Accessibility in the News — 1/14/2022.

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AITN Quote of the Week

“I am thankful for small mercies. I compared notes with one of my friends who expects everything of the universe, and is disappointed when anything is less than the best, and I found that I begin at the other extreme, expecting nothing, and am always full of thanks for moderate goods.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Feature Stories

Amtrak Pays Over $2 Million to Individuals in Disability Settlement

January 12, 2021 | Source: Department of Justice & OPB & Newsweek & The New York Times & NPR

The Department of Justice today announced that Amtrak paid over $2 million to more than 1,500 individuals who experienced disability discrimination while traveling or attempting to travel by train. The payments were part of a comprehensive settlement agreement reached on Dec. 2, 2020, to resolve the United States’ determination that Amtrak failed for over a decade to make existing stations in its intercity rail transportation system accessible to people with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)…

National News (U.S.)

NHL Anaheim Ducks Ask Judge to Toss Disability Suit Over Website

January 7, 2021 | Source: Bloomberg Law

The Anaheim Ducks Hockey Club told a federal court that a proposed Americans with Disabilities Act class action alleging its website fails to accommodate visually-impaired people should be dismissed because the named plaintiff is “not a bona fide patron.” Plaintiff Yensy Contreras lacks standing to pursue the claims because she “never attempted to access ” the National Hockey League team’s website, and “does not intend to access defendant’s website in the future,” the Ducks told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Thursday. Contreras is instead “a serial plaintiff” who filed the suit “to try to …

Industry Leading HR and Payroll Company ADP Works with LightHouse to Enhance Accessibility of Products to Blind Users

January 7, 2021 | Source: Legal Reader

In December 2021, the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired of San Francisco and blind LightHouse staff members reached an agreement with the Professional Employer Organization ADP TotalSource® to enhance the accessibility and usability of the ADP Workforce Now® solution to LightHouse staff who are blind or have low vision and use screen-reading software to access digital content. LightHouse, a 120-year-old nonprofit which supports and promotes the independence, equality, and self-reliance of people who are blind or have low vision in northern California, uses ADP TotalSource products for its human resources and payroll needs…

Accessible Cars Aren’t Born, They’re Made

January 9, 2022 | Source: WIRED

Almost a decade ago, my middle son was born with multiple disabilities. I obviously had many concerns at the time, but one of my biggest was how we would manage accessibility challenges as he grew up. For the first few years, my son did well getting around in a car seat and a stroller. But by the time he was 3 years old it was clear how important it was for us to order his first wheelchair. He has cerebral palsy, and pediatric wheelchairs come with custom options to contour and align his body to grow well…

How 3 travelers with disabilities or chronic illness navigate the world

January 10, 2022 | Source: The Washington Post

I could feel my world growing smaller when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a chronic illness that affects the digestive tract. In May 2020, we were in the midst of a global shutdown — and even before that, symptoms of my then-uncontrolled, unnamed illness had led me to stay home more often than not. After growing up dreaming of the day I would have the independence to explore the globe, I felt that independence quickly slip away as my doctors explained the many new medications and lifestyle changes my diagnosis would entail…

Organization Assisted Atlanta Woman And Disabled Aunt Forced To Quarantine In Panama Without Accessible Housing

January 10, 2022 | Source: Blavity

Multiple groups came to the aid of an Atlanta woman and her disabled aunt who were in quarantine for ten days in the country of Panama after they both tested positive for COVID-19 just before the new year, 11 Alive reports.

Danielle Bullock and her aunt, Donna Davis-Nunes, 65, had to quarantine for 14 days due to a government mandate in a room that was not accessible to people with a disability. Davis-Nunes lives with primary progressive multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair for mobility. In addition, Bullock was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes and was low on insulin…

Medicare plans to restrict access to controversial, pricey Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm to patients in clinical trials

January 11, 2022 | Source: STAT

Medicare plans to cover the controversial, pricey Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, but only for certain patients enrolled in clinical trials, the agency announced on Tuesday. The proposed move would likely mean some patients will not be able to access the Biogen drug, which is the first Alzheimer’s treatment approved in nearly two decades. Since it got the green light this summer, doctors and scientists have raised questions about whether it actually works, government watchdogs have begun investigating whether the Food and Drug Administration followed proper procedure to approve it…

Pittsburgh looks to make city more accessible for people with disabilities

January 12, 2022 | Source: TribLIVE.com

Pittsburgh wants to come up with ways to make the city more accessible for people with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires all government entities to create develop a self-evaluation and transition plan. The city is reevaluating its programs and services to ensure “the highest degree of accessibility and inclusivity.” “It’s important we continuously strive to achieve the highest degree of disability access across the city,” ADA Coordinator Hillary Roman said. “A thorough, updated transition plan will provide a framework for how we can improve our service to the disability community.”…

Maine in need of more handicap-accessible housing

January 12, 2022 | Source: News Center Maine

Finding housing in Maine is not easy for anyone right now, and it’s even more challenging for those who need to find handicap-accessible accommodations. Some are even resorting to moving into homes that aren’t accessible for them to have a place to live. Joshua Weidemann, 32, is one of those people. He has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. He said it’d been a challenge to find housing. “Group homes are closing, shared living [homes] are closing, where are we gonna place our people?” Weidemann said…

911 accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing

January 12, 2021 | Source: Waxahachie Sun

What efforts are out there for 911 accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing communities? The Americans With Disabilities Act, which passed into law July 26, 1990, states that “all Public Safety Answering Points must provide direct, equal access to their services for people with disabilities who use a teletypewriter, which are also known as a ‘telecommunications device for the deaf.’ ” Title II of the ADA specifically addresses the requirements of telephone emergency service providers, which includes police, fire, and EMS…

Exclusive Interview With Accessibility Advocate and Inclusion Champion Alycia Anderson

January 13, 2022 | Source: Jasmine de Guzman- Monsido

Alycia Anderson is an accomplished TEDx motivational speaker, published writer, corporate inclusion consultant, and founder of The Alycia Anderson Company. She holds a European Master’s Degree in Adapted Physical Activity, emphasizing the benefits, practices, and principles of inclusion. Alycia is an internationally recognized speaker and has spoken at multiple renowned organizations including Abercrombie & Fitch, Arizona State University, and Fleishman Hillard…

These Salt Lake City theaters put accessibility and inclusion center stage

January 13, 2022 | Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

Two Salt Lake City theater groups have worked recently to help people with disabilities experience live performance — as actors and audience members, giving them accessibility and representation. In recent months, Salt Lake Community College’s Black Box Theatre produced a play that included actors with autism in the lead role of a character who also has autism, and Salt Lake Acting Company has remodeled its space to better accommodate actors and audiences with disabilities, and offered shows catering to these audiences…

Blind students fight for accessible college classes

January 13, 2022 | Source: EdSource (Podcast)

In 2017, two blind students in the Los Angeles Community College District filed a lawsuit claiming that they and other blind students weren’t given accessible materials in math classes. The students say that without materials in braille or audio, or tutors to read the material out loud, the classes are almost impossible to pass, effectively barring students from transferring to a four-year college. California’s largest community college district is planning to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that federal disability rights laws don’t cover “unintentional discrimination.”…

East Harlem restaurant’s accessibility makes it welcoming to all

January 13, 2021 | Source: FOX 5 New York

Accessible for all — it’s not only the tagline of Contento, it’s what makes the restaurant unique. This East Harlem eatery is the brainchild of Yannick Benjamin. After a tragic accident on the West Side Highway left him a paraplegic, he is proof that your life can change in an instant. At the age of 25, he was told he’d never walk again and that a physically demanding and stressful restaurant job probably wasn’t a good idea. But Benjamin’s dad, brother, and cousins were all in the restaurant business. So despite being told that being confined to a wheelchair meant he needed to get a day job, he forged on…

Website accessibility problems create legal peril for online retailers

January 13, 2022 | Source: Digital Commerce 360

New research shows the ways lackluster—or nonexistent—accessibility features on retailer websites continue to make retailers vulnerable to a growing wave of web accessibility lawsuits. And so far, the courts are not offering much guidance to retailers. The number of such lawsuits in the United States exceeded 10 per day in 2021, a 15% increase compared with 2020, according to a year-end analysis from UsableNet Inc., a web accessibility technology provider. In total, the research found, U.S. plaintiffs filed 4,055 web accessibility lawsuits in 2021, up from 3,503 in 2020…

Jack Fact — According to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, about 1.5 million Canadians identify as having sight loss, and more than 5.5 million others have an eye disease that could cause it.

Hit The Road Jack — Disabled people are speaking out about Travelodge’s accessible room policy& Disney Park Makes Major Change to Accessibility Program

International News

Disability supply store in quarrel with Tallinn over accessibility

January 7, 2022 | Source: ERR- Estonia

Enn Leinuste created set up Invaru, a shop selling assistive and nursing equipment for people with reduced mobility, 17 years ago in a building specifically picked because it had a wide sidewalk in front, leaving people with reduced mobility some 10 m of space for movement. Clients using wheelchairs and crutches could also drive right to the store’s front door, which made it significantly easier to shop. There is also tram and bus stops nearby, which was critical in choosing the location at Peterburi tee 14a…

People with disabilities have experience of a lifetime at scout jamboree

January 7, 2022 | Source: ABC News- Australia

Thousands of people have enjoyed a range of outdoor activities this week, from abseiling to robotics, at the VicJam Scouts event in Elmore, Central Victoria. But for around 20 people with special needs, more thought was needed for them to take part in activities. Some of the scouts in Sue Adams’ group never would have imagined they would be able to go on a flying fox or do pioneering. “The smiles on the faces of my youth members, it’s just so amazing,” she said. “They have grins from ear to ear.”…

Bhopal: Wheelchair-bound motivational speaker says it doesn’t need money, only sensitivity

January 8, 2022 | Source: The Free Press Journal- India

Titled Samaanta- Accessibility for all, her campaign is already on social media. And once the current upsurge in the Covid-19 cases subsides, she plans to take it to the ground level. With the help of volunteers, she proposes to conduct an audit of all public places in the city to find out whether and to what extent they are disabled-friendly. We will interview heads of institutions and sensitise them towards the needs of disabled people, she told Free Press…

Government releases revised universal accessibility guidelines

January 9, 2022 | Source: The Hindu- India & Times Now & India Education Diary

From the design plan to the implementation, various aspects of the built environment have been covered under the new guidelines for universal accessibility recently drafted by the Centre. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) released the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021 through its website in December 2021. However, an official associated with the project said a few minor tweaks were pending…

CHR: ‘Make transportation accessible especially to people with impairments’

January 10, 2022 | Source: Manila Bulletin- Philippines

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has urged transportation authorities to assure the provision of “accessible transportation” to the public, including people with physical impairments. It pointed out the case of a person with disability (PWD) who struggled to climb the staircase of a train station of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) in Manila. His photo became viral on social media. Through Spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia, the CHFR called on the administration of the LRT and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) to make sure that train stations and train facilities are functioning well and catering even to people with unique needs…

Beijing 2022 promotes accessibility for Paralympians

January 10, 2022 | Source: CGTN- China

The 2022 Winter Paralympics are scheduled to begin on March 4. CGTN’s Sun Tianyuan sat down with Yang Jinkui, director general of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee’s Paralympic department to find out how China is preparing. CGTN: There are 30 venues, both for competition and non-competition, at this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. How much work has been done to upgrade the facilities and make them more accessible for people with disabilities?…

Visually-impaired not enjoying full range of technology advancements

January 10, 2022 | Source: The Sun- Malaysia

Technological advancement has taken humans to a never-before-experienced level of convenience. Unfortunately, it has not had quite the same impact for the visually impaired. For instance, touch-screen technology is great, but only for the sighted. Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) chief executive officer George Thomas pointed out that apart from vision loss, several external challenges contribute to low access to digital technology for the visually impaired…

How Jerusalem Is Becoming More Accessible to Visitors With Disabilities

January 12, 2022 | Source: Travel + Leisure- Israel

Jerusalem is becoming more accessible to visitors with disabilities, allowing even more people to discover its historic alleyways and sites just as the country starts welcoming American tourists again. To help people get around, the city has installed ramps to make its stone streets wheelchair accessible and made improvements to nearly four miles of Jerusalem’s alleyways, the Israel Ministry of Tourism shared with Travel + Leisure. Bluetooth devices known as beacons have also been installed for those who are visually impaired, which are compatible with an app called “Step-Hear.”…

Lessons from Chennai on accessibility for the disabled

January 12, 2022 | Source: The New Indian Express- India

Persons with disabilities in India face gross inequalities at every turn. The most fundamental of their needs—accessible public spaces—is most often an afterthought for planners, despite the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016. If persons with disabilities use any public spaces at all, it is more often than not in the absence of state efforts. However, one initiative of the Chennai Corporation that dates back to 2016 shows what is possible when the state considers diverse needs…

Experts at Dubai summit seek better travel facilities and accessibility for people of determination worldwide

January 12, 2021 | Source: Gulf News- Dubai

Leaders, experts, other stakeholders from the UAE and around the world called upon cities and airports to offer better services, facilities to people of determination in order to make travel more accessible to them. A panel of experts, including Paralympic athletes, leaders and experts with disabilities unanimously raised the need for travel facilities to be improved at the second edition of Dubai Accessible Tourism International Summit (DATIS 2022) held here today…

Visually impaired say real estate sites need work

January 12, 2022 | Source: The Globe and Mail- Canada

To a visually impaired person, the average real estate listing website can be indecipherable. Accessibility of most digital services remains a huge stumbling block in Canada, but one of the things a sighted person takes for granted when looking at Realtor.ca or some other online listings portal is how much work the pictures do to itemize the elements of a home that is for sale. A blind or visually impaired person may not be able to tell if there is a large bay window in the dining room; they can’t see that the kitchen has no upper cabinets or that there are unfinished floors in the house…

Accessibility should be considered when removing snow in Whitehorse, residents say

January 12, 2021 | Source: Yahoo News- Canada

Over the past few weeks, the Yukon has received record-breaking amounts of snow. As of this week, there’s about 60 centimetres on the ground. That’s making it’s difficult to get around the streets — and it’s even harder for people with mobility challenges. Darryl Tait, a Whitehorse resident, says unplowed streets and sidewalks are a huge barrier for him as it becomes almost impossible for him to move from his car to his destination. “Around here, when it does snow like this, you kind of just stay at home for a bit and wait for the city to catch up. Because you know that you’re just not going to be able to go do anything,” Tait said…

TD focusing on accessibility to widen the talent pool

January 12, 2022 | Source: Benefits Canada

The Toronto Dominion Bank is diving into a talent pool that has long gone overlooked by making assistive technology for employees with a disability widely and readily available. “Persons with disabilities are the most under-employed group out there,” says Bert Floyd, the bank’s senior information technology manager of assistive technologies. “There’s a lot of great talent out there and being aware of the assistive technologies and being able to deploy them gives hiring managers the strategic advantage to be able to hire that top talent. You can focus on the people with the best abilities, which only increases your resource pool.”…

Hull NHS trust aiming high for accessibility, usability and inclusion

January 14, 2022 | Source: Public Sector Executive- UK

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, it has never been more important to ensure all users can access online services and understand digital content. This is especially true for people with disabilities, neurodifferences and low literacy. Recent research has shown that 98% of websites fail to meet accessibility standards. That means they may not be accessible to the 14 million people in the UK with a disability. It has also been reported that one in four people aged over the age of 50 have faced problems accessing products and services online during lockdown…

East West Rail links with industry, academic and accessibility leaders for advisory group

January 14, 2022 | Source: New Civil Engineer- England

Leading lights from industry and academia have joined an East West Rail Company (EWR) advisory group to aid development of the major rail project between Oxford and East Anglia. The group is chaired by Stratospheric Platform chief executive Richard Deakin and features seven leaders in the fields of customer experience, civil and mechanical engineering, environment, disability and accessibility, digital technology and rail. The panel’s remit is to look for and encourage ideas that drive EWR’s ambition of having communities, customers and the environment at the core of the project…

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