Accessibility in the News—8/31/18.

There were a few repeated themes this week: There’s still a lot of work do be done in making websites more accessible, both in business and in government. In elections, new technology and improved processes can foster more inclusive voting. And designs for people with disabilities are appearing in housing and buildings, fashion design, and other products and services. Some of this growth is due to people wanting to age in place in their own homes.

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AITN Quote of the Week

“Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely and who rely on you”

― John McCain

Born: August 29, 1936, Coco Solo, Panama

Died: August 25, 2018, Phoenix, AZ

National News (U.S.)

Technology removes barriers to casting vote

August 24, 2018 | Source: The Villages Daily Sun | Technology, Cognitive, Voting

Sumter, Lake and Marion counties are rolling out new voting machines that will accommodate every voter this election season, regardless of physical or cognitive disability. Florida voters who need voting assistance can receive personal help at the polls, can vote by mail, can participate in supervised voting or can use the latest voting technology offered in the tri-county area. The new technology includes a $3,500 machine called ExpressVote that can aid voters in a variety of ways and is available at all voting precincts across The Villages…

New building guidelines in Rochester designed for more accessibility

August 24, 2018 | Source: 13WHAM & City of Rochester | Building/Facilities, Accessible Design, Housing

New construction guidelines for the City of Rochester will make it earlier for people with disabilities to visit buildings with little to no help, city officials said Friday. The guidelines dictate that all one and two-family homes built with support from programs sponsored by the city are built to allow people with disabilities to visit them with minimal assistance from other people. People in the housing development community gave feedback to help craft the guidelines…

Caring for Aging Parents, with an Eye on the Broker Handling Their Savings

August 24, 2018 | Source: NY Times | Aging, Housing, Assisted Living

Tracey Dewart faced a daunting task last summer: moving her 84-year-old mother, Aerielle, from her Manhattan apartment to an assisted living facility in Brooklyn. Her mother, who has Alzheimer’s, didn’t want to go, but there was little choice after she was found wandering near her home on the Upper East Side several times. It was “physically and emotionally a horrible and overwhelming time,” said Ms. Dewart, 58. “It felt like there had been a death in the family as we had to sort through all of my parents’ belongings.”…

Missouri pair makes map of handicapped-accessible restrooms

August 25, 2018 | Source: Kansas City Star & U.S. News & World Report | Accessible Design, Awareness, Inclusion

A Missouri couple have created an online map that shows where there are bathrooms suitable for people with disabilities who need assistance from a caregiver. David Nykodym, a professional geographic information system specialist, and Christina Ingoglia, an associate professor at Columbia College, began working on the tool last month, The Columbia Missourian reported. The couple previously had to memorize locations with accessible bathrooms for their daughter, Lily, who has Mowat-Wilson syndrome, a cognitive and speech impairment diagnosis…

Chalk art helps raise awareness about wheelchair accessibility

August 25, 2018 | Source: Mankato Free Press | Mobility, Awareness, Inclusion

State Patrol Trooper Gabe Cornish was among the able-bodied supporters who got a taste of navigating Mankato streets in a wheelchair Saturday afternoon. “That’s tougher than it looks,” Cornish said after he awkwardly rolled across E. Jackson Street and onto the sidewalk. “Even a slight elevation change, you really notice it.” The crossing between the downtown Mankato post office and Consolidated Communications is actually one of the easiest for wheelchair users, Khadijah Fitzgerald informed the trooper and his family…

Designing for People with Disabilities is Good Business

August 25, 2018 | Source: Temple Daily Telegram | Accessible Design, Universal Design, Inclusion

Universal design is not a list of specifications, it is an approach to design that considers the varied abilities of users. Last week, a forum on universal design was held in Belton. Developers, architects, accessibility experts and a parent of children with disability spoke at the event. Jim Durham, registered accessibility specialist for the state of Texas, talked about how universal design is good business. There are several principals of universal design: Equitable use, flexibility in use, simple intuitive use, tolerance for error, local physical effort and size and space for approach…

Is your website shutting out 20 percent of potential customers?

August 26, 2018 | Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | Digital Accessibility, Discrimination, Business

It is safe to say that when businesses decide to build a new office, no blueprint will get approval without including accessible features such as ramps and elevators. This is a sign of great progress and a commitment by the business community to be inclusive of the nearly 60 million Americans who live with a disability. Yet, while most businesses understand or are aware of the importance of making their brick-and-mortar presence accessible, the opposite is the case when it comes to their digital space…

Omahans file lawsuits against 87 businesses citing discrimination of people with disabilities

August 26, 2018 | Source: World Herald | Lawsuits/Litigation, Discrimination, Disability Rights

The lawsuits keep coming. Sometimes one a week, sometimes two. A steadily growing mountain of legal complaints. Since moving to Omaha last year, Zach Hillesheim and Melanie Davis have filed federal lawsuits against 87 businesses, alleging discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Their targets include a wide swath of Omaha businesses: motels, gas stations and fast-food restaurants as well as local names like Kaneko, Ted & Wally’s, the Shoppes at Aksarben, Pitch Pizzeria, Wheatfields, the Nebraska Humane Society and more…

Blind gay man develops coming of age book written by people with disabilities

August 26, 2018 | Source: LGBTQ Nation | Blindness/Visual Impairment, Awareness, Inclusion

A gay man who was mutilated in a 2011 attack has taken the tragedy that left him blind and turned it into an invaluable opportunity for others. Meet Belo Miguel Cipriani. The life-altering incident occurred when Cipriani was just 26 years old. The San Francisco resident was bashed while walking through the Castro District. The attack was never designated a hate crime. In fact, it’s not clear even now what exactly happened and why, but one thing was crystal clear: his eyes were nearly kicked out of his head…

Blind woman sues Brooklyn Brewery over ‘inaccessible’ website

August 27, 2018 | Source: Brooklyn Paper | Blindness/Visual Impairment, Digital Accessibility, Discrimination

A blind woman hauled the owners of Brooklyn Brewery to civil court on federal discrimination charges for allegedly failing to provide a handicapped-accessible website, her lawyer said. Queens resident Himelda Mendez got all hopped up after she visited brooklynbrewery.com earlier this month and found the website “inaccessible” because it was not designed to work with the screen-reading program she uses to browse the web — a discovery she claimed caused her “irreparable harm,” according to a complaint document her attorney filed in Manhattan Civil Court on Aug. 21…

Almost all state websites fall short somewhere, report finds

August 27, 2018 | Source: StateScoop & Report- PDF & Wall Street Journal & U.S. News & World Report | Digital Accessibility, Government, Discrimination

Whether it’s security, accessibility, speed, or all three, a new study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) shows that states have more work to do to improve their online presences. Alaska has the fastest websites of any state government. Mississippi’s are the most mobile-friendly. Utah’s and Idaho’s are, theoretically, the most secure. And Virginia’s are the best overall. That’s according to the ITIF, a science and technology think tank, which shared the results of a detailed study on Monday concluding that while some state websites are better than others, nearly all of them fall short in at least one critical area…

Student Disability Access Center expands digital presence

August 27, 2018 | Source: University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily | Higher Education, Digital Accessibility, Accessible Design

The Student Disability Access Center has been implementing changes to make Grounds more accessible for all students, particularly improving its web resources and establishing its presence. The SDAC is utilized by students with learning or physical disabilities and other accommodation needs. After completing an intake and eligibility process, students are able to use the center as a resource based on their unique circumstances — whether that be academically, physically or emotionally for example…

UBS and Edward Jones Reach Settlements in Disabilities Act Class Action

August 28, 2018 | Source: Financial Advisor IQ | Digital Accessibility, Litigation, Blindness/Visual Impairment

Wirehouse UBS and regional powerhouse brokerage Edward Jones each recently settled with Luc Burbon, a blind resident of Queens, N.Y., who has filed dozens of proposed class-action lawsuits based on allegations that visually-impaired and blind individuals cannot access the firms’ websites. On Aug. 14, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, the federal judge presiding in Burbon’s case against UBS, issued an order stating it had been advised of the settlement…

Online student aims to be pastor for the disabled

August 28, 2018 | Source: GCU Today | Faith/Religion, Education, Digital Accessibility

Don’t try to walk a day in Raymond Carawan’s shoes. He doesn’t want you to. God has challenged this Grand Canyon University online student with a variety of disabilities, but Carawan embraces his ailments. He says they’re his fight and his alone. “I wouldn’t have the strength I do if anything were different,” he said. “It frustrates me when people want to pray to my face for healing because I’ve told people over and over we live in too much of an ablest society. It is not always God’s will for you to be physically healed. Paul and Timothy had their ailments, yet they healed people…

Expert Opinion: Defending Lawsuits under Title III of the ADA

August 28, 2018 | Source: Chain Store Age | Litigation, ADA, Advocacy

Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act ensures that individuals with disabilities are not discriminated against with respect to the actions and activities of owners or operators of places of public accommodation such as shopping centers and strip malls, restaurants, physicians’ offices, zoos, amusement parks, museums, theaters, convention centers, arenas and stadiums. Historically, Title III lawsuits brought by individuals or public advocacy groups have focused on physical or access-related issues with respect to places of accommodation — issues that are commonly referred to as architectural barriers…

Mindy Scheier Designs Clothing For People With Disabilities That They Actually Want To Wear

August 28, 2018 | Source: Huffington Post | Fashion, Accessible Design, Inclusion

When fashion designer Mindy Scheier’s middle child, Oliver, came home one day and told her he wanted to wear jeans to school rather than sweatpants, she was faced with a conundrum. Oliver has a rare form of muscular dystrophy, which causes him to struggle with everyday tasks, such as dressing himself. Would she tell her then-8-year-old that he couldn’t wear what everyone else got to wear, or could she figure out a way in which he could? She chose the latter, altering a pair of jeans to accommodate his leg braces. And with that, the Runway of Dreams Foundation was born…

Seven Companies Making Fashion More Inclusive For Kids With Disabilities

August 29, 2018 | Source: Huffington Post | Fashion, Inclusion, Disability Rights

In recent years, well-known brands like Target, Zappos and Lands’ End have begun introducing adaptive clothing lines for children. Aerie recently featured a model who uses a wheelchair and another with an ostomy pouch. These are surely great strides, but behind all that big-name marketing are the people leading a grassroots movement for more inclusion in the fashion world, especially for kids. Gracie Benedith-Cane’s 11-year-old son, Wani, is legally blind. As he got older, she looked for a way to give her son the pride many kids feel when they get themselves dressed in the morning…

Overcoming Professors’ Skepticism About Digital Accessibility

August 29, 2018 | Source: Inside Higher Ed | Digital Accessibility, Higher Education, Discrimination

Dan Smith was frustrated. A colleague had just told him he needed to make his online Introduction to Theater course more accessible, in compliance with federal law and a new mandate from the Michigan State University administration. Smith immediately objected on two fronts: he didn’t have time, and he didn’t feel he should have to do something just because administrators demanded it. “A lot of it is, once you’ve got a class that you’ve got the ball rolling on it … for six years, you have this expectation that the class runs itself,” Smith told “Inside Digital Learning.”…

Vacation Rental Property Businesses Are Subject to Americans With Disabilities Act’s Accessibility Enforcement Guidelines

August 29, 2018 Source:Markets Insider | ADA, Businesses, Accessible Design

The Rocky Mountain ADA Center (RMADAC), a member of the National Network of ADA Centers, along with research partners the Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities and University of Montana, Missoula, is pleased to make available its latest 2018 Rapid Response Research Project outlining criteria for Vacation Rental Properties (VRPs) businesses. According to the report: Based on the review of current legal policy, any Place of Lodging, as well as Hotel-like Accommodations and Transient Lodging intended or designed to be used as a public accommodation, is subject to ADA accessibility and enforcement guidelines…

Disability Access Lawsuits Are Rising. How Do You Mitigate Risk?

August 29, 2018 | Source: National Law Journal | Lawsuits/Litigation, Awareness, ADA

Website accessibility filings are at an all-time high and, according to our data crunching and projections, expected to keep climbing. Why are they so popular? Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires businesses that provide goods and services to the public to, among other things, provide physical facilities that are accessible and to provide auxiliary aids and services as necessary at no extra charge to ensure effective communication with individuals with disabilities…

Design for living: Modifications can remove the obstacles to aging in place

August 30, 2018 | Source: Washington Post | Accessible Design, Aging, Housing

Rebecka Snell, 65, says she knew that if she and her husband Vic Labson were to continue living in their 1960s ranch home in Lakewood, Colo., improvements would have to be made to create a safer and more enjoyable space. Moving the washer and dryer from the walk-out basement to the main level was high on her wish list. “It was not just going up and down stairs; it was carrying laundry baskets up and down the stairs,” Snell said. She consulted with Barbara Barton, a master kitchen and bath designer and certified Living In Place professional in Littleton, Colo., who laid out a plan to provide a suitable and comfortable space…

Researchers 3D-print prototype ‘bionic eye’ that could one day cure the blind

August 30, 2018 | Source: V3 | Blindness/Visual Impairment, Higher Education, Innovation

A team of researchers has edged one step closer to developing a “bionic eye” that could one day help cure blindness. The breakthrough by researchers at the University of Minnesota comes in the form of a prototype that was created by fully 3D printing an array of light receptors on a hemispherical surface. “Bionic eyes are usually thought of as science fiction, but now we are closer than ever using a multi-material 3D printer,” said Michael McAlpine, co-author of the research study and University of Minnesota Benjamin Mayhugh Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering…

Jack Fact — New government research finds 61 million U.S. adults – about 1 in 4 Americans – have a disability that impacts a major part of their life. According to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common disability type, mobility, affects 1 in 7 adults. With age, disability becomes more common, affecting approximately 2 in 5 adults age 65 and older.

International News

Public buildings made accessible to blind with ‘voice navigation system’

August 21, 2018 | Source: AMP- Israel & Healio | Innovation, Blindness/Visual Impairment, Accessible Design

An Israeli developer of solutions to aid blind and visually impaired people has launched a new system that helps users to navigate public places using voice commands. RightHear issues users with real-time voice cues, through their own smartphone, about their precise indoor location, directing them and narrating the surroundings around them. The voice notifications are based on information received from Bluetooth beacons located in the building. The sensors are installed by the building staff by attaching them to the wall with a sticker…

Closing the Financial Services’ Accessibility Gap

August 24, 2018 | Source: Project Syndicate- UK | Inclusion, Banking, Awareness

Financial inclusion is an often-overlooked component of development policy, and this is especially true when it comes to people with disabilities. But with disabled people representing a market possibly worth $1 trillion, the financial-services sector has every reason to take the lead on the issue. Last month, the United Kingdom hosted the first-ever Global Disability Summit to help focus the world’s attention on the needs of people with disabilities. The agenda was packed with topics like building equitable education, ending discrimination, and bringing technology to disabled communities – especially poor countries in the Global South…

Building owners asked to provide accessibility for PWDs

August 24, 2018 | Source: Philippine News Agency | Discrimination, Buildings/Facilities, Awareness

Building owners inspected by the Antique Provincial Council on Disability Affairs (PCDA) are being asked to provide the needed access for persons with disabilities (PWDs). Antique provincial board member Fernando Corvera, who presided the PCDA quarterly meeting at the Sumakwel Hall of the Capitol on Friday, said there is a need to ask the six building owners audited by the member agencies of the PCDA to comply with Batas Pambansa 344 that mandates owners of buildings, institutions, establishments and public utilities to install facilities and other devices for the mobility of disabled persons…

Guam’s blind community demands better accessibility for voting

August 25, 2018 | Source: Kuam News- Guam | Blindness/Visual Impairment, Voting, Inclusion

The island’s blind community are among the many that headed to the polls to cast their votes. Gerard Cruz – who has No Light Perception – tells KUAM he had to make special arrangements with the Guam Election Commission to ensure they had an autoMARK voting machine at his precinct, George Washington High School in Mangilao. Cruz says the GEC isn’t in compliance with law that requires accessible voting at each of the precincts. “We want full inclusion…

Explore the world with Lonely Planet’s Accessible Travel Phrasebook

August 27, 2018 | Source: Disability Horizons- UK | Travel, Awareness, Inclusion

Part of what makes travelling with a disability tricky is trying to convey your needs to a total stranger, in another country and often a different language. That’s why Lonely Planet’s Martin Heng, a disabled traveller himself, has created an accessible phrasebook of disability-related terms. Disabled people travel – it’s a fact. And it’s not really surprising considering we’re just the same as everyone else – the same hopes, fears and aspirations. Well, perhaps a few more fears…

Disabled Accessibility Rules an Excuse to Expanding Mixed Prayer Kotel Plaza Without Permit

August 27, 2018 | Source: Jewish Press- Israel | Faith/Religion, Inclusion, Disability Rights

Under pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Jerusalem Municipality has approved a plan of the Israel Antiquities Authority to expand the mixed prayer area at the Western Wall, Ha’aretz reported Monday. The plan was approved based on a regulation that allows making changes in structures without a building permit, to serve the needs of people with disabilities. The plan was initially submitted by the IAA to the Jerusalem Municipality, and includes an expansion of the prayer area, as well as creating an access path to the site with accessories to help the disabled…

Why Booking an Accessible Taxi is a Sobering Business

August 27, 2018 | Source: iNews- UK | Awareness, Disability Rights, Discrimination

On the hunt for an accessible home and railing against the fact that the world is a wheelchair-unfriendly place I was in a mad rush the other night, needing to get home from work to go back out again, so I ordered an Uber. I also needed to complete an errand, and thought that I could do it as I was whisked to my destination. (I held out for a long time against Uber, preferring the knowledge and Knowledge of black cabs, and taking heed of stories about Uber’s corporate practises and problems with misogyny, but my values went under the wheels of its cheapness and convenience. Mea culpa.)…

‘It’s just freedom’: How wheelchair users are setting sail

August 27, 2018 | Source: The Globe and Mail- Canada | Leisure/Entertainment, Awareness, Inclusion

The Disabled Sailing Association of Ontario is using a special fleet of boats and companion volunteers to help its members experience the joy of taking to the water. Under the heat of a setting sun, the skipper eyed a marker floating in Toronto’s harbour and judged whether his small sailboat could get past on its current course. Too tight, he decided, so he did a quick turn, exchanging the vista of the city’s burgeoning skyline for the bucolic green of its harbour islands. Moments later he turned again, squeaked past the marker and started running with the wind on the last leg of the race…

Eifl Co-Launches New Marrakesh Treaty Guide

August 27, 2018 | Source: EIFL- Malaysia | Government, Inclusion, Disability Rights

EIFL co-launched a new practical guide to the Marrakesh Treaty for persons with print disabilities during the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress that is taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The new guide, titled ‘Getting Started. Implementing the Marrakesh Treaty for persons with print disabilities. A practical guide for librarians’, is mainly aimed at librarians in countries that have joined the Marrakesh Treaty, and where national implementation is completed or advanced…

Meet the People: Aljoša Škaper, the Man Behind Ljubljana by Wheelchair & Pridem.si

August 28, 2018 | Source: Total Slovenia News- Slovenia | Advocacy, Mobility, Discrimination

I broke my spine in March 2013, that’s five and a half years ago. Since then I’ve been bound to a wheelchair, my diagnosis is paraplegia. But we never know what the future will bring in terms of medical research, so as I like to say, I am just currently in a wheelchair. Unfortunately plenty of places in my home town of Murska Sobota are inaccessible, or hardly accessible. Some bars, restaurants, stores, even public offices. Also, while the theatre there has a solution in practice…well, let’s say it doesn’t work as well as it should…

Home renovation program for London seniors, disabled expanded to cover repairs

August 28, 2018 | Source: The London Free Press- Canada | Innovation, Aging, Inclusion

An extended city program is providing some relief to people who need repairs to stay in their home. The Ontario Renovates program, which is funded by the province and administered by the local municipality, provides grants or loans to low-to-moderate income seniors and people with disabilities. New this year, homeowners can apply for a forgivable loan up to $15,000 for home repair such as heating systems, doors, windows, floors and ceilings. The program also allows homeowners, tenants or landlords to apply for one-time grants up to $5,000 for home accessibility modifications…

EC lays special emphasis on making poll process accessible for PWDs, weaker sections of society

August 30, 2018 | Source: All India Radio- India | Government, Voting, Accessible Design

The Election Commission has laid special emphasis on making the poll process accessible for everyone one, particularly persons with disabilities and weaker sections of the society. Concluding the two-day visit of Madhya Pradesh ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat told reporters in Bhopal yesterday that the Accessible Observers will be appointed for the first time apart from other regular Observers during the elections…

Harsher penalties to stop workplace discrimination, boost accommodation

August 30, 2018 | Source: The Lawyer’s Daily- LexisNexis- Canada | Workforce, Businesses, Inclusion

Human rights legislation across the country prohibits discrimination on the basis of various protected grounds. Accessibility legislation such as the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) in Ontario seeks to remove barriers to employment for people who have disabilities. The message seems clear: in 2018, people should not be prevented from working due to barriers that have no relation to their ability to do their job. And yet our courts and tribunals continue to award nominal compensation when organizations discriminate against candidates or employees in contravention of human rights legislation…

Accessibility put to the test at foreshore

August 30, 2018 | Source: South Western Times- Australia | Advocacy, Government, Buildings/Facilities

Accessibility advocates put Koombana Foreshore’s new accessibility features to the test yesterday during a visit with the Bunbury Development Committee. Committee chairwoman Robyn Fenech said the creation of accessible public spaces was a key focus of the redevelopment. “One of the Committee’s priorities is to deliver inclusive public spaces that can be used by everyone including families, people with disabilities, teenagers and the elderly,” she said. “Feedback from this review will also influence design considerations for future stages of the project to ensure high-quality public spaces for the community.”…

Government Plans to Make Elections More Accessible For Disabled People

August 30, 2018 | Source: RightsInfo- Australia | Government, Voting, Accessible Design

The government has today announced a series of recommendations to make the electoral system more accessible for disabled people. This follows the Cabinet Office launching a call for evidence in September 2017 inviting a range of people with disabilities, organisations supporting people living with disabilities (charities, NHS Trusts, sector bodies) and organisations involved in the delivery of elections (such as local authority election teams) to have their say. The responses received were mainly from people with learning disabilities, people with lived experience of learning disabilities, wheelchair users, and people affected by sight loss…

Venue accessibility rating app puts events within reach for people living with disability

August 30, 2018 | Source: ABC News- Australia | Awareness, Accessible Design, Disability Rights

For people living with disabilities, going to a new place can be “like undertaking a research project” — but a new app is helping to remove that barrier with just a few swipes. Everywhere Venues was developed to rate disability access to venues and allow potential patrons to determine whether a space will suit their needs. The app allows users to book a registered location from an online database. Venues are rated based on accessibility to facilities and mobility requirements, and the app offers a ranking of the site’s accessibility…

How Accomable has expanded horizons for disabled travellers

August 30, 2018 | Source: Evening Standard- UK | Travel, Mobility, Awareness

When Srin Madipalli decided to take a career break from being a corporate lawyer in the city and go travelling, there was one issue that cropped up again and again: finding suitable places to stay. Madipalli has spinal muscular atrophy and uses a wheelchair to get about — so stairs are out and he needs to think about things like grab bars on baths. “Finding accommodation was a pain,” he says. “Where everyone else could do it with a few clicks. Why does one section of society have to have it so hard?”…

Can the blind really hear better?

August 30, 2018 | Source: Medical Xpress- EU | Blindness/Visual Impairment, Awareness, Cognitive

The human brain is extremely plastic, especially the visual processing centre. The function of the newly organised brain area in blindness is still a topic of intense debate. A vast amount of neuroimaging evidence indicates the occurrence of non-visual input processing in blind individuals. To provide a platform for further investigation into the nature of this brain activity, the EU-funded COcOAB project used magnetoencephalography (MEG). This helped determine the non-visual role in the occipital regions (visual cortex) of the brain…

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