From K-12 public schools to colleges and universities, accessibility for students with disabilities is becoming a greater concern, both for today’s students and tomorrow’s.

Accessibility in the News—11/9/18.

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Accessibility Lawsuits, How to Handle Them; How to Avoid Them

National News (U.S.)

How your eyes make sense of the world

November 1, 2018 | Source: National Geographic (Video)

How does the eye work exactly? In the latest video from Decoder, learn some of the extraordinary science behind how your eyes and brain work together to perceive the world around you…

Students create technological solutions to challenges facing people with disabilities and older adults in engineering course

November 1, 2018 | Source: Stanford News

Students who enjoy building, being creative and helping others might consider Engineering 110, Perspectives in Assistive Technology, a winter quarter course that focuses on creating technological solutions to the challenges and problems faced by the growing population of people with disabilities and older adults. The course explores the design and use of technology that benefits these populations. For 3 credits, students will pursue team-based projects that address problems faced by users of assistive technology…

New Schools Capital Plan Aims To Increase School Accessibility, Reduce Overcrowding

November 1, 2018 | Source: WYNC & Chalkbeat New York & NY1

The $17 billion capital plan for New York City public schools that officials say is “the largest ever” would significantly increase accessibility in a system where many students with physical disabilities are barred entry. The funds for the years 2020-2024 would be used to reduce overcrowding and end the use of trailers for classroom instruction, issues that have long been concerns raised by families and staff alike. But the most significant aspect would be the $750 million set aside to make one-third of schools accessible by the end of fiscal 2024…

Student Senate addresses accessibility

November 1, 2018 | Source: The Knox Student

Knox College offers senior Julia Steen certain accommodations for her Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), a disorder of the autonomic nervous system that sometimes impedes her ability to do things like climb stairs. Having those accommodations addressed in practice has been an uphill battle. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantees Steen classes on the first floor of academic buildings, but she says she has had professors openly express their agitation at having to move classrooms…

‘It’s always been a part of me’: UF students with disabilities

November 1, 2018 | Source: The Independent Florida Alligator

It was 4:59 p.m. Only one minute until Delainia Parrish could click on her future. Parrish knew she worked hard through four years of vigorous studying for classes and standardized tests, but she was still nervous. As her family huddled around her, she refreshed two laptops when she clicked on an email at 5 p.m. with her acceptance to UF. However, the future could have been different. Parrish was born with a physical disability from cerebral palsy — a neurological condition that affects movement, muscle tone and motor skills…

Panel discusses climate surrounding accessibility for students with disabilities at Iowa State

November 1, 2018 | Source: Iowa State Daily

A panel of students and instructors gathered in the Memorial Union on Thursday to discuss the climate surrounding accessibility for students with disabilities at Iowa State. The four students disclosed a range of disabilities they possessed, such as cerebral palsy, depression and dyslexia, among others. The panelists detailed the obstacles they have faced in acquiring accommodations for their disabilities, such as professors who are unwilling to assist, pressure from both peers and instructors to perform on the same level as their able-bodied counterparts as well as lacking the “appearance” of a disabled person…

Sophomore engineers work for accessible future

November 1, 2018 | Source: The Trinitonian

Students in Eliseo Iglesias’s Engineering Design III class have embarked on a yearlong project with a unique service-learning twist. Under the guidance of the staff at Student Accessibility Services, groups of students with a required sophomore standing will design devices to increase accessibility for people with vision impairments. At the end of the fall semester, students will have completed their initial plans for the project; by the end of the spring, students will finalize their project and create a presentation to explain their ideas…

Why don’t all Chicago crosswalks fulfill accessibility recommendations?

November 2, 2018 | Source: Curbed Chicago

For Chicago’s residents who are blind or visually impaired crossing the street isn’t easy. Cars don’t always stop behind the crosswalk, timing is different depending on the time of day, and the routes can be straight, diagonal or cross multiple lanes. It’s complex and the noise of L cars overhead plus buses, people, and bikes only add what needs to be heard before it’s safe to step off the curb and into the street. Sometimes crosswalks will have a beeping or buzzing that indicates when it’s safe to walk…

Employing Individuals with Disabilities May Solve Your Talent Crisis

November 2, 2018 | Source: Entrepreneur

There are more than 56 million people with disabilities in the U.S., which equates to one in five Americans identifying as having some form of disability. This means it is highly likely you already employ individuals with disabilities, and there is a highly motivated and talented resource waiting for your call. Too often, employers are given outdated social service reasons for building a strategy that is inclusive of disability. Yet, there is a persuasive business case for an inclusive and accessible workplace…

People With Disabilities Want Paychecks Not Pity: Here’s How Businesses Are Helping

November 2, 2018 | Source: Forbes

Despite reports that U.S. unemployment continues to drop, most people with disabilities are still unemployed. And, despite the recent focus on hiring a diverse workforce, developing disability inclusion practices has lagged far behind. Until now. New research from Accenture, in partnership with Disability: IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), reveals that companies that embrace and improve their policies and practices for inclusion of disabilities in the workforce significantly outperform their peers…

Alameda County Will Make Voting More Accessible to the Blind

November 2, 2018 | Source: National Federation of the Blind

Alameda County has agreed to take necessary and timely steps to provide equal opportunity for participation by blind voters in the county’s voting program. The agreement resolves complaints by three blind voters who live in the county. The National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s leading advocate for the voting rights of blind people, is also a party to the agreement, and will work with the county to help it implement accessible voting technology and other components of the agreement. The steps that Alameda County has agreed to take include:…

Sitka couple united in push for voter accessibility and in life

November 4, 2018 | Source: KTOO

Absentee voting is available in Alaska through Monday, Nov. 5, but not all registered voters can cast their ballot. Blind and visually impaired voters in need of special machines will have to wait until election day — and that doesn’t sit well with one married couple in Sitka. William Craig is legally blind and Helen Craig is legally deaf, and they want to see early voter accessibility for all. Like many couples with deep roots in Sitka, William and Helen Craig met at a social gathering at Sheldon Jackson College…

Landscape for those with disabilities changed since bishops’ statement

November 5, 2018 | Source: OSV Newsweekly

In the 40 years since the U.S. bishops approved their “Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on Persons With Disabilities” in 1978, the landscape for persons with disabilities has changed both within the church and within society, and largely for the better. “Some things have changed in the 40 years. If anything, disability is seen as part of a normal life. It’s ordinary, not exceptional,” said Jan Benton, executive director of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, who has been part of the organization since its founding in 1982…

Closing The Disability Inclusion Gap At Work: These 5 Research-Proven Ways Will Help You Start Today

November 5, 2018 | Source: Forbes

It’s one thing for a team’s leadership to say they want to be more inclusive and another to successfully put that vision into practice. Just starting the process can raise a lot of questions: How does the human resources department get involved? Where does the role of the chief diversity officer begin and end? And how does the information trickle down to managers and IT directors? The short answer: Being more disability-friendly has to be a cross-departmental, multi-level priority, involving every area of the business, from human resources to the IT department…

Parents demand a public school at proposed Glendale shelter site, and ADA accessibility districtwide

November 5, 2018 | Source: QNS

Community Education Council 24 is asking for big improvements to schools in the southwestern Queens district by issuing a set of resolutions to build a new school at a proposed homeless shelter site in Glendale, and requests that all of the district’s schools comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Demand for the 78-16 Cooper Ave. site not only goes along with work from Councilman Robert Holden, but leaders from CEC 24 want the possible facility in review by the School Construction Authority to act as a release valve for overcrowding, according to the resolutions…

Bernard Bragg, pioneering deaf actor who brought sign language to the stage, dies at 90

November 5, 2018 | Source: The Washington Post

Bernard Bragg, an actor who broadened the boundaries of the stage by co-founding the National Theatre of the Deaf, a pathbreaking company that provided a showcase for deaf performers such as himself and the elegant beauty of sign language, died Oct. 29. He was 90. His death was announced by the National Association of the Deaf. Other details were not immediately available. Mr. Bragg described himself as “practically born into the theater.” His father, like his mother, was deaf and had started an amateur acting troupe for the hearing-impaired…

Feds Prod Universities to Address Website Accessibility Complaints

November 6, 2018 | Source: Inside Higher Ed

Hundreds of colleges and universities across the country are currently under investigation by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights for failing to make their websites accessible to people with disabilities. Universities that receive federal financial aid are required by law to make reasonable accommodations to ensure their web content is accessible to everyone, including, but not limited to, people who are blind, deaf or have limited mobility. Awareness of the importance of web accessibility has grown among university leaders in recent years partly due to numerous well-publicized lawsuits…

A Smart City Is An Accessible City

November 6, 2018 | Source: The Atlantic

A group gathers on a Nashville street corner, some rolling in wheelchairs and others walking. They have arrived holding their smartphones and make friendly chatter while a coordinator helps them log in to an app. Dispersing in small groups, they examine restaurants, cafes, and shops, looking for features signaling that disability is welcome there: a parking sign with the International Symbol of Access, a wheelchair ramp, an automatic front door, a wide bathroom stall with grab bars, braille text, low-flicker lighting, glare-free floors, scent-free soap…

AI detects Alzheimer’s disease SIX years early – with 100% accuracy in small study

November 6, 2018 | Source: Daily Mail

Drinking coffee may reduce your chances of developing Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s

November 5, 2018 | Source: Science Daily

Historic breakthrough: WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience team first to use ultrasound to treat Alzheimer’s

October 29, 2018 | Source: The WVNews

A new artificial intelligence system can predict the development of Alzheimer’s with 100 percent accuracy and six years before the hallmarks that doctors use to diagnose the disease appear. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s and the effectiveness of the best treatments for the disease diminishes as it progresses. This means that early detection is the single best hope for the futures of the 44 million people living with Alzheimer’s around the world. Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), taught their AI how to detect subtle changes in the brain that would be imperceptible to the human eye…

ADA Cases May Have Diminished, but Legal Concerns Haven’t

November 6, 2018 | Source: Credit Union Times

The flood of federal lawsuits against credit unions whose websites allegedly don’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has waned dramatically in recent months, but one attorney is warning credit unions not to get complacent about their online presence. According to a CU Times analysis of court records, the number of federal, website-related ADA cases against credit unions has dwindled in the last several months from well over 100 to around a dozen. Most cases have settled, but courts have also dismissed some or part of at least 11 cases, largely finding that the plaintiffs’ lack of membership eligibility gave them no standing to sue…

LSAT Maker Hit With $480K in Fees for Disability Violations

November 6, 2018 | Source: The Recorder

A federal judge has ordered the Law School Admission Council to pay nearly half a million dollars in attorney fees to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing in connection to litigation over its accommodation of Law School Admission Test takers with disabilities. The California agency sought more than $567,000 in attorney fees after it successfully petitioned the court to hold the council in civil contempt for violating a 2014 agreement on how it would handle requests for accommodation on the LSAT…

On improving accessibility: A case for making campus more wheelchair-friendly

November 7, 2018 | Source: The Williams Record

Before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, many people with physical disabilities simply could not function in society. For these individuals, a single step up to a door may have been an impossible hurdle, and a staircase may as well have been a wall. In accordance with the ADA, public entities and private commercial facilities must be accessible to wheelchair users. New construction must comply with ADA standards, such as including ramps and elevators. Existing buildings have to be modified if doing so is “readily achievable.”…

Watch tiny robots swim through an eyeball to deliver medicine

November 7, 2018 | Source: Science (Video)

Although the mere thought of a swarm of microrobots burrowing into an eyeball is enough to make some people squirm, scientists believe tiny, controllable delivery vehicles could be the future of eye medicine. Now, researchers have developed a tiny, rotini-shaped spiral that could one day be deployed in the thousands for targeted drug delivery. Current treatments for eye diseases such as glaucoma or diabetic macular edema are delivered through direct injection or eyedrops. Those methods are effective but imprecise, often blanketing the entire eye in medication…

NWMLS update allows brokers to zero in on accessibility features

November 7, 2018 | Source: Curbed Seattle

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) announced updates today that let brokers and buyers zero in on accommodations for people with disabilities. For those unfamiliar with multiple listing service (MLS) databases like the NWMLS: They’re tools that real estate brokers use to share sales and listing information. The typical non real estate professional probably interacts with an MLS largely through aggregation services like Redfin, Zillow, or Estately. The NWMLS serves most of western Washington, including Seattle…

White-Gravenor Ramp Planned to Increase Accessibility

November 7, 2018 | Source: The Hoya

Ramp added to Campus Center following accessibility concerns

November 7, 2018 | Source: Sandspur

Georgetown University is set to construct a ramp to the entrance of White-Gravenor Hall to increase accessibility to the academic building. An upcoming renovation initiative aims to make White-Gravenor Hall more accessible by constructing a ramp to the front entrance of the building. The goal of the project is to create a “barrier-free, [Americans with Disabilities Act] accessible entry while meeting best historic preservation practices,” according to a university spokesperson. The project’s design is expected to be completed by early 2019, and construction is set to start in the summer of 2019, the spokesperson said…

As part of ongoing accessibility effort, Deerfield Library offers sensory kits

November 7, 2018 | Source: Chicago Tribune

Deerfield Public Library patrons looking for a little help concentrating are now able to utilize one of the library’s three sensory kits. Sensory kits became part of the library’s services a few months ago as part of an ongoing effort to make the building welcoming and accessible to everyone. “We want all of our patrons to feel comfortable in the library,” said Julia Frederick, a youth services librarian. “These have a calming effect. It helps people who like fidgeting.” The trio of kits are placed at the front entrance, adult services desk and youth services desk…

Researchers plan to create app for accessibility

November 7, 2018 | Source: The Ithacan

South Hill — the steep incline that Ithaca College’s campus is situated atop — may seem like an impossible challenge to climb for individuals who are not able-bodied. That’s why a group of students is leading a research project to map the slope of every path on the college’s campus in hopes of developing an app that would provide the best routes to get around for individuals unable to easily travel steep or otherwise precarious inclines. They are doing it with the help of a college physics professor and 3D laser–scanning technology, which will be used to survey the paths…

Traditional glaucoma test can miss severity of disease

November 8, 2018 | Source: Science Daily

The most common tests for glaucoma can underestimate the severity of the condition by not detecting the presence of central vision loss, according to a new Columbia University study. The study, published Nov. 8 in JAMA Ophthalmology, found that administering a variation of the visual field test that better assesses macular damage can improve diagnosis of glaucoma at no extra cost and an additional 10 minutes of examination time. “When looking for signs of early glaucoma, clinicians tend to focus on loss of peripheral (side) vision and seldom on the macula, the central area of the retina…

Jack Fact — According to Tourism Research Australia, the inclusive tourism market in Australia was worth $8.9 billion in the first quarter of 2017.

Hit The Road Jack —Abu Dhabi accessible travel guide to disabled friendly holidays

International News

Disability advocates criticize lack of teeth in new Manitoba accessibility regulations

November 1, 2018 | Source: CBC-Canada

A new law is now in force for Manitoba businesses, but don’t expect a bylaw officer to show up at your door any time soon. As of Nov 1, businesses and organizations in Manitoba should be following the letter of the law when it comes to providing accessibility for Manitobans with disabilities. The Customer Service Standard Regulation is the first of five areas to come into force under the Accessibility for Manitobans Act, which passed in December 2013, but at this point, officials are more interested in educating the public than imposing penalties on businesses…

Victoria’s $750,000 accessibility reserve fund makes improvement ‘not the side project’

November 3, 2018 | Source: Saanich News- Canada

Victoria’s Mayor Lisa Helps commends the “tremendous amount of work” David Willows put into his 53-page audit of the city’s accessible on-street parking. “To have engaged, active citizens like David Willows write a report, bring these things to our attention, to have our engineers taking him seriously and to have him at the same time working with other entities is amazing and that’s how we solve problems,” Helps said. Willows, the father of a child with disabilities, gave the council and engineering department of the City of Victoria his findings…

Kazakh entrepreneur seeks new ways to make movement more accessible for people in wheelchairs

November 4, 2018 | Source: Astana Times- Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan 100 New Face’s entrepreneur and Paralympic sportsperson Shahan Zholdasbayev directs all of his power and will towards creating an inclusive society by constructing ramps that allow people with limited mobility to easily move around the city. He expanded the social Pandus-Ok project into a company and now builds cost-effective lifts to help them feel like full members of society. For Zholdasbayev, 2007 was the year he was forced to redress his life after a terrifying car accident tied him to a wheelchair without a chance to walk again. He could hardly imagine how to move around the city on his own…

South Australia welcomes first accessible music festival

November 4, 2018 | Source: Talking Disability- Australia

Hosted by KYD-X and Lifetime Support, the all ages, outdoor music festival Sound & Vibes will be enjoyed by all at the Adelaide Showgrounds on Saturday 1 December. Justice Crew, DJ Josh, Nick Finn, J Milla, DJ DFoe, Rudely Interrupted, The Incredibles and Some Brown DJ will take the stage, with plenty of other activities on offer, including a chill out zone, silent disco, photo booths, ferris wheel, adult jumping castle, obstacle alley, market bazaar, face painter and crazy hair and tattoos…

UAE- Sharjah Crowned ‘Accessible City for the Physically Disabled’ at UN

November 4, 2018 | Source: MENAFN- UAE

In yet another proud global recognition of its reputation as a humane and people-friendly Emirate, Sharjah was formally crowned the “Accessible City for the Physically Disabled” by the World Federation of the Disabled during the World Cities Day at the United Nations, UN, in New York. The title was conferred on Sharjah at a special ceremony at the UN Headquarters. Dr Tariq Sultan bin Khadim, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Thiqah Club for the Handicapped, and a member of Sharjah Executive Council, received the citation on behalf of Sharjah…

Accessing the £249bn purple pound

November 5, 2018 | Source: Drapers- UK

New accessible shopping day Purple Tuesday will launch on 13 November with the backing of some of the UK’s biggest retailers. Drapers investigates how the industry is improving its accessibility and inclusivity. In the run-up to Christmas last year, Mike Adams, the CEO of disability organisation Purple, conducted a non-scientific shopping experiment. He visited 28 stores using a wheelchair pushed by his partner. In 23 of them the staff did not address Adams directly, even though he was the customer…

Microsoft’s chief accessibility officer: ‘We’re at the tip of the iceberg for what’s possible with tech’

November 7, 2018 | Source: Evening Standard- England

At Microsoft’s annual Future Decoded event in London this year, accessibility was a big topic of conversation. On stage, Microsoft demonstrated some of the innovations it has made in the space this year, such as its adaptive Xbox controller designed specifically for gamers with limited mobility and a new hiring programme for people with autism who were being left behind in the traditional recruitment process. At the core of this mission to use tech to empower people with disabilities is Microsoft’s chief accessibility officer, Jenny Lay-Flurrie…

Allison Hanes: Montreal has long way to go on accessibility

November 5, 2018 | Source: Montreal Gazette- UK

Brent Dicks knows better than most the limits of getting around Montreal for people of limited mobility. The 66-year-old Ville Émard resident has his left leg amputated below the knee. While he says he can manage to hobble downstairs on his prosthetic, he mostly uses a wheelchair. As such, he relies on the adapted transit service provided by the Société de transport de Montréal when he goes out, particularly to get to his thrice-weekly dialysis treatments at the Jewish General Hospital…

How hosting the Paralympic Games in 2026 could impact accessibility in Calgary

November 7, 2018 | Source: Global News- Canada

We have heard a lot about funding and the yes side and the no side, but if Calgary decides to bid on the 2026 Winter Olympics, it also comes with the Winter Paralympics. This would be the first time Calgary would be hosting the Paralympic Games because, in 1988, the Winter Paralympic Games were held in Innsbruck, Austria. David Legg, past president of the Canada Paralympic Association, joined Global News Morning Calgary on Wednesday to talk about what hosting the Paralympic Games in Calgary would mean for the city and the country…

MoD issues guidelines for inclusive building design, accessibility

November 8, 2018 | Source: Borneo Bulletin Online- Borneo

Minister of Development, Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suhaimi bin Haji Gafar presided over the official launching of the Different Abilities Design Guidelines booklet at the Ministry of Development (MoD) Training Centre yesterday. The minister said the guidelines provide a list of the objectives and requirements for mosques, government offices, commercial premises and other types of buildings in the country. “These buildings should be designed with access routes prepared for people with different abilities, including older persons who may have limited movement,” he said…

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