Accessibility in the News — 5/21/2021.

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Feature Stories

Duckworth, Brown and Casey Introduce Legislation to Make Public Transit More Accessible

May 18, 2021 | Source: RiverBender & RailwayAge Magazine

Duckworth Meets with FTA Administrator Nominee Nuria Fernandez, Discusses Bill to Help Ensure Accessibility on Public Transit

May 19, 2021 Source: RiverBender

Interview: Tammy Duckworth Insists Every U.S. Transit Station Must Be Accessible

May 20, 2021 | Source: Streetsblog New York

U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chair Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chair Bob Casey (D-PA), today introduced legislation to help make public transportation systems more accessible to passengers with disabilities. The All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) Act of 2021 would establish a federal grant program to support legacy transit and commuter rail authorities to upgrade existing stations to meet or exceed accessibility standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)…

National News (U.S.)

Accessible Birding for Every Body

May 13, 2021 | Source: Bay Nature

When I started birding in 2005, I went on each and every Golden Gate Audubon Society bird walk that I could: the rolling terrain of Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, the meadows of Yosemite, the wild hills of the Sierras, the special patches in Golden Gate Park, any opportunity to see and learn about birds from some of the best birders in the area. But gradually my body started to switch gears, and after experiencing more and more unexplained, painful, and humiliating falls, I finally got the answer in 2012 when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)…

No barriers: the benefits of creating an inclusive experience

May 14, 2021 | Source: Blooloop

We are seeing a long-overdue increase in awareness of inclusivity in museums, theme parks and visitor experiences. But there is still more to do in order to reach a wider audience of visitors who might be feeling excluded. We are seeing a long-overdue increase in awareness of inclusivity in museums, theme parks and visitor experiences. But there is still more to do in order to reach a wider audience of visitors who might be feeling excluded…

Make it easy to see, touch and voice control your iPhone: How to make your phone accessible

May 15, 2021 | Source: USA TODAY

I have a friend who is 75-years old and has Parkinson’s disease. He’s also crazy about his iPhone and tech in general, and eager to buy the latest and greatest gadgets to hit the market. More importantly, his smartphone is his lifeline to the outside world. He uses it for watching and reading news – one of his favorite pastimes – and for keeping up with the world around him. He also goes straight to his smartphone to order food delivery, use car services like Lyft and Uber, and contact people in emergencies. And he’s generally really good at it all…

Study: Brands Lag In Making Digital Content Accessible

May 17, 2021 | Source: PRovoke Media

When it comes to digital engagement, brands are missing the mark reaching people with disabilities, a global audience with buying power of $8 trillion, new Current Global research shows. In a survey of 800 people with disabilities (visual, hearing, cognitive, or speech) in the US and UK, 98% of respondents said they consume media of all kinds — but the experience is not necessarily a good one despite technology’s strides in improving accessibility. 54% of respondents said they use an assistive tool to help read, view, or listen to content…

Autism accessibility bill signed into law

May 17, 2021 | Source: WITN

Governor Roy Cooper signed a bill into law Monday that will help make therapy more accessible for families who have children with autism. Senate Bill 103 unanimously passed both chambers of the General Assembly before heading to the governor’s desk. It removes the requirement that behavior analysts working in the state be supervised by licensed psychologists. Bill supporters say removing the restriction will make the state more attractive to behavior analysts…

GOP Voting Restrictions Will Make It Harder For People With Disabilities To Cast Ballots

May 17, 2021 | Source: HuffPost

Americans with disabilities were more satisfied than ever with their voting experiences during the 2020 elections as a raft of changes meant to make elections safer during the COVID-19 pandemic made casting ballots easier for a population that has struggled for decades to easily access polling sites. But a wave of voting restrictions that Republicans have proposed or already passed across the country is threatening to not just halt that progress but significantly reverse it…

Making technology accessible for people with disabilities will end up making life easier for everyone

May 18, 2021 | Source: The Dallas Morning News

Have you ever noticed the ramps at a street corner? These are called curb cuts. The initial purpose was to allow wheelchairs to cross the street. The curb cut ended up helping a lot more people: parents pushing strollers, travelers pulling luggage, skateboarders flying, bikers riding and workers carrying heavy loads. Making websites, digital products and content accessible to those with disabilities has a curb cut effect. Captioning is the best example of this. Many people think captioned videos are for the deaf and hard of hearing…

Lawsuit Claims Wine Retailer’s Website isn’t ADA Compliant

May 18, 2021 | Source: Wine Business & Wine-Searcher

A legally blind woman has filed a class-action lawsuit in New York against an online wine retailer for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to federal court records. Michelle Tenzer-Fuchs of Nassau County, N.Y., alleges the site www.winechateau.com is not fully accessible to blind and visually-impaired customers, according to the complaint filed on May 5 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Tenzer-Fuchs said she uses screen-reading software to read content on her computer, according to the lawsuit…

Student fights for accessibility for people with disabilities in schools

May 18, 2021 | Source: Today & NBC

After an alarming experience helping a student in a wheel chair get out of the building during a fire drill, high school student Catherine Contreras started speaking up about the accessibility of schools on behalf of students with disabilities. Watch as she shares her story with Hoda and Jenna…

Helen Keller Barbie joins Mattel’s “Inspiring Women” line

May 18, 2021 | Source: ArkLaTex

On Tuesday Mattel announced its newest addition to its Inspiring Women line: Helen Keller. The company says Keller’s lifetime achievements as a renowned author, speaker, educator and advocate make her an extraordinary role model. Keller was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The Helen Keller doll wears a striped skirt and blouse with ruffled lace details, inspired by Keller’s time as a student in the early 1900’s, and carries a book with molded braille on its cover…

Workers Credit Union embraces accessible tech for its customers

May 19, 2021 | Source: Lowell Sun

When you picture a credit union, an interactive holographic robot that speaks multiple languages, another futuristic-looking white robot that can dance and tell jokes and an interactive ATM may not immediately spring to mind. These are just a few of the innovations, however, that are fixtures of the new Workers Credit Union branch in Lowell, located at 1201 Bridge St., which opened in late March. Its headquarters are in Littleton…

Kincart: Nike Must Step Towards Accessible Fashion Marketing

May 18, 2021 | Source: Daily Utah Chronicle

On April 30, Nike released their Go FlyEase shoes, which were priced at $120. Nike only released the shoes for a limited time and refused to disclose how many pairs would be available in their first drop. The shoes quickly sold out and are no longer available for purchase on the Nike website. But reselling websites have them in stock — priced at over $300 in some cases. A TikTok went viral for explaining the implications of this for people with disabilities. The marketing dissonance between this shoe being meant for people with disabilities while still being available to the general public caused problems…

Indiana Federal Judge Allows Expert Witness In Website Access Dispute

May 19, 2021 | Source: Mealey’s Litigation Report: Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

Christopher Meyer and his sister, Sarah Meyer, along with The National Federation of the Blind Inc., sued Jennifer Sullivan, in her official capacity as secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, and Adrienne Shields, in her official capacity as director of the Indiana Division of Family Resources, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794. The Meyers are both blind…

Audit reveals top 50 retail websites are not compliant with accessibility guidelines

May 19, 2021 | Source: Internet Retailing

With more than one billion people, 15% of the world’s population, reporting some form of disability that impacts their ability to navigate a website, research finds that none of the world’s top 50 websites are compliant with digital accessibility guidelines. Reading difficulties, visual impairments, cognitive and physical disabilities all affect how users consume web content and navigate digital experiences…

‘Please do not say handicapped.’ Lessons from the front

May 19, 2021 | Source: UW Medicine

In the effort to reach underserved communities during the pandemic, a group at UW Medicine is behind the scenes, making information easier to access. Staff at The Accessible Design and Innovation Inclusion Project are experts at making information accessible and culturally appropriate to people with limited English, developmental disabilities, different learning styles, and limited vision and hearing. Not only is this group a great resource for reaching these communities, it is a great resource for creating respectful, tailored communications to the underserved…

A disabled president’s memorial still isn’t fully accessible to disabled visitors, a new report finds

May 19, 2021 | Source: SF Gate

My 6-year-old noticed the raised dots first. My family was playing tourist on a recent weekend, making our way from one monument on the National Mall to another, and we decided to start our walk at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial. As we stood at one wall, looking at scenes depicted on metal panels, my son ran his hands over a cluster of dots in a lower corner and asked about them. What followed was a conversation that has no doubt taken place countless times in front of that wall…

Website Makers Tinker With Tools to Serve Blind Users

May 19, 2021 | Source: The Wall Street Journal

Many websites are created with the average user in mind, not necessarily someone with a disability. More businesses are offering tools to fix that problem. Wix.com Ltd. , an Israel-based software company that provides cloud-based web-development services, is one of the latest entrants in this field. Wix last month introduced a free feature called the Accessibility Wizard, which scans a website to find potential issues for people with disabilities and impairments, such as individuals who are blind and use screen-reader technology, as well as those who are colorblind…

Quadriplegic pro video gamer paving the way for accessibility in gaming

May 19, 2021 | Source: Fox9

It’s a lot of kids’ dreams to make a living playing video games when they grow up, and that’s exactly what a 41-year-old Rochester man who doesn’t have use of his hands is doing. Randy Fitzgerald never imagined he would be able to make a living playing video games. “I can’t play sports,” Fitzgerald said. “Can’t play basketball or football, so when my friends would go out and play these sports games, I couldn’t follow, so I played video games.” Fitzgerald was born with Arthrogryposis, a rare disorder that causes frozen joints and underdeveloped muscles in his arms and legs…

Stimulus Checks Cause Some To Lose Disability Benefits

May 19, 2021 | Source: HuffPost

Stimulus payments aren’t supposed to count against eligibility for social insurance programs like disability benefits, but some people might have lost benefits because of too much money in their bank accounts. The Social Security Administration has suspended disability benefits for some Supplemental Security Income recipients because the stimulus payments pushed their bank accounts above the program’s archaic $2,000 limit, according to legal aid attorneys…

COVID-19 showed digital accessibility is critical. Advocates don’t want you to forget

May 20, 2021 | Source: CNET

Over the past year, Jennison Asuncion has seen apps like Zoom, a lifeline during the pandemic, expand accessibility features like automatic closed captioning. Messaging app Slack, another critical communications tool, has also become more compatible with his screen reader, which speaks aloud what’s on his phone or computer. Now Asuncion, who is blind, can more easily access his messages. “At those companies, I’m hoping there was a lights-on moment that said, ‘We’re now developing products that people are actually going to be needing to be fully productive,'” said Asuncion, co-founder of Global Accessibility Awareness Day…

The Benefits Of Accessible Customer Service To Customers, Employees And Your Business

May 20, 2021 | Source: Forbes

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 15% of the world’s population experiences some form of disability. Companies would do well to remind themselves that people with disabilities are also customers who consume their goods and services as well as human resources with skills their business might require and value. By ignoring the needs of a large number of people, organizations may not only make life more difficult for those affected by disabilities but also be missing an opportunity…

Federal report calls for DOJ, HHS adoption of federal accessibility standards for medical and diagnostic equipment

May 20, 2021 | Source: National Council on Disability

Today, the National Council on Disability (NCD)–an independent federal agency–released a report focused on much needed federal regulations that would address among the most significant barriers to health care for people with mobility disabilities. Enforceable Accessible Medical Equipment Standards: A Necessary Means to Address the Health Care Needs of People with Mobility Disabilities examines the challenges of physical accessibility barriers of traditional medical diagnostic equipment (MDE) to preventative, primary and specialty care…

NYC Transit’s ex-accessibility honcho broke ethics rules: MTA investigation found

May 20, 2021 | Source: New York Daily News

A former head of accessibility at NYC Transit violated state law and ethics rules last year when he told officials at a private company they were the high bidder on a big-bucks paratransit contract, a report released Thursday by the MTA inspector general reveals. Alex Elegudin reached out to an executive at the company Curb in August 2020 when he was informed they would not be one of four companies awarded a split of a $579 million deal to do Access-A-Ride trips for disabled New Yorkers, the report states…

Jack Fact — In a study published in JAMA Ophthalmology, “Prevalence of Visual Acuity Loss or Blindness in the US,” researchers estimate permanent vision loss and blindness in Americans of all ages, including people younger than 40 years old, and adults in group quarters, such as nursing homes or jails. Researchers found more than 7 million people are living with uncorrectable vision loss, including more than 1 million Americans who are living with blindness.

Hit The Road Jack — Travel Group Creates Guidelines For Inclusive, Accessible Travel & Accessible Travel News

International News

Woman with invisible disability left shaken after altercation over accessible parking spot

May 14, 2021 | Source: CBC- Canada

Every time Nicole Sparks pulls into an accessible parking spot, her heart starts racing and she asks herself, “Who’s going to yell at me today?” It was no different last Saturday when Sparks, 28, parked her vehicle and started making her way into a pharmacy. The Cole Harbour, N.S., woman is missing her left arm and wears a prosthetic. “The lady in the car next to me rolled down her window and started making very derogatory comments, saying that I did not look like I was disabled so I should not be in that spot,” Sparks told CBC Radio’s Mainstreet this week…

Govia Thameslink makes £700000 railway station accessibility improvements

May 14, 2021 | Source: Welwyn Hatfield Times- UK

Govia Thameslink has invested £700,000 to make improvements to a number of railway stations across Hertfordshire for blind and partially sighted passengers. Thirty-three stations in total have been made more accessible, including new and updated Royal National Institute of Blind People tactile maps, yellow markers on stairs, improved public address systems and clearer platform information displays. Jenny Saunders, customer services director for Thameslink and Great Northern, said: “We’re listening and delivering on our pledge to make travelling easier for our disabled customers, and others with accessibility needs…

Toronto’s first accessible baseball diamond to be named Roy Halladay Field

May 14, 2021 | Source: MLB.com- Canada

On what would have been the late Roy Halladay’s 44th birthday as the Toronto Blue Jays open a series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Jays Care Foundation and the City of Toronto are pleased to announce the naming of Toronto’s first accessible baseball diamond as Roy Halladay Field. During his 12 seasons as a Blue Jay, Roy and his family made significant contributions to the Toronto community, including establishing Doc’s Box, which allowed children and families from SickKids to experience the magic of a Blue Jays game live…

Shouldn’t the Great Trail be accessible to all? A new cross-Canada partnership tackles barriers

May 15, 2021 | Source: Toronto Star- Canada

Exploring Canada’s urban and rural trails has become a welcome habit during the pandemic, a balm to mind and body. But for many, there are still barriers to appreciating these green spaces. Now, a new partnership between three notable organizations — the Trans Canada Trail (TCT), AccessNow and the Canadian Paralympic Committee — aims to increase accessibility. As president and CEO of the TCT, Eleanor McMahon regularly reaps the trail’s benefits since it’s just two minutes from her Ottawa neighbourhood. “It’s become a lifeline for many Canadians,” she says…

Legislative Building Recognized for Accessibility

May 15, 2021 | Source: Discover Weyburn- Canada

The Saskatchewan Legislative Building has received a very distinct honour. This week, it became the first legislative building in the country to receive the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification. The Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification program looks at a number of factors above and beyond the building codes and is also based on the experience of people with disabilities. The certification process surveys things such as vehicle access, interior and exterior access, signage and more. There are numerous mandatory requirements the building must meet, and then score above 60 percent…

Sussex railway stations ‘mapped’ for visually impaired passengers

May 16, 2021 | Source: ITV News- UK

Blind and partially sighted passengers will find it easier to navigate around several railway stations in Sussex after major investment in accessibility. Govia Thameslink Railway says it’s spent £700,000 in improving maps, displays, staircases and ramps at 33 stations in the south. Brighton, Haywards Heath and Three Bridges have new tactile maps with raised symbols and lettering for people who are blind or partially sighted. Elsewhere, stairs have been refurbished with bright white and yellow strips that help partially sighted people see the edges and know when they’re at the top or bottom…

Ensuring an accessible future for the arts sector

May 17, 2021 | Source: ArtsHub- Australia

In a post-COVID world, how do we ensure that Australia’s arts and cultural sector is inclusive of arts practitioners and audiences with disability? That’s the question posed at this year’s Arts Activated 2021 conference. A biennial event produced by Accessible Arts, NSW’s peak arts and disability organisation, Arts Activated 2021 is Australia’s leading forum for increasing access to arts, culture and events for artists and audiences with disability or who are deaf…

New Australian research confirms attention deficits in Australian children linked to lifelong impacts including social exclusion

May 17, 2021 | Source: Mirage- Australia

TALi Health, a leader in assessment and treatment of childhood attention difficulties in Australia, has unveiled ground breaking Australian research which reveals Australian children with attention deficits can have ongoing impacts throughout their adolescent and adult lives in critical areas such as social inclusion and employment, presenting longer term consequences not only for the individual, but for society as a whole. Supported by over 20 years of clinical research and early childhood developmental psychology, TALi Health’s latest report, entitled Vision for Australia confirms attention is critical for cognitive and social development…

Newark’s disabled carparking offering ranked 5th best in the UK, says Nationwide Vehicle Contracts

May 17, 2021 | Source: Newark Advertiser- UK

89% of the town’s carparks have disabled spaces, making it one of the most accessible for disabled motorists in the country, providing plenty of spaces for Newark’s 1,504 blue badge holders. This was the result of a survey on parking accessibility by Nationwide Vehicle Contracts, which analysed Parkopedia data for 56 carparks across the UK to calculate the percentage of accessible carparks available in each location. Worcester topped the list with a huge 96% of carparks offering accessible spaces for blue badge holders…

Meeting accessibility targets in a fast-moving world

May 17, 2021 | Source: IBC365- UK

Broadcasters go above and beyond to ensure that they schedule enough programmes with subtitling, audio description and signing to exceed the targets of regulators. But how do they cope under the pressure of an audience constantly seeking news and new live experiences? The provision of subtitles, audio description and/or signing for broadcast programming – collectively known as access services – has come a long way since the early days of closed captioned programmes on graveyard slots…

Breakthrough for accessibility in Australian building codes

May 17, 2021 | Source: The Fifth Estate- Australia

Australia’s building ministers have instructed the Australian Building Codes Board to include accessibility as a mandatory requirement in the upcoming National Construction Code 2022. It remains to be seen which states will adopt the new requirements. For more than 10 years there has been a consolidated campaign to convince the federal government to deliver on its 2010 commitment to make “all new homes in Australia accessible by 2020”, through the National Construction Code…

Councillor says her proposal to introduce wheelchair-friendly benches is not anti-homeless

May 17, 2021 | Source: Extra- Ireland

Wheelchair users have criticised a proposal to introduce wheelchair-friendly benches in Galway City saying they would be of ‘absolutely no benefit’ to anyone. Fine Gael Galway City Councillor Clodagh Higgins faced backlash in recent days after she posted a tweet stating that she was proposing a motion to Galway City Council to build more ‘wheelchair accessible’ benches around the city. The proposed benches, which would see one whole seat removed from a three-seater bench so a wheelchair could fit in the middle, were ridiculed online for being ‘impractical’…

Provide equal access to technology for those with disabilities, says council

May 18, 2021 | Source: Free Malaysia Today

The National Council for the Blind wants the government to ensure people with disabilities have equal access to digital information, particularly as it relates to information on Covid-19. In a statement released in conjunction with Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2021 on May 20, the group said technology has proven beneficial in ensuring the inclusion and independence of over 600,000 registered persons with disabilities in the country. “However, the enforcement of movement control orders (MCO) during the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed us to give additional emphasis and serious attention to digital technology accessibility,” it said…

Attitude Is Everything launches new Accessible Employment Guide

May 18, 2021 | Source: Complete Music Update- UK

Accessibility charity Attitude Is Everything has launched a new ‘Accessible Employment Guide’ as part of its ongoing work to “improve the inclusion of deaf and disabled workers in the commercial music sector”. Having worked for years to make venues and festivals as accessible as possible for all music fans, in more recent years Attitude Is Everything has also been providing advice on how to make the music industry more accessible to deaf and disabled artists, songwriters and music industry practitioners…

Embedding inclusiveness into digital transformation in Ukraine

May 18, 2021 | Source: Interfax-Ukraine

Last year, in just a few months, the COVID-19 crisis brought about years of change in the way governments, organizations and companies in all sectors and regions do business. Numerous lockdown restrictions triggered the shift of demand towards online public services, making them the new normal. According to a McKinsey Global Survey, many companies catapulted the digital transformation of their external and internal operations by three to four years in 2020. During the same period, the share of digital or digitally-enabled products in their portfolios accelerated by an amazing seven years…

Inaugural disability inclusion plan guides accessible water services

May 19, 2021 | Source: Utility Magazine- Australia

Over the next two years, creating more employment pathways and providing a greater role in decision-making forums for people living with disability is among a series of initiatives set to be delivered by SA Water, aimed at ensuring accessible water services for every South Australian. These initiatives make up 39 key actions in SA Water’s inaugural Disability Access and Inclusion Plan (DAIP) for 2020-22, which was launched in late 2020 and captures the shared experiences and insights from a comprehensive engagement process with the community, customers and staff…

Changes to Municipal Government Act prompt concerns about ‘two-tiered’ accessibility

May 19, 2021 | Source: CBC- Canada

Recent changes to provincial legislation will allow municipalities to give money directly to businesses in an effort to make Nova Scotia accessible by 2030, but concerns are being raised by a political scientist who studies municipal politics that it could lead to a “two-tiered system” of accessibility. The changes to the Municipal Government Act, announced on March 24, were requested by the Halifax Regional Municipality but have been extended to all municipalities across the province…

Tourism for all – UNWTO presents “Accessibility and Inclusive Tourism Development” – Compendium of Best Practices

May 20, 2021 | Source: Mirage News- Spain

The UNWTO Affiliate Members Department, within the framework of the activities of the Working Group on Accessible Tourism, organized the Expert Meeting on Accessible Tourism – Good Practices on Accessible Tourism in Nature Areas at FITUR Next. This event provided a space to recognize the importance of incorporating accessibility into the tourism practices in nature environments, share knowledge and experiences by UNWTO Affiliate Members and other tourism stakeholders, and provide recommendation on how to strengthen accessibility and create an accessible tourism for all…

No FTSE 100 executives or senior managers have disclosed a disability, report finds

May 19, 2021 | Source: People Management Magazine- UK

There are no executives or senior managers who have disclosed a disability at any of the UK’s top listed companies, according to company reporting. A report by The Valuable 500 and Tortoise Media, which looked at the 2020 annual reports of FTSE 100 companies, found not a single one had an executive or a senior manager who had disclosed they had a disability, although some did say they prefer not to say or otherwise chose not to disclose…

‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’: Paralympian Summer Mortimer sings Simple Minds for accessibility awareness

May 18, 2021 | Source: CBC Music- Canada

How many times a week do you press play on a music video to get a little lift? For the more than one billion people with disabilities, music videos still have a long way to go to become a fully immersive experience. Thursday, May 20, 2021, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), a day to get everyone thinking about digital access and inclusion. In celebration of GAAD’s 10th anniversary this year, CBC Music has partnered with CBC Content Accessibility to produce a music video featuring five-time gold medal paralympian Summer Mortimer, who showcases her vocal gifts on a bossa nova cover of “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds…

Portals for delivering public services to give special focus on differently-abled: govt official

May 20, 2021 | Source: Devdiscourse- India

The Ministry of Electronics and IT is working with other ministries to develop portals where public services can be delivered to citizens through a single platform, with special focus being given on the portal’s accessibility to persons with disability, a senior government official said on Thursday. MeitY Additional Secretary Rajendra Kumar said the government is looking to enhance the share of digital economy to 20 per cent of the GDP in the next 5 years from 5-8 per cent at present, for which it needs to focus on optimum digitisation of resources…

How colour blindness affects the lives of everyday Australians

May 20, 2021 | Source: ABC- Australia

As a person with colour blindness, Cael Millner has had a few setbacks in life. After spending two years studying a landscaping course at TAFE, he realised it was not the right career path. “About 80 per cent of the course was plant identification, which means identifying plants by their colour shades and foliage … that’s something that I just wasn’t able to do,” Mr Millner said. “I got really unmotivated and lost interest in the industry, so I ended up leaving. That was pretty disappointing.”…

Barriers prevent disabled people building music industry careers, research finds

May 20, 2021 | Source: Disability News Service- UK

Disabled people are facing significant barriers to building careers in the music industry, according to new user-led research. The research by Attitude is Everything found that nearly four-fifths (79 percent) of Deaf and disabled people working in the music and live events industry believed that barriers related to their impairments had affected their career. More than half (51 percent) of those surveyed from the industry had withdrawn from a job application for access-related reasons, while the same proportion believed their impairments had been a factor in not securing a role they had applied for…

Sydney school bully who tormented classmate over tumours contacts her to apologise 30 YEARS later

May 20, 2021 | Source: Nation- Australia

A woman who was taunted as a child because of her rare condition received a touching message from one of her bullies more than 30 years later. Janu Dhayanathan was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis – a condition that causes usually non-cancerous tumours to form on the brain, spine and nerves – when she was just nine years old. The disease can cause the sufferer to grow lumps on their skin all over the body and face, which Ms Dhayanathan said led to ‘a lot of humiliating moments’ growing up…

Shocked by 11-year-old’s hearing loss, Ipoh audiologist starts campaign to get hearing aids for children of poor families

May 20, 2021 | Source: Malay Mail- Malaysia

Audiologist Sylvia Lee has been having campaigns to get people to check on their hearing for signs of deafness since 2017. The last time such a campaign was undertaken was in 2019. Lee said she was supposed to have the biennial campaign this year but had to postpone it due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But after seeing an 11-year-old boy last month, Lee decided to kickstart her campaign again. “The boy had told his grandmother that he could not hear very well in his left ear.”…

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