Accessibility in the News — 7/24/2020.

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“A child is only as disabled as their environment and the beliefs of the people around them.”

― Bala Pillai

Ac cessibility in the News Six Month Summary: ADA 30th Anniversary Edition

Feature Stories

Locals recognize upcoming anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act

July 17, 2020 | Source: Leader-Telegram

A few summers ago, Eau Claire native Chris Wood participated in a unique event in Washington, D.C. Alongside many other people with disabilities, Wood watched as many of them crawled up the United States Capitol steps. The action mirrored an event that occurred in the spring of 1990 and was instrumental in passing the Americans with Disabilities Act later that year. The ADA, which was signed into law July 26, is a landmark piece of legislation that provided equal rights for people with disabilities, who account for about one-fifth of the country’s population…

30 Years Later: How The ADA Changed Life For People With Disabilities

July 21, 2020 | Source: Forbes

When Joy Johnson was growing up in Chicago, she often felt isolated and discounted by her teachers and peers. The 43-year-old mother of three is autistic, and didn’t speak for the first 12 years of her life. Because she was non-verbal, people often assumed she wasn’t intelligent or capable. Her teachers threw her into the system with no accommodations or assistance. That’s because, at the beginning of Johnson’s educational journey, there were no laws in place to ensure students like her received the proper accommodations and education they deserved…

How the ADA Has Made Self-Care More Accessible

July 21, 2020 | Source: Yahoo Lifestyle

I was 5 years old with multiple disabilities, visible and invisible, when the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed on July 26, 1990. I remember struggling to navigate school and my community as a child and into my early 20s before learning about ADA, accessibility and accommodations. Now as a 35-year-old with multiple disabilities, the intersection of COVID-19 and the 30th anniversary of the ADA has given me an opportunity to reflect and engage in conversations about how accessibility has changed over the past 30, and how this accessibility continues to impact my self-care…

The Smithsonian’s Director of Accessibility Explains an Inclusive Reopening Strategy as the Americans with Disabilities Act Turns 30

July 23, 2020 | Source: Washington City Paper

July 26 marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The landmark legislation made it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities, and established accessibility requirements for public accommodations (like retail stores and recreation centers), government services, facilities, transportation, and telecommunications. When President George H. W. Bush signed the bill in 1990, he said it “signals the end to the unjustified segregation and exclusion of persons with disabilities from the mainstream of American life.”…

Apple, creatives, and disability rights activists reflect on 30 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act

July 22, 2020 | Source: Apple

Since its founding, Apple has been a pioneer in democratizing powerful technology through products and services designed for everyone. From VoiceOver and Text to Speech to Voice Control, Switch Control, and even Siri, every product and service in the Apple ecosystem is designed with accessibility built in. Accessible technology should be very clear,” says Dean Hudson, accessibility technical evangelist at Apple, who is part of the original team behind VoiceOver, the screen reader that enables people who are blind and low vision to navigate iPhone and Mac…

Before the ADA, There Was Section 504

July 22, 2020 | Source: The New York Times

When the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was passed to prohibit employment discrimination based on disability, it was supposed to protect disabled people and ensure their rights in the United States. “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States,” Section 504 of that law reads, “shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”…

Internet Accessibility Is Next Frontier For The Americans With Disabilities Act

July 23, 2020 | Source: CBS Denver

The Americans with Disabilities Act is 30-years old this month. Signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, it was the first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities. “It protects from discrimination in areas of public life,” said Emily Shuman, Deputy Director of the Rocky Mountain ADA Center in Colorado Springs. The law has gone a long way to even the playing field for people with disabilities in areas of access to buildings and government programs, as well as, protecting against discrimination in the work place…

National News (U.S.)

Voice Assistants And Smart Home Technologies Transform The Lives Of People With Disabilities And The Elderly

July 17, 2020 | Source: Ruh Global Communications

We are in the golden age of innovations, an era in which digital technology is transforming the underpinnings of human existence, transforming lives within the community of disability and the elderly. This revolution is impacting every industry, including the one you may have never considered: accessible and adaptive technology. From Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Voice-Enabled Technology, the way we interact with technology is evolving right before our eyes…

Recent Court ADA Case Review for Conflict Resolution Practitioners

July 17, 2020 | Source: Mediate

It is vital for Conflict Resolution Practitioners (CRP) to remain up to date on disability anti-discrimination legislation, laws, and case law to guide them in their dispute resolution processes. Anti-disability discrimination is required knowledge by different agencies that manage this arena. Because of these requirements, this paper will give an update on the recent federal court ADA Title I and Title III rulings. It will then summarize the possible impact of these decisions in the anti-disability discrimination field…

Four visually-impaired Mainers sue for right to have accessible absentee ballots

July 17, 2020 | Source: WGME

Four visually-impaired Mainers have filed suit against the secretary of state and their local municipal clerks, to require them to implement an accessible absentee ballot system for people with disabilities. “Our plaintiffs are perfectly capable of voting on their own,” Attorney for Disability Rights Maine Kristin Aiello said. “They asked for accessible absentee ballots. They were told no, and they didn’t want to have to find someone to help them mark their ballot.” The secretary of state’s communications director says they can’t comment on pending litigation, but she says the state does have a system which allows people with disabilities to mark their ballots independently at their polling place…

How COVID-19 improved accessibility for job seekers with disabilities

July 17, 2020 | Source: HR Dive

As businesses scrambled to create remote work infrastructure following pandemic-driven shutdowns, they may have also unintentionally advanced accessibility for workers with disabilities. Before the pandemic, many individuals with disabilities faced difficulties attending interviews and finding consistent travel options for work. Kirk Adams, CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind, pointed out in an opinion piece for HR Dive that nearly 40% of people with blindness or low vision report having turned down a job offer just because of transportation concerns…

Special filter glasses help color blind see colors — even with the glasses off

July 17, 2020 | Source: ZME Science

Researchers at the UC Davis Eye Center have engineered special glasses that enhance color vision in those with red-green color deficiency, one of many types of color blindness. What was truly remarkable was that color vision was enhanced even when subjects were not wearing the glasses. This suggests that the brain may be adapting to the new color signal, offering long-term vision rehabilitation. Red-green color vision deficiency (CVD), also known as “anomalous trichromacy”, causes people to easily confuse shades of red and green…

ProtestAccess: Activism Made Accessible Through Captioning

July 18, 2020 | Source: Up News Info

When the uprisings following George Floyd’s death began to spring up around the nation, Caroline Bailey found that following along with the protests on social media came with an added dimension of confusion. The fragmented, rapidly unspooling documentation of popular rage was chaotic enough. But Bailey, who’s been deaf since birth, also found that most videos lacked captions or transcriptions – something that she needed in order to be able to understand what was going on in her country…

How accessible is Metro anyway?

July 19, 2020 | Source: Greater Greater Washington

The Washington region ranks high for accessibility, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of gaps for people with disabilities. DC is generally well served by transit, and every Metro station is designed to be accessible through escalators and elevators. (In comparison, only 50 of 270 stations in the London Underground and a mere nine of 303 stations in Paris are wheelchair-accessible.) However, despite appearances, Metro rail, bus, and paratransit services frequently fall short for riders who have disabilities…

People with disabilities on outdoor dining: ‘There is no room for us’

July 20, 2020 | Source: The Guam Daily Post

As Zachary Lewis and his friend were riding their power chairs through the Center City area of Philadelphia, they approached a familiar obstacle: Outdoor diners, and their tables and chairs, were spread across the sidewalk, blocking the pathway and making it impossible for them to pass through. As diners and waiters hesitated to move, Lewis, 38, and his friend started pushing the obstacles aside. The manager rushed out, apologizing for the inconvenience and clearing the path, recalled Lewis, of West Philly. But as soon as they passed, the manager put the tables right back where they were…

Building Accessibility Into America, Literally

July 20, 2020 | Source: The New York Times

This article is a part of a collection exploring how the Americans With Disabilities Act has formed trendy life for individuals with disabilities. The Capitol Crawl, it got here to be known as. In March 1990, a number of dozen activists, cheered on by supporters, left their canes and wheelchairs and pulled themselves up the steep stone steps of the United States Capitol. They wished to stress Congress into ratifying the Americans With Disabilities Act…

Sign-language interpreters volunteer at protests: ‘This revolution has to be accessible’

July 20, 2020 | Source: LA Daily News

When Michael Agyin saw a flash of red and blue lights behind his car, his body grew tense with fear. He was heading home from a friend’s house that night 13 years ago, driving along the 110 Freeway in South Los Angeles. A California Highway Patrol cruiser following close behind, he left the 110 and made sure to drive to a spot where streetlights cut through the darkness. After parking, Agyin, who is Black and deaf, turned to what he calls “survival tactics”: Don’t try and sign to the officer, because quick hand movements can look violent…

The first deaf-blind student to graduate Harvard Law School wants everyone to join the fight for more accessibility

July 20, 2020 | Source: Yahoo (Video)

Meet Haben Girma, the first deaf-blind student to graduate from Harvard Law School. She’s also a disability rights advocate who wants everyone to join the fight for more accessibility. ‘I’ve been advocating for years. We need non-disabled people to start doing the work.’…

Online retailer Zappos is now selling single shoes to help those with disabilities

July 20, 2020 | Source: The Hill

Popular online shoe retailer Zappos just launched a refreshingly inclusive shopping experience, in which single and different sized shoes are now available for purchase. The pilot program is the first-of-its-kind, and allows customers with physical disabilities the opportunity to purchase exactly what they need for their specific situation. “The Single and Different Size Shoes Test Program is very close to our hearts – we wanted our community to know that we heard them, and continue to listen and innovate based on their needs and wants,” said Dana Zumbo, Business Development Manager, Zappos Adaptive…

Top US companies making strides in disability inclusion, index shows

July 21, 2020 | Source: HR Dive

The number of companies that scored an 80% and above on The Disability Equality Index (DEI) more than quadrupled to 205 from 43 in 2015, according to a report released July 15. The DEI, facilitated by Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), is an annual benchmarking tool for the Fortune 1000 companies and the top 200 revenue grossing law firms in the U.S. to measure their inclusion against competitors. In 2020, 247 companies participated in the DEI, representing a U.S. workforce of 11 million people, according to Disability:IN and AAPD…

How Harvard’s Star Computer-Science Professor Built a Distance-Learning Empire

July 21, 2020 | Source: The New Yorker

Gabriel Guimaraes grew up in Vitória, Brazil, in a yellow house surrounded by star-fruit trees and chicken coops. His father, who wrote software for a local bank, instilled in him an interest in computers. On weekends, when Guimaraes got bored with Nintendo video games, he programmed his own. In grade school, he built a humanoid robot and wrote enough assembly code to make it zip around his home. In Vitória, an island city, his most ambitious peers dreamed of attending university in São Paulo, an hour away by plane…

FCC: Progress Has Been Made in Communications Accessibility

July 20, 2020 | Source: Multichannel News

The FCC is seeking input on its tentative findings, for a biennial report to Congress on the accessibility and usability of telecommunications and communications services, that progress is being made, but that there have been “gaps” and “failures” when it comes to smart device accessibility. The report is mandated by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA). The tentative findings are based on comments it solicited back in March…

I’m An Angry Disabled Woman. Here’s What I Want You To Know About Inaccessibility.

July 20, 2020 | Source: Huff Post

Recently, I was in the grocery store, minding my own business, when I heard, “Daddy, what’s wrong with her legs?” I looked to the right and saw a young boy with a now-embarrassed father, who quickly shushed his son. The dad made eye contact with me, trying to relay his remorse through his furrowed brow. I stepped in, as I have been trained to do, before he could verbally apologize for his son. “It’s no problem, I am in a wheelchair because I was born with a disability.” The father’s shoulders sagged in relief. He introduced his son and I am cued to teach the boy about disability etiquette…

These stickers help people with less visible disabilities get a seat on public transit

July 21, 2020 | Source: Fast Company

Metrolink Adds 133 Ticket Machines Designed To Help Riders With Disabilities

July 21, 2020 | Source: CBSN

“Please offer me a seat. Not all disabilities are visible,” reads a new sticker that’s available to buy online, intended for disabled people who struggle to find seating on public transit. It’s the brainchild of Catherine Callahan, who volunteers with Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the transit system that serves San Francisco and the Bay Area, and product designer Chris Arvin. Since birth, Callahan has lived with spina bifida, a condition where the spine doesn’t fully form. While she doesn’t always use a wheelchair, she does every time she takes public transport, because she’s not confident she would get a seat…

Why Aging in Place at Home Matters Now More Than Ever

July 21, 2020 | Source: Realtor.com

Handicap accessible ramps in high demand to keep elderly, disabled in their homes and out of assisted living

July 22, 2020 | Source: ABC Action News

How to make or choose a safer home for people with sensory loss

July 22, 2020 | Source: Barrie Today

Creating a safe, accessible, and comfortable living environment is something everyone can relate to these days, whether it’s having a convenient work-from-home station or finding cost-efficient ways to stay cool indoors. But life during a pandemic has also shed light on the realities of growing old in one’s own home. “People who have lived in their homes for decades find comfort in memories and familiarity. Moving to a new space might cause distress or emotional turmoil, as it often involves learning new patterns and purging belongings,” says Alessandra Wood, vice president of online interior design at Modsy…

Birds that Inspire Thoughts about Accessibility

July 22, 2020 | Source: Wiscasset Newspaper

A few weeks ago, we noticed that one of the pair of our resident song sparrows was balancing oddly on the clothesline, struggling to keep its balance as the line swayed in the breeze. A closer look revealed the fact that one of the bird’s legs was dangling awkwardly and rather lifelessly. The bird was balancing on its one healthy leg. We were saddened, of course, to see this, then angered when we decided that one of the many neighborhood cats that hunt in our yard was probably to blame…

Why call-to-cancel policies are an accessibility nightmare

July 22, 2020 | Source: Modern Retail

The FAQs of contact lens subscription company Hubble include a question which should have an obvious answer: “May I cancel?” Hubble’s response is in chirpy DTC-speak: “Yes, of course – you’re in control.” But that isn’t entirely true. Though customers can sign up for a Hubble subscription at any time of the day or night, canceling the policy requires picking up the phone and calling a specific number — but only between “9AM and 5PM EST, Monday through Friday, and 1PM and 5PM, Saturday, excluding federal holidays.”…

Settlement reached in county jail conditions lawsuit

July 22, 2020 | Source: Santa Maria Sun

Parties in the Murray v. County of Santa Barbara jail conditions case reached a “groundbreaking settlement” on July 17, a press release from Disability Rights California, Prison Law Office, and King & Spalding LLP announced. These legal firms represented hundreds of incarcerated people at the Santa Barbara County Jail in a class action lawsuit that has been in negotiation for months and “seeks to address the dangerous and unconstitutional conditions at the jail,” the release states…

Job Security Was Already Precarious For Individuals With Disabilities. Then COVID Hit.

July 23, 2020 | Source: Huff Post

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Evelyn Ramundo was a secretary at a group home in New Jersey that is run by a nonprofit focused on housing and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Ramundo said she loved her job, where she’s worked for 14 years: “I’m very close with the co-workers.” But then coronavirus hit the United States. Ramundo said she has been unable to go back to work since about February, and not knowing when she will be able to return and not getting to help people in the group home is frustrating. “I miss everybody,” she said…

Coronavirus Made Accessibility A Priority. Disability Activists Have Been Fighting For It For Decades.

July 23, 2020 | Source: Huff Post

As a FedEx worker makes her first delivery of the day, she wheels a stack of boxes up a ramp to enter an office building. The automatic doors slide open; one elevator trip later, her delivery is complete. She spots a restroom sign and uses a single-stall bathroom on her way out. By the time she exits, this employee has used at least five accessible features to do her job. These features seem commonplace today. But many are the result of a protracted fight for equality for people with disabilities, who for decades were left out of buildings they were unable to enter, and who lost out on jobs because employers couldn’t — and wouldn’t — accommodate their needs…

Low-carbohydrate diet may be associated with lower risk of blinding eye disease

July 23, 2020 | Source: Medical Express

Following a long-term diet that’s low in carbohydrates and high in fat and protein from vegetables may lower the risk of the most common subtype of glaucoma. In a first-of-its-kind study, a researcher at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE) helped discover that if at-risk groups adhere to these dietary restrictions, they may reduce their risk of developing primary open angle glaucoma with early paracentral visual loss by 20 percent. Results from the research have been published in the July 22 issue of Eye…

Jack Fact — Figures released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) state one out of six (16%) people in the region live with a disability, which amounts to roughly 650 million people.

Hit The Road Jack — Art in Australia – photography from a wheelchair

International News

Digital transformation in pandemic excluding those with access needs – advocate

July 17, 2020 | Source: RNZ- New Zealand

Minnie Baragwanath, who is legally blind, from the company Be. Lab said the Covid-19 lockdown forced companies and services to go online, exacerbating the digital divide for those with access needs – like sight or hearing disorders. “My own ability to operate in this world has been unbelievably, outrageously difficult… and with Covid and the amplification of online services, that has heightened the fact that if you can access the digital world that’s great but if you can’t the barriers to online shopping, paying your bills, all of that has just increased.”…

Advance Made in Treatment for Deafness

July 17, 2020 | Source: Newsmax- Netherlands

Dutch researchers have identified a common genetic variant as a cause of deafness, and they say it could be a good target for gene therapy. Deafness in adults is known to be inherited but, unlike childhood deafness, the genetic causes aren’t clear. To date, 118 genes have been linked to deafness. Variants in these genes explain much of the deafness present at birth and in childhood, but not adult deafness — even though up to 70% of hearing loss in adults is thought to be inherited…

Brilliant paramedic uses voice-to-text app to talk with patients who lipread

July 18, 2020 | Source: Mashable- UK

Face masks: Deaf actor’s viral video urges people to ‘be patient with us’ when coverings become mandatory

July 20, 2020 | Source: iNews-UK

Masks have made my deafness the defining aspect of my identity

July 21, 2020 | Source: The Telegraph- UK

Transparent Masks Could Prevent ‘Months Of Misery’ For Deaf Children, Charities Say

July 22, 2020 | Source: Children & Young People Now- UK

Transparent face masks: Where to buy clear coverings for people with hearing problems

July 23, 2020 | Source: Independent- UK

‘It scares me,’ says Bamber Bridge charity ambassador about impact of face masks in shops on deaf people

July 23, 2020 | Source: Lancashire Post- UK

In case you needed one more reason to be in complete awe of first responders handling the COVID-19 pandemic, paramedic Danny Hughes is here to help. On Friday, the UK-based medical professional, who currently works for South East Coast Ambulance Services per his Twitter bio, shared his inventive solution for speaking to patients who lipread while wearing a mask. “Some of our patients and service users rely on lipreading to communicate and wearing a mask makes lipreading almost impossible,” Hughes said in a video he posted to Twitter…

This M’sian Custom-Made An OKU Myvi Seat to Drive His Handicapped Father Around

July 18, 2020 | Source: World Of Buzz- Malaysia

When it comes down to driving handicapped passengers, a conventional car tends to create more problems than it solves. This is especially true of those who are physically impaired and require mobility aids such as crutches, strollers, or even wheelchairs. Which is why automobile companies have worked towards catering this extremely niche market in creating vehicles with passenger accessibility options to help these people travel in comfort. But bear in mind, cars equipped with these mobility facilities often require extensive modifications, and are pretty expensive…

Changing Places toilets for severely disabled people to be compulsory in new public buildings

July 19, 2020 | Source: Mirage News- England& BBC

More than 250,000 severely disabled people will have greater access to public places after the government moved to make Changing Places toilets compulsory in new buildings. Changing Places toilets are larger accessible toilets for severely disabled people, with equipment such as hoists, curtains, adult-sized changing benches and space for carers. A major change to building rules in England will require thousands of large (12m2) and well-equipped accessible toilet facilities to be designed and built into new public buildings, from next year…

85pc Bangladeshi leprosy disabled people psychologically ill: Study

July 18, 2020 | Source: United News of Bangladesh

A recent study revealed that about 85 percent leprosy disabled people in Bangladesh have been suffering from psychological problems besides many other disease-related complications. The sufferings of the excluded and stigmatised community have intensified manifolds during the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of this vulnerable community has been literally left behind from pandemic response programmes as well as deprived of proper information related to hygiene and other health issues during this crisis…

India’s online classrooms are outdated for disabled kids. Covid just made it worse

July 19, 2020 | Source: The Print- India

School education for children with disabilities has always been at a crossroads. The coronavirus pandemic has made education models and regular classes shift abruptly to digital modes. Learners with disabilities, constituting a population of about 40 lakh in the age group of 5-19 years, according to Census 2011, have been disproportionately impacted by this disruption. Even though the Narendra Modi government’s recently announced PM eVidya platform will cater to learners with visual and hearing impairment, there is no public information that addresses how digital education, including online classroom teaching, will generally be made accessible…

Campaign launched to improve disabled passengers’ journeys

July 20, 2020 | Source: Shropshire Star- UK

The Government has launched a new campaign to help improve the journeys of disabled people on public transport. The Department for Transport’s initiative, called ‘It’s Everyone’s Journey’, aims to highlight how everyone can play a part in making public transport more inclusive. It’s a campaign which is being supported by more than 100 partners including First Group and the Alzheimer’s Society. The campaign will look to raise awareness about the needs of disabled people when using public transport…

Advocate warns reckless e-scooter use could pose safety risk to riders, pedestrians

July 20, 2020 | Source: CBC- Canada

E-scooters might be a fast, fun way to zip around the city, but some people are concerned about the potential for injury for riders and pedestrians. Paul Vienneau, a disability and accessibility advocate in Halifax, said he’s seen e-scooter riders without helmets going the wrong way down the street, and swerving to narrowly avoid hitting people on the sidewalk. “I know as well as anybody else, a split second changes your life,” said Vienneau, who uses a wheelchair after a mountain biking injury…

Online education puts disabled students at risk of becoming invisible, warns new report

July 20, 2020 | Source: NewzHook- India

Even as we celebrate the academic achievements of students with disabilities in the recent board exams, a survey underlines how these gains could be lost in the switch to online education due to the coronavirus lockdown. Over 40% of disabled students plan to discontinue their studies due to the barriers faced in accessing online education. This is among the key findings of the report ‘Digital education in India: Will students with disabilities miss the bus?…’ The study has been conducted by Swabhiman – State disAbility Information and Resource Centre…

Without new funding, several city playgrounds could be removed

July 20, 2020 | Source: OrilliaMatters- Canada

Orillia might have to remove playgrounds from city parks if city council is unable to find alternative sources of cash to upgrade them. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act (AODA) recently implemented changes that require all public playgrounds in Ontario to meet enhanced design standards by 2025. To meet those guidelines: Playground surfacing must be accessible (rubberized or engineered wood fibre); All playgrounds must have accessible connecting pathways which are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs…

Sanctuary Temples in Ancient Greece Had Accessibility Ramps, New Research Suggests

July 20, 2020 | Source: Gizmodo- Greece& artnet News & Art Critique& Smithsonian

Ramps at ancient Greek healing temples provided access for people with disabilities, according to new research. If confirmed, this would be the earliest evidence of a society making architectural adjustments to support accessibility. Ramps at the entrances of ancient Greek temples are common, but as new research published today in Antiquity argues, some of these ramps, particularly those built at healing sanctuaries, or asclepieia, served as an accessible entrance…

DeafBlind Ontario explains the importance of including age-friendly and accessible features in homes

July 21, 2020 | Source: Nation Valley News- Canada

From walk-in closets to stainless steel appliances, fireplaces and custom cabinets, the list of coveted features in a house are endless. But, what about the elements that make a space ‘age-friendly’ and ‘inclusive’? More and more people are prioritizing accessibility when looking for a place to call home. Further, as the population ages, age-friendly communities are a necessity. Statistics Canada 2019 data indicates that about 6.5 million people are 65 years and older in Canada and account for 17.5 percent of the population. The proportion of seniors in the population is expected to double by 2025…

The importance of accessible packaging for the visually impaired

July 22, 2020 | Source: Packaging Gateway- UK

Under law by the European Commission, medicinal packaging is required to use braille to ensure readability for the visually impaired. This, however, is not compulsory in consumer packaging. Whilst braille is one way to make packaging accessible, it is not as commonly used as many think. According to the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), fewer than 10% of legally blind people in the US can read Braille and only 10% of blind children are learning it. How can consumer packaging become accessible to all of the blind population and not just 10% of it, and why is it important to be inclusive?…

When Deafness Is Not Considered a Deficit

July 22, 2020 | Source: Sapiens- Peru

Music rattled the windows of the one-room schoolhouse that was now serving as a dance floor for nearly the entire village, a population of about 100 people. Masato, a masticated yuca drink, was passed around the room. I tried to refuse it as it came to me—I had already shared an entire pot and was feeling woozy from both the alcohol and my full stomach. But this was a celebration and another bowl was pressed into my hands. The party was the last night of my first field trip to the Amazon in 2012…

Australia’s national forum on arts, culture and disability goes online

July 23, 2020 | Source: Mirage- Australia

Australia’s leading national forum on arts, culture and disability, Meeting Place, will be held online for the first time on 15-16 September 2020. The forum will encompass a mix of panel discussions, keynote speakers, workshops and artistic showcases centred around the theme of ‘Creating Space’. AAA CEO Matthew Hall said, “This year’s theme provides an opportunity to explore the idea of creating space for disability arts, leadership and access within the broader arts community, and to discuss and present ideas for how to do this.”…

Why is corneal blindness a health and humanitarian issue?

July 23, 2020 | Source: Nottinghamshire Live- England

Corneal blindness is vision loss or impairment caused by diseases to the cornea, which is the clear outer layer at the front of a person’s eye. The symptoms include watery eyes, sensitivity to light, blurry vision, pain, and the constant sensation of there being something in your eye. Corneal blindness is the fourth most common cause of blindness in the whole world, yet some countries are more affected by it than others. Why is this exactly? We’re going to be answering this question here by looking at how inequality has impacted people’s eyesight across the world…

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