Accessibility in the News — 1/13/2023.

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“Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.” ― Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Feature Stories

Lawsuit Claims Chicago’s Affordable Housing Short On Accessibility

January 6, 2023 | Source: The Real Deal

Chicago isn’t doing enough to ensure tenants with disabilities can get affordable housing that meets their needs. That’s according to a lawsuit pressed by Access Living, an advocacy group that supports people with disabilities and claims the city of Chicago hasn’t made sure affordable housing units are also accessible, Crain’s reported. According to the suit, the city inspects new affordable units in the city to ensure they meet safety and building code standards, but “they haven’t been inspecting for anything in terms of complying with disability laws,” Access Living’s executive vice president Daisy Feidt told the outlet…

National News (U.S.)

Students with disabilities face setbacks, and safety risks as Oregon special education systems struggle

January 5, 2023 | Source: NPR

Last year, Andrew and Sara Weith went to Glencoe Elementary School to see their son Oli, then a first grader, present a project with his class. Each student had to plan a farm, name it, pick out the animals that would be there, and decide what the farm would look like. Oli’s Rainbow Dragon Farm presentation was a big moment for the family. “It was really emotional for Andy and I,” Sara Weith recalled. “He did the entire project with the help of an aide, but he did the whole thing by himself and was able to be in a big room and [he] presented to people and all the things.”…

17-time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters says ‘it’s weird to finally be recognized as one of the most dominant athletes across all sports

January 5, 2023 | Source: Insider

Oksana Masters has been one of America’s most dominant athletes in this generation. But it’s taken until now — a full decade after she won her first of 17 Paralympic medals — for the multi-sport star to begin getting the recognition she’s long deserved. “As an adaptive athlete and a Paralympic athlete and an athlete with disability, in society, it’s sometimes so hard to be seen as an athlete and not just be seen for your disability or if you’re in a chair or if you have prosthetics,” Masters told Insider…

Birding for All: How to Make Enjoying Birds More Accessible

January 5, 2023 | Source: The Revelator

Freya McGregor is adamant that anyone can be a birder. You don’t have to be able to identify the birds you see or keep lists of the rarities you’ve spotted. You don’t need binoculars — or even sight. A broad definition of birding makes for a more inclusive community. So too, does attention to accessibility needs. McGregor knows this well — she’s a birder with a disability. She’s also an occupational therapist who works with people with blindness and low vision…

How Oklahoma made disability placards ‘omni-channel’ accessible

January 6, 2023 | Source: StateScoop

The State of Oklahoma last year launched a digital government services division called Service Oklahoma, and it’s on a mission to prioritize accessibility and a customer-first approach through its online portal for driver and motor vehicle services. Though it’s been just eight months since its inception, the new division has already won a national award for its development and implementation of a completely digital disability-placard application. So how did Oklahoma get its nationally recognized services portal off the ground?…

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Chess and Disability

January 6, 2023 | Source: US Chess Federation

The game of chess has maintained the interest of humans, regardless of gender, age, religion, culture, and financial status, from when it was known as thaayam to chaturanga to petteia to shatranj to the modern game. Requiring knowledge of a chess board and pieces, as well as the rules, this strategy puzzle has been used for everything from entertainment to establishment of intellectual prowess, to wartime strategy warm-ups. Moreover, with the addition of an independent rating system, based on performance in competition, the “common playing field” is more level than most other competitive endeavors…

ADA Title III Crystal Ball: What’s Ahead for 2023?

January 6, 2023 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw

Last January, we predicted that roughly the same number of ADA Title III lawsuits would be filed in federal court in 2022 as in 2021, but halfway through 2022 it became apparent that the numbers would likely be substantially lower. That downward trend continued, and while our diligent research department is waiting for the dust to settle for December numbers before we announce the total for 2022, we are certain that the final number for the whole year will be substantially less than the number of ADA Title III lawsuits filed in 2021…

Disability Leadership Scholars program aims to educate and empower

January 6, 2023 | Source: Rochester Institute of Technology

Eight first-year Rochester Institute of Technology students have been selected to become the university’s first Disability Leadership Scholars to advocate and to educate about disabilities. “I’m honored to be chosen as part of this group,” said Gavin Morrobel, a business exploration student from Scotch Plains, N.J. “I really want to spread awareness about disability rights and make people more comfortable talking about their experiences, knowing there are other people out there like them with similar experiences they can talk to.”…

Helping the visually impaired access medical information and bills

January 7, 2023 | Source: Spectrum

Kyle Frownfelter guides people through whatever tech problem comes their way. “You’ve got JAWS on your system, right? So JAWS is a screen reader for visually impaired, blind, visually impaired folks,” Frownfelter explained. “And what it does is it reads the screen and the contents of the screen in a synthetic voice.” As an Assistive Technology Instructor for the Northeastern Association of the Blind, he answers calls and provides hands-on tech training for those who are visually impaired…

‘Disability is not a tragedy’: the remarkable life of activist and rebel Hale Zukas

January 8, 2023 | Source: The Guardian

Zooming around in an electric wheelchair controlled with a stick protruding from a white helmet strapped to his head, the renowned Berkeley, California, disability rights activist was an unforgettable force for breaking down barriers. His recent death prompted an outpouring of tributes and remembrances for a pioneer who helped lead a revolution that opened up public spaces, transportation and services to people with disabilities. Using the tactics of the civil rights era, Zukas staged provocative protests and lobbied politicians in Washington DC…

“I feel loved”: Anonymous donor gives $200K towards metro school’s quest for accessible playground

January 9, 2023 | Source: CBS

It’s the kind of update we love to share. A dream — a really expensive dream — is coming true. In December, we told you about the push for a more accessible playground at Glen Lake Elementary in Hopkins. The kids who don’t use wheelchairs stepped up to try to raise $300,000. It wasn’t what anyone expected. The lunchroom had become a ballroom, with Principal Jeff Radel acting as the emcee. But you have to back up to understand the levity of the moment. There are eight kids at Glen Lake who use wheelchairs…

Glaucoma can cause blindness, but people don’t always know they have it.

January 9, 2022 | Source: Fort Worth Report

Glaucoma is a disease that causes damage to the nerve in the eye called the optic nerve. This can be a result of high pressure. And over time, the nerve loses the ability to transmit information from the eye to the brain. The optic nerve can be thought of as the cable on the back of your television. The cable transmits all of the data that the eye sees to the brain, and unfortunately, in certain patients with glaucoma, over time, they will lose vision because they have high eye pressure that was untreated…

Forget What You Think You Know About Color Blindness

January 9, 2023 | Source: Inside Hook

Put James Rodgers in an Airbus A380 flight simulator and he can fly the huge airliner as well as anybody. But Rodgers, a social media content creator and a private pilot, isn’t allowed to fly commercial airliners. He knows he would never pass the medical test. That’s not because he has a heart problem or epilepsy. He isn’t bipolar or diabetic, either. His problem? He struggles to tell some colors apart. He’s color-blind. “It’s not debilitating for me. It’s more that things are just blander than they otherwise would be,” explains Rodgers…

Town of Greenwich Agrees to Increase Accessibility at Marina to Comply with Americans with Disabilities Act

January 10, 2023 Source U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Connecticut

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has reached a settlement agreement with the Town of Greenwich to resolve allegations that a Greenwich marina was not operating in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”). The settlement agreement resolves an ADA complaint filed by an individual with disabilities alleging that Greenwich’s Byram Marina has no designated accessible boat slips and no accessible routes to the boat slips…

Report Points to Higher Turnover of Employees with Disabilities

January 10, 2023 | Source: FEDweek

Congress and various presidential Administrations have recognized a need to increase and improve federal agencies’ efforts to recruit, hire, and retain persons with disabilities. Impacting the ability to meet this need are the processes to recruit, hire, and retain persons with disabilities, which may differ significantly from those for persons without disabilities. More broadly, Congress and recent presidential Administrations have also expressed an interest in increasing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the federal civil service…

Will you help make Webster City more accessible?

January 11, 2023 | Source: The Daily Freeman-Journal

There is no sidewalk to the east shelter in West Twin Park. This means the shelter is not accessible to some people with disabilities. It is an example of how citizens of Webster City can help advise the City of Webster City as it updates its Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. If you know of sites or services that are in need of an upgrade, the meeting Jan. 23 at the Webster City Middle School is the place to make your concerns heard. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 25% of Americans — 61 million people — are living with a disability…

Leona Zacharias Helped Solve a Blindness Epidemic among Premature Babies. She Received Little Credit

January 12, 2023 | Source: Scientific American

Scientist Leona Zacharias was a rare woman. She graduated from Barnard College in 1927 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, followed by a Ph.D. from Columbia University. But throughout her career, she labored behind men with loftier titles who got the bulk of the credit. In the 1940s, when premature newborns were going blind after being born with perfectly healthy eyes, Zacharias was part of the team that worked to root out the cause. In this inaugural episode of Lost Women of Science Shorts, host Katie Hafner visits the archives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston…

Jack Fact — According to the Population and Housing Census 2020, there are 7,168,000 disabled or mentally ill people in Mexico or 5.7% of the population. 24% of them are not enrolled in social security.

Hit The Road Jack — Waking up to the struggles of disabled flyers and 11 Museums in the U.S. That Are Accessible to All Visitors

International News

Partners will use £20 million research centre to close ‘transport accessibility gap’

January 5, 2023 | Source: Disability News Service- UK

A disabled-led research organisation, the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC)*, is one of the partners, led by Coventry University, that will receive the funding to develop and run a new Evidence Centre for Inclusive Transport (ECIT). ECIT, which is expected to launch early this year, aims to improve the accessibility and reliability of road, rail and air transport for disabled people, and transform the sector’s understanding of disabled people’s experiences of transport, through carrying out research and developing accessible transport solutions…

Is this the easiest country in the world to explore by wheelchair?

January 8, 2023 | Source: The Sunday Times- Japan

Tokyo as a city of contradictions is well documented: thousand-year-old temples next to cafés staffed by robots; skyscrapers full of bustling shopping malls alongside serene parks and temples. Less well known is that the same it true when it comes to accessibility. On our first day in the capital our brilliant tour guide Meg took my parents, my personal assistant and me to some of the city’s most famous sights. We spent a lot of time marvelling — at the fabulous red and orange colours of Senso-ji temple and prawns the size of my face at the Tsukiji fish market — but also at how wheelchair-friendly the public infrastructure was…

Accessible spots keep being taken: this advocate wants that to change

January 8, 2023 | Source: CityNews Halifax- Canada

Halifax disability rights advocate Paul Vienneau says people parking in accessible spots is becoming more common. Vienneau says the solution is simple: “increase the fines.” “We need to make it more difficult for people to do this,” said Vienneau. In 2022, 52% more tickets for parking in accessible spots were issued than in previous years. Accessible parking fines are controlled by the province. Currently, taking up an accessible spot without a permit is $100. Vienneau wants to see that fine tripled to $300…

Accessibility to education for persons with disability

January 9, 2023 | Source: Soweto Urban- South Africa

As the saying goes, all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, which is why it is generally accepted that access to education is a fundamental human right. The Bill of Rights state that; everyone has the right to basic education, including adult basic education and to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible. The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities has highlighted the need for the allocation of resources and improved access to education for persons with disabilities…

Braille: accessibility improves in Brazil, but still needs to advance

January 9, 2023 | Source: Kazinform- Brazil

Almost 200 years ago, Braille started allowing blind or low vision people to write and read. On the World Braille Day, January 4th, Agência Brasil talked to specialists who show that the country has improved accessibility for these people, but still needs to move forward, Agencia Brasil reports. “I usually say that mankind had a great conquest with the invention of writing and, during all this time, there were attempts to develop a writing for the blind. The great conquest came with Braille…

TransLink testing new accessibility tool to help customers with sight loss better navigate transit system independently

January 10, 2023 | Source: Mass Transit- Canada and Daily Hive and New West Record

TransLink is testing an accessibility tool – the first of its kind in Canada – that can help customers with sight loss better navigate the transit system independently. Starting in late February, customers can download the NaviLens app through the Apple Store or Google Play to scan specialized coded decals, resembling QR codes, at three transit locations. Once the decals are scanned, the app provides audio instructions that guide customers to bus stops and exact points of pick-up…

What London Is Like When You’re Deaf

January 10, 2023 | Source: Londonist- England

If you’ve ever seen one of the stage adaptations of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, you will recall one particularly powerful and intense scene when the protagonist Christopher navigates the complex and noisy London transport network. Obviously neurodivergent (though never actually confirmed in the book as autistic), the teenager is overwhelmed by the flood of bright colours, chatter from other passengers, and mumbling announcements over the tannoy system…

Liam O’Dell: 2023 could be the year the UK Government finally accounts for its dire BSL access (BSL)

January 10, 2023 | Source: Limping Chicken- England

Happy New Year. 2022 has been and gone, and it sure was quite the year for Deaf rights. We had the passing of the British Sign Language (BSL) Act (more on that shortly), Deaf signers on juries, and NHS hearing aids being available to everyone again – to name just three examples. Back in December 2021, I looked ahead to last year and what it might have in store for us Deaf folk. “If 2021 was the year we asserted our rights,” the headline read, “2022 is the year we strengthen them”…

This Little-Known AirPods Feature Allowed My 95-Year-Old Grandfather To Hear Me Again

January 10, 2023 | Source: BuzzFeed- India

Whenever I visited Aba, my maternal grandfather, who lives in India, he burst with questions. He wanted to know how I was, and whether I still liked my job. He wanted to know what I had for dinner each day, and whether I still worked out. He wanted to know how the internet works, and what exactly was a Facebook. Each time I answered, however, his face would settle into a puzzled expression. He’d lean in closer and look faintly annoyed. I spoke again, and again, and then one more time, my voice growing louder and louder until I was practically shouting at him…

Obesity can cause macular degeneration, blindness in the elderly

January 11, 2023 | Source: Jerusalem Post- Canada

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of vision impairment and blindness in older people around the world – with an incidence of 30% over the age of 70, 40% over the age of 80 and 50% of people over the age of 90 affected by some form of AMD. Now, a Canadian study published in the prestigious journal Science and entitled “Past history of obesity triggers persistent epigenetic changes in innate immunity and exacerbates neuroinflammation” has revealed a new molecular mechanism in which obesity is involved in the disease…

Digital accessibility will democratise technology in 2023

January 12, 2023 | Source: Irish Tech News- Ireland

The internet has not always been widely available. In fact, it was not until the 1990s that the widespread use of the internet intruded into the lives of most advanced societies and economies. Since then, the proliferation of digital experiences has utterly transformed the way in which we interact with each other, consume content and do business. The evolution of technology has had numerous ramifications from the obvious to the entirely unexpected. The ‘modern’ internet has thus become a public space – one that can be used and shared by all…

TfNSW completes accessibility enhancements at Gunnedah railway station

January 12, 2023 | Source: Intelligent Transport- Wales

Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) has announced that access to Gunnedah railway station has become easier for people with mobility issues or young children, due to improvements that have been delivered as part of the New South Wales (NSW) Liberal and National government’s $2.2 billion Transport Assistance Program (TAP). Work has been completed on the more than $1.3 million project to improve access to public transportation services for people with a disability or mobility constraints, carers or parents with prams and travellers with luggage…

Free assistive reading app could support over 800 million people with dyslexia globally

January 12, 2023 | Source: AT Today- UK

An assistive technology solutions provider has launched a new reading app that creates an inclusive opportunity for the millions of adults and children who have dyslexia at CES 2023. FACIL’iti’s new app, MYdys, is a “first of its kind” free dyslexia app that uses optical character recognition (OCR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies to enable users to customise captured textual content from a variety of mediums and adapt it to suit their needs. It has also been named a CES 2023 Innovation Award Honoree in the Software and Mobile Apps category…

India’s increasing burden of blindness

January 12, 2023 | Source: The Times of India- India

Vision loss adversely affects one’s quality of life, independence, and mobility and has not only been linked to falls and injury but affects mental health, interaction with friends and family and increases inequalities in employment, income, and education. A recent study estimates that the potential loss of productivity due to vision impairment in India is INR 646 billion ($ 29.4 billion). There have been sustained efforts in the last two decades towards reduction in the prevalence of avoidable blindness in India, especially by the not-for-profit eyecare organizations…

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