Accessibility in the News — 3/25/2022.

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Justice Department Issues Web Accessibility Guidance Under the Americans with Disabilities Act

March 18, 2022 | Source: Department of Justice & AFB & ADA & Forbes & CUNA & American Bankers Association & MyChesCo

Why We Should Be Disappointed By DOJ’S Web Accessibility Guidance

March 22, 2022 | Source: Ken Nakata & Seyfarth Shaw & McAfee & Taft & William D. Goren & Jackson Lewis & Barnes & Thornburg & Ogletree Deakins & Ballard Spahr

The Department of Justice published guidance today on web accessibility and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It explains how state and local governments (entities covered by ADA Title II) and businesses open to the public (entities covered by ADA Title III) can make sure their websites are accessible to people with disabilities in line with the ADA’s requirements. The guidance discusses a range of topics, including the importance of web accessibility, barriers that inaccessible websites create for some people with disabilities, when the ADA requires web content to be accessible, tips on making web content accessible and other information and resources…

National News (U.S.)

DOT to install 500 accessible pedestrian signals at intersections next year

March 18, 2022 | Source: Gothamist & The Points Guy

The Department of Transportation says it hopes to make roughly 500 more intersections accessible to blind and low-vision pedestrians next year. This comes three months after a federal judge criticized New York City’s slow pace of installing the accessible pedestrian signals (APS), which make “audible and vibrotactile indications” to let pedestrians know they can start walking — and said the city must install 9,000 over the next 10 years. Currently, there are more than 13,000 intersections with traffic lights, but, as of March 1st, only 1,015 have APS — about 8% of all intersections…

The Pandemic Opened Up My World. As We ‘Get Back To Normal,’ I Fear I’ll Disappear Again.

March 19, 2022 | Source: HuffPost

During the height of the pandemic, I went to a live concert with my husband. It was the first concert I had been to in over six years. We sat on our couch, a beer in his hand and a bowl of ice cream in mine, as the band’s music blasted through our smart TV. I lowered the thumping of the bass with the remote. I looked away when the pulsing lights flashed over the stage. There were no moving crowds to make me feel dizzy. My limited energy supply wasn’t drained by a commute to and from the venue. We were alone, but I still felt connected to something more universal ― a thread that bound me to others…

Federal Website Accessibility Lawsuits Increased in 2021 Despite Mid-Year Pandemic Lull

March 21, 2022 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw

Record Number of Lawsuits Filed Over Accessibility for People with Disabilities

March 23, 2022 | Source: SHRM

The numbers are in for total website accessibility lawsuit filings in federal courts in 2021, and they show a whopping 14% increase from 2020. The total number of lawsuits filed in federal courts alleging that plaintiffs with a disability could not use websites because they were not designed to be accessible and/or work with assistive technologies in 2021 was 2,895–372 more than 2020. This 14% increase in the number of lawsuits in 2021 exceeds the 12% increase we saw in 2020. While these numbers pale by comparison to the explosion of cases we saw from 2017 to 2018 (an increase of 177%), the recent increases are still very significant…

Girl, 10, Born Without Arms Used to Eat Lunch Alone — Now a New Invention Lets Her Eat With Friends

March 21, 2022 | Source: People

Born without arms, Tenley Stoker is finally getting to experience some of the simple joys of life that her parents always dreamed of for their 10-year-old daughter — and it’s all because of a robotic feeding device that somewhat resembles the bouncing Pixar lamp Luxor Jr. The fifth grader from Stevensville, Mont., used to eat her lunches in a special room at her school with an assistant whose job was to feed Stoker one tiny bite of food after another. All that changed two years ago when her parents learned about the high-tech feeding device known as Obi that scoops and serves up food on a spoon…

Fully blind student navigates Baylor’s campus through memorization, science

March 23, 2022 | Source: Baylor Lariat

“I’m not asking people to not see it and look past it,” San Antonio sophomore Noah Cook said. “I’m asking people to see it and be OK with it. It’s a part of me that I can’t change.” At three months old, Cook was diagnosed with glaucoma, a condition where the fluid in the eye builds up pressure and causes vision loss. Although he was very susceptible to eye injury, Cook said he had a normal visual experience growing up. When he was younger, Cook was hanging out at his best friend’s house…

Marchers Take to State Street to Raise Awareness for People with Disabilities

March 23, 2022 | Source: Noozhawk

Matt Lowe lost his sight when he was 16 years old. About 90% of his sight is gone, and Lowe says he lives “about 3 feet at a time.” So, navigating Santa Barbara’s streets is a trek that he doesn’t take for granted. Over the years, he’s fallen, broken bones and hit his head. He wishes Santa Barbara streets were more accessible for people with disabilities. “Santa Barbara, in particular downtown, with the new parklets, a lot of people have signs, and navigating around those signs, walking in the middle of the street, there’s always bikes and electric scooters, so that makes it especially hard,” Lowe said…

Cornell Students Improve Math Accessibility for Students With Disabilities

March 24, 2022 | Source: The Cornell Daily Sun

A team of Cornell students, part of the educational company called AI-Learners, are developing computer games to make math more accessible for students with disabilities and are now competing across the country to secure funding crucial to achieving their goal. AI-Learners develops electronic games for students with physical, cognitive and behavioral disabilities. Their website includes games that teach various math skills — such as addition, subtraction and shapes…

How WEB3 Can Help Brands Create An Inclusive Metaverse

March 24, 2022 | Source: Ad Age

A decentralized internet that is the vision behind Web3 has the potential to fundamentally change the way brands and consumers interact with one another. This immersive web will be driven by the rise of virtual worlds and the metaverse. But while this necessitates a new way of interacting in a new type of human space, it’s important these new opportunities are also more inclusive and accessible than ever before. Representation matters, and with Web3 and the metaverse, we have an opportunity to get it right from the beginning…

Google wants to use AI to cut the maternal mortality rate by half

March 24, 2022 | Source: Fast Company & India Times

Google announced on Thursday three new health projects aimed at showcasing its artificial intelligence prowess. The most bullish among them: a partnership with Northwestern Memorial Hospital to use artificial intelligence to make ultrasounds more accessible—a development Google claims would halve the maternal mortality rate. All three of Google’s new projects highlight how the company’s strength, organizing information, can play a role in health care…

Researchers Use Chemistry to Stimulate the Sense of Touch

March 24, 2022 | Source: AZO Materials

Although human eyes are said to be the windows to the world, it is our fingertips that enable us to touch it. To replicate this tactile sensation, existing technology depends on miniature motors and electricity. Nevertheless, the buzzes and bumps they produce are not that good at imitating the real deal. Now, researchers report proof that the human skin can distinguish subtle changes in chemistry—discoveries they hope may offer the foundation for a new method to regulate touch and better incorporate it into applications, like virtual reality…

A legacy of racism in the health care system is hurting patients, new research shows

March 24, 2022 | Source: Houston Chronicle

Iliana Oberkircher can’t quite recall how old she was. Maybe 10? But she clearly remembers holding an orange pill bottle, doing her best to translate the prescription from English to Spanish for her mother. The medicine was for her younger brother, Juan Carlos or “Carlitos,” who suffered from a complex heart condition, requiring her mother to shuttle him from doctor to doctor in the Rio Grande Valley, Oberkircher always came along to translate. “Looking back now,” Oberkircher said, “having a Latino physician who spoke Spanish was just unheard of.”…

Deaf Authors Talk About Imagination and Creativity

March 24, 2022 | Source: School Library Journal

When I was little, my mamita caught me hiding under the dining table, deep in my own world, pretending to be a baby bear. She snuck up behind me and growled like a mama bear, trying to snap me out of the vivid, inventive space otherwise known as my imagination. My imagination was my space, a power of supernova proportions that evolved with the silent patterns and places of the world that deafness embraces. I was well on my way to becoming a Nefelibata: a cloud walker; a creative person who lives in their own imagination or dreams…

A Brief But spectacular take on deaf actors in Hollywood

March 24, 2022 | Source: PBS Newshour (Video)

At the Academy Awards this weekend, the film “CODA” was nominated for three awards including best picture. One of the main actors is Marlee Matlin, who has brought strong characters to the screen for 35 years. She shares her Brief But Spectacular take on uplifting deaf actors and others in the disability community in Hollywood…

A Disability Is Not Something You Have To “Fix” — This Influencer Is Working To Change That Thinking

March 24, 2022 | Source: Refinery 24

When Paula Carozzo was five, living in her native Venezuela, she had her tonsils removed — and a couple of weeks later, her parents noticed that she was behaving differently. She had jerking movements in her legs. She lost her appetite. She lost her desire to socialize. She lost her energy. She lost her voice. She was a completely different child than who she was prior to the surgery. Her parents rushed her to the emergency room, and it was there that neuro-orthopedic specialists verified that she had brain damage…

Unemployment Soars for New Yorkers With Disabilities as Challenges Outweigh New Opportunities

March 24, 2022 | Source: The City

The unemployment rate for working-age New Yorkers who identify as having a disability more than doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the city has cut funding to many programs that help people succeed at work. In 2021, nearly 17% of working-age people in New York City with a disability were unemployed, up from 7.4% in 2019, according to the most recent quarterly numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, funding for programs that serve the nearly 1 million people in New York City who identify as having a disability has significantly decreased over the years…

Disability Rights Ohio says disabled voters need better info on access

March 24, 2022 | Source: WKSU

An organization that advocates for people with disabilities says better information is needed when it comes to overcoming obstacles to voting. Disability Rights Ohio discussed preliminary findings of an upcoming report on the information gaps that exist at a League of Women Voters webinar this week. It says the challenges include overcoming obstacles created by unexpected hospitalizations, the availability of both curbside voting, and absentee ballots for the visually impaired…

Disability influencer and mom of 4 fights stereotypes by sharing her parenting experiences online: ‘The only thing I can’t do is walk’

March 24, 2022 | Source: Yahoo

When TaLisha Grzyb met her tutor in college, she had no idea that she was meeting her future husband. “I was always very much focused on education, and even when he asked me out, I sort of told him no. It’s like the running joke in our relationship. I told him no two times, and then it’s third time’s the charm,” TaLisha tells Yahoo Life. TaLisha, a disability advocate, and her husband Quentin were married in 2016. Shortly after their honeymoon, TaLisha discovered that she was pregnant with twins…

How to Navigate the Airport When You Have Accessibility Needs

March 24, 2022 | Source: AARP

Tarita Davenock suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, which makes it tricky to navigate airports, where the distances between gates can be measured in football fields. Airports can be challenging for many other travelers as well. A quarter of U.S. adults have a disability, and 14 percent have trouble walking or climbing stairs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The one thing we all have in common is that we want to be accommodated [at airports],” says Davenock, whose MS hasn’t kept her from flying…

North Carolina DHHS phasing out segregated working conditions for people with disabilities

March 24, 2022 | Source: Spectrum

More than 1,000 people with disabilities are working in sheltered workshops or Adult Developmental Vocational Program settings across North Carolina, where workers with disabilities are typically separated from nondisabled workers and most are paid far below the minimum wage, according to the group Disability Rights North Carolina. This year the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services will begin phasing out these programs and instead offer support to get people with disabilities into what it calls competitive integrated employment…

Unintentional Discrimination is Discrimination

March 24, 2022 | Source: Daily Utah Chronicle

In early March, protesters gathered outside of the Los Angeles Community College District headquarters in downtown LA. Their protests came before a board of trustees meeting that would discuss the decision to petition the Supreme Court in a prominent disability rights case — Payan v. Los Angeles Community College District. This case has important implications about whether unintentional discrimination is still discrimination. The LACCD decided not to take the case to the Supreme Court, which leaves unanswered questions about unintentional discrimination…

Judge Sides With 12 Virginia Students With Disabilities On School Masks

March 24, 2022 | Source: DCist

A federal judge ruled in favor of a group of students with disabilities who sued the commonwealth of Virginia over the lifting of mask requirements in their public schools. The plaintiffs in the case argued the executive order and the Virginia law making masking a matter of parent choice both interfere with their right to a public education under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Federal district judge Norman K. Moon agreed with the families in an initial ruling on Wednesday night…

Jack Fact — According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS), in 2021, persons with a disability accounted for 11.9 percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. Persons with a disability tend to be older than persons with no disability, reflecting the increased incidence of disability with age. In 2021, half of persons with a disability were age 65 and over, compared with 18 percent of those with no disability. Overall, women were somewhat more likely to have a disability than men, partly reflecting the greater life expectancy of women. In 2021, the prevalence of disability continued to be higher for Blacks and Whites than for Hispanics and Asians.

Hit The Road Jack — Check in: accessibility matters at Castlemartyr Resort& Hiking, skiing and more: Wintertime wheelchair-accessible recreation in Vermont

International News

Local app designer aims to make dating, friendships more accessible for people with disabilities

March 18, 2022 | Source: Capital Daily- Canada

Navigating the complexities of dating—even in pre-pandemic times—has never been easy. But for disabled people, dating comes even with more barriers than for most. From ensuring dates meet their accessibility needs, to worrying about social stigma around their disabilities, there can be a lot to overcome even before meeting up for the first time. Christie Faye Collins wants to change that. She’s a professional web developer currently at work on NOMI, a dating app specifically geared towards people with disabilities…

New sport makes hockey accessible for youth with upper-body disabilities

March 19, 2022 | Source: CTV News- Canada

Unlike other adaptive sports, Volt hockey allows athletes with limited upper-body strength to take part in sport using electric run chairs. This year, the inclusive sport started up in Edmonton thanks to Variety Alberta, a province-wide charity supporting kids who live with disabilities. J’ Ramsankar, Volt Hockey head coach, says the new sport has been life-changing for many kids so far. “We just wanted to start a new adapted sport for kids who usually don’t get to play,” Ramsankar said…

Delhi PWD to repair all footpaths, pavements to make them accessible for pedestrians

March 20, 2022 | Source: The Indian Express- India

The Public Works Department (PWD) in Delhi has decided to repair and redevelop all footpaths and walkways across the city to make them more accessible and disabled friendly, officials have said. According to officials, footpaths and pavements at several locations and roads are in a poor condition and have been encroached upon. “Due to the broken pavements and encroachments, pedestrians are having difficulty walking on roads. There are several stretches that are not disabled-friendly and the ramps are missing or broken and constructed improperly…

Urban planner and disability advocate wants a Toronto that’s accessible to all

March 20, 2022 | Source: Toronto Star- Canada

It’s 1990s Etobicoke. Young Igor Samardzic is crafting narratives as he plays with his LEGOs. He imagines tension between the figurines and gets to work figuring out how to accommodate their differences in his finished LEGO masterpiece. Today, Samardzic is 32. He’s an urban planner and disability advocate who lives with conductive hearing loss. Complex problems that need to be resolved to create something cohesive and purposeful still fascinate him. He approaches them by collaborating, seeking creative solutions and challenging the status quo…

Mansoor bin Mohammed approves results of accessibility assessment for government websites and smart applications

March 21, 2022 | Source: Dubai Media Office & Gulf News

His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Higher Committee for the Protection of the Rights of People of Determination, commended government entities for enhancing their websites and smart applications to make them more accessible for people of determination. Initiative is part of Dubai’s commitment to create a cohesive, harmonious and supportive society in which people of determination are provided with equal opportunities…

New guidance aims to drive accessibility in built environments to support one billion people globally with disabilities

March 21, 2022 | Source: AT Today- UK

Business Disability Forum (BDF) has published a new global guide this month showing how all businesses can make their built environments accessible to the one billion people in world who have a disability. Having a disability can affect how a person accesses, navigates, and uses the spaces and structures around them. Built environments include everything from entrances, exits, stairs, lifts, signage, to parking, green spaces, roads, and transport systems. BDF’s guide covers what an inclusive built environment is, why creating inclusive environments is important for disabled people and business…

Disabled persons audit two new stations of Chennai Metro Rail, find accessibility issues continue

March 23, 2022 | Source: The Hindu- India

Lack of warning strips in tactile tiles, reflective and slippery flooring, gaps between trains and platforms, the long list of accessibility issues in Chennai Metro Rail remains alive several years after the launch of the service. In an access audit conducted on Tuesday at two new stations — Tiruvottiyur Theradi and Wimco Nagar depot which were recently opened in phase I extension project — persons with disability found most issues they had earlier flagged persist…

Queensland is unlikely to meet the legislated goal of having all train stations fully accessible this year

March 22, 2022 | Source: ABC- Australia

A looming deadline to make public transport accessible to people with disability is set to be missed by the Queensland government, despite authorities having 20 years to make changes. The federal Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 lays out a timeline to complete accessibility upgrades by the end of this year. A Transport and Main Roads spokesperson said about 40 per cent of train stations across south-east Queensland cannot be accessed without stairs…

“I feel completely myself”: 5 women with disabilities on how exercise has improved their confidence

March 23, 2022 | Source: Stylist- UK

From increased lung capacity to a potentially calmer and more stable mood, the benefits of exercise are well known. But for people with disabilities, the importance it holds in our lives can be far deeper. I was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) at 24 years old. It’s a chronic multi-system disease with symptoms including extreme tiredness, muscle or joint pain, problems with memory and concentration and post-exertional malaise — an exacerbation of symptoms following physical and/or cognitive activity. It’s also a condition with no easy fix…

More than 1,700 disabled Oldhamers challenge Government at benefits tribunals

March 23, 2022 | Source: The Oldham Times- UK

The disability benefits system has been slammed as “archaic and outdated” after it was revealed more than 1,700 people in Oldham have taken the Government to tribunal over payments – and nearly 60 per cent won. Since 2013, hundreds of thousands of benefits decisions have been overturned across the UK after disabled people battled a “complex and distressing” appeals system to win their case at tribunal, disability charities say. Anyone denied Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – which covers the additional expenses faced by people with disabilities and is worth between £23 and £150 a week – can request a reconsideration…

Progress on UN rights convention ‘has regressed and stagnated across UK’

March 24, 2022 | Source: Disability News Service- UK

Progress on disability rights in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has stalled in many areas in the last five years, and in some parts has even regressed, according to reports by national disabled people’s organisations (DPOs). The three DPOs told a parliamentary meeting that the impact of the pandemic and a decade of austerity had delayed progress towards implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Inclusion Scotland, Disability Wales and Disability Action in Northern Ireland have each been working with other DPOs to prepare “shadow reports” on how the convention has been implemented since 2017…

Could a national body for ‘Scientists with Disabilities’ level the playing field?

March 24, 2022 | Source: Women’s Agenda- Australia

Some of the greatest minds in science, Steven Hawking, Temple Grandin, and Albert Einstein all had something in common – they all had disabilities. And each of them forged a very successful career in science making ground-breaking discoveries to become the role models they are to so many people all over the world, today. Fast forward to 2022, and despite many technological advances and a change of societal attitudes towards people with disabilities, you might have assumed that the number of scientists with disabilities would have significantly increased over the decades…

Emma Brown excited for future of England disability football

March 24, 2022 | Source: FourFourTwo- UK

England Deaf Women winger Emma Brown says football has taken her on an “amazing” journey so far and is excited about what lies ahead – and for those who will follow in her footsteps. The 29-year-old had her first contact with the England set-up via a trial in 2009 after joining Manchester United’s under-16s. Brown has gone on to represent her country at European and World Championships and Great Britain at the Deaflympics, claiming bronze medals in all three…

UN to hear how disabled people feel ‘expendable’ after rights regression since 2017

March 24, 2022 | Source: Disability News Service- UK

There has been “continued regression” in disabled people’s rights in the five years since a UN committee told the UK government that its cuts and reforms had caused a “human catastrophe”, according to a new report by disabled people’s organisations (DPOs). DPOs across England spent six months collecting evidence for the “shadow report” on how the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is being implemented by the UK government…

New pilot program offers employment assistance for people with disabilities

March 24, 2022 | Source: Sydney Sentinel- Australia

Finding a job can be a struggle, despite a record of 85 per cent of businesses in Australia experiencing staff shortages. For people with disabilities (PwD), the struggle is more pronounced, with PwD experiencing lower rates of employment. Potential employers often can’t see past physical signs of disability, like wheelchairs or crutches. Furthermore, PwD without obvious disabilities often have to hide their disability in the workplace in order to retain their jobs, something disability support coordinator Rose Abu-Saleh says happens far too often…

UK charities work together to support Ukrainian’s with learning disabilities

March 24, 2022 | Source: Civil Society News- UK

Four charities have joined forces to fundraise for Ukrainians with learning disabilities amid Russia’s invasion. Mencap, ENABLE Scotland, The Richmond Fellowship Scotland and Learning Disability England have created a coalition and responded to a fundraising campaign led by Inclusion Europe that aims to help those with learning disabilities during the conflict. The campaign highlights how people with intellectual disabilities and their families may not be able to leave the war zone. So far, the coalition has raised over £60,000 in its first week…

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