Accessibility in the News — 4/10/2020.

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“We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.”

― Franklin D. Roosevelt

National News (U.S.)

COVID-19 should not herald rollback in rights for people with autism: UN chief

April 2, 2020 | Source: UN News

António Guterres’s appeal came in his message for World Autism Awareness Day, observed annually on 2 April. This year’s commemoration is being held as countries grapple with the pandemic, which is placing persons with autism at disproportionate risk of the new coronavirus and its impacts. “Persons with autism have the right to self-determination, independence and autonomy, as well as the right to education and employment on an equal basis with others. But the breakdown of vital support systems and networks as a result of COVID-19 exacerbates the obstacles that persons with autism face in exercising these rights”, the UN chief said…

People with disabilities face new challenges under coronavirus orders

April 2, 2020 | Source: News 8000

Blind Americans Encountering Discrimination by Restaurants and Other Services During COVID-19 Crisis

April 3, 2020 | Source: National Federation of the Blind

Disabled Students Already Faced Learning Barriers. Then Coronavirus Forced an Abrupt Shift to Online Classes

April 7, 2020 | Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education

Businesses and restaurants that can stay open during the pandemic are under certain restrictions to still serve customers. But some residents with disabilities are concerned that those restrictions don’t allow for the help they need.

George Wilson always got exactly what he needed from the southside Walmart. Before the pandemic hit the state, he would walk over to the store from his nearby apartment and would be helped right away. “They would look for somebody- some store employee to go ahead and go around with me to help me shop,” said Wilson, who is blind…

Why Businesses Should Care About ADA Website Accessibility

April 3, 2020 | Source: Forbes

Following up on my previous post about the relationship between technology and autism services, I want to revisit my discussion with Daryn Harpaz, an ADA website accessibility and compliance consultant and CEO of ZenythGroup. During this extraordinary time of sheltering in place due to COVID-19 , it is particularly pertinent to focus on the accessibility of technology, which is powering all of our online interactions. More than ever, the services available on websites must be accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities, now that online platforms are our primary method of communication and commerce…

Meet the ASL interpreters getting coronavirus information to Utah’s deaf community

April 2, 2020 | Source: KUTV

‘This is my contribution’: Deaf ASL interpreters ensure Gov. Hogan’s coronavirus briefings are accessible

April 7, 2020 | Source: Baltimore Sun

By now, you probably recognize him. Trenton Marsh has become a familiar face during Utah Governor Gary Herbert and the state health department’s daily news conferences. He is a certified American Sign Language interpreter dedicated to signing nearly every one of the coronavirus press conferences. But Marsh doesn’t work alone. He’s part of a two-person team that’s helping give deaf or hearing impaired Utahns access to information during these unprecedented times. Marsh says:…

Virtual training launches for the blind, visually impaired

April 3, 2020 | Source: ABC NEWS 4

Millions are adjusting to life indoors by working and learning online. Another South Carolina organization is also going virtual to keep up with its normal operations. The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired South Carolina launched virtual vision rehabilitation training this week. The nonprofit’s offices are currently closed to the public for in-person sessions due to the coronavirus. The training will be completed over the phone in one-hour blocks, tailored to each individual and accessibility to tools…

Why is ADA litigation at an all-time high?

April 3, 2020 | Source: Human Resource Executive

The trend of rising federal lawsuits stemming from alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act continued in 2019, spiking at an all-time high and serving as a cautionary tale for employers. According to the Chicago-based law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP, plaintiffs filed 11,053 such cases last year, 890 (8.8%) more than in 2018. That marked the highest since Seyfarth began tracking these suits in 2013, when there were only 2,722. The Title III lawsuits were filed on all grounds—including issues with websites and mobile applications, physical facilities, service animals, sign-language interpreters and more.

New Works by Writers with Disabilities Hit Publisher Lists

April 3, 2020 | Source: Publishers Weekly

There is a popular phrase among people with disabilities across the United States: “nothing about us without us.” As the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act approaches in July, a spate of new and forthcoming titles suggests that this idea may be taking hold in the publishing industry. In Being Heumann (Beacon, out now), disability civil rights leader Judith Heumann vividly describes how disability rights activists fought for changes that were resisted by many but are common sense today, including curb cuts, elevator regulations, and universal special education…

Coronavirus in Florida: Ensure disabled get fair access to supplies, treatment, advocates say

April 6, 2020 | Source: Palm Beach Post

Disability rights advocates are calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to ensure fair and ethical treatment of disabled Floridians — including persons who are blind, deaf, and physically or mentally disabled — as the state battles the coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, they worry that individuals with disabilities may get shortchanged in distribution of potentially life-saving treatment, equipment and supplies. “This isn’t something we’re excited about or that we’re eager to file state or federal lawsuits to resolve after the fact — that is not going to feel good,” said Tony DePalma, Director of Public Policy for Disability Rights Florida…

Pandemic Is A Disability For All

April 7, 2020 | Source: Forbes- Peter Slatin

In the blink of an eye, the world has a disability. Its name is quarantine (or shelter in place, or lockdown). Its cause is contagion. Its symptoms: fear for personal safety; helplessness; isolation; loss of control; anger at arbitrary decisions made for you; identity theft; self-doubt; dependence. These are the very real feelings that people worldwide are working through today while coming to grips with the condition of sheltering in place that is the only sane response to the novel coronavirus outbreak…

Students with disabilities face obstacles taking virtual classes

April 8, 2020 | Source: The Daily Orange

The transition to online courses has been difficult for some Syracuse University students with disabilities. Though disability services and staff remain available, ensuring that online classes are accessible has proven to be challenging and, at times, unsuccessful. SU announced March 16 that it would transition to online learning for the rest of the semester due to the coronavirus pandemic. Coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected at least 138,876 people in New York state and killed 5,489…

State Policies May Send People With Disabilities To The Back Of The Line For Ventilators

April 8, 2020 | Source: The Center For Public Integrity

Before the coronavirus, Matthew Foster dressed up as the giant mouse Chuck E. Cheese for work, hung out with his girlfriend in a Barnes & Noble coffee shop and every Wednesday went to the movies with friends. Now he FaceTimes his girlfriend, talks to his reading coach on Zoom and helps his mother around the house. The 37-year-old stays close to home. If he gets COVID-19, his family fears for his life. That’s because Foster has Down syndrome, and he lives in Alabama, where people with “severe mental retardation … may be poor candidates” for a ventilator if hospitals run short during this pandemic…

Nebraska Voters with Disabilities Have Several Options

April 8, 2020 | Source: KSNB Local 4

Lincoln- For some time, most county offices, including county election offices, have been closed to the public as part of the counties’ response to COVID-19. In connection with those closures, yesterday the Governor has signed an Executive Order, waiving the requirement of in-person voting at election offices, with the exception of voters with disabilities and certain other former federal employees. The executive order is effective through the May 12 primary. Nebraska voters with disabilities continue to have options to choose from on how they wish to cast their ballot…

Social distance, blindness and coronavirus: How people with disabilities like me are adjusting

April 8, 2020 | Source: Daily News

I am standing in my neighborhood grocery store, waiting for Willy, one of the trusted workers who usually helps me with my shopping. As I reach out and grab his familiar shoulder, I realize that everything has changed: I’m reluctant to touch him. I lost my sight about 10 years ago at the age of 21. Around 57 million Americans live with a disability; that’s about 20% of the population. Even during this global crisis, people with disabilities still get out of bed and move through life’s routines despite new threats to our health. In many ways, to us, nothing has changed, especially because social distancing is not always an option…

Vital Coronavirus Information Is Failing the Blind and Visually Impaired

April 9, 2020 | Source: Vice

Several times a day, I search for coronavirus updates online, an increasingly grim and unconscious habit I’ve adopted over the last few weeks from the confines of my New York City apartment. I’m met with a barrage of charts, infographics, and transcripts of news conferences. I’m able to grasp the harrowing reality we’re in with just a few clicks. But for the blind and visually impaired communities, information from the government and news sources remains largely inaccessible, and in the midst of a global pandemic, this isn’t merely an inconvenience, it’s a fatal negligence…

Fair housing lawsuit filed in North Dakota involves Fargo and Grand Forks apartment complexes

April 9, 2020 | Source: Grand Forks Herald

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed its first Fair Housing Act lawsuit in North Dakota, alleging a pattern of violations related to the design and construction of multifamily housing. The lawsuit, filed in March, alleges discrimination against people with disabilities involving four projects by Grand Forks developer Hampton Corporation Inc. and several other individuals and entities. One property with alleged violations is Townhomes at Charleswood, located at 1908 Burlington Drive in West Fargo…

Computer scientist creates coronavirus database for the visually impaired

April 9, 2020 | Source: Daily Mail

Tyler Littlefield, a software developer based in Boston, has created a database of COVID-19 statistics meant to be accessible to the visually impaired. Called CVStats.net, the site organizes up-to-date COVID-19 data in simple charts specifically designed to be legible to a range of aid devices the visually impaired use to access websites. For Littlefield, and many other people with visual impairments, trying to stay updated during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge because many of the commonly shared charts and graphs are inaccessible, including those from the CDC and Department of Public Health…

Being Deaf Can Feel Isolating. Even More So During A Global Pandemic.

April 9, 2020 | Source: Huffington Post

I’ve struggled to make friends ever since I was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at the age of 5. I grew up in a hearing family and was mainstreamed in public schools. I could often be found reading at lunch or on the playground instead of interacting with other kids. Rather than being bullied, I was mostly just left alone by my peers who didn’t know how they could communicate with me, if at all. “Oh, I’m an introvert,” I would say. Or, “My sisters are my best friends.” And, in retrospect, the saddest statement I made as a child: “I don’t need friends because I have books.”…

Redefining Noise in the Context of Hearing Health

April 9, 2020 | Source: LWW Journals

The words sound and noise are used interchangeably in acoustics, electronics, and physics, but have different connotations when applied to listeners. Sound is audible acoustic energy defined as vibrations that travel through the air or another medium that can be heard when it reaches the ears of a person or an animal. Noise is usually defined as unwanted sound. In engineering, noise has the additional connotation of signals that have no meaning and vary over time, whereas sound connotes meaningful signals…

Students with disabilities navigate online shift

April 9, 2020 | Source: CSULA University Times

The transition to learning remotely has not been easy for many students — those with disabilities can be especially impacted. “It’s getting a little hard,” said Claudia Escamilla, a rehabilitation services major with two kids. “Both of them ask me for help at the same time.” Her daughters are now learning online like her. Escamilla juggles helping her daughters with their schoolwork and caring for them, while continuing her own education. This new routine, brought on by the efforts to stop the spreading of COVID-19, gives her a five-hour window at night, to finish her own schoolwork…

Jack Fact — Government data shows that there are 13.9 million disabled people in the UK, comprising a significant 22 per cent of the population – more than one in five.

International News

How can Deaf Indians call up Covid-19 helplines? Modi govt must take these steps immediately

April 2, 2020 | Source: The Print- India

Imagine a thriller movie where zombies have invaded earth. The majority of people would receive information and alerts on what they would need to do to save themselves. Do you think Deaf people would have access to these important alerts in their first language, Indian Sign Language? That is exactly what Deaf Indians have been going through ever since the coronavirus pandemic started. Crucial information reached us last. For the last one year, the Deaf community has been pushing the Narendra Modi government to make Indian Sign Language as India’s twenty-third official language…

How to help students with a hearing impairment as courses move online

April 2, 2020 | Source: Modern Ghana

Schools, colleges and universities across the world have been closed as a result of COVID-19 . But students are expected to continue their studies. As higher education institutions scramble to take their teaching online, lecturers require some help to make material accessible to all students. Some students may have a hearing impairment and make use of technology such as hearing aids or cochlear implants. Even under the best circumstances, their accessibility needs are frequently unmet…

ASL interpreters giving deaf population access to critical information

April 2, 2020 | Source: CHVN Radio- Canada

Sign language interpreters at media briefs should be normal: accessibility advocates

April 5, 2020 | Source: CBC- Canada

Sign language interpreters, fixtures of coronavirus briefings, gain new audience

April 5, 2020 | Source: Yahoo- Canada

As Manitobans hear news about COVID-19, an organization is helping residents see the news. Doug Momotiuk, President of the Manitoba Deaf Association, shares that the addition of sign language interpreters is giving the local deaf community the information they need. Momotuik says that approximately one per cent of the population in Manitoba is deaf and without interpreters, they may not be able to know what is happening regarding the pandemic…

‘Everyone has a right to be able to read important healthcare information’

April 5, 2020 | Source: Western Telegraph- Wales

AS we all adjust to life during the coronavirus pandemic, receiving reliable, up-to-date health information is now more important than ever. Welsh Government, health organisations and businesses in Wales have ensured that crucial Coronavirus updates and advice are regularly communicated to the public. But many people have additional accessibility needs to consider. All too often, posters, letters and social media posts are communicated in ways that are unreadable to a large segment of the population…

Canada is failing its Deaf artists

April 6, 2020 | Source: THIS- Canada

Clin D’Oeil Village hosts the Deaf Party every night until 3 a.m., the air vibrating with purple and green lights and pounding bass. Mechanical bulls, vintage arcade games, Deaf musicians and DJs, and food vendors surround the enormous dance floor at the village’s centre. On that dance floor, and all throughout the village, thousands of fluttering, rhythmic hands speak in dozens of different Sign Languages. Clin d’Oeil Village is part of Festival Clin d’Oeil in Reims, France. Last July, I had the great fortune to attend this festival, which takes place every two years and is the world’s largest Deaf arts celebration, attracting thousands of people from all over the world…

Advocates Turn To Online Forum To Highlight Challenges People With Disabilities Face During COVID-19 Crisis

April 7, 2020 | Source: QP Briefing- Canada

Organizations supporting vulnerable individuals and people with disabilities gathered online Tuesday to draw attention to the challenges disabled Ontarians are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic and called on the government to do more to support them. “Government emergency planning must address the urgent needs of all those who will disproportionately bear this disease’s hardships,” said Laura Kirby-McIntosh, who is the president of the Ontario Autism Coalition and moderated the online panel with AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky…

Letter from Rail Minister to Rail Delivery Group on maintaining accessibility during COVID-19 outbreak

April 8, 2020 | Source: Mirage News- UK & Global Railway Review

Thank you for your regular updates on the rail industry’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. I want to share my thanks to everyone working hard to keep our railways running, so all those who need to get to work can do so, including NHS staff on the frontline of tackling the virus. It is critical that people who need to do so are able to travel to work in a safe and reliable manner during this challenging time for the country. I am writing to ask specifically that the industry continues to ensure the needs of disabled people are met during this time…

Concerns being raised about Ontarians with disabilities during COVID-19

April 8, 2020 | Source: Kitchener Today- Canada

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance is calling on the government to address challenges that 2.6 million Ontarians with disabilities may face during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group held a forum on Tuesday, looking at different hardships and challenges those with disabilities are dealing with. Access to healthcare, protection from the virus and online learning are just some of the causes for concern that were addressed…

Improving an airport’s approach to accessibility with Hack Access

April 8, 2020 | Source: International Airport Review- Ireland

Hack Access 2020 was focused on how to create a better experience for people of diverse abilities who are travelling through Dublin Airport (DUB). The partnership came about midway through 2019, when Hack Access became a non-profit. Dublin Airport was the first organisation to join the Hack Access Partnership programme in its first iteration. For me, it was special: I was helping to make something I was passionate about – travel – more accessible and inclusive to everyone…

Are Para-Sports Venues, Or Events Meant For Disabled People, Accessible?

April 8, 2020 | Source: Youth Ki Awaaz- India

Today, I want to talk about my experience of being a disabled sportsperson. I’ve played wheelchair rugby a few times when I didn’t have good stamina back then. I’ve participated in para-swimming competitions and won medals there (national level). I’ve done paramotoring and scuba diving as well, and have been a part of an awareness programme by Chandigarh Spinal Rehab and Adventures Beyond Barriers Foundation. But, is it as attractive as it sounds? Was it as smooth as just jumping into the swimming pool and winning the medal? No! I’ve to be lifted by two people to even get inside a pool!…

Parsons calls for Tokyo to maintain focus on providing accessible hotel rooms for Paralympic Games

April 8, 2020 | Source: Inside the Games- Japan

International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons has encouraged Tokyo not to lose focus on providing accessible accommodation due to the rescheduling of the Paralympic Games to 2021. The Paralympic Games are now set to take place from August 24 to September 5 next year. The dates were revealed last week, following the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the Japanese capital due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 1.4 million people and killed over 86,000 people…

Disabled woman renews five-year battle over accessible vote ‘humiliation’

April 9, 2020 | Source: Disability News Service- UK

A disabled woman is taking fresh legal action against the government after it failed yet again to ensure that she had an accessible way to vote independently in December’s general election. Rachael Andrews (pictured) has been trying since 2015 to use the legal system to ensure a way for her and other blind and partially-sighted voters to vote independently and in secret. She says voting is a “stressful, humiliating and onerous” process that makes her feel like a nuisance. Andrews originally took action against her local authority, Broadland council, after the 2015 general election…

Adam Thomas: ‘Kitchen sector needs to wake up to accessible market’

April 9, 2020 | Source: kbbreview- UK

Adam Thomas, the UK’s leading expert in accessible design, has said that the kitchen sector is missing out on the commercial possibilities of the market. Thomas, who received the Special Achievement Award at the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2020 at the start of March, said the market shouldn’t be afraid of seeing disabled people as prospective clients. “I have no issue making money out of disabled people, as long as it’s done right,” he said. “There are two things that annoy disabled people – firstly, as soon as anything is made for them, it virtually doubles in price, and secondly, they’re usually not designed very well in the first place…

Eye Disease Sufferers Face Challenging Times Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

April 9, 2020 | Source: ABC14 News- Canada

COVID-19 has forced the cancellation of frequently scheduled professional medical appointments, such as visits to the optometrist or ophthalmologist. With most non-essential healthcare companies temporarily shut, 5.59 million Canadians living with an eye ailment are at danger of suffering from vision reduction. “As we stay as a result of these complicated occasions, we want to guarantee Canadians that their overall health and protection is of the greatest significance to us,” reported Doug Earle, president of Battling Blindness Canada…

Coronavirus highlights continuing marginalisation of deaf community

April 9, 2020 | Source: Irish Times- Ireland

If you’ve been watching the news on TV, you are likely to have noticed the presence of sign language interpreters alongside various officials at Covid-19 press conferences and briefings, making the information provided accessible to Irish Sign Language (ISL) users. Indeed, for the same reason you could say that sign languages all over the world are having a bit of a ‘moment’ thanks to this heightened public exposure, leading to lots of questions from those curious about it and a huge demand for online sign language classes from those keen to learn a new skill while in self-isolation or a lockdown…

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