Accessibility in the News—11/10/16
In this issue of Accessibility in the News (AITN), advocacy in the U.S. and abroad is resulting in a higher profile for online accessibility for websites and mobile apps, and the importance of accessibility in a democratic elections process. Retail, banking, and real estate industry publications weigh in on the importance of online accessibility and the very real possibility of ADA litigation. Articles also cover training on making PowerPoint presentations accessible and an introduction to American Sign Language to viewers via a mother’s website.
To receive Accessibility in the News via email, send a subscription request to [email protected].
Toys R Us introduces ‘quiet hour’ to welcome autistic children
11/6 | Source: iNews | Autism | United Kingdom
Campaigners and parents of children with autism have called for retailers to follow the example of a major toy chain after it held a “quiet hour” to cater for those on the autistic spectrum Toys R Us today opened its doors an hour early after adapting its UK stores with measures tailored to meet the needs of children with autism, including dimmed fluorescent lighting and a ban on music and in-store announcements.
The American-owned retailer, which trialed the approach at its Leeds store two years, has now extended the pre-Christmas event to all its other UK stores after working in conjunction with campaign groups. Parents and campaigners praised the initiative as a lifeline for those on the autistic spectrum, who can struggle with loud noises and bright lights and thereby can find shopping trips an ordeal. There are some 700,000 autistic adults and children in Britain.
A handful of other retailers, including Asda in Britain, have tried similar schemes, including an American supermarket which has introduced a special check-out aisle with toys designed to calm children on the autistic spectrum…
Real Estate Companies Should Address Website Accessibility to Avoid Lawsuits
11/6 | Source: PR News Wire | Real Estate, ADA, Litigation, Website Accessibility | United States
The business of real estate has become increasingly digital, and agents and consumers rely on websites to share and find real estate information, market homes and conduct property searches. In fact, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors®, 95 percent of all recent buyers used the internet at some point during the home search process.
For that reason, it’s important that all consumers, including those with disabilities, have equal access to real estate agent and company websites. That’s according to panelists at a session yesterday about website accessibility best practices during the 2016 REALTORS® Conference & Expo.
Alisa Carr, partner at Leech Tishman in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a litigator and a real estate transaction lawyer and said that while the Americans with Disabilities Act predates widespread use of the internet and courts have been split on the issue, recent court cases have found that a business’s accessibility obligations do extend to its website and mobile applications…
New Era for Disability Rights
11/7 | Source: Inside Higher ED | Higher Ed, Disability Rights, Website Accessibility | Ohio
As higher education turns increasingly digital, disability rights advocates turn to legal measures — and an attentive Justice Department — to address the challenges facing students with disabilities.
Miami University in Ohio last month became the latest institution to overhaul its accessibility policies for people with disabilities. Within a year and a half, students there will receive personalized accessibility plans and encounter course materials, learning platforms and websites that conform to accessibility standards.
The university agreed to the overhaul as part of a settlement with Aleeha Dudley, a blind student who — with the help of Disability Rights Ohio, a local advocacy group — in 2014 sued over a lack of accessible course materials and trained assistants. In 2015, Dudley gained another powerful ally: the U.S. Department of Justice.
Does Your Bank’s Website Violate The ADA?
11/7 | Source: JD Supra | Banking, ADA, Website Accessibility | United States
There has been a recent surge in claims brought by people with visual and hearing impairments alleging that company websites violate the accessibility standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Until now, these claims have typically been made against companies outside of the banking industry. We recently learned, however, that at least one community bank in Texas has received a demand letter from a consumer-protection law firm alleging that the bank’s website does not comply with accessibility standards that are currently under consideration by the Department of Justice (DOJ). In light of the present uncertainty as to the future website accessibility standards under the ADA, we expect more community banks will receive similar claims or threats of claims.
Banks are considered places of “public accommodations” under the ADA. As such, most bank websites must comply with the ADA, which includes being accessible to people with visual and hearing impairments. Unfortunately, there are currently no regulations or standards explaining precisely what a website must provide to avoid violating the ADA. The DOJ, which enforces the ADA, announced that it does not expect to publish regulations concerning the accessibility of businesses’ websites until 2018…
Creating Accessible Course Content in Microsoft PowerPoint
11/7 | Source: Brightspace | Digital Accessibility, Accessibility Training, PowerPoint
Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation graphics program and similar programs are frequently used for creating course content in all levels of education. If those PowerPoint® slide decks are placed online as part of an online course, it is important for those decks to be accessible to student using assistive technology.
First, an opinion regarding slide shows as course content. From an accessibility perspective, the same content provided in an HTML page or a series of pages would usually be more accessible than a slide deck. Whenever possible, provide online course content as a web page. If that is not possible, then providing a slide deck that is created in an accessible manner is one alternative to consider.
There is a complicating factor when designing a slide deck for students using a screen reader. There are different views that the student can utilize when screen reading through a PowerPoint® file. The Normal View in PowerPoint® presentation manager is most often used by sighted users, and can be used with a screen reader. However, many unsighted users will switch to the Outline View which provides a text-only reading of the slide contents. It is a good practice to design your content in Outline View to ensure that all important information is available to students using a screen reader with this view. When the Outline contains all necessary information, you can switch to Normal View to add additional elements for sighted users…
Austin mother works to bring deaf community together
11/7 | Source: KVUE | ASL, Innovation, Community | Austin, Texas
Austin is made up of one of the largest deaf communities in the nation. Recently, one mother of two created a video that has gone viral and touched many with its message. Sheena McFeely was originally born in Hong Kong to two hearing parents.
“They had a child that was born deaf,” McFeely said. “That was the first time they had met a deaf person. They had no knowledge and no access to information.”
McFeely said around the time she was born, the Asian culture looked down upon anyone with a disability. This oppression pushed her family out of Hong Kong and over to Ireland. They eventually traveled to California and settled down in the United States…
Equip for Equality Partners with Chicago Board of Election to Conduct Accessibility Surveys of 1700 Polling Places
11/8 | Source: Satellite Press Release | Elections, Civil Rights, Advocacy | Chicago, Illinois
Today, Equip for Equality, in partnership with the Chicago Board of Election, will be surveying 1700 polling places to identify barriers to voting for people with disabilities. Voting Access Chicago is a new initiative to ensure that 100% of Chicago’s polling places are accessible to voters with disabilities by March 2018, the next major election.
“The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights we have as Americans,” said Barry C. Taylor, VP for Civil Rights and Systemic Litigation at Equip for Equality. “People with disabilities have a right to vote privately and independently like all citizens, and this initiative will ensure that becomes a reality in Chicago.”
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a proactive election access initiative, focusing on 28 cities across the country, including Chicago. DOJ identified numerous problems in polling place access for people with diverse disabilities nationwide. In Chicago, DOJ is working collaboratively with the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and Equip for Equality to ensure that barriers to the election process for voters with disabilities and older adults are removed…
Additional Resources:
Google Plans To Change Search Engine Indexing Based On Mobile Accessibility
11/7 | Source: The Merkle | SEO, Mobile, Technology | Worldwide
Website owners are well aware of how important mobile accessibility is these days. With the number of people browsing the web on their phone or tablet increasing every month, not having a mobile-friendly site is no longer acceptable. Google will soon start experimenting with a new site indexing system based on mobile site availability.
Staying on top of the Google search results is a very difficult task these days. Website owners have seen the rules change several times in recent years, and it looks like the search engine giant has a new plan in mind to shake things up once again. It is not surprising to see Google focus on mobile accessibility, as it is quickly becoming the new norm for accessing web content.
Google acknowledges that the majority of web users are searching for content on a mobile device. Desktop versions of any website do not always scale well on mobile, as the smaller screen size is not suitable for large images and walls of text. Thus, optimizing these platforms for mobile has been a top priority for site owners for many years now…
The Future of Accessibility Shines Bright
11/8 | Source: age&ability | Assistive Technology, Innovation
Twenty-six years ago I walked into the IBM TJ Watson Research Center to help create the very first Graphical User Interface Screen Reader for the IBM PC.
I did not know it but the impact of making the Graphical User Interface accessible on Windows and OS/2 and an article I wrote for Byte, “Making the GUI Talk,” ushered in a new generation of access for the blind, forever changed my career, and continued IBM’s leadership in accessibility innovation for the decades that followed.
During my time at IBM, the accessibility team reached a number of significant milestones:…
Ministry of Interior (MoI) website to have features for people with disabilities
11/8 | Source: Gulf-Times | Government, Website Accessibility | Qatar
The information systems department of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has obtained the Access Certified Award from Qatar Assistive Technology Centre (Mada) for applying the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 AA (WCAG 2.0 AA), which aim to ensure that websites have accessible features for people with disabilities. Mada’s award was handed over by CEO Maha al-Mansoori and received by information systems department’s director Brigadier Ibrahim Mohamed al-Harami.
“We would like to thank the information systems department of the Ministry of Interior for their commitment to applying global e-accessibility standards and guidelines on their website, which is one of the most visited portals in Qatar rich with information and services that all need, including the disabled,” she said.
“We aim to increase the number of websites that are accessible by people with disabilities in Qatar. Mada has a special team dedicated to regularly reviewing the global e-accessibility requirements and standards to ensure that government websites in Qatar are designed in a way that makes them flexible and accessible by disabled people and the elderly.”…
What To Know About Website Accessibility Claims
11/9 | Source: Mondaq | Website Accessibility, Litigation, ADA | United States
The new battleground for Plaintiffs filing ADA accessibility cases involves claims of barriers not in physical space but in cyber space. The Plaintiffs’ bar has become more aggressive in filing claims asserting that public webpages that are not accessible to disabled users violate Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The body responsible for enforcing the ADA, the Department of Justice (DOJ), has delayed its proposed amended regulations to the law, which would provide some guidance on this issue. This has left an increasingly litigated issue open for the Courts to interpret how Title III of the ADA applies to business websites, leading to inconsistent legal decisions. Businesses with a cyber presence need to anticipate and – more importantly – prepare to deal with website accessibility claims.
The ADA was not designed with the cyber universe in mind. Rather, the theory that underpins it was designed for the physical world. Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in places of public accommodation, including physical stores, hotels, restaurants and like public accommodations. It also requires new or remodeled public places, as well as privately owned commercial facilities, to comply with specific ADA standards…
United States: Miami University Consent Decree
11/9 | Source: Mondaq | Higher Ed, Disability Rights, Website Accessibility | Ohio
In January 2014, Ms. Aleeha Dudley, who is blind, filed a civil action against Miami University, alleging among other things that the University excluded her from participation in and the benefit of its services, programs, and activities; discriminated against her on the basis of disability; and failed to take appropriate steps to ensure equally effective communication with her, all in violation of Title II of the ADA and other federal laws. Dudley v. Miami University, Case No. 1:14-cv-38 (S.D. Ohio Jan. 10, 2014). In May 2015, DOJ’s Civil Rights Division joined with Ms. Dudley in prosecuting this action by filing a complaint in intervention against Miami University on behalf of the United States of America. DOJ generally alleged in its complaint in intervention that the University used technologies that are inaccessible to qualified individuals with disabilities and failed to ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities could access the University’s curricular and co-curricular materials on an equal basis with individuals who do not have disabilities.
On October 17, 2016, the DOJ announced that the United States and the University had resolved all claims asserted in Dudley pursuant to the terms of a proposed Consent Decree, which has since been filed for approval by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. While the district court has not yet formally approved it, the Consent Decree’s terms should be of interest to any entity that conducts business online or through the use of electronic information technology…
‘No one should be excluded because of their disability’: Irish MEP welcomes tech bill
11/10 | Source: The Journal.ie | Government, Website Accessibility, Mobile Applications | Ireland, EU
FINE GAEL MEP Deirdre Clune has said nobody should be excluded from technology as she welcomed an EU directive to make the internet more inclusive. The Ireland South MEP said she was happy with the support by the European Parliament for an order which would make websites and apps of libraries, hospitals and universities more accessible for those with visually impairments, the deaf and the hard of hearing.
She said: “The internet has become an essential tool in the delivery of information and services and a lack of accessibility can lead to the exclusion of some members of society. “No one should be excluded from the digital society because of their disability. Everyone must benefit from equal opportunity to benefit from the services provided by websites and mobile applications; this should be to the forefront of our EU wide digital strategy…
Retailers Should Start Preparing for Website Accessibility Class Actions: Careful, Your Website is Showing!
11/10 | Source: National Law Review | Retail, Website Accessibility, Mobile Applications, Litigation, ADA | United States
Retailers have been the predominant targets of a recent wave of demand letters claiming that their websites and mobile applications unlawfully discriminate against disabled customers. These demands come on the heels of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) confirmation that, in 2018, it will propose accessibility standards for private businesses, based on the accessibility standards it has already proposed for public entities. Even with two months left in the year, 2016 has already seen more single-plaintiff and class action lawsuits actually filed against retailers on this issue than ever before. In the face of an increasingly active plaintiffs’ bar, any retailer with a commercial website or mobile application—especially those operating in California, New York, or Pennsylvania, where the majority of these suits have been filed—should take notice and prepare accordingly.
Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in “places of public accommodation”—a term originally construed to mean brick and mortar establishments like stores, restaurants, movie theaters, hospitals, and schools open to the general public. As the Internet has grown increasingly important to everyday life and commerce, however, plaintiffs have insisted that websites count among covered “places of public accommodation” as well…
Additional Resources:
OMB updates 12-year-old federal website policy
11/10 | Source: FCW | Government, Website Accessibility | United States
The Office of Management and Budget replaced a 12-year-old policy for federal agencies’ public-facing websites with a new set of requirements it says will make those digital assets more accessible, secure and functional.
The memo from OMB Director Shaun Donovan; Howard Shelanski, administrator of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; and U.S. CIO Tony Scott states that the new policy builds on the 2012 Digital Government Strategy and the 2014 Digital Services Playbook for developing effective and user-centric digital services.
The new policy replaces guidance for federal websites that was issued in 2004 by Clay Johnson, who was OMB’s deputy director for management at the time…
New Legal Risk for Banks: Websites the Disabled Can’t Access
11/10 | Source: National Mortgage News | Banking, Mortgage, Website Accessibility, Litigation, ADA | United States
It will be at least two years before banks are required to upgrade their consumer websites to make them accessible to the visually and hearing impaired, but many are being advised to take action now or risk being sued by disabled customers.
The Justice Department in 2010 announced plans to develop formal guidelines for how all companies, not just banks, must make websites accessible to the disabled. The guidelines will include steps such as adding audio for blind consumers and text alternatives for deaf consumers. The DOJ is expected to issue the guidelines in 2018.
But the issue has taken on added urgency of late as some banks have faced legal challenges from plaintiffs’ lawyers who claim their websites do not comply with the existing Americans with Disabilities Act…
New Accessibility Pages
Additional Accessibility Information
Receive Accessibility in the News in Your Inbox!
To receive this “Accessibility in the News” curation via email, please send a subscription request to [email protected]. Each issue, we bring you accessibility news stories curated from around the web. Topics vary, but generally focus on digital accessibility standards and implementation, accessibility compliance and accessibility litigation, and other online access issues.
Digital Accessibility Digest
One of our three industry blogs, Microassist’s Digital Accessibility Digest is the “umbrella” for much of our accessibility content. It features commentary, guidance, curated news, and event information. Accessibility in the News is a regular feature of the Digital Accessibility Digest.
Microassist Accessibility Services
Outlining a host of accessibility-related services, Microassist Accessibility Services: Barrier-Free Digital Development, provides background on Microassist expertise and the various offerings available for digital content and platforms. Services cover accessible elearning, website, and application development, audit and remediation services, and accessibility testing across various formats. Content is available online and as an accessible PDF for printing.
Have Questions?
Please contact us for any questions you have about our accessibility services and how we might support your organization.
Image credit: Gregory Varnum: Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Subscribe to Accessibility in the News
Stay informed! Get your weekly update on digital accessibility standards, private and public sector trends, litigation, events, and more.