Accessibility in the News — 4/24/2020.
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“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”
― Thomas Jefferson
Making A Difference Beyond The Classroom
Feature Stories
Blind Users Struggle with State Coronavirus Websites
April 21, 2020 | Source: The Markup
Every state in the U.S. has launched at least one website with updates about the novel coronavirus outbreak. Unfortunately, the majority are difficult or unusable for visually impaired users, according to a survey conducted for The Markup by the web accessibility group WebAIM. Forty-one of the 50 state pages we surveyed contained low-contrast text, which can be challenging for users with low vision, including seniors, who are at higher risk in the outbreak…
Still having trouble with the NC unemployment website? There’s good news and bad news
April 22, 2020 | Source: Raleigh News & Observer
North Carolina’s unemployment website is so slow on mobile devices that it’s almost off the charts that one tech group is using to rank all 50 states. Hundreds of thousands of people in North Carolina — more than a tenth of the workforce — are now out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic. And many have reported major glitches with the unemployment website that are preventing them from filing for benefits. Those problems are then compounded by difficulties reaching any unemployment office staffer by phone…
National News (U.S.)
Educators Get Creative To Serve Students With Disabilities
April 15, 2020 | Source: NPR
Despite cranky computers, conflicting schedules, shaky Internet connections and stubborn software glitches, Danielle Kovach got her whole class together a few Fridays ago for a video chat. Kovach teaches special education in Hopatcong, N.J., and this Friday class session was a celebration: They’d made it through the first few weeks of distance learning. Throughout those weeks, she’d maintained her 8:30 a.m. morning meeting over the computer, she was adhering to each student’s IEP, or Individualized Education Plan, and juggling new lessons with old routines, as she adapted to the coronavirus crisis…
Food delivery apps are crucial amid coronavirus, but these may be out of reach for the most vulnerable Americans during the pandemic
April 16, 2020 | Source: Business Insider
Online grocery and food delivery services have become crucial tools amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, lack of high-speed internet and other accessibility issues can put these services out of reach for some of those most vulnerable to COVID-19. The elderly, people with disabilities, lower-income people, people of color, and the unbanked are more likely to face obstacles when trying to use these services…
Accessibility Dissonance: The disability community’s overlooked fight for remote learning
April 16, 2020 | Source: The State Press
For Sarah Leal, not being able to attend class some days cost her a year of schooling due to an excess of absences. Leal, a senior studying journalism, is among the 1% of the population living with Von Willebrand disease, a blood disorder that prevents the blood from clotting properly. The disease causes some, like Leal, to cancel a day’s plans to tend to major bleeding at home. As universities around the world go online and many workers shift from cubicles to dining tables, some people with disabilities are left wondering if ableism was the only thing standing in their way of previously being granted such accessibility…
After the pandemic: New work at home rules could help people with disabilities land jobs
April 20, 2020 | Source: USA Today
These days, instead of coffee breaks at work, I take milk and cookie breaks. That’s the preference of Jacob, my 27-year-old son who has physical and intellectual disabilities. When someone asks him how he likes having me working from home, he tends to grin and say, “I like it when my mom becomes a milk and cookies mom.” As we all prepare emotionally for more weeks of staying at home to slow the spread of COVID-19, we are truly immersed in a forced experiment of telework: working from home by using electronic devices along with phone and Internet communications…
Pandemic steps pose difficulties for blind
April 20, 2020 | Source: Arkansas Democrat Gazette
The blue tape lines separating shoppers by 6 feet at the grocery store checkout aren’t helpful to a blind person. New drive-thru and curbside pickup options at restaurants aren’t either. And for drive-thru covid-19 testing sites to be accessible, the blind would have to either walk or find people willing to drive them, which could put the drivers at risk of contracting the illness. While the state has made some public health information more accessible to the blind — online and in daily briefings — advocates have lingering concerns about accommodations in the world of covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus…
Disability rights advocates urge Education Secretary DeVos to ensure special education students receive equal services
April 20, 2020 | Source: The Washington Post
One of the biggest challenges for school districts across the country that are delivering distance learning to millions of students at home because of the covid-19 crisis is providing legally required services to students with disabilities. Under the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, school districts must offer all students an equitable education or they are not supposed to offer it to any of them. Not many school systems have come up with a way to extend online learning and other critical services to the 7 million children with disabilities across the country…
Working From Home Opens The Door To Employing People With Disabilities
April 20, 2020 | Source: Forbes
Only 40% of adults in the United States with disabilities in their prime working years (ages 25-54) have a job, compared to 79% of all prime-age adults, according to the Brookings Institute, a nonprofit public policy organization dedicated to helping solve problems facing society. The conventional working environment can pose barriers to employment for people with disabilities. Liz Johnson, managing director and cofounder of The Ability People, a United-Kingdom based social enterprise, postulates that normalizing working from home opens the door to more people with disabilities to work…
Justices Won’t Consider Legal Test for Workplace Disability Bias
April 20, 2020 | Source: Bloomberg Law
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider what threshold workers must meet to prove that their employers discriminated against them on the basis of their disability. The justices rejected Richard Natofsky’s challenge to a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision that threw out his lawsuit alleging the New York City government gave him poor evaluations and demoted him due to his hearing impairment. Natofsky failed to show that those adverse employment actions wouldn’t have taken place but for his disability, the appeals court said…
Houstonians with disabilities know the only way through isolation is through
April 20, 2020 | Source: Houston Chronicle
In the midst of a pandemic, examples of mental fortitude and courage can be found. Yet social media is filled with anxious people wondering who is a coronavirus carrier, who can be trusted, how to get through this time of relative isolation. We are social creatures, so the longer shelter-in-place orders stretch on, the more our untested isolation skills will be frayed. Some know all too well what it takes to cope with isolation: Houstonians with disabilities…
3 Ways The COVID-19 Pandemic Could Change Disability Policies And Practices
April 20, 2020 | Source: Forbes
How will our world change after the pandemic? Will go completely back to normal and try to forget all of this ever happened, the way so many Americans did after the 1918 Influenza pandemic? Will we just change a few habits, policies, and plans to confront future outbreaks? Or, will we go a bit further and make bigger reforms we once thought impossible, but now seem both feasible and wise? We should probably be wary of attempts to use the COVID-19 pandemic to “win” long standing political arguments…
California School for the Deaf, Riverside, adapts to online learning
April 22, 2020 | Source: Press-Enterprise
Schools have turned to online distance learning because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the Riverside campus of California School for the Deaf is no exception. The school, which serves students from the 11 Southern California counties, began eLearning the week of March 30-April 3, following spring break. Because the school had not previously been teaching online, teachers used spring break to get ready for the change. The school also contacted students’ families, asking about their technology needs, and on March 20, parents in the Riverside area drove through the campus to pick up iPads for their children, according to a press release…
Sen. Klobuchar Talks E-Learning, Internet Accessibility with Bemidji Superintendent
April 22, 2020 | Source: LPTV (Video)
The transition to life inside has been an adjustment for everyone, including students in Minnesota. Today, Bemidji Area Schools Superintendent Tim Lutz spoke with Sen. Amy Klobuchar about the switch to online distance learning. Klobuchar held a conference call with many northern Minnesota school administrators and Paul Bunyan Communications CEO Gary Johnson to discuss the transition and how that intersects with internet accessibility. The Senator said she has a plan to help bring internet access to rural areas of the state…
Disability Lawsuits Continue In The Midst of Economic Lockdown
April 22, 2020 | Source: NBC 7
In the days following Governor Gavin Newsom’s order to shut down bars and dining areas to the public, a handful of restaurant and bar owners in eastern San Diego County received more bad news; lawsuits for failing to provide access for those with disabilities. Scott Schuzta has filed more than fifty Americans With Disability Act (ADA) lawsuits against San Diego County businesses in the past several years. In mid-March, as restaurants and bars were laying off workers and embracing for vanishing income, Schutza, represented by ADA litigation experts, Potter Handy, filed federal lawsuits against seven businesses…
Coronavirus Care Rationed: Why the Disabled May Not Get a Ventilator
April 22, 2020 | Source: National Interest
As cases related to the novel coronavirus continue to strain hospitals, doctors face difficult choices about rationing scarce medical resources like ventilators – choices that will likely determine who lives and who dies. Several states’ policies tell providers to allocate scarce resources to those most likely to benefit. For example, Washington state recently adopted a policy that favors “the survival of young otherwise healthy patients more heavily than that of older, chronically debilitated patients.” Similar new guidelines have been issued in Massachusetts as well…
Hearing Loss, Loneliness and Depression
April 22, 2020 | Source: Next Avenue
Susan Sealy Arquette, 64, a psychologist and clinic owner in Minneapolis, noticed the first signs of hearing loss in her mid-20s when she couldn’t hear a phone ringing. At the time, Sealy Arquette was told the loss was only for high-frequency sounds and that it wouldn’t cause her problems. A few years later, however, she found it was indeed creating many issues. “I was working in a hospital and feeling very stupid because my colleagues seemed to know so much more about our shared patients than I did,” she explains…
Very low-dose Avastin effective for preventing blindness in preterm infants
April 23, 2020 | Source: National Institutes of Health
Babies born prematurely who require treatment to prevent blindness from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) could be treated with a dose of Avastin (bevacizumab) that is a fraction of the dose commonly used for ROP currently. Results from the dose-finding study were published April 23 in JAMA Ophthalmology. The study was conducted by the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) and supported by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health…
Facing coronavirus while deaf and blind: ‘Everything relies on touch’
April 23, 2020 | Source: Connect FM
Imagine facing COVID-19 and the age of social distancing unable to clearly see or hear. For tens of thousands of deaf-blind Americans, who have severe hearing and sight impairment, the scope of the outbreak and its new normal have posed unique challenges to daily life. “Our way of communicating and our culture, everything relies on touch,” said Ashley Benton, deaf-blind services coordinator for the state of North Carolina. “Now we’re not allowed to touch, and we have to practice social distancing.”…
Jack Fact — According to the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA), an estimated 3.2 to 5.3 million Americans live with the long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and the actual number may be even higher as many people never seek treatment.
International News
Global Digital Accessibility Challenges Remain
April 17, 2020 | Source: Media & Entertainment Services Alliance- Africa
Despite the strides that have been made in recent years, various digital and other accessibility challenges remain all around the world that are making it harder for many people – including those who are blind, deaf or have other handicaps – to communicate with other people and get the information and services that they need, according to accessibility experts. And some of those challenges have become even more pronounced since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, they pointed out April 16 during Diamond’s webinar “A Global Perspective on Regional Accessibility.”…
COVID-19: Disability Group Bemoans Exclusion From Decision Making, Implementation
April 17, 2020 | Source: Sahara Reporters- Nigeria
COVID-19 And The Physically Challenged
April 19, 2020 | Source: This Day- Nigeria
The Centre for Infrastructural and Technological Advancement for the Blind has taken a swipe at the Nigerian Government for not involving representatives from each disability group in making key decisions around the Coronavirus outbreak in the country. Chairman of the group, Jolomi Fenemigho, lamented the non-involvement of stakeholders from all the disability clusters as part of government’s decision making organs during this period. He said, “The Federal Government has failed to include the special needs community during this difficult times…
What Does It Mean To Be Deaf In A Hearing-Centric Society?
April 17, 2020 | Source: The Octant- Singapore
In hospital, Rosalind Foo, a deaf lady in her 40s, was mortified when confronting a senior nurse exploding into anger. She gestured and spoke to explain that she was deaf while soaking in stares of other hospital visitors who, being able to hear the nurse’s call of queue numbers, were spared from the scolding. “One guy asked me if I am too stupid to hear or what,” she said. Tan Jian Hao, a final-year student at Singapore Management University who is deaf, said, “People usually assume I am hearing and speak normally to me, and when I asked them to repeat, they said ‘nothing important’.”…
Deafness no disability for England Sevens’ Olympic hopeful Jodie Ounsley
April 18, 2020 | Source: Wakefield Express- UK
The England Sevens star, who is from Dewsbury, was born prematurely and profoundly deaf, which makes her long list of achievements all the more incredible. The 19-year-old was fitted with a cochlear implant shortly after her first birthday and despite only picking up a rugby ball aged 14 at Sandal rugby club in Wakefield, she has genuine hopes of becoming an Olympian next summer. She signed a professional contract with the England Sevens team in August, 2019 after impressing selectors in the 15-a-side code…
Building global momentum to introduce sign language in early childhood education
April 18, 2020 | Source: Modern Ghana
Early childhood, defined as the period from birth to eight years old, is a time of remarkable growth with brain development at its peak. During this stage, children are highly influenced by the environment and the people that surround them. Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is more than preparation for primary school. It aims at the holistic development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical needs in order to build a solid foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing. ECCE can therefore-nurture caring, capable and responsible future individuals…
Disabled people left off coronavirus vulnerable list go without food
April 19, 2020 | Source: The Guardian- England
Disabled people are being left without food after being missed off the government’s list of those vulnerable to coronavirus, the Guardian has learned. The government set up an online register billed as a way to reach “extremely vulnerable” households in England who have been told to shield for 12 weeks – either offering them food parcels via their local authority or liaising with major supermarkets to give priority for online delivery. But it has emerged that large numbers of disabled and older people are being excluded from the scheme due to the highly selective criteria…
ACMA sets new phone accessibility rules
April 21, 2020 | Source: iTWire- Australia
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has updated industry rules to help ensure people with specific communications needs – such as people with vision and hearing impairments – can find out whether particular phones support their requirements. “Some phones have features designed to be used by people with specific accessibility requirements, others don’t, and consumers need to know the difference,” said ACMA member Fiona Cameron…
Disabled community feels overlooked during pandemic, say advocates
April 22, 2020 | Source: City News- Canada (Video)
Disability advocates say many in the community are feeling overlooked by the government during the coronavirus pandemic. Pam Seatle with the major barriers members are highlighting – including testing and student education…
An off-road wheelchair offers freedom to Kenyans with disabilities
April 22, 2020 | Source: CNN- Kenya
In 2008, while cutting down a tree in Kilifi, a town on the coast of Kenya, Japheth Kenga lost the use of his legs. Kenga’s daily routine was to cut, smooth and sell wood. But on the day of his accident, the tree fell the wrong way. “It was falling and went and hit another tree, then that trunk went up and came back and hit me,” he told CNN. The tree fell on his arm, legs, and waist. He never made a full recovery.For 10 years, Kenga was unable to acquire a wheelchair and had to rely on crutches and his family to move around…
How home working leaves deaf people out of the loop during coronavirus
April 22, 2020 | Source: The Guardian- UK
Working from home is a challenge for many of us, from learning how to communicate with colleagues via Zoom, to acquainting ourselves with the nuances of telephone conference calls. But imagine what it must be like if you are deaf or have difficulty hearing. Research published on Wednesday by the charity Action on Hearing Loss found that three-quarters of people who live with deafness fear they will be less productive working from home. Rob Geaney, head of campaigns and public affairs at Action on Hearing Loss, says: “Home working is a huge challenge for people living with deafness or hearing loss…
18-Month-Old Baby Girl Hears for the First Time as Doctor Activates Cochlear Implant Remotely During COVID-19 Lockdown
April 23, 2020 | Source: Tech Times- UK
An 18-month-old girl received hearing after her cochlear implant became turned on remotely, the first in the country. Margarida Cibrao-Roque was born with Ushers syndrome type one. She has been deaf and had a cleft palate, which can also affect the ability to hear. However, on Thursday, Apr. 23, audiologists at the University of Southampton switched on her hearing device online. Margarida’s mother, Joana Cibrao, commended the team. “The Southampton team, they were amazing. I cannot praise them enough really… they were just brilliant, and they made it happen,” says Cibrao…
Accessibility Blogs and Information
- A Future Date Day 1 (YouTube)
- A Future Date Day 2 (YouTube)
- Accessible Yoga- Fun4thedisabled (Video)
- New Podcast: THE KEY with Inside Higher Ed
- Teach Access Curriculum Development Awards
- Why You Need to Create Accessible Videos-MarketingProfs
- Accessibility should be part of the teaching process- WSU News
- Core Components of an effective Accessibility Statement- Karl Groves
- Celebrating National Autism Awareness Month- US Department of Labor
- Web Sites as ‘Public Accommodation’ under a Pandemic- Adrian Roselli
- How one disabled travel blogger is coping with self-isolation- Carrie-Ann Lightley
- Why should you be thinking about web accessibility?- Local Government Chronicle
- Student Access Center tackles accessibility with remote learning- K-State Collegian
- SA leaders say they improved campus accessibility, health resources during term- GW Hatchet
- The Changing Landscape of Focus Indication: Focus Visible and WCAG 2.2- Hiram Kuykendall (YouTube)
- What Restaurants Need to Know About ADA Website and Mobile App Accessibility- Blank Rome
- Let the Blind Be Counted: Doing the 2020 Census with a Screen Reader and without the 12 digit ID (YouTube)
- A Guide to Accessibility at Walt Disney World Part One: Services for Physical Disabilities- WDWNT
- How to Help Your Business Achieve ADA Website Compliance in the COVID-19 Era- Customer Think
- When Will Things Get Back To Normal Is A Life Or Death Question For Disability Community- Denise Brodey
- Engineering Students Jordan Teng, Michelle Kim To Present In Highly Selective Posters On The Hill Event- Mercer News
- As COVID-19 Forces More to Work and Shop Online, It Is Imperative That Businesses Make Their Websites and Apps Accessible- Blank Rome
Accessibility Announcements and Products
- Speed Up Your Website With Monsido’s Performance Module
- NW Assn. for Blind Athletes launches online video resource library
- BibliU Raises $10 Million to Empower Remote Learning for Students in the U.S.
- Accessibility developments drive Taylor & Francis Online towards WCAG 2.1 level AA
- HKNC is inaugurating its Peer Learning Groups – a total of twelve (12) different offerings
Accessibility Forums, Tips, and Gaming
- Accessibility add-ons for Firefox
- Top Alternatives to WordPress CMS
- Prioritising Accessibility Considerations
- Semantic HTML: the foundation of web accessibility
- 11 web design best practices to elevate user experience
- 6 Hurdles Of Using New eLearning Authoring Software
- Making a Difference with Lost Words: Beyond the Page
- The Pros and Cons of Choosing WordPress for your Website
- How Figma Ships, 10 UI Commandments, Accessibility FAQ
- Everything You Need to Know About Designing Accessible Forms
- How to find accessibility information for MyLab, Mastering, and Revel
- Why it’s time to design for accessibility — and not just “the average user”
- The Changing Landscape of Focus Indication: Focus Visible and WCAG 2.2 (YouTube)
- For physically disabled gamers, the Switch is incredibly accessible. Here’s why.
- Husband builds ‘accessible’ Nintendo Switch battle station for wife with aggressive MS
- WoW: Shadowlands To Put Focus On Accessibility, Will Support Xbox Adaptive Controller
- Moving Out developer talks accessibility: “We want everyone to be able to finish it, and everyone to be able to play”
Accessibility Statements
- WJEC
- Trumba
- UK
- Future Science
- Ethan Marcotte
- Mathematikum
- ACT Government
- Yeshiva University
- Darn Tough Socks
- The COVID Tracking Project
Microassist Digital Accessibility Services
Have you received an accessibility demand letter because of your website or application? Please contact us for any questions you have about our accessibility services and how we might support your organization.
Services include:
- Accessible Website and Application Development— We rely heavily on accessibility best practices and using HTML5 and ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) standards to build WCAG-compliant and human-tested accessible environments. Our teams are proficient in open source technologies such as WordPress, Drupal and Moodle, as well as custom frameworks in .NET, PHP, AngularJS, and other frameworks. Our Learning and Development team can also help you create accessible custom training.
- Accessible Document Services— Whether you’re dealing with a few or a warehouse of Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, or other files, there are several ways Microassist can enable your team to offer documents and materials that meet stringent accessibility standards.
- Accessibility Remediation— Our accessibility remediation services help you fix existing materials so that they conform to WCAG, Section 504 and 508, Department of Education OCR, and ADA Title II/III requirements. We remediate websites, applications, documents, and elearning, recommending re-creation when that is more efficient and economical. Especially for website and applications, to find out what is in need of remediation, we’ll start with an Accessibility Audit.
- Accessibility Training— With several courses available for developers, testers, and content creators, your team can become equipped to consistently and expertly produce accessible digital products and online environments.
- VPAT®Evaluation Services— Primarily used by government purchasers and government vendors during the procurement and sale of ICT products and services under Section 508, a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT) attests to the accessibility of a given product or service. Contact us to make sure the VPAT you write or review is accurate and meaningful.
Learn More About Digital Accessibility
Our Digital Accessibility Digest blog covers our Accessibility in the News archives as well as expert commentaries on digital accessibility issues.
Our most popular commentaries include:
- The WCAG 2.1 Update: A Brief Look at What’s Changed
- Introducing VPAT®0, the More Stringent Accessibility Reporting Tool Required for Government IT Procurement
- Accessibility in the News, Legal Edition: Updates on ADA Title III News and More
- What Lawyers Need to Know: A Primer on Digital Accessibility Terms and Today’s Legal Landscape
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