Accessible Travel: Up in the Air and Down on Land

By Jack McElaney | April 21, 2017 | | 0

Accessibility in the News—4/21/17. This week brought up travel accommodation issues for many with disabilities. There’s the transportation aspect — For instance, how well do planes, trains, busses or cars meet the needs for people with mobility or visual disabilities traveling from one city or country to another? But what about enjoying the actual destination? This week includes news on tools that help identify facilities with accessible features. That’s the[…]

Higher Education and Accessibility: Tackling Facilities Access, Online Access, and Inclusion

By Jack McElaney | April 13, 2017 | | 0

Accessibility in the News—4/13/17. Colleges and universities have been in the accessibility spotlight recently, and this issue showcases a host of initiatives and needs within that sector. Here’s some of the goings on with higher education and accessibility: In Cincinnati, the student body is pursuing more immediately accessible digital content for both its websites and elearning programs. In New York, Cornell has documented its commitment to web accessibility and continues to[…]

Accessibility Litigation: Essential for Complete Inclusion

By Jack McElaney | April 7, 2017 | | 0

Accessibility in the News—4/07/17.. Litigation due to accessibility inclusion has been a large focus in this week’s Accessibility in the News. Litigation is shown in all fields of accessibility such as digital access, and building/facility access. Some restaurants are even having lawsuits filed due to inaccessible kiosk design. National News (U.S.) | International News AITN Quote of the Week “People didn’t always see a person with a disability who had to[…]

Two Website Accessibility Suits Dismissed; Int’l Symbol of Access Prompts Guidance

By Jack McElaney | March 31, 2017 | | 0

Accessibility in the News—3/31/17. This week, we doubled our accessibility news content, opening the gates for more in-depth coverage of U.S. and international news. We’ll be experimenting with this format over the next few weeks, so if you have feedback or questions, please let us know. Skip to National News (U.S.) | Skip to International News AITN Quote of the Week “The worst thing about a disability is that people[…]

Making a Splash! Tactile Coding, Fitness for Mobility Impaired, Water-Friendly Prosthetics

By Jack McElaney | March 24, 2017 | | 0

Accessibility in the News—3/24/17. The Importance of Accessibility When dealing with technology day in and day out, it can be easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees: In the end, technology serves people. Individuals. Humanity. Accessible technology is no different, and the importance of accessibility comes from its impact on enhancing independent living, online or off. This week’s stories are heavily focused on the people factor: The former[…]

Cognitive Disabilities Perspectives, Ground-Breaking Innovation, and Accessible Travel

By Jack McElaney | March 16, 2017 | | 0

Accessibility in the News—03/16/17. Cognitive and visual disabilities blanketed the news this week. Articles highlight amazing and ingenious advances in technology: The ability to type from thought, the ways visually impaired users harness the Apple’s built-in VoiceOver feature, electricity used to improve short-term memory, and extensions that help users personalize their experience in browsers and smartphones are just a few. The flip side is, of course, that while technologists continue to[…]

Enabling ADA Compliance at Institutions of Higher Education

By Kevin Gumienny | March 15, 2017 | | 2

Online courses that don’t meet the needs of learners with disabilities have come under fire at colleges and universities. Institutions can find themselves at a crossroads if found in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act: Compliance. Or avoidance. If a college or university wants to enable higher education ADA compliance, what might that attempt look like? This article adapted from the March 2017 issue of Mealey’s™ Litigation Report: Cyber Tech[…]

5 Indications Your Website May Have Accessibility Issues

By Hiram Kuykendall | March 14, 2017 | | 6

Is Your Website Accessible to Individuals with Disabilities? Here Are Some Simple Tests You Can Run. As the regulatory focus on web accessibility intensifies and legal actions targeting inaccessible sites multiply, corporate executives are asking with increasing urgency, “How can I determine if my company’s website is accessible?” The short answer: Not just by looking at it. Only a comprehensive website accessibility audit, conducted by knowledgeable companies or individuals using[…]

Inaccessible Higher Ed Courses Get Pulled; Innovation Spans Color Blind Lenses, Climbing

By Jack McElaney | March 9, 2017 | | 0

Accessibility in the News—03/09/17. The big news that hit the wires this week was that of University of California at Berkeley’s decision to pull down inaccessible online course materials from the public web. That event set in motion a flurry of activity from other higher education institutions in the days following. Keep and eye on next week’s edition to sample their approaches to addressing inaccessible higher ed online content. Primary and secondary education[…]

Accessible Design: Creating Usable Websites, Cultivating Inclusive Approaches

By Jack McElaney | March 2, 2017 | | 0

Accessibility in the News—03/02/17. Accessibility professionals have long touted that accessible design often benefits everyone, not just individuals who have disabilities: curb cuts accommodate rolling luggage and baby strollers as easily as wheelchairs; closed captioning meets the needs of the Deaf and anyone in a loud environment; hands-free, voice-activated devices can empower many of us who want a quicker way to access information and applications—in different situation and with different abilities. Several of[…]