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Top Accessibility News Topics for the First Half of 2018

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Accessibility in the News—7/27/18.

Jack McElaney

Accessibility in the News curator Jack McElaney

I just spent a week with my 2 ¾ months old granddaughter, so I had a little downtime during her naps to do some year-to-date calculations. There has been lots of news coverage in Accessibility in the News (AITN) in the last six months and my curation consisted of 637 national news articles, 502 international news articles, 640 accessibility blogs-information, 614 accessibility training and conferences, 480 accessibility job opportunities, 466 accessibility pages, 584 accessibility announcements-products, and 371 accessibility Q&A and tips.

That amounts to a  year-to-date total of 4,294 bits of information shared in AITN.

Thank you to all of the AITN subscribers for all of your support throughout the year. Special thanks to all of the subscribers that have contributed various articles, blogs, and announcements each week. Big thanks to the Microassist team, Vivian, Liam, and Sean, for all of your help throughout the year.

This week, Accessibility in the News reviews the stories that garnered significant news coverage from January to June. As with last year’s top ten collection, it’s a mix: Tech industry leaders are paving the way for inclusive work, play, and living environments enhanced through digital access. Educational website accessibility has been wrapped up in civil rights dismissals. Notable apps are championing access from different angles. Lawsuits in the financial sector and transportation abound.

Here are Our Top 10 Accessibility News Stories and Topics for the First Half of 2018.

Each of these ten subjects solidly earned their place as one of the top Accessibility in the News topics this first half of 2018, laying quite the stage for the rest of the year:

  1. H.R. 620: The ADA Education and Reform Act Rises and Stalls
  2. Google Maps Introduces Wheelchair-Accessible Transit Routes
  3. Apple-Proposed Emoji Characters Represent Accessibility and Disability
  4. WCAG 2.1 Debuts
  5. Accessibility Lawsuits Pummel Credit Unions, Association Fights Back
  6. Airbnb Filters Aim to Inform, Ease Travel for People with Disabilities
  7. Visuals-Heavy Pinterest Revamped to Be Accessible to Blind and Visually Impaired
  8. Uber and MTA Lawsuits Spotlight Lack of Accessibility in Transportation
  9. Microsoft Unleashes a Slew of Accessibility Initiatives Affecting Windows 10, AI, Xbox
  10. OCR Dismisses Hundreds of Complaints; Finds Itself Subject of Lawsuit

H.R. 620: The ADA Education and Reform Act Rises and Stalls

H.R.620, also known as the “ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017” made big news early this year when it passed through the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill was introduced back in the beginning of 2017 by Texas Representative Ted Poe, and it aimed to change several key details of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Under the reformed ADA, people with disabilities would be required to file an official complaint stating that a building is not accessible before they could take any legal action against the building’s owner. The idea behind the bill was to protect owners and operators from excessive litigation. Disability rights advocates claimed the bill was a step backward and would delay progress in facilitating access that is often sorely needed. The bill stalled in the Senate after Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois gathered 43 senate votes to filibuster any attempt to vote on the bill.

Google Maps Introduces Wheelchair-Accessible Transit Routes

Last year, Google launched a new feature on Google Maps that allowed users to report whether locations were accessible by choosing from a series of attributes. The accessibility attributes included: wheelchair-accessible entrances, wheelchair-accessible elevators, wheelchair-accessible seating, and wheelchair-accessible parking (See Google’s Original Post Here). The idea was to create a database of crowdsourced accessibility information to make Google Maps more user friendly for people with disabilities. This March, Google used the collected data to create a wheelchair accessible option for public transit. For now, the feature is only available in large metropolitan centers such as New York, Tokyo, London, Mexico City, Sydney, and Boston. However, Google aims to add more cities in the coming months.

Apple-Proposed Emoji Characters Represent Accessibility and Disability

Apple made news earlier this year by proposing 13 new accessibility emojis to The Unicode Consortium. Apple suggested emojis that include a guide dog, a hearing aid, a prosthetic arm and leg, sign language, a person in a wheelchair (mechanical and manual), and a person with a cane. The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization that provides the numerical coding for all letters, numbers, characters, and emojis to make sure they can be used across all operating systems in all countries. Unicode has the final say on which emojis are accepted, but Apple submitted a strong proposal. The official proposal can be accessed here (PDF).

WCAG 2.1 Debuts

In June, The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released an updated version of their Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) which had been released back in 2008. WCAG 2.1, ten years in the making, provides developers with new industry standards on accessibility. Since WCAG 2.0 version was created, technology has advanced significantly, most notably regarding smart phones. With mobile web browsing now being a part of our everyday lives, the W3C made sure to include details on mobile apps, touchscreens, and mobile browsers.

Accessibility Lawsuits Pummel Credit Unions, Association Fights Back

Last year, credit unions around the United States began seeing lawsuits for lack of website accessibility. This issue brought about a heated debate on whether companies should be protected from this sort of “drive-by lawsuit” in which one law firm and one plaintiff file suits against multiple companies at once, hoping to get some companies to settle. For credit unions specifically, another factor that affects whether cases move forward is the eligibility of litigants for membership at the credit union in question. The National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) has been aggressive in defending many of its members against website accessibility legal actions and calling for the federal government to clarify requirements. With the laws on what is required under the ADA for website accessibility being vague, judicial decisions vary from institution to institution as there is no solid legal framework. However, one thing is certain, change is needed in website accessibility and the laws that protect it.

Airbnb Filters Aim to Inform, Ease Travel for People with Disabilities

Last year, Airbnb bought a small startup called Accomable. Accomable’s website provided people with disabilities an easier way to travel by connecting travelers to verified accessible properties. Accomable was started by Srin Madipalli, who now works on accessibility for Airbnb. Airbnb had taken heat from disabled clients for not providing such options in the past. With the purchase of Accomable, Airbnb showed their customers that not only had they heard the complaints, but they wanted to fix what was wrong with their service. This spring, Airbnb added 21 new filters for guests with disabilities to make finding accessible accommodations easier. All 21 features are listed here, along with Airbnb’s original statement.

Visuals-Heavy Pinterest Revamped to Be Accessible to Blind and Visually Impaired

On April 25, Pinterest published a press release outlining their plan to make their website and app more accessible to blind and visually impaired users. Pinterest teamed up with Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired to help better determine how to make their product more accessible. The initial press release promised improvement in screen reading support to make every aspect of the site easier to use. For colorblind and low vision readers, they have changed color contrast sensitivity, and for users using keyboards or other devices to navigate the site they have added focus indicators. Additionally, Pinterest posted a list of design tips for developers and designers to help others make website improvements similar to theirs.

Uber, Lyft, and MTA Lawsuits Spotlight Lack of Accessibility in Transportation

Two lawsuits have had a big impact on transportation accessibility this year, and both happened within a couple of weeks of each other. First, the non-profit Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) sued Uber, stating that the company doesn’t provide sufficient service for customers using wheelchairs. This lawsuit was later followed by another suit by DRA directed at Uber’s competitor, Lyft, addressing the same grievance. The other big lawsuit in the transit world was directed at New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). This suit, which was brought on by federal prosecutors, claimed that the MTA is refusing to adhere to the ADA when renovating subway stations. The suit focuses on one station in particular. That station received a $27 million renovation in 2014, but is still inaccessible to travelers in wheelchairs. The MTA has since released a plan to install elevators in more stations, and hired an accessibility officer to oversee improvements.

Microsoft Unleashes a Slew of Accessibility Initiatives Affecting Windows 10, AI, Xbox

With accessibility being brought to the forefront of technology, Microsoft is doing its best to lead the charge. This year has been no exception. Starting in March, Microsoft announced it will be adding new accessibility features to Windows 10. In their press release, Microsoft underlined all the features they will be adding, such as narrator improvements, eye control improvements, reading and writing improvements, and assistive technology improvements. In May, to further their investment in accessibility, Microsoft invested $25 million to a new program called “AI for Accessibility.” This program pledges funds for developers, government, and others who create AI-based accessibility solutions. Lastly, in attempt to make gaming more accessible, Xbox announced an adaptive controller for players with disabilities. The controller, which is targeted to gamers with limited mobility, has large programmable buttons and 19 ports for different peripheral attachments. The devices will be available for sale in September.

OCR Dismisses Hundreds of Complaints; Finds Itself Subject of Lawsuit

In March, the United States Department of Education’s (DOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that they were implementing a new “case processing manual (PDF)” that would allow the Office to dismiss complaints not adhering to the new rules. The DOE stated it was a strain on their resources to review complaints filed against multiple recipients by a single filer, filed by multiple people against the same organization, or filed without addressing all necessary information. This has already led to the dismissal of hundreds of complaints. Disability and civil rights advocates did not take these actions lightly. The NAACP, the National Federation of the Blind, and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates sued the DOE. Malik Russell a spokesperson for the NAACP stated, “Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education have determined that civil rights no longer matter. They’ve decided to abandon DOE’s Office of Civil Rights responsibility to investigate racial, gender or disability discrimination complaints.”

What Topic Would You Add to this “Top Accessibility News” List?

I curate each week’s news items personally and enjoy sharing what I read each week with you.

Did we miss a notable event between January and June? Is there something you would add as a significant new item in this first half of 2018? Share it with others interested in accessibility issues by leaving a comment.

Likewise, tell me what you think will be a top 10 accessibility news topic in the next six months. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Here’s to the rest of 2018!

–Jack

“Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn’t mean he lacks vision.” – Stevie Wonder

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