Accessibility in the News — 7/02/2020.

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Feature Stories

The Americans With Disabilities Act At 30

July 2, 2020 | Source: 1A (Podcast)

Thirty years ago, President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act. It was the first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities. It offered protections against discrimination and imposing accessibility requirements in workplaces and in public. The ADA was a landmark achievement, but the fight for equal rights is far from over. Here’s part of what activist and editor Alice Wong wrote for Vox, amid the coronavirus pandemic…

National News (U.S.)

Lyft Reaches Settlement With Justice Department Over Accessibility for Disabled Riders

June 25, 2020 | Source: Yahoo Lifestyle

What happened: Lyft has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations its drivers refused rides to people who used foldable walkers and wheelchairs, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The settlement agreement will now ensure that individuals with disabilities who use collapsible mobility devices will have equal access to Lyft rides. The Department of Justice launched the investigation after a Los Angeles man who uses a wheelchair filed at least a dozen complaints about drivers that he was rudely treated or denied rides…

Nearly 30 years after ADA, nation’s transit agencies report successes and shortfalls

June 26, 2020 | Source: Washington Post

Scott Crawford hasn’t driven a car in 20 years. A retired clinical neuropsychologist, Crawford relocated from Miami to his hometown of Jackson, Miss., in 2006, seven years after developing primary progressive multiple sclerosis. When his illness put him in a wheelchair, the bus became his lifeline — that is, when it didn’t leave him in the dust, which happened often and sometimes still does. “Many of our buses were decades old with nonfunctioning wheelchair lifts, so I was frequently being left on the side of the road,” said Crawford, 54…

5 Goals And 5 Steps 2020 Candidates Should Embrace On Long Term Care

June 26, 2020 | Source: Forbes

If you were unable to get out of bed, go to the bathroom, bathe, dress, or cook for yourself because of a disability, how would you want your needs met? Where would you prefer to live? Who would you want helping you? How would you pay for it? If you already have disabilities, what works best for you now, and what needs to be better? Do you live where and how you want to live? Do you feel in control of your life? Or, are you isolated, under-served, vulnerable, and stuck?…

Woman alleges disability bias in 47 lawsuits against WNY hotels

June 26, 2020 | Source: Buffalo News

On the surface, Deborah Laufer might seem litigious. After all, she’s the force behind 47 new lawsuits in three months, almost all of them against Western New York hotels. Dig deeper and you come to understand that Laufer, in a wheelchair and vision-impaired, doesn’t stand to make much money from her discrimination complaints. So why so many? “Because no one is doing what she is doing,” said Thomas Bacon, one of the lawyers handling her suits. “Deborah Laufer is one of the few people enforcing the law.”…

Why Reddit has become a favorite social media platform for many blind and visually impaired people

June 26, 2020 | Source: Insider

Samuel Proulx, a 32-year-old blind man living in Ottowa, Ontario, isn’t that interested in using traditional social media. Proulx doesn’t find Instagram and Facebook pictures of relatives’ and friends’ babies that exciting — but even if he felt differently, those images are usually inaccessible to him. “I love my extended family, but that content is of significantly less value to me,” Proulx told Insider. Instead of spending time on Facebook or Instagram, Proulx prefers Reddit, a text-based, rather than image-centric, platform that offers him a community of strangers to interact with, and a community of users from all over the world who live with blindness or visual impairments…

Accessible absentee ballot applications available online for blind Michiganders

June 26, 2020 | Source: WWMT-TV

The Michigan Bureau of Elections launched an accessible absent voter ballot application that can be used to apply for an accessible electronic ballot for the August election. Officials with the Secretary of State office said blind voters, or others with severe disabilities, can use their own assistive technology to mark accessible voter ballots and ballot applications to ensure privacy. “It is a priority of my administration to ensure that blind citizens are provided the same rights and protections as all Michigan voters,” said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson…

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Commitment to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

June 26, 2020 | Source: Architect Blueprint

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has a long history of being committed to providing for the safety, reliability, and accessibility to the public it serves. The people of Texas have come to expect the best highway system in the United States from this agency and should be able to now expect the best transportation system for all its citizens. TxDOT is proud to be a part of changes and progress that can unite, serve and further the safe and efficient movement of goods, services and people that ensure everyone is included in this process…

‘LEFT TO DIE’ Disabled man, 46, died from coronavirus ‘after docs REFUSED to treat him “because he had no quality of life”‘

June 26, 2020 | Source: The Sun & Yahoo

A disabled man died from COVID-19 because medics at a Texas hospital wouldn’t treat him, a pro-life organization claimed. St David’s South Austin Medical Center allegedly refused to treat quadriplegic Michael Hickson, 46, because his disability meant he had “no quality of life.” He contracted COVID-19 from a staff member in his nursing home, developed pneumonia, and was then hospitalized at St David’s. Texas Right to Life claimed that he was refused food and treatment for coronavirus there for six days before his virus death on June 11, 2020…

Dad Creates Fully Accessible Theme Park for Daughter With Disabilities

June 27, 2020 | Source: The Dad

Watching your child miss out is never easy. Sometimes the solution is as simple as talking with their school or another parent. Things get a little more complicated, though, when your child has a disability. Don’t get me wrong, there has been an enormous amount of progress in inclusiveness over the years. But any parent of a child with disabilities will tell you, there is still a long way to go. Many parents have even taken it upon themselves to make the world a more accessible place for their children. There was the dad who ran marathons with his son who had a disability, allowing him to experience the rush of crossing the finish line…

Uber will soon let people in California book accessible minibus rides with public transit deal

June 27, 2020 | Source: TNW & Autoblog

Uber’s software will power on-demand public transport services through a new deal in California with the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) and the bus agency Marin Transit. Although Uber already displays public transport data in its app and has enabled ticket purchases in some locations, this move represents its first Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tie-up with a public transport agency. Shin-pei Tsay, Director of Policy, Cities and Transportation at Uber, told Cities Today: “We’re always looking for ways we can complement public transit agencies and cities through our technology.”…

Shared spaces can be hard to navigate for disabled residents

June 28, 2020 | Source: San Francisco Examiner

The reimagining of public areas into outdoor dining spaces is considered by many to be a necessary step in The City’s reopening process. But disability advocates say that process may be moving too fast to ensure that city sidewalks remain accessible to everyone. In a carefully worded letter to city officials dated June 22, groups including Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Walk SF and Senior and Disability Action expressed concern that the “Shared Spaces” program, which allows businesses to make use of sidewalks, parking lots and parking spaces…

Siouxland advocate: Test Iowa not accessible to elderly, people with disabilities

June 28, 2020 | Source: Sioux City Journal

With the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act looming, the executive director of the Disabilities Resource Center of Siouxland is calling on Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to make “easy fixes” to improve accessibility for the elderly and people with disabilities at Test Iowa COVID-19 testing sites. Don Dew said it seems as if the public-private partnership, which seeks to drastically increase the rate of coronavirus testing in the state, was rolled out without much forethought for this population, which is at high risk of experiencing severe illness from the novel coronavirus…

Oregon pushes ideas to improve outdoor recreation, from search and rescue to diversity

June 29, 2020 | Source: The Register-Guard

In a COVID-19 world, Oregon’s outdoors is more important than ever. The ability to escape in the open air, to distance into spaces where the virus is far less likely to spread, while also coming up with new jobs, will be crucial in coming years, said Cailin O’Brien-Feeney, the director of Oregon Office of Outdoor Recreation. The report includes 30 suggestions for ways to move Oregon forward, from an online store to purchase every recreation pass, to better funding search and rescue, to bolstering recreation near urban centers and improving the economy in rural areas…

#accessiBe Will Get You Sued

June 29, 2020 | Source: Adrian Roselli

The hashtag is in the title because accessiBe does not maintain a presence on Twitter. Instead the accessiBe site links to the hashtag, which is currently mostly positive and much of which may be paid. I am hoping a search for that hashtag will surface this warning. It seems fair to first frame accessiBe by what we know of it today. I provide links so you can validate them yourself. My opinion (expert and otherwise) is grounded in these. Users are filing cases against web sites that use accessibility overlays…

AI Technology is Being Used to Make Alzheimer’s Prevention Personal—Literally

June 29, 2020 | Source: Well + Good

As a health reporter, I’ve not only built a career on the idea that knowledge is power, I also apply it to my own life. Knowing the science behind the best healthy foods not only informs what I write about, but also what I eat. And if there’s a way to do a crunch that’s most effective, I want to know that, too. But, for me, this way of thinking has long stopped when it came to Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age, due to generalized degeneration of the brain, and affects an estimated 5.8 million Americans…

My Journey to Accessible Travel Advocacy After a Life-Changing Accident

June 29, 2020 | Source: Yahoo Lifestyle

At age 14, I was paralyzed in a horrible car wreck that took the life of my father, severely injured my mother, and injured my younger sister. That one moment transformed my entire world, but it could not dampen my spirit. I graduated high school on time and received a full scholarship to the University of Southern California where I graduated with honors. After high school, a group of friends and I traveled to Greece. It was tough getting around, but for 14 memorable days I had the time of my life…

Twitter’s Voice Tweets Upset Users Again Over Accessibility

July 1, 2020 | Source: Wall Street Journal

When Twitter Inc. introduced a new feature in June, a tool that let users record 140 seconds of audio and send it as a tweet, critics quickly noted that it didn’t permit captioning, making it useless for deaf people. They also said it is the sort of problem that happens a lot in technology. “When it comes to web access, it’s always an ongoing process that we have to be constantly be fighting for in the disability community and ally community,” said Morgan Baker, who is deaf and an accessibility specialist…

Disabled users say Ravelry’s new site design has given them seizures

July 1, 2020 | Source: The Daily Dot

After joining Ravelry in 2009, Countess Ablaze found a hobby that led to a career in selling yarn. But the Countess said when the platform overhauled its site on June 16, the new design caused her to have a seizure. She calls the redesign a “nightmare” for autistic people to look at. “I suspect for me it was the glaring white, sensory overload of a lot of colors, flickering and high contrast black lines,” the Countess wrote on her blog. “I can’t speculate anymore than this and now I’ve had one seizure (I’ve been seizure free since Nov 2018) I’m at higher risk for another.”…

Most Americans With Disabilities Struggle to Find Accessible Homes

July 2, 2020 | Source: OZY

Apartment hunting is stressful. But for Alex Ghenis, finding a place to live after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, was like searching for a needle in a haystack. The 32-year-old disability rights consultant, who suffered a spinal cord injury in 2004, uses a power chair. He needs an elevator building or a ground-floor apartment with hardwood floors, automatic door openers and a roll-in shower. But non-student housing is scarce in Berkeley and much of the city’s housing is old…

Blindsight: a strange neurological condition that could help us explain consciousness

July 2, 2020 | Source: Medical Xpress

Imagine being completely blind but still being able to see. Does that sound impossible? Well, it happens. A few years ago, a man (let’s call him Barry) suffered two strokes in quick succession. As a result, Barry was completely blind, and he walked with a stick. One day, some psychologists placed Barry in a corridor full of obstacles like boxes and chairs. They took away his walking stick and told him to walk down the corridor. The result of this simple experiment would prove dramatic for our understanding of consciousness. Barry was able to navigate around the obstacles without tripping over a single one…

This smart glove translates sign language in real-time

July 2, 2020 | Source: The Burn-In

With technology getting more impressive, language barriers are becoming less of a hindrance. However, translators that work with spoken or written languages leave out the language of between 100,000 to one million deaf people in the United States alone—American Sign Language (ASL). Researchers from UCLA want to fix that. They recently developed a high-tech smart glove that is capable of translating sign language into written and spoken words in real time. Their system promises almost 99 percent accuracy. It could be a game-changer for helping ASL users communicate with people who don’t know sign language…

Jack Fact — Some 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss. In the United States, over 37 million adults, about 15 percent of the population, report some trouble hearing, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Hit The Road Jack — Accessible tourism is a no-brainer

International News

Varsity Disabled Access Report: “In short, help is there, but it isn’t enough”

June 26, 2020 | Source: Varsity Online- UK

A Varsity investigation has uncovered information on the experiences of disabled students at the University of Cambridge. Varsity surveyed disabled students and J/MCR committee members, receiving 115 responses. Responses were recorded from all 31 Cambridge colleges. Data was also collated from interviews, the Disability Resource Centre’s [DRC’s] college accessibility guide, and the UCS and DRC annual reports. Varsity has found that: Freedoms, such as being able to wash your clothes or meet your friends in the bar for a drink, are being denied to students in wheelchairs…

Government invests in public transit and accessible transportation infrastructure for Cornwall and Brockville residents

June 25, 2020 | Source: Government of Ontario- Canada

The health and well-being of Canadians are the top priorities of the governments of Canada and Ontario. But the COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than Canadians’ personal health. It is having a profound effect on the economy. That is why governments have been taking decisive action to support families, businesses and communities, and continue to look ahead to see what more can be done. Strategic investments in public transit infrastructure play a key role in ensuring Ontarians can get to work, school and essential services on time, and safely back home at the end of the day…

Mild to medium colour blind people will now get a license to drive

June 27, 2020 | Source: NewzHook- India

Colour blindness is no longer a barrier for getting a license to drive private vehicles. People with mild to moderate colour blindness can now get a license to drive license. The Road Transport and Highways Ministry has issued a notification in this over two months after a panel of ophthalmologists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, gave recommendations in this regard. The Ministry has now asked for the suitable amendments to be made to motor vehicle norms. In a statement it said…

Impaired people’s lives matter, too

June 28, 2020 | Source: News in English- Norway

Another group of Norwegians is speaking up in the battle to obtain basic rights and respect, and their latest target is paying attention. BaneNOR, which is in charge of railroad infrastructure in Norway, is now promising better accessibility for the physically impaired at more train stations, but national advocacy groups still aren’t satisfied. Newspaper Dagsavisen reports that BaneNOR is expanding offers of assistance at train stations in Hamar and at the busy National-theatret station in Oslo that also serves as a major metro hub…

Disability in the Bush app aims to make NDIS more accessible in remote communities

June 28, 2020 | Source: ABC News- Australia

For Mutitjulu local Max Woods, an electric wheelchair and a machine to help him get out of bed would make a world of difference. But the information about whether he’s eligible for these things, through the National Disability Insurance Scheme, is not always easily accessible for him and other residents in remote communities, where English is not always a first language. To try and combat that, Ninti One and the Interplay Project have developed a free app called ‘Disability in the Bush’ that features Mr. Woods and others…

Human Right Commission welcomes world cup

June 29, 2020 | Source: SunLive- New Zealand

Co-hosting the FIFA Women World Cup 2023 in New Zealand is a fantastic opportunity to deliver an exceptional sporting event, says the Human Rights Commission. “We warmly congratulate the New Zealand FWWC organisers and look forward to working with them to help bring their commitments to life,” says Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt. “The Commission is delighted to be named among the organisations that the organisers will seek to partner with for maximum impact on human rights issues.”…

Blue badge anniversary highlights the need for progress

June 29, 2020 | Source: Planning, BIM & Construction Today- UK

If you blinked you probably missed it, but just a few weeks ago the government marked the 50th anniversary of the blue badge scheme. Transport secretary Grant Shapps described the scheme as a “lifeline for so many disabled people” and reminded the public that it was extended last year to cover hidden disabilities. Chris Heaton-Harris, described as the accessibility minister, said a lot has been achieved “but we must continue to do more”. And that was about it…

A new era of accessibility

June 30, 2020 | Source: The Hindu- India

During the lockdown, a father, left with no choice but to steal a bicycle, transported his disabled son from rural Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh. A professor and wheelchair user in West Bengal, with no means of transport, has no access to medical care during this period, even in an emergency. In the wake of the pandemic and the lockdown, the already arduous quest for health, safety, and security for many has been exacerbated by a lack of accessibility…

VIA Rail pledges to improve rail accessibility

June 30, 2020 | Source: Progressive Rail Roading- Canada

VIA Rail Canada Inc. last week announced additional steps toward ensuring universal accessibility in order to meet requirements set out by the Canadian Transportation Agency. To increase accessibility, VIA Rail is proposing: telephone reservations for riders with disabilities or functional limitations unable to make reservations on the website; curbside assistance from select station entrances to the platform, which includes wheelchair assistance, guiding assistance and assistance carrying baggage;…

Audio description finally comes to ABC and SBS

June 29, 2020 | Source: The Conversation- Australia

Following a $2 million funding injection from the federal government, the ABC and SBS have introduced an audio description service for audiences who are blind or vision impaired. Audio description is a voice-over narration describing important visual elements, including facial expressions, actions, costumes or the weather. Up to 14 hours of audio described content will be available on each service per week, using existing audio narration from international productions and descriptions made locally…

Canada’s Digital Dollar Should Focus on Inclusion and Accessibility, Say Experts

June 30, 2020 | Source: Cointelegraph- Canada & Coin Geek

A digital Canadian dollar should imitate traditional banknotes in terms of availability and accessibility, according to staff from the country’s central bank, the Bank of Canada. In an analytical note on June 30, experts from the Bank of Canada revealed some of the goals for its central bank digital currency (CBDC). Analytical notes are a product of staff and analysts at the bank, separate from the Governing Council, so they do not necessarily represent the opinion of the bank itself…

Japan leads the way in accessible tourism

June 30, 2020 | Source: LifeGate- Japan

“I like to go to places I haven’t been before to learn new things,” says Josh Grisdale, a Canadian-born Japanese citizen who created the website Accessible Japan to promote che country as a travel destination, as well as working with local tourism organisations to improve accessibility for disabled travellers. By providing useful information and answering users’ questions, the website aims to make Japanese hospitality, known as omotenashi, open to everyone…

Organizations can apply for up to $100,000 to increase accessibility: Serre

July 1, 2020 | Source: The Sudbury Star- Canada & TBNewsWatch

Sudbury-area organizations are now eligible to apply for up to $100,000 through the Enabling Accessibility Fund (EAF) for small projects that improve accessibility for persons with disabilities in the community. Applications will be accepted for the small project component of the EAF until July 13 at 3 p.m. The types of projects that will be considered include small construction projects such as the renovation or retrofitting of existing spaces to improve accessibility and/or to make information more accessible with communication technologies…

Mandatory mask policies raise accessibility concerns for vulnerable populations

July 2, 2020 | Source: SaultOnline- Canada

Experts and advocates say mandatory mask policies will only work if they’re backed up by efforts to provide access and education to vulnerable populations. A rule requiring that commuters wear masks on Toronto’s public transit system came into effect today, and next week face coverings will be mandatory in indoor public settings such as stores and businesses. Several other Ontario municipalities and the Quebec government are moving to implement similar policies with the aim of preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus…

31-yr-old visually challenged woman takes SSLC exam

July 2, 2020 | Source: Times of India

Here is a visually challenged woman who can inspire us all. She discontinued her education after she developed blindness when she was in class nine. Later, she moved to Bengaluru for mobility and rehabilitation training and joined a garment factory. After working for 9 years, she decided to continue her education. She used the lockdown period to prepare for the examination. 31-yr-old visually challenged woman takes SSLC examination as a private candidate in Seva Bharati School in Chamarajanagar…

Hearing loss: early signs of damage in young adults who regularly attend loud clubs and concerts

July 2, 2020 | Source: The Conversation- UK & Irish Examiner

Going to concerts or clubs is a popular pastime for many young people, but they’re also potential causes of noise-induced hearing loss. In fact, more than a billion young people worldwide are at risk of noise-induced hearing loss – though it can be prevented. While the link between noise exposure and hearing loss is well known, it’s possible that the extent of hearing damage from noise exposure has been underestimated. This is because very subtle hearing damage can occur which is not detectable by pure-tone audiometry – the most commonly used hearing test by audiologists…

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