Accessibility in the News — 1/24/2020.

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Feature Stories

Advocates for disabled call Amtrak policy hiking costs 25-fold — to $25,000 — ‘grossly unfair to wheelchair users’

January 17, 2020 | Source: Chicago Sun-Times

They’re a leading national voice for people with disabilities, but members of Access Living say they could be left out of the conversation under a new Amtrak pricing policy that’s resulted in astronomical travel costs for the Chicago-based advocacy group. Teams from Access Living make a handful of group trips Downstate via Amtrak every year, usually to meet with lawmakers in Springfield, according to Access Living advocacy director Amber Smock. The group typically reaches out to Amtrak about a month in advance to make arrangements for the five to 10 wheelchair users who generally take the trip…

Amtrak reverses course on charging wheelchair users $25,000 to reconfigure train car

January 21, 2020 | Source: USA Today & The Mighty& The Hill

Amtrak has reversed course and will not charge an accessibility advocacy group $25,000 for two employees who use power wheelchairs to travel from Chicago to Bloomington, Illinois, for a meeting this week, the company told USA TODAY. The Chicago-based group Access Living told The Washington Post and NPR that it reached out to Amtrak in late December to arrange travel for 10 members of its staff. Because five of them are in wheelchairs and the 7 a.m. train they wanted to travel on only has three spots for wheelchairs, Amtrak said it would have to reconfigure the cars to accommodate the additional two wheelchairs, incurring thousands in expenses…

National News (U.S.)

Why workplace diversity and inclusion should not be a numbers game

January 16, 2020 | Source: World Economic Forum

In today’s numbers-driven economy, it’s all too easy to think of diversity and inclusion as just another target to meet. But within an organization, having a balance of gender, ethnicity or ages (for example) does not automatically result in inclusivity. Illustrating the economy’s failure to be diverse and inclusive through numbers is a powerful visualization of today’s stark reality. Hard numbers – such as the 99.5 years that it will take to close the global gender gap – draw attention to the scale of the problem…

Companies Launch Accessible E-Scooters for Disabled Users

January 16, 2020 | Source: Government Technology

Electric scooter companies are rolling out new three-wheeled or seated models intended for people with disabilities in San Francisco as technology plays catch-up in an effort to make new forms of transportation accessible — a recurring problem, advocates say. “Transportation in general … there’s been this accumulation effect where people with disabilities have been left off discussions about alternative transportation. Everyone else’s transportation modes have increased, and ours have decreased,” said Bonnie Lewkowicz…

What It’s Like to Use Facebook When You’re Blind

January 17, 2020 | Source: The New York Times

Imagine scrolling through Facebook with all the images blacked out. You can read your friends’ jokes and their commentary on the links they share. But vacation photos? Visual memes? A video of an old school friend’s anniversary party? All of these visuals, with their rich details and subtexts, are concealed from view. For years, that was essentially my experience on Facebook, and it remains that way for me on other social media platforms and the internet at large. You see, I am blind. I rely on a screen reader to use my computer — it reads the words in text out loud…

This Year, the Women’s March Wants Be More Accessible for Those With Disabilities

January 17, 2020 | Source: Allure Magazine

The fourth annual Women’s March is happening on Saturday, January 18. The first three marches garnered some criticism for not being inclusive in multiple ways, including toward people of color, trans women, and those with disabilities. This year, Women’s March, Inc. is making some necessary improvements to rectify those ills, including offering virtual attendance options, captioning, and ASL interpreters on live feeds. As a black, disabled, bisexual woman, seeing the organization make these changes after critiques, call-ins, and outs, the one that matters most to me is the push for more accessibility…

Deaf man sues Pornhub over lack of closed captions

January 17, 2020 | Source: ABC News & The News Pocket

A deaf man has sued Pornhub and other adult websites because he said he “cannot enjoy video content” without closed captioning. The lawsuit alleges that Pornhub, RedTube and YouPorn are in violation of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. Part of the ADA’s goal is to provide “full and equal enjoyment” of a public accommodation’s goods, services, facilities and privileges, according to the lawsuit, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in the Eastern District of New York…

Lawsuit claims Sevierville businesses aren’t wheelchair friendly

January 18, 2020 | Source: Kingsport Times News

A North Carolina woman is suing four businesses in the Pigeon Forge/Sevierville area, including the Wilderness at the Smokies resort, claiming each one is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act in multiple ways. Rhonda Asher filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Knoxville this month. Named as defendants are Nino’s Pizzeria and Eatery, Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin, Smokey Mountain Knife Works, and the Wilderness at the Smokies resort. Asher claims she was denied “full, safe and equal access” to each of these businesses due to various barriers found within the buildings and on the properties…

Virginians with disabilities get help finding jobs

January 20, 2020 | Source: The Hill

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has just issued “the most comprehensive executive actions in Virginia history to ensure inclusion and opportunity for Virginians with disabilities,” according to the January 2020 press announcement. Janice Underwood, who was recently appointed Virginia’s first-ever director of diversity, equity and inclusion, tells Changing America the positive impact this will make in many live. “By 2023, the Commonwealth of Virginia will increase the level of employment of individuals with disabilities by five percent…

Iowa parties, disability activists scramble to prepare for Caucus Day; concerns linger

January 20, 2020 | Source: Des Moines Register

Having carefully considered all her options, Kaylene Wilson of Boone, Iowa was ready to caucus. She marked her paper ballot, drawing a dark, purple check next to her candidate of choice: Fruity Lucky Charms. “I thought it was the best because of the fruitiness and the really good marshmallows,” she said. Wilson, 26, and about a dozen other Iowans with disabilities took part in a cereal caucus Wednesday in Ames. The program, hosted by disability nonprofit The Arc and the League of Women Voters, guided participants through Republican and Democratic-style processes to prepare them for the presidential caucus on Feb. 3…

South Carolina Democratic Primary: How to vote if you have a disability

January 21, 2020 | Source: Greenville News

The South Carolina Democratic Primary is coming up on Saturday, Feb. 29. For voters with disabilities, there could be extra steps to navigate in order to cast a ballot. While every polling place is required to be accessible to voters with disabilities, in reality that is not always the case, said Chris Whitmire, director of public information with the South Carolina Elections Commission. “Throughout the state it’s not perfect … counties continue to work to reach that 100 percent accessibility,” Whitmire said. “It’s not an easy problem to solve, but it’s one we have to work at to get to that 100 percent accessibility.”…

GSA Publishes Web Standards for Year-Old Digital Services Law

January 22, 2020 | Source: Nextgov & Federal Times & Federal News Network

The website design standards pull together existing guidance for complying with the 21st Century IDEA Act, which requires all digital services to have a base level of quality and accessibility. A year after passage of a law requiring federal agencies to improve the quality and accessibility of digital services, the General Services Administration on Wednesday released a set of website design standards agencies across government can use to meet that mandate…

North Dakota lawmakers move to start fixing accessibility issues at Capitol

January 22, 2020 | Source: Bismarck Tribune

Spaces throughout North Dakota’s Capitol don’t comply with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which one state lawmaker called “a bit embarrassing” during a Wednesday meeting that also included complaints from the public. Architect James Devine, of J2 Studio Architecture + Design in Bismarck, presented a 22-page report on Wednesday to the Legislature’s interim Government Administration Committee outlining the accessibility issues on the Capitol’s ground and first floors, including the House and Senate chambers, the Judicial Wing, restrooms and meeting rooms…

Nic and Paige Dowd are making hockey games more sensory-friendly and accessible to the autism community

January 22, 2020 | Source: RMNB

The relationship between the National Hockey League and the autism community is a long-standing one, but until recently the focus has been focused primarily on financial support and raising awareness, with many teams holding fundraisers and hosting “Autism Awareness” nights. In Washington, D.C. the Capitals’ unique engagement has been spearheaded by Paige and Nic Dowd. The couple came to D.C. when Nic was signed in the summer of 2018, and since then they’ve not only participated in the majority of the Capitals’ preexisting charitable endeavors–they also started their own…

Accessibility in the Workplace Workshop redefines what access means, leads way for change

January 23, 2020 | Source: Daily Free Press

Inclusion. Freedom. Equality. Options. These one-word responses exemplify what true accessibility means for a crowd of able- and non-able-bodied professionals who gathered Tuesday to discuss how their workspaces fall short in meeting their needs. Rhys McGovern, a speech and language pathologist in the Boston area, hosted a workshop entitled “Accessibility Matters: Accessibility in the Workplace” at the Cambridge Innovation Center. Though he walked unassisted at the event, McGovern uses a wheelchair as needed when his disability prevented him from being ambulatory…

How One Wheelchair User Conquers The Sometimes Accessible NYC Transit System

January 23, 2020 | Source: Gothamist

Access-A-Ride Users Face Access Challenges At Access-A-Ride Centers

January 23, 2020 | Source: The City

For all the talk about New York City’s lack of accessible transit, Katherine Valdez, who uses a wheelchair because of a spinal cord injury, moved to New York largely because of the subway. “I used to live in Ecuador, and Ecuador is not accessible at all,” she said. “My family and I figured out that there is no future for me there. So we moved to this country, to have a better future.” And like many apartment hunters, one of the first things she did after deciding to move was shop for neighborhoods on a subway map…

A Patient’s Guide to Cataract Surgery

January 23, 2020 | Source: U.S News & World Report

With age, the world can get a little fuzzier. Many older Americans commonly develop cataracts – a fogging of the lens of the eye. Around 25 million Americans 40 and older have cataracts, according to the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. And the likelihood a person will develop cataracts increases sharply as one ages. Vision difficulties resulting from cataracts can raise the risk for accidents and injuries. “In a practical sense, cataracts really increase the risk of car accidents and falls,” says Dr. Mitchell Brinks, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the OHSU School of Medicine…

Student with blindness says school separated her from service dog

January 23, 2020 | Source: CBS46

A student with blindness at Curry College in Massachusetts is suing her school after claiming she was separated from her service dog. Isabella Scott is legally blind and claims that her teachers insisted that having her dog, O’Hara, in lab classes was a violation of federal safety and health standards. However, Scott claims the school violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation of 1973. Scott also said that she discovered that O’Hara was kept in a closet with buckets of animal organs in formaldehyde during her labs…

Researchers Discover Potential Treatment for Hereditary Deafness

January 23, 2020 | Source: NBC DFW

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital have found a potential treatment for hereditary deafness, the same condition thought to have caused Beethoven to lose his hearing. The scientists are using a new gene-editing approach they say could someday prevent profound hearing loss. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 is a cornerstone of classical music. So it’s hard to believe the composer was almost completely deaf from a genetic condition when he finished it.

Jack Fact — According to Canadian Association of Optometrists, 1 in 7 Canadians will develop a serious eye disease in their lifetime, yet 75% of vision loss can be prevented or treated with proper care.

Hit The Road Jack — Accessible Tourism Tokyo

International News

A crippled campaign

January 17, 2020 | Source: Daily Pioneer- India

The enactment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 has ensured the domestic transition of the social model adopted under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted in 2006 and ratified by the Government in 2007. The principles stated to be implemented for empowerment of persons with disabilities (PWD) are respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy, including the freedom to make one’s own choices and independence of persons…

Older people need better homes – but then, so does everybody else

January 17, 2020 | Source: City Metric- Ireland

Towards the end of last year, I started as an associate director at the Centre for Ageing Better, working particularly on our goal around safe and accessible homes. Before I arrived, Ageing Better had established some ambitious goals for this work: by 2030, we want the number of homes classed as decent to increase by a million, and by the same date to ensure that at least half of all new homes are built to be fully accessible. We’ve all heard the statistics about the huge growth in the number of households headed by someone over 65, and the exponential growth in the number of households of people over 85…

Derry campaign for inclusive play for disabled children moves politicians and looks poised to end accessibility dark ages

January 17, 2020 | Source: Derry Journal- Ireland

A grass-roots campaign by young people from Strathfoyle looks to have won a victory for disabled access campaigners across the city and perhaps beyond. Members of the Derry City & Strabane District Council Environment & Regeneration Committee have committed to making it municipal policy that every new park built in the district will in future have accessible play provision. Councillors heard eloquent and often heart-wrenching testimony from young people from the Enagh Youth Forum ‘Nothing Without Us’ disability-access campaign…

NCPEDP sets forth advocacy agenda for disabled community for 2020-21

January 17, 2020 | Source: NewzHook- India

The National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) held a meeting with disability rights groups from different states to chart the advocacy agenda for 2020-21. Participants from 12 states were part of this important meeting. NCPEDP constituted a committee of 20-25 key leaders and experts from the Indian disability movement called the National Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (NCRPD) in 2008. A think tank, NCRPD’s goal is to mainstream disability issues to develop advocacy campaigns on them…

‘I was very ignorant’: How being paralyzed changed one woman’s view of how the world treats disabled people

January 19, 2020 | Source: CBC- Canada

A wheelchair user from Fort Nelson in northeastern B.C. is pushing for better accessibility for all, based on her own experiences struggling with moving around. Two years ago, Kristi Leer severed her spinal cord in a vehicle crash. Since then, Leer has used a wheelchair to get around. Leer says the experience has been eye opening. “You know when I got in this chair, I’m going to be very honest, my attitude toward persons with disabilities and wheelchairs was very ignorant, and when I say ignorant, I mean not knowing,” Leer told host Carolina de Ryk on Daybreak North…

Much to learn from emerging disability arts

January 19, 2020 | Source: Timmins Today- Canada

Have you ever been nervous about going to the theatre? Maybe you’re unfamiliar with theatre etiquette, maybe you have children or maybe you find it hard to stay still for hours feeling trapped in your seat. In Shakespeare’s day, theatregoers drank, ate and socialized their way through performance. There is a more generous way to engage with the arts, and related to this, much to learn from disability arts in particular. Relaxed performance — an approach to performance that challenges what have developed as strict expectations and codes for audience and performer engagement and behavior…

Money in my account, but still can’t pay: Winner of ‘best accessible website’

January 20, 2020 | Source: The Indian Express- India

A pregnancy detection kit, which shows coloured line/s for results, can become immediately accessible to a blind woman if it also has a beep sound. Nidhi Goyal, whose website ‘Rising Flame’ won the national award for the ‘Best Accessible Website 2019’, cites another example of inaccessible technology. “Most often, when online payment gateways (if they are accessible, that is) upgrade their version, their accessibility is broken and the pay buttons lose their labels. You know there are six buttons, but now they read only as buttons-buttons.”…

Plea claims banking services not accessible to visually impaired; HC seeks Centre, RBI stand

January 20, 2020 | Source: Outlook- India & Live Law & ANI

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on a PIL claiming that banking and financial services are not accessible for the visually impaired. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the ministries of Social Justice, Finance and the RBI seeking their stand on the plea by a visually impaired lawyer. The petitioner, George Abraham, in his plea has sought directions to the Centre and RBI to ensure visually challenged persons can access online and technology based banking and financial services…

New handbook explores how creative industry can embrace neurodiversity

January 20, 2020 | Source: Design Week- UK

Manchester-based creative consultancy Music has designed a handbook that illustrates how employers in the creative industry can better support neurodiverse workers. The project, titled Creative Differences, was commissioned by Universal Music UK. The handbook explains that while neurodiversity is largely valued in creative spaces, very few workplaces actually have environments and practices in which neurodiverse workers can thrive. The project, which can be accessed online here, is accompanied by a series of animations also produced by Music, that document the lived experiences of eight neurodiverse people…

Manitoba supports education on employment accessibility

January 20, 2020 | Source: mySteinbach- Canada

The Manitoba government is investing $120,800 with the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (MLPD) to provide educational and outreach work that will help ensure organizations understand and comply with the accessible employment standard. “Accessibility is important to all Manitobans and a priority for our government,” said Families Minister Heather Stefanson. “We are pleased to support this work with the MLPD. This funding will help them deliver workshops, share tools and resources, and provide advice and expertise to organizations to promote the development and implementation of accessible employment practices.”…

BC ride-hailing services won’t be accessible to all

January 20, 2020 | Source: Vancouver Sun- Canada

Many people are eagerly looking forward to ride-hailing finally being available in Metro Vancouver, but Vince Miele is not one of them. The Tsawwassen resident, who uses a wheelchair, said he and many others who have disabilities and use mobility aids will be left behind when services like Lyft and Uber begin operating, because they will be unusable by those who can’t get in and out of a standard vehicle. “There’s been a erosion of access for people with disabilities, and I think this move to ride-hailing is just another step in this erosion,” said Miele…

Cross-Disability rights organizations demand stringent implementation of RPWD Act 2016

January 21, 2020 | Source: The Policy Times- India

Limitations of the new educational policy 2020, lack of accessibility of public services and spaces, poor implantation of the RPWD act 2016 at the state level and many such vital issues pertaining to the rights of people with disabilities were discussed in a meeting organized by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) at the United Services Institute in the capital on Thursday. The nationwide meeting was attended by more than 40 representatives of National Disability Network (NDN) and National Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (NCRPD) across 13 states…

Crossrail delay problems mount up as London wheelchair users wait for capital’s ‘accessibility transformation’

January 21, 2020 | Source: Access and Mobility Professional- UK

The Crossrail delay in London has caused problems and annoyance for many, especially those looking forward to using it. It has promised to alleviate some congestion on other rail lines but what has come to light recently is the wheelchair users eagerly waiting for it to open. As a report from ITV highlights, Crossrail was billed as a project that would transform accessibility in London. Its design puts step free access at all 41 stations on the line but now, three year delays to the project mean that wheelchair users in the City are still constantly coming across problems in a capital that doesn’t cater for mobility needs well enough…

Local performing arts festival strives for greater audience accessibility

January 21, 2020 | Source: CBC- Canada

Organizers of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival will offer a host of accessibility-related resources and initiatives to ensure people with special needs can still enjoy the performing arts. “It basically means that we try to take away some barriers,” Anika Vervecken, PuSh’s accessibility co-ordinator, told Stephen Quinn, the host of CBC’s The Early Edition. The theatre, music and multimedia festival kicked off it’s 16th year on Jan. 21. Performances will run until Feb. 9…

1964 Tokyo Paralympics still inspiring volunteers young and old

January 22, 2020 | Source: Kyodo News Plus- Japan

The 1964 Paralympics in Tokyo is considered the turning point not only for disabled sports in Japan but also for volunteers who assisted athletes and officials as interpreters at a time when wheelchair users were rarely seen in public in the country. As Tokyo prepares to host its second games after 56 years, some of the former volunteers are hoping to make another impact. Meanwhile, their experience has inspired the younger generation to take a leading role as the games approach…

Schools failing in legal duty to implement ‘accessibility plans’

January 23, 2020 | Source: Schools Week- UK

Schools are falling foul of a legal duty to improve provision for disabled pupils, new research has warned. Disabled learners and their parents are “largely uninformed” about the existence of accessibility plans, despite a legal requirement for schools to create, regularly review and implement them, the study claimed. The Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE) and Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning (DRILL) study found just 35 per cent of education professionals surveyed had heard of the plans…

Disabled passengers set for more accessible journeys at sea

January 22, 2020 | Source: GOV.UK

Journeys by sea for thousands of disabled passengers are to be improved thanks to the government issuing new guidance on improving accessibility to operators. Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani announced the publication of the Passenger Rights toolkit during a visit to Liverpool today (22 January 2020) where she met key stakeholders including Mersey Maritime, Wirral Waters and Port of Liverpool. The toolkit provides operators in England and Wales with a high-level guide on what they must do to comply with passenger rights regulations, as well as recommendations on how maritime transport can be made more accessible…

New petition in Delhi High Court seeks accessible banking services for blind people

January 22. 2020 | Source: NewzHook- India

George Abraham, Founder of NGO Score Foundation, recently moved a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at the Delhi High Court. The PIL states that banking facilities, especially, technological services, must be made accessible to visually impaired people. The PIL is scheduled for next hearing in April. George is convinced that the court will pass an order in favor of the disabled community. It has been over three years since the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD) has been introduced to empower disabled community in India…

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