiving early intervention with a deaf American Sign Language teacher while he was at daycare. “Within three months, his language exploded,” said Amy Andersen, an ASL teacher at Ocean City High School and 2018 New Jersey Teacher of the Year, who helped lobby the state for Cole’s interventions. “It was the first time it had been done in the state of New Jersey.”…

Disabled Braintree residents say inaccessibility plagues the town

August 7, 2019 | Source: Wicked Local |

Disabled Braintree residents say the town has been slow to correct myriad accessibility issues that make it difficult for them to navigate life in Braintree on a daily basis. “The barriers we actually encounter are society’s barriers, not our own physical barriers,” Crystal Evans said. Evans, a Braintree resident who uses an electric wheelchair and a ventilator, is an outspoken activist around disabilities and accessibility issues. Last year, she founded Advancing Community inClusion & Equality on the South Shore, a group of around 200 members that fights for accessibility and equality for disabled people on the South Shore and the wider area…

Wheelchair Users Face Accessibility Shortfalls When Traveling

August 7, 2019 | Source: KJZZ (Podcast) |

July marked the 29th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and while the nation has come a long way in that time, people who use wheelchairs still put up with a variety of accessibility shortfalls. Last year, Congress adopted a rule in the FAA Reauthorization Act that sought to shine a light on one of those problem areas, requiring airlines to track and report how many wheelchairs and scooters they mishandle each month. Those reports have since revealed the scale of the problem, with more than 2,000 wheelchairs or scooters mishandled in the first quarter of this year…

CUNA, Ohio League attend arguments in appellate-level ADA case

August 8, 2019 | Source: CUNA |

CUNA, along with the Ohio Credit Union League, attended Thursday’s arguments before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. The cases are Brintley v. Aeroquip CU and Brintley v. Belle River Community Credit Union, two Michigan-based credit unions hit with frivolous lawsuits claiming website noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). CUNA filed amicus briefs with the Michigan Credit Union League supporting the credit unions’ appeal of the denial of their motion to dismiss…

Jack Fact — The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in its Vision Health Initiative estimates that 3.4 million Americans over age 40 are blind or visually impaired. Up to 21 million suffer from “vision problems” and about 80 million have potentially blinding eye diseases.

Hit The Road Jack — 6 Most Accessible Cruise Lines

International News

China sees progress in improving accessibility for disabled

August 1, 2019 | Source: Xinhua- China |

China has registered progress in improving accessibility for persons with disabilities or physical challenges since the release of a set of regulations on the initiative in 2012. Adopted by the State Council, the Regulations on the Building of an Accessible Environment took effect on Aug. 1, 2012. Over the last seven years, China has upgraded relevant policies and standards and improved the accessibility of urban and rural public facilities, information and services for those in need…

Government of Canada invests in information technology to improve accessibility

August 1, 2019 | Source: NewsWire- Canada |

Canadians with disabilities deserve the same opportunities to find good jobs, contribute to their communities, and build a better life for themselves and their families. Yet many Canadians with disabilities still face barriers to full participation in the digital economy. Today, the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, announced that the Government of Canada will invest over $2.7 million in AccessNow…

AccessNow Receives $2.7 Million From Federal Government For Accessibility Platform-

August 1, 2019 | Source BetaKit- Canada & CTV News & CBC |

AccessNow, an online platform that crowdsources information on the accessibility of public spaces and venues, such as restaurants and businesses, has raised $2.7 million from the federal government. The startup, which serves as a community resource for those requiring information about accessibility, offers a TripAdvisor-like user experience that crowdsources the opinions and experiences of its users on various public locations. AccessNow will use the investment to open up the technology’s functionality, pursue community partnerships, in addition to new features that the startup plans to announce later on…

Free Waikato bus travel for disabled but caregivers miss out

August 2, 2019 | Source: New Zealand Herald |

Hamilton will continue its trend of being a national leader in accessibility with free travel on all public transport for disabled people via an accessibility concession beginning this month. More than 100 people were on hand at the Blind Foundation this week to hear about the ins and outs of the concession, including details surrounding eligibility. Anyone with a disability that results in them being unable to drive is eligible, including those with physical, intellectual, psychological, sensory or neurological conditions…

Disabled lawmakers shine light on accessibility issue

August 2, 2019 | Source: The Japan News & Outlook India & Laredo Morning Times & Inquirer & The Japan Times |

The first attendance at the Diet by two newly elected House of Councillors lawmakers with severe disabilities has shone a spotlight on the plodding efforts by political assemblies across Japan to make their facilities more easily accessible. Yasuhiko Funago, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Eiko Kimura, who has paralysis from below the neck, attended the extraordinary Diet session that convened Thursday. Funago and Kimura, both of the new opposition political party Reiwa Shinsengumi, arrived by car just after 9 a.m…

Passenger Transport Services Done Workshop on Accessibility in Turkey

August 2, 2019 | Source: Railly News- Turkey |

Minister Turhan, Hamamizade Ihsan Bey Cultural Center, Turkey and co-funded by the EU, Transport and Infrastructure Ministry conducted by the “Accessibility Project of Passenger Transport Services in Turkey” s in Trabzon in his speech at the workshop, the project not only of the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry , Turkey is the project, he said he is happy that the support shown in the workshop. Although the concept of service brings to mind the definitions of duty and job as a meaning, Turhan states that it also includes the meaning of care…

Dubai inches closer to becoming world’s best city for the disabled

August 3, 2019 | Source: Khaleej Times- India |

Dubai is moving forward on its course to becoming an inclusive, barrier-free and a disabled-friendly city by 2020. The city has left no stone unturned in providing People of Determination (PoD) with the services and facilities that empower them with the opportunity to be self-dependent, serve their communities and explore their diverse capacities. The aim is to make Dubai the world’s best city for the people of determination when it hosts Expo 2020…

Gurugram inaccessible for specially abled

August 3, 2019 | Source: The Tribune- India |

Working with an automobile giant, 36-year-old Haruto from Japan and his nine-year-old daughter Sakura were excited about living in Gurugram for six months. Having heard so much about cosmopolitan city Gurugram and its infrastructural development from his friends, Haruto was sure that it would be best suited to get her daughter a slice of Indian life. Two weeks in the city and Sakura was on her flight back home to Kyoto. “Yes, she could not see Gurugram city as the challenge she faced was not there back home. The moment we stepped out of the airport we realised the real challenge.”…

Accessibility is for all, not just for people with disabilities’

August 3, 2019 | Source: The Sunday Guardian- India |

Founder and chairperson of the NGO Svayam, Sminu Jindal speaks to Nibedita Saha about why we need to treat accessibility as a matter of public interest and not merely as a disability-rights issue. Q. Tell us about your “Accessibility for All” campaign? A. Svayam started the campaign as a one-week Twitter initiative under the hashtag #Accessibility4All in 2016. It received an overwhelming response, with 9.9 million impressions and 2.1 million unique users reached. Famous personalities around the world supported the cause…

‘No no no no no no’: Wheelchair users say even accessible taxis will refuse rides in Vancouver

August 3, 2019 | Source: CBC- Canada |

Two weeks ago, Gabrielle Peters spent a rare day out in Vancouver with friends. They took in a cultural festival in the afternoon, then headed for dinner at a restaurant Peters had always wanted to try. “As soon as we sat down, my anxiety started. In the back of my mind was, ‘I’m going to have to call a taxi,’ and that’s likely to be not a good experience,” she remembered. Peters uses a wheelchair. It’s always a challenge to find a taxi that will take her, but she says the night of July 20 was the worst it’s ever been…

PWDs push for accessible public buildings

August 3, 2019 | Source: The New Times- Rwanda |

The National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) has called on the government to look into improving its building facilities and making them more accessible to people with disabilities. The Executive Secretary of the NCPD; Emmanuel Ndayisaba told members of the parliamentary committee on social affairs that while there has been significant improvement in facilitating the movement of people with disabilities, some government buildings were still impossible to navigate for most of them…

Is it friendly to people with disabilities?

August 4, 2019 | Source: New Age- Bangladesh |

The World Health Organisation recognises disability as a global public health issue, a human rights issue and a development priority. Disability is a global public health issue because people with disabilities throughout their lives face widespread barriers in accessing health and related services such as rehabilitation and have worse health outcomes than people without disabilities. Disability is also a human rights issue because adults, adolescents and children with disabilities experience stigmatisation, discrimination and inequalities…

Dubai Likely to Become World’s Best City for The Disabled

August 3, 2019 | Source: Al-Bawaba- United Arab Emirates |

a. Video: What’s Trending: Accessible tourism in UAE

August 4, 2019 | Source: Hotelier Middle East |

The city has left no stone unturned in providing People of Determination (PoD) with the services and facilities that empower them with the opportunity to be self-dependent, serve their communities and explore their diverse capacities. The aim is to make Dubai the world’s best city for the people of determination when it hosts Expo 2020. Dubai-based Shobhika Kalra, who runs Wings of Angelz platform, where she along with her team of volunteers, raises awareness about wheelchair accessibility and identifies places that require wheelchair ramps, said she had seen a gradual but steady progress in terms of accessibility for PoD in Dubai…

Social media designs are becoming more streamlined – but they’re failing disabled people in the process

August 4, 2019 | Source: Independent- UK |

Rebranding online platforms from time to time is considered essential by marketers. But it’s also almost guaranteed to generate negative reactions from users. With this in mind, the outpouring of complaints about the new Twitter design that we’ve seen over the past few weeks will surprise no one – but for many disabled users, the problem is a serious one. Where others find the redesigned site annoying to use, we struggle to use it at all. What’s more, this is typical of a widespread problem with social media companies ignoring the needs of disabled users…

For people in wheelchairs, exploring rural Nova Scotia isn’t easy

August 4, 2019 | Source: CBC- Canada |

Shannon Publicover envisioned spending a weekend enjoying the warm weather with her family at a cottage with a fire pit or barbecuing on a deck. She quickly became dismayed trying to find somewhere to stay in Nova Scotia.

Her 13-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy and Publicover, who lives in Porters Lake, N.S., was shocked to realize how few options there are for people in wheelchairs. Out of about 680 rentals registered with Tourism Nova Scotia, only one in five are considered somewhat or fully accessible…

Paralympic Athlete Joins Forces with Transport for Wales to Promote Accessible Travel

August 5, 2019 | Source: Business News- Wales |

One of Wales’ top Paralympian athletes has teamed up with Transport for Wales to show just how accessible the railway is recently. In a brand new video, launched as part of Disability Awareness Day, Nathan Stephens shows how to plan your journey, book assistance, negotiate a station environment and travelling safely onboard. In the video, Nathan boards a train at Bridgend and travels down to Swansea. The video is designed for anyone with mobility issues who may have be anxious or unsure about using public transport…

Mexico’s largest cities promote digital inclusion

August 6, 2019 | Source: Smart Cities World- Mexico |

Smart Cities for All has announced it is to track the progress and measure the commitment to digital inclusion of Mexico’s two largest cities, Mexico City and Guadalajara. Both cities are committed to being smarter and more inclusive. A project of the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict), a team of global smart technology and inclusion experts from Smart Cities for All have convened in Mexico to evaluate the cities’ digital inclusivity…

What Australians can learn from Smithsonian’s Accessibility Director

August 7, 2019 | Source: ArtsHub- Australia |

Beth Ziebarth is the iconic Smithsonian Institution’s Director of Accessibility Programs. It’s a full-time position that few organisations in Australia have the budget for, but that doesn’t mean that the foundations such a role bring – and the lessons learned in rolling it out – can’t be shared and adopted. Ziebarth will be in Australia later this month to do exactly that, as a keynote speaker at the 2019 Arts Activated Conference. She joins leading UK artist and disability arts advocate Rachel Gadsden, as part of a very deliberate agenda by Arts Access Australia to ensure that Australia is part of this important global conversation…

The Barcelona Metro will be 100 per cent accessible by 2024

August 7, 2019 | Source: Intelligent Transport- Spain |

The infrastructural developments at Jaume I, a station along the Barcelona Metro line, have been completed, and as a result the station is entirely accessible. The work is thought to have cost €4 million and has seen the installation of two elevators and the remodelling of the two lobbies of the station. The Minister of Territory and Sustainability, Damià Calvet, who attended the station to see the work that had been completed, commented: “We have adapted 92 per cent of the metro network for people with reduced mobility, and we pride ourselves with one of the most accessible networks across Europe.”…

BC & Alberta Guide Dogs congratulate Delta MP on Accessible Canada Act

August 7, 2019 | Source: Surrey Now-Leader- Canada |

Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility Carla Qualtrough was honoured recently by BC & Alberta Guide Dogs for her efforts in getting the Accessible Canada Act signed into law. On Friday, July 26, the Delta-based charity hosted a luncheon to congratulate Qualtrough on advancing the rights of people with disabilities, and presented the minister with a plaque and a cake commemorating the historic legislation. “Minister Qualtrough is a tremendous supporter of BC & Alberta Guide Dogs and we just wanted to in an informal way recognize your support…

Karnataka courts inaccessible says audit report, disability rights groups agree

August 8, 2019 | Source: NewzHook- India |

A recent pan-India study has found that courts in Karnataka fare poorly when it comes to access to people with disabilities. Disability rights groups agree and are asking the government to finally do something about it. When Narasimhaiah, a senior citizen in Bengaluru, had to visit a city court for a civil case, he underwent nothing less than an ordeal. A visually impaired man, Narasimhaiah says he struggled every single time as there were no Braille facilities in the court. Given the various chambers, he had to depend on someone else to move around…

Theatre company Hot Coals in accessibility row with Edinburgh Fringe organisers

August 8, 2019 | Source: The Stage- UK |

A theatre company that specialises in creating work for d/Deaf audiences has become embroiled in a row with the Edinburgh Fringe, over the way its show has been listed by the event’s organisers. Hot Coals describes itself as a company that strives to make work that is accessible to both d/Deaf and hearing audiences. Its latest show Knock Knock creates its own “visual and universal language” for people who come to see it. It is currently running at Assembly Roxy in Edinburgh…

Air travel regulator ‘has been doing half a job by ignoring airlines’

August 8, 2019 Source: Disability News Service- UK |

The aviation regulator is only doing “half the job” by reporting on access at airports but failing to carry out similar investigations into whether airlines are meeting their legal duties to disabled customers, it has been claimed. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is responsible for monitoring UK compliance with European Union (EU) laws on the accessibility of air travel, but it has so far failed to report on whether airlines are meeting these duties. EU regulations (EC1107/2006) have provided disabled people with a right to assistance at airports for more than a decade…

Scientists make major breakthrough in understanding common eye disease

August 8, 2019 | Source: EurekAlert- Ireland |

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have announced a major breakthrough with important implications for sufferers of a common eye disease – dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) – which can cause total blindness in sufferers, and for which there are currently no approved therapies. The scientists discovered that a key component of the cells lining the retinal blood vessels, namely claudin-5, may be central to the development of the common blinding eye disease, AMD. In pre-clinical models, it was discovered that “leaky blood vessels” pre-disposed the eye to developing features of AMD…

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Microassist Digital Accessibility Services

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.