Accessibility in the News — 9/16/2022.

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Feature Stories

FDA’s new OTC hearing aids could a first step toward better hearing for many Florida seniors

September 15, 2022 Source: WLRN

Arizona advocates have mixed response to over-the-counter hearing aids

September 12, 2022 Source: KTAR

Hear at last:OTC hearing aids available soon

September 14, 2022 Source: Quad City Times

Eighty-six-year-old Frank Jones volunteers at LovExtension in Tavares, a nonprofit that helps homebound seniors. We met there to talk about over-the-counter hearing aids. LovExtension President Linda Krupski and her sister were there, too. “He was just telling us he almost got hit by a truck yesterday,” Krupski said. Jones had experienced what he calls a close encounter with God two days earlier, while crossing a highway near his home in Eustis.

“[T]here it was right in front of me,” Jones said…

National News (U.S.)

Bruno the Brake Car joins “Thomas and Friends” as first character with autism

September 7, 2022 Source: CBS

Fans of “Thomas and Friends” will get to meet a new character, as Bruno the Brake Car joins Thomas the Tank Engine as the franchise’s first character with autism. Mattel announced the addition to the beloved British children’s show Wednesday. The company described Bruno in a news release as a “joyful, pun-making brake car” and plays a “vital role” in the show, which also airs in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries. He also has stairs and a lantern on his bright red exterior that indicates his emotional state and moves when he is excited or cautious…

Justice Department Files Discrimination Lawsuit Against Milwaukee Rental Property

September 9, 2022 Source: Department of Justice

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit alleging that the owner and managers of a rental property in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, harassed a tenant because of his sex, including his sexual orientation and his disability, in violation of the Fair Housing Act. Today’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, alleges that Dennis Parker, the onsite manager of the property, subjected a gay male tenant with a disability to unwelcome harassment, both verbally and through numerous text messages during his tenancy in 2020 and 2021…

FCC Pushes for More Accessible Emergency Alerts

September 9, 2022 Source: Radio World

The FCC this month is set to consider a Report and Order (RandO) to improve the clarity and accessibility of Emergency Alert System visual messages to the public. This includes persons who are deaf or hard of hearing who are often unable to access the audio message. One of the changes it could adopt at its Sept. 29 monthly meeting requires EAS participants, when they receive an EAS alert in the legacy format, to check whether a CAP version of the alert is available, and if it is, to send the CAP version rather than the legacy version…

Subtitle the world

September 9, 2022 Source: Morning Brew

Sirens blare and the roar of impatient drivers echoes in the background. Jake Giovanni, who is deaf, sits across from me in his apartment in Charlotte, North Carolina, to test out XRAI Glass—new tech that produces captions in real time for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Giovanni, 24, is one of the first in the US to see the tech in action. A compatible smartphone running XRAI Glass software captures audio while a pair of augmented reality glasses—in this case, the Nreal Air AR glasses created by Beijing-based Nreal—display captions on Giovanni’s lenses…

TLC Supercharges Money Pot To Put More Accessible Cabs On Road

September 11, 2022 Source: Patch

The city is proposing to more than triple the amount of money it collects on behalf of owners and drivers of wheelchair-accessible taxis through new surcharges geared at meeting a long-delayed 50% accessibility mandate. The Taxi and Limousine Commission’s proposed rules change would increase an existing 30-cent customer surcharge on all yellow and green taxi trips to $1 to help fund accessibility upgrades ordered nearly a decade ago as part of a landmark federal class-action lawsuit settlement. The settlement originally called for half of the then-13,237 medallion cabs to be accessible by 2020…

With early Alzheimer’s in the family, these sisters decided to test for the gene

September 12, 2022 Source: NPR

In some families, Alzheimer’s disease seems inevitable. “Your grandmother has it, your mom has it, your uncle has it, your aunts have it, your cousin has it. I always assumed that I would have it,” says Karen Douthitt, 57. “It was always in our peripheral vision,” says Karen’s sister June Ward, 61. “Our own mother started having symptoms at age 62, so it has been a part of our life.” Nearly a decade ago, Karen, June, and an older sister, Susie Gilliam, 64, set out to learn why Alzheimer’s was affecting so many family members…

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Justice Department Secures Settlement with Iowa School District Concerning Discriminatory Seclusion and Restraint Practices

September 12, 2022 Source: Department of Justice

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa announced today a settlement agreement with the Cedar Rapids Community School District in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to address the discriminatory use of seclusion and restraint against students with disabilities. The department’s investigation found that the school district inappropriately and repeatedly secluded and restrained students with disabilities as early as kindergarten in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)…

Justice Department Moves to Intervene in Disability Discrimination Suit Against San Juan, Puerto Rico

September 12, 2022 Source: Department of Justice

The Justice Department today intervened in a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by individuals with mobility disabilities against the City of San Juan, Puerto Rico under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504). The department’s complaint alleges that San Juan fails to provide people with mobility disabilities equal access to the city’s public sidewalk system. The department’s complaint alleges that there are widespread accessibility issues with San Juan’s sidewalks, including curb ramps that are cracked, too steep or nonexistent, and walkways that are uneven…

30 hikers who are visually impaired focus on what’s possible

September 12, 2022 Source: Rocky Mountain PBS

On the trail there’s a common thread among these hikers who have lost some or all their vision: We can do a lot more than people might think. “Both my parents had disabilities and I just never thought of myself as really having one,” said hiker Cynde Vaughn, who has vision and hearing loss due to Stickler Syndrome, a degenerative connective tissue disorder. “I usually thought of myself as having to convince other people that I could do whatever it was that was needed, but I just needed to find a different way. There are many ways to reach the same place.”…

Milwaukee officials highlight efforts to make voting accessible to people with disabilities

September 13, 2022 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Milwaukee disability voting rights event demonstrates ExpressVote machine

September 13, 2022 Source: WUWM

Ahead of the November election, Milwaukee officials are highlighting the steps they’re taking to make voting accessible — particularly for people with disabilities whose access to absentee voting has been the subject of recent litigation. “Now more than ever it is extremely important that voters with disabilities be aware of the accessibility of elections but also changing election laws,” Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg said during a press conference at Independence First…

Car Triple Parked Across Accessible Spots Ignites Fury: ‘Getting Blocked’

September 13, 2022 Source: Newsweek

Reddit users shared their frustration upon seeing a photo on the forum “Mildly Infuriating” that showed a car parked across three accessible parking spaces. “This a**hole’s parking,” read the title of u/Brutal_Expectations’ post, which amassed nearly 50,000 votes since it was shared on Friday. “Needless to say there was no ‘disabled’ sticker on the car.” Redditor u/Brutal_Expectations noted that they took the photo in Israel. According to Israel’s National Insurance Institute, permits are granted to people with disabilities to park in accessible parking spaces…

Benihana class action alleges website not accessible to visually impaired, blind

September 13, 2022 Source: Top Class Actions

Craft Breweries Hit With ADA Website Claims By Pacific Trial Attorneys

September 14, 2022 Source: Jeffer Mangels Butler and Mitchell

Western Union class action alleges website inaccessible to blind, visually impaired

September 15, 2022 Source: Top Class Actions

Benihana failed to design, construct, maintain and operate its website so that it is fully accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired, a new class action lawsuit alleges. Plaintiff Miriam Cruz claims Benihana’s online website contains “numerous” access barriers that prevent equal access to screen-reading software used by individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Cruz argues the alleged access barriers on Benihana’s website deny individuals who are blind or visually impaired with equal access to services provided to their non-disabled customers, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)…

Announcement of the U.S. Department of State’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan

September 13, 2022 Source: Department of State

The Department of State is releasing the essential components of its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan.  Per Executive Order 14035 on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley and her team have worked diligently with Department stakeholders and experts to finalize the Department’s five-year DEIA Strategic Plan and establish the Department’s first-ever Demographic Baseline Report.  The DEIA Strategic Plan was developed with input from all segments across our workforce…

How queer Fil-Am chef Woldy Reyes overcame deafness and used food to connect with others

September 13, 2022 Source: ABS-CBN

“Hello. My name is Woldy. I am a chef, and I am deaf.” That’s how Woldy Reyes, the man behind one of New York’s sought after catering services Woldy Kusina, greeted his Instagram followers recently, while also translating his message in sign language. It’s his contribution to Deaf Awareness Month which takes place every September. Being deaf was something Woldy was ashamed of when he was younger, because it made him feel inadequate, less of a person than the next kid. Over the years, however, he learned a lesson that will change his life and how he viewed the world around him: He needed to “love all the things that I am.”…

‘Does God Know Sign Language?’ Youth For Christ Creates Hope-Filled Community with ‘Deaf Teen Quest’

September 13, 2022 Source: CBN News

A leading mission organization is creating a space for deaf teens nationwide to encounter God, build their faith, and develop meaningful relationships. Since 2000, Youth for Christ’s Deaf Teen Quest has been helping deaf and hard-of-hearing teens discover God’s love in the midst of the challenges they face. “I had a deaf kid ask me once, ‘Does God know sign language?’ It broke my heart. I told him, ‘God has complete knowledge of everything about you — your heart, your soul, your mind, your spirit. He purposely designed you just the way you are,'” said Matthew Belwood, National Director at YFC’s Deaf Teen Quest…

How to help your neighbors with disabilities in a disaster

September 13, 2022 Source: KESQ

Preparedness is important when it comes to disasters, especially for people who can’t easily help themselves. Bobby Grassi is legally blind usually relying on his walking stick to get around. But if disaster strikes: “I’ll be dependent on people coming to help and if we have to evacuate, getting out of harm’s way,” said Grassi. Disabilities and special needs can make it harder to prepare for and respond to a disaster. Often, people who live with disabilities and special needs require help and more time when a disaster hits…

Optavia Class Settlement Providing Digital Access To The Blind Preliminarily Approved

September 14, 2022 Source: Mealey’s

A class settlement providing accessibility to a health and wellness company’s website, including its online store, within the next three years for blind individuals using screen-access software, a fee for the lead plaintiff and attorney fees was preliminarily approved Sept. 12 by a federal judge in Pennsylvania. Blair Douglass, a Pennsylvania man who is blind, filed a class complaint against Optavia LLC in April 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania alleging that the company violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181-12189, by failing “to make its digital properties accessible to blind individuals.”…

Here’s How People With Chronic Conditions Feel About Bill Hader Being The Only Celebrity Wearing A Mask At The Emmys

September 14, 2022 Source: BuzzFeed

From Sheryl Lee Ralph’s emotional acceptance speech to Jimmy Kimmel’s “white male privilege” to Zendaya’s second history-making win, the 74th Emmy Awards left us with some memorable moments. Celebrations and jokes aside, the auditorium was also packed with maskless people amid an ongoing pandemic that continues to kill more than 350 people every day in the US. One of the only exceptions to the maskless crowd was actor and writer Bill Hader…

High rents outpace federal disability payments, leaving many homeless

September 15, 2022 Source: NPR

After two months of sleeping in the Salvation Army Center of Hope homeless shelter in Charlotte, N.C., Margaret Davis has had no luck finding an apartment she can afford. The 55-year-old grandmother receives about $750 a month from the federal government. She’s trying to live on just $50 cash and $150 in food stamps each month so she can save enough for a place to call home. Davis is homeless even though she receives funds from the Supplemental Security Income program, a hard-to-get federal benefit that was created nearly 50 years ago to lift Americans who are older, blind or disabled out of poverty…

Poliovirus is spreading in New York. Here’s what you need to know

September 15, 2022 Source: Science News

A particular kind of poliovirus is spreading in the United States. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that the country now joins a list of around 30 other countries where circulation of the virus has been identified. Those countries include the United Kingdom, Israel, Egypt, Yemen and around two dozen in Africa. The news, announced September 13, comes after the identification in July of a case of paralytic polio in an unvaccinated adult in Rockland County in New York. Public health officials found the case was caused by what’s called a vaccine-derived poliovirus (find out more about this kind of poliovirus below)…

Lawmakers Urge Action on Accessibility

September 15, 2022 Source: Government Technology

Thirty-two House Democrats have come together to request in a letter that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) address digital accessibility issues by making regulations and other administrative actions well known. In the letter, addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland, DOJ’s recent issuance of guidance — the March 2022 Guidance on Web Accessibility and the Americans with Disabilities Act — was commended. However, it is noted that while the DOJ issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in 2010 to increase clarity in ADA regulations, the notice was withdrawn in 2017 by the Trump administration and a proposed rule was never issued…

Inclusive academic settings

September 15, 2022 Source: PHYS.ORG

Indiana high school students with disabilities who spent 80% of their educational time in general education classrooms scored higher on state reading and math assessments and were better prepared for post-secondary education and employment opportunities than their peers in less inclusive settings, according to a new study by Indiana University researchers. “We are currently in a time when the experience of ‘community’ is being stressed in multiple ways in our society,” said Hardy Murphy, study co-author and a clinical professor in the School of Education at IUPUI…

Jack Fact — According to the 2020-2021 Family Resources Survey, of the 14.6 million people in the UK who have a disability, 21 per cent are working age adults.

Hit The Road Jack — 8 Fantastic Wheelchair-Accessible Beaches In The U.S. and 5 of the best wheelchair-accessible hiking trails in the U.S. and All Bodies Welcomed: Cities With The Most Accessible Metro Systems and Travellers seeking inclusive choices but not seeing enough in advertising

International News

She flew on Air Canada to an accessibility conference. She landed with a damaged wheelchair

September 9, 2022 Source: CBC- Canada and Business Insider

Maayan Ziv says she did everything she could to make sure her wheelchair would arrive in one piece before she left Toronto for an accessibility conference in Israel. The accessibility advocate and chief executive says she called Air Canada to confirm they could transport her wheelchair on the trip to Tel Aviv, and arrived four hours before her flight on Wednesday to bubble wrap it and tell airline staff how to safely transport it. Despite all her precautions, she says her sister found her wheelchair “totally damaged” when their almost 11-hour flight landed Thursday morning…

India loses $118 bn annually in GNI due to childhood blindness: Report

September 9, 2022 Source: Business Standard- India

Over 9 Mn Indian Children Are Visually Impaired: Why Cases Of Childhood Blindness Are So High Here?

September 10, 2022 Source: The Health Site- India

India loses an estimated USD 118 billion annually in cumulative gross national income (GNI) due to childhood blindness, according to a report published by Orbis India. The report titled Cost-Benefit Analysis of Investing in Child Eye Health’ is based on 2020 estimates and reflects the economic losses incurred by India due to lost productive years as a result of childhood blindness spanning over a period of 35 years, and rising to USD 158 billion for 40 working years, a statement by the NGO said…

Places of work and education must be made more accessible

September 11, 2022 Source: The Daily Star- Bangladesh

Bangladesh has long been suffering from lack of employability among its vast population, but this situation is worse for people with disabilities (PWDs), despite the fact that in the modern era, the IT revolution has led to jobs that are less traditionally physical and office-oriented. It is estimated that around 16 million disabled people live in the country, making up almost 10 percent of the population. PWDs are often socially excluded and treated as outcasts in our society – a scenario that intensifies when the PWD is a woman due to patriarchal notions of a woman’s primary role as a caregiver…

PPC students hear of disability ‘talent pool’

September 12, 2022 Source: Law Society- Ireland

The vice-chair of the DisAbility Legal Network has told future solicitors that training is needed at every level, and in every profession, to “unlearn” the sub-conscious and conscious bias facing people with disabilities in the workplace. Caoimhe Grogan (pictured) was speaking at a lecture on equality, diversity, and inclusion at Blackhall Place last week. The lecture, organised by Colette Reid, formed part of skills training on the new Professional Practice Course (PPC) for trainee solicitors that started last week…

Air transport, accessibility and persons with disabilities

September 12, 2022 Source: Business a.m.- Nigeria

Equal and dignified access to air transport is covered by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. So persons with disabilities have the same international rights as other citizens. This applies to situations such as accessibility, and full and effective participation and inclusion in society, including freedom of movement and freedom of choice. Recently, ICAO Council approved the elevation of Recommended Practices to Standards concerning the air transport of passengers with disabilities…

Canadian Family Travels Before Children Succumb to Rare Genetic Condition Retinitis Pigmentosa, Eventually Blindness

September 13, 2022 Source: Nature World News- Canada

A Canadian family is taking a trip to see the world before three of their children develop retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic condition that can lead to blindness. When Canadian parents Sebastien Pelletier and Edith Lemay first started to notice that their daughter Mia had vision issues, their daughter was only three years old. Mia, the oldest of the four children, was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called retinitis pigmentosa, a few years after they first took her to a specialist. The condition results in a loss or deterioration in vision over time…

Accessibility arrangements for Her Majesty The Queen’s Lying-in-State

September 14, 2022 Source: GOV.UK and Wales Online and National World and Disability News Service

Guidance published this week for people visiting Her Majesty The Queen’s Lying-in-State at the Palace of Westminster sets out information on accessibility for disabled, D/deaf and neurodiverse people and people with long-term health conditions and mobility issues. Accessible queueing scheme for disabled, D/deaf and neurodiverse people and people with long-term health conditions and mobility issues. Step-free access and British Sign Language interpreters to help ensure people who need accessibility arrangements can pay their respects…

Seniors in public housing building in Halifax ‘devastated’ to lose accessible parking

September 15, 2022 Source: CBC- Canada

Darrell Aulenback is worried that losing the parking garage in his building will have a ripple effect on his life. He has a spinal injury and other health problems that make completing many daily tasks difficult, even with easy access to a vehicle. He is one of 18 residents of the Vimy Arms apartment building on Gottingen Street in Halifax who will lose access to their parking spots at the end of this month. In August, a bailiff handed the residents letters that said the parking garage would be closing and they would need to find somewhere else for their vehicles…

Most Beautiful Deaf Girl pageant to promote rights of PWDs – Organisers

September 15, 2022 Source: Pulse- Nigeria

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the second edition of the Most Beautiful Deaf Girl in Nigeria pageant will hold on Sept.17, in Abuja. The first edition was held in Lagos with Maria Okese from Delta emerging winner. “It is all about promoting the positive aspects of deafness and encouraging social, political, economic inclusion and equal access to education and healthcare. “When people come across the name MBDGN, they see fashion, glamour and beauty, but behind this initiative was to echo the issues bedevilling the deaf community…

Can 3D Printing Correct Color Blindness?

September 15, 2022 Source: 3D Natives- UK

3D printing could now treat color blindness according to a study conducted by Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa University of Science and Technology (UK). Otherwise known as color vision deficiency, this condition is an inherited eye disorder in which one or more of the three types of cones in the eye retina, responsible for color perception, are deficient. The most common form is red-green color blindness, but there are also individuals who have problems with yellow-blue colors…

Blindness: PWDs advocates eye screening before school enrollment to reduce risk

September 15, 2022 Source: NAN- Africa

Impairment people will likely suffer blindness 27 times quicker – NGO

September 15, 2022 Source: NAN- Africa

Stakeholders on Wednesday called for eye screening of children before school enrollment to reduce the risk of visual impairment and blindness. They made the call during the closing of the Kogi State Inclusive Eye Health (IEH) Programme, organised by Sightsavers Nigeria, in Abuja. Mr Jake Ekpele, President of the Albino Foundation, said introducing a policy by the government to ensure children were screened before school enrollment would reduce the number of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)…

Jordan: UN expert lauds efforts on disability rights and encourages international support

September 15, 2022 Source: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights- Jordan

The UN expert on the rights of persons with disabilities today welcomed Jordan’s commitment and political will to include people with disabilities in all aspects of society, following a 10-day official visit to the country. “Jordan stands out as a leader on disability rights in the region and was one of the first States to come to the table at the start of the process that resulted in the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Jordan was also among the first to ratify it”, said Gerard Quinn, Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, in a statement at the end of his visit…

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