The AXSChat Community hosts weekly video interviews and Twitter Chats covering topics relevant to how technology and innovation are shaping accessibility and inclusion efforts across our society.
Recently I was honored to sit down with hosts Debra Ruh and Antonio Santos where we discussed how litigation in the United States has supported adoption of accessibility and inclusion requirements, and how the A11y Community can assure legislation is followed and people with disabilities are included.
Watch the full video of the interview below, along with a transcript of the online Twitter Chat that followed.
Jack McElaney in #AXSChat – Curated tweets by A11yNews
I also included a summary of the discussion questions and my answers (sans hash-tags) here in this post.
AXSChat Questions and Answers
Q1 How has #litigation activity in the #USA supported the adoption of #accessibility and #disabilityinclusion? #AXSChat
Litigation certainly gets people attention and it gets the attention of mainstream press which helps educate people. When a legal letter or complaint is received by a CEO the threat of litigation forces organizations to react and pay attention to their digital assets. A reactive mode is a motivator to get educated.
Q2 should other countries adopt #litigation practices to help persons with #disabilities be included? #AXSChat
The European Accessibility Act is a significant step on the path of making the EU fully accessible for persons with disabilities. Canada’s first federal accessibility legislation received Royal Assent last week for Bill C-81 which is very progressive.
Q3 #Legislation often does not have any #consequences if it is not followed. What can we do as a #community to assure #laws are followed and #PwD are included? #CRPD #disabilityinclusion
In order for laws to be effective there needs to be penalties for #nonconformance. The enforcement of penalties or fines by various jurisdictions will change behavior. #Education is a major tool for motivating people to change also.
Q4 Why should a country adopt policies and legislation that helps remove #accessibility issues with #builtbarriers and #Digitialinclusion barriers for their citizens? #AXSChat #SDGs
When countries remove physical and digital barriers it invites equal access and inclusion. Accessible public transit allows people with disabilities to navigate cities which enhances employment potential. Enactment of such laws makes good economic and diversity sense.
Q5 The @UN has created the 17 #SDGs to assure we can all focus on the biggest world issues. The 17th #SDG focuses on partnership to achieve the goals. How can we implement to support #PwDs?
In order for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be successful there needs to be financial incentives and investments to attract partners plus significant advancements in technology to ensure inclusiveness for people with disabilities. Job training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities should be a main focus.
Q6 Jack McElaney @A11YNews of @microassist spends hours creating a weekly #accessibility #newsfeed to support our industry. Do you know of other good sources?
You can subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Accessibility in the News at www.microassist.com/digital-access/news
We also have a legal accessibility resource page found here: www.microassist.com/digital-accessibility/legal-resources
For twitter resources try following @LFLegal, @laura_carlson, @willowgreen1, @kmlauney, and @NFB_voice
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