Accessibility in the News—9/21/18.

This week, museums, modeling, makeup, and the Texas proposal to remove deaf-blind Helen Keller’s story from school curriculum stood beside articles addressing website accessibility cases impacting various industries. A new museum app opens the art world to those who may otherwise experience anxiety over new events, while a review of an association conference provides good tips for all seeking to provide an accessible experience for all meeting attendees.

The fashion industry is becoming more inclusive (see Disability Awareness: How a Telecom Giant, Fashion, Festivals Highlight Needs and Celebrate Empowerment for a related story), but it can be a different experience for models with disabilities.

One octogenarian couple got the attention of top make-up artist, Mario Dedivanovic, when the husband learned to help his wife look and feel her best when her eyesight began failing.

And news outlets in both Alabama and Texas reported (and one bemoaned) the Texas Board of Education’s vote to pull Helen Keller’s story from social studies curriculum.

But several stories this week focused on website accessibility cases that continue to affect various industries across the United States, including recent cases against a well known hotel chain. With the number of lawsuits during the first half of 2018 already exceeding the number in all of 2017, U.S. senators are requesting definitive guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice on whether the ADA applies to websites. Industry publications targeted to online businesses and the pizza industry provided tips these types of businesses can use to develop more inclusive cultures that welcome their customers through accessible online environments. Legal blogs also outline the trend toward plaintiff victories, and why credit union outcomes in favor of the defendant aren’t likely apply to most businesses that get sued for having inaccessible websites.

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― Nelson Mandela

National News (U.S.)

What It’s Like to Be a Disabled Model in the Fashion Industry

September 5, 2018 | Source: Teen Vogue | Awareness, Disability Rights, Inclusion, Fashion

I am 26 years old and I have cerebral palsy. I am also a writer, journalist, activist, and I travel around the world speaking about disability and representation. But my humanity can sometimes take a back seat in the eyes of strangers, who are often agitated by my mere presence, or feel entitled to answers about my disability, as if it is my only trait. I experience this every time I enter public spaces. The eyes on me are unforgiving; some people even go as far as making snide remarks when I pass by…

‘I Work 3 Jobs And Donate Blood Plasma to Pay the Bills.’ This Is What It’s Like to Be a Teacher in America

September 13, 2018 | Source: Time | Education, Awareness, Medicine

Hope Brown can make $60 donating plasma from her blood cells twice in one week, and a little more if she sells some of her clothes at a consignment store. It’s usually just enough to cover an electric bill or a car payment. This financial juggling is now a part of her everyday life—something she never expected almost two decades ago when she earned a master’s degree in secondary education and became a high school history teacher. Brown often works from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. at her school in Versailles, Kentucky…

The goal of design’s next generation? Radical accessibility

September 14, 2018 | Source: Fast Company | Accessible Design, Innovation, Technology

Every year, Fast Company‘s Innovation By Design Awards offer a glimpse at the future of design. The student category, in particular, hints at the ideas that will occupy the next generation, and in 2018 some of the best work coming out of design schools was focused on accessibility. Accessible design today, while chock-full of advanced technology like voice interfaces and LIDAR sensors, doesn’t need to look technologically complicated. Instead, these three student honorees show that the best accessible design looks just like furniture or sculpture or jewelry…

The Milwaukee Public Museum increases accessibility with app for visitors with autism

September 14, 2018 | Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Mobile Accessibility, Awareness, Cognitive

For a lot of local families, a trip to the Milwaukee Public Museum promises a day of downtown fun. For some kids, though — especially if they have autism or anxiety — the noise, crowds and possible overstimulation of your typical kid-friendly venue is just too much. MPM’s new app, All In, can help with that. The app was developed in coordination with Infiniteach, a tech company that specializes in developing technology to help spread awareness and accessibility for people with autism…

Texas Board of Ed votes to pull Hillary Clinton and Helen Keller from social studies curriculum

September 14, 2018 | Source: Fox News & Daily Mail & CBS | Government, Education, Awareness

The Texas Board of Education on Friday voted to remove former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from the state’s social studies curriculum. The move comes as an effort to “streamline” the social studies curriculum in the state, The Dallas Morning News first reported. The vote, which was preliminary, came after a 15-member, board-nominated volunteer work group created a scale to grade historical figures, determining which were “essential to learn about and who wasn’t”. Clinton scored a 5 on the 20-point scale, while another figure who was also designated for removal, Hellen Keller, earned a 7…

Bathed in joy: Disabled veteran grateful for volunteers, donations to make his home accessible

September 14, 2018 | Source: Gainesville Daily Register | Housing, Accessible Design, Inclusion

Kent Floerke, 82, could tell you dozens of stories from his military service and his career as an educator and counselor. He’ll talk about how he became a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 1964 and how he and his wife, Sandra, moved some 35 times throughout his career before landing in their current home in 1997. But this week, his story is about a crew of volunteers who have remodeled his home to allow his wheelchair to fit through the doors and into a newly renovated and wheelchair-accessible bathroom…

Delays in accessibility approvals cause concern

September 16, 2018 | Source: The UT Dallas Mercury | Discrimination, Education, Awareness

Students push for increased transparency in process for approving disability accommodations. Jax Schmisseur struggles with anxiety and relies on his emotional support animal to calm him during his panic attacks. During his freshman year, he sought approval to have his cat live with him in the dorms but ran into roadblocks. The frequency of his panic attacks increased. In the end, he chose to spend the year living without his animal. “It was such a bad first experience that I didn’t even want to try again,” Schmisseur said. “So now I’m a senior, I haven’t touched that office, haven’t stepped foot back in it since my first time my freshman year.”…

Choice Hotels Sued Over Missing Accessibility Info Online

September 17, 2018 | Source: Law360 (Subscription) | Travel, Digital Accessibility, Discrimination

NYC Hotel Operators Hit With ADA Class Suits Over Websites

September 18, 2018 | Source: Law360 (Subscription) | ADA, Digital Accessibility, Travel

Choice Hotels International Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action alleging the company’s online reservation system for its Comfort Inn hotel in Gainesville, Florida, fails to provide disabled users with information about the accessibility features of the rooms and hotel grounds. In a suit filed Friday in the Northern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale resident Lanie Quarterman, who uses a wheelchair, said the Comfort Inn University Gainesville’s reservation system on its website fails to provide information about the accessible features of the hotel and…

Loads of good work make laundry facilities accessible

September 17, 2018 | Source: NIU Today | Accessible Design, Higher Education, Blindness/Visual Impairment

NIU students, faculty and staff recently worked together to ensure NIU students with visual disabilities would be able to independently do laundry in the residence hall laundry rooms. It was a campus-wide effort to be proud of, say all involved. To do laundry in the residence halls, students swipe their OneCards and then choose a washer from a touchscreen. When Debra Miller, director of the Disability Resource Center, learned students with visual disabilities couldn’t do this independently, she contacted Katy Whitelaw, NIU’s Information Technology Accessibility Officer…

The A in DEAI: Seven tips for greater accessibility at events

September 17, 2018 | Source: American Alliance of Museums | Diversity, Inclusion, Awareness

In being a museum professional during the social media age, there are few things cooler than getting to be a Social Media Journalist for the American Alliance of Museum (AAM) conference. In my application, I spoke about how I wanted to focus on accessibility during the conference and how happy I was that AAM was starting to celebrate diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion (DEAI) through their working group and the DEAI awards. My first AAM Annual Meeting was in St. Louis (2017) where a light was shined on these efforts and I was really excited to see what the 2018 conference had in store…

How To Design Tech So Nobody’s Left Behind

September 18, 2018 | Source: Wired | Digital Accessibility, Technology, Awareness

I’ve had deafness since I was little. My sister was born with congenital deafness, and my dad has some too. You’re not really in the cool gang in my family if you don’t have some hearing loss. When I joined Microsoft, in 2005, I led European operations that provided customer service for Hotmail and other products. I also became a leader in the company’s disability community. At one point, I wrote a white paper on accessibility and later launched a support department for customers with disabilities called the Disability Answer Desk. It now takes around 200,000 calls per year…

How to make your sites accessible for all users: 3 tips for business owners

September 18, 2018 | Source: Tech Republic | Digital Accessibility, Inclusion, Businesses

While digital transformation has taken the tech spotlight, digital accessibility has seen little movement in the process, specifically when it comes to web pages. The majority of websites aren’t accessible to individuals with disabilities, according to Mark Shapiro, president of the BOIA. “Most websites, if you were to grade them, they’d be at that C, C- level,” said Shapiro. “There are very few that would be at that B or B+ level. And a very, very tiny amount that would be that A+ level.”…

$100K Google grant expands accessibility at national parks

September 18, 2018 University of Hawaiʻi News | Travel, Accessible Design, Blindness/Visual Impairment

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa received a $100,000 grant from Google to continue efforts to audio-describe the world for blind and visually impaired visitors to National Park Service sites. The award will expand the scope of the UniDescription (UniD) project to 30 national parks, predominantly in the northeast portion of the United States. “The UniDescription project began in the fall of 2014 as a way to improve and encourage better audio description of visual media, such as photos or park brochures, and allow the ear to hear what the eye might not see,” said Brett Oppegaard…

The Pipeline: The YouTuber Making Videos More Accessible

September 18, 2018 | Source: Refinery29 | Accessible Design, Digital Accessibility, Inclusion

Going to the movies is billed as an experience everyone should be able to enjoy, whether they’re getting tickets to a sappy rom-com, the latest Pixar tearjerker, yet another big-budget Avengers movie without a plot, or a sweet indie like Ladybird. But when Liat Kaver was growing up in San José — Costa Rica’s largest city and capital — this wasn’t always the case. Kaver, who was diagnosed with profound hearing loss when she was a year old, often found herself restricted to seeing English-language blockbusters in theaters, which she could count on for closed captioning…

Justice Department Urged To Address Web Accessibility

September 19, 2018 | Source: Disability Scoop & Seyfarth Shaw | Government, Digital Accessibility, ADA

Citing growing litigation, a group of senators is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to weigh in on how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies online. In a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions this month, a half-dozen Republican senators said that the time is now for his agency to speak out. “Right now it is not clear whether the ADA applies to websites. This leaves business and property owners unsure of what standards, if any, govern their online services,” wrote Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.

What Everyone With Disabilities Should Ask Before Accepting a Job Offer

September 19, 2018 | Source: The Journal-News | Work Force, Businesses, Disability Rights

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month and a good time to focus on the issue of inclusion in the workplace. With historically low unemployment rates among the general population, those with disabilities may enjoy expanded opportunities, particularly as more employers discover the power of a diverse workforce. But finding the right job fit is important, say experts. “When those of us with disabilities have a real seat at the table, the innovations we introduce are beneficial to everyone,” says Kathy Martinez, head of Disability & Accessibility Strategy at Wells Fargo…

It took almost a year, but all of UMD’s handicap-accessible entrance markers are back

September 19, 2018 | Source: The Diamondback | Higher Education, Awareness, Buildings/Facilities

Last fall, the University of Maryland removed the vast majority of its pillars indicating handicap-accessible entrances to campus buildings. After pushback from campus advocates, they were re-installed this summer. Now, the university is planning to hire a consultant to survey this kind of signage on campus to determine whether more pillars are needed, university spokesperson Jessica Jennings wrote in an email. University officials said Facilities Management removed the pillars — 47 of the 57 on the campus — because some were misleading…

Subways Suck For New Yorkers With Disabilities. This Guy Wants To Change That.

September 19, 2018 | Source: Huffington Post | Transit/Transportation, Discrimination, Mobility

As New York City takes drastic action to fix its ailing subway system, the transit network remains inaccessible to many people with disabilities. Critics have been vocal about the subway system’s lack of elevators, incomprehensible speaker system and inconsistent communication about construction or outages, to name a few shortcomings. And it seems like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the subway, is finally listening. The MTA appointed Alex Elegudin in June as the agency’s first-ever accessibility chief…

Is Your House Telling You When To Leave Home?

September 19, 2018 | Source: Forbes | Housing, Mobility, Awareness

Usually, it’s the stairs that make people move. Physical decline or a medical condition turn the daily climb to and from the bedroom into a dangerous undertaking. Elderly homeowners leave not only their homes, but also their communities. Even in one-story houses, the design can be inhospitable for anyone with physical limitations. Think sunken living rooms, steps leading to the front door, or doorways too narrow for walkers, much less wheelchairs. Lisa Bonneville, a Massachusetts interior designer who specializes in issues of accessibility, remembers an elderly lady who stopped attending family Thanksgiving dinners….

Defendants Fighting Website Accessibility Cases Face An Uphill Battle In 2018

September 19, 2018 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw | Digital Accessibility, ADA, Inclusion

2018 has been a bad year for most businesses that have chosen to fight website accessibility cases filed under Title III of the ADA. Plaintiffs filing in federal court secured their second judgment on the merits in a website accessibility lawsuit, bringing the federal court judgment score to 2-0 in their favor. Additionally, in twenty-one cases where defendants filed early motions to dismiss, judges have allowed eleven to move forward. While a forty percent dismissal rate doesn’t seem bad, most of the cases that were dismissed had a common set of unique facts that most defendants don’t have…

Keep Helen Keller in Texas schools, deaf-blind lawyer argues

September 19, 2018 | Source: AL.com | Education, Awareness, Inclusion

Texas school official defends pulling Helen Keller history lessons

September 20, 2018 | Source: AL.com | Education, Awareness, Inclusion

I am Deaf-blind, and I almost missed my first lesson about Helen Keller. In second-grade U.S. history, my teacher scheduled Helen Keller’s story after a lesson in square-dancing. I remember my heart racing as I danced a do-si-do with my not-so-secret crush. So when our teacher told us about Keller, I was not-so-secretly distracted. But throughout my schooling, snippets of Keller’s story would come back to me. I would turn to the nearest computer wondering: How did she . . . ?…

Orioles Auctioning Off Braille Jerseys To Help National Federation Of The Blind

September 19, 2018 | Source: CBS Baltimore & MLB Advanced Media | Blindness/Visual Impairment, Fashion, Inclusion

Did you know, the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind people in the country has it’s headquarters in Baltimore? The Orioles know and they decided to honor the 40th anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind in an entirely unique way. The team held National Federation of the Blind night at the ballpark earlier this week. And what a night it was! Federation president Mark Ricobono threw out the first pitch. Carlos Alberto Ibay sang the national anthem. Hundreds of visually impaired children and adults, and their families were at the game…

Does your website throw up hurdles for disabled customers?

September 20, 2018 | Source: Pizza Marketplace | Digital Accessibility, Discrimination, Awareness

Over the past year, the number of website disability access lawsuits has surged across all industries, but the problem is particularly intense in the food service industry and pizza brands are certainly not immune. In short, being in this business today means knowing the law and its requirements when it comes to website accessibility, lest you leave your brand highly susceptible to a court case. First off, understand that website disability access lawsuits or web access lawsuits allege that a consumer-facing website is discriminatory because it contains certain barriers that prevent access to individuals…

Ten Things People With Disabilities Wish Online Retailers Knew

September 20, 2018 | Source: E-Commerce Times | Awareness, Digital Accessibility, Businesses

Many shoppers would be just fine if they could never set foot in a retail store again. After all, everything is available online: books, groceries, pizza, household necessities, even big ticket items like mattresses and cars. However, 15 percent of people worldwide have a disability that affects their daily life, according to the United Nations, and many retailers are unaware that their websites are not always accessible to them. The longer retailers wait to create an inclusive online shopping experience, the more money they could lose to their competitors, as perhaps 15 percent of their potential customers are forced to find accessible alternatives…

The Credit Union National Association and Georgia Credit Union Affiliates

September 20, 2018 | Source: Credit Union Journal (Subscription) | ADA, Banking, Discrimination

The Credit Union National Association and Georgia Credit Union Affiliates have filed an amicus brief in defense of Family First Credit Union of Hapeville, Ga., the two groups announced Wednesday. The $99 million-asset credit union has been sued by a plaintiff alleging the CU’s website is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. As Credit Union Journal has reported, over the past year numerous credit unions across the country have received demand letters threatening litigation or been sued for alleged non-compliance with the ADA…

Visually Impaired Learners Learn To Code

September 20, 2018 | Source: Elearning Inside | Blindness/Visual Impairment, Education, Innovation

The UN has dedicated July 15 as World Youth Skills Day and, to observe it, MobileMakersEdu decided to highlight the work of one of their own exceptional youth partners. Jack Falejczyk recently graduated from Elk Grove Village High School in Illinois. This year, he and a teammate placed third in a national coding competition. That wouldn’t be so remarkable if it weren’t for the fact that Falejczyk was born blind. Computer programming is and will continue to be one of the greatest skills and assets of young professionals currently entering the work force…

Jack Fact — Figures from Action on Hearing Loss show that 11 million people in the UK – about one in six people – have hearing problems.

International News

My 84-year-old husband now does my make-up

| Source: BBC- Europe (Video) | Blindness/Visual Impairment, Aging, Awareness

When Mona’s deteriorating sight meant she could no longer apply her own make-up, her loyal husband Des stepped in, and started taking lessons. It’s a love story that captured the heart of top make-up artist, Mario Dedivanovic.

Cerebral palsy and me: how a request for birthday wishes went viral

September 9, 2018 | Source: Disability Horizons- UK | Mobility, Awareness, Inclusion

My name is Harry Newton. I am 27 years old and live in a village to the west of Salisbury. Because of my disability, I can’t walk and so use a wheelchair. But, I believe that my positive outlook on life means it hasn’t hampered or stopped me from doing what I want – most of the time! I went to boarding school and college, which stood me in good stead for life outside their four walls. I made lots of friends and, not to blow my own trumpet too much, but I believe I am a very gregarious and fun-loving person…

Accessibility advice when creating a UK government consultation

September 13, 2018 | Source: Government Digital Service- UK | Government, Awareness, Digital Accessibility

The GDS accessibility team has had a busy few months preparing for an influential upcoming law. The Accessibility of public sector websites and apps: new duties and regulations, which comes into effect on 23 September, states public sector websites and apps must be accessible to all users, especially those with disabilities. Part of our preparations included a consultation to give users a chance to respond on the regulations. It’s always the aim of GOV.UK to be as accessible as possible, and specific GOV.UK guidance on consultations says it should be targeted to the audiences affected…

Kilimanjaro for a cause: Jordanian seeks awareness for accessibility

September 16, 2018 | Source: Jordan Times- Jordan | Awareness, Inclusion, Accessible Design

“Jordan is becoming such an important destination for adventurers around the world, yet, none of these touristic sites are accessible to people with physical challenges,” said Sara Asad, a young Jordanian who decided to climb the highest peak in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, to raise awareness on the issue of accessibility in Jordan. “Accessibility is one of the biggest problems here and there is still a huge lack of awareness from people,” the 22-year old told The Jordan Times on Sunday, as she voiced her eagerness to realise this mountaineering achievement “in honour of people with determination”…

The harsh realities these disabled women have faced travelling on trains

September 16, 2018 | Source: Essex Live- UK | Traveling, Transit/Transportation, Discrimination

Disabilities come in many different forms, each presenting their own unique challenges. Many of those who have limited mobility rely on the transport infrastructure in this country to make their lives easier. In theory this access and extra assistance seems simple, lifts and ramps at train stations to allow access to the platforms, ramps available to get on and off the trains, disabled spots in the train carriages, and train staff on hand to provide any extra assistance. However a number of people with disabilities have started sharing the issues and problems they face when on a regular basis when travelling…

Zimbabwe: Accessibility Rights of Disabled Children in Zimbabwe Schools

September 17, 2018 | Source: All Africa- Africa | Disability Rights, Education, Awareness

Zimbabwe has close to 1.4 million people living with disabilities, many of these being children. Like many disabled children across the world, those living in Zimbabwe rarely attend school. This can happen for a variety of reasons, one of the most prominent being that there is a shortage of suitable schools and facilities to cater for their unique and special needs. By increasing the efforts to augment accessibility for people living with disabilities in terms of public transportation and school facilities, more children will be able to attend school…

Project of Making Guwahati accessible for persons with disability Stuck in a Time War

September 17, 2018 | Source: The Sentinel Assam- India | Accessible Design, Discrimination, Government

Guwahati continues to remain inaccessible for persons with disability (PwDs) even as the Accessible India Campaign was launched by the Government of India way back on December 3, 2015. The worst is that the progress of the campaign in the city has been stuck in a time warp. Guwahati is one of the selected cities wherein 25 government /public buildings have been identified for conducting access audits and retro-fittings to ensure barrier-free environment. Under the initiative, Shishu Sarothi, a Guwahati-based voluntary organization, has been empanelled as an access auditor…

Inclusive education: learning support key

September 18, 2018 | Source: Deccan Herald | Inclusion, Education, Awareness

Inclusivity plays a crucial role in building a strong society, in which every person is assured of equal opportunity in all facets of life. Access to good quality education for all citizens is a prerequisite in a developing country like India, which India, which is home to 1.3 billion people. The 2011 Census indicates that the country has 26.8 million people with disabilities, with only half of them being literate and just 8.5% of them being graduates and above — a clear indication of how students with disabilities are still combating exclusion from education at all levels…

Innovative system makes hospitals, clinics accessible for people with visual impairments

September 19, 2018 | Source: News-Medical- Israel | Innovation, Blindness/Visual Impairment, Accessible Design

RightHear, developer of an innovative solution for accessibility and orientation of blind and visually impaired persons, today announced a dedicated version of the system for hospitals and clinics, making them accessible to people with sight impairments and allowing them to orient themselves independently inside the hospital/clinic. The announcement follows a successful implementation in four Israeli hospitals: Assuta Ramat HaHayal, Assuta Ashdod, Herzliya Medical Center and HaEmek Medical Center…

Why the airport access equipment market is set to soar

September 19, 2018 | Source: Access and Mobility Professional- UK | Travel, Mobility, Awareness

In spite of the summer’s unusually warm weather leading to an increase in ‘staycations’, the UK’s airports catered for more disabled passengers than ever before in recent months. More and more people with limited mobility are using air travel but in correlation, more people are having issues with accessibility at airport and on airlines. Last year, a scathing report from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rapped major airports across the UK, including Heathrow and Manchester, for failing to provide sufficient facilities for disabled passengers…

MPs set to debate Team Trudeau’s plan for a ‘barrier-free Canada’

September 19, 2018 | Source: iPolitics- Canada | Government, Inclusion, Awareness

Thanks to a behind-the-curtains deal between the Liberals and the Conservatives to wrap up the first round of debate on the government’s plan to implement the Trans Pacific Partnership (over the continuing objections of the New Democrats), the House is set to move on to the next item of business on Team Trudeau’s legislative priority list. As it turns out, that seems to be Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough’s bid to “ensure a barrier-free Canada” by setting up a new central agency to develop and monitor accessibility standards across the country…

‘I’m a living manifestation of possibility’: South Africa’s emissary on disability

September 19, 2018 | Source: The Guardian- Africa (Podcast) | Awareness, Mobility, Education

Eddie Ndopu was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy when he was two. His mother was told he wouldn’t live past five. But he defied the doctors and now aged 27 insists no child with a disability should be left behind. He became the first African with a disability to graduate from Oxford University. He describes himself as young, black, disabled and queer, and “a living manifestation of possibility – 90% of children with a disability across the developing world don’t have access to education…

Audit to find how disabled-friendly Delhi is delayed

September 20, 2018 | Source: Hindustan Times- India | Discrimination, Digital Accessibility, Building/Facilities

A study to find out how disabled-friendly are Delhi government buildings and the city’s roads has been delayed by more than two months and its findings are unlikely to come out before December. The Delhi government’s public works department (PWD) was told to conduct the accessibility audit in April and the completion target was June 30. But work on the audit, mandated by the courts, began only this month. The PWD constructs Delhi government buildings, including offices, hospitals, schools, among others…

Disability rights advocate wants cancelled Thunder Bay accessibility hearing rescheduled

September 20, 2018 | Source: CBC- Canada | Disability Rights, Advocacy, Awareness

A disability rights advocate is expressing concern about the cancellation of a public hearing in Thunder Bay, saying people have lost an important chance to share their experiences during a provincial review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, led by the Honourable David C. Onley. The act mandates that by 2025 the province be fully accessible, said David Lepofsky, the chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance. The act pertains to people with physical disabilities such as being blind, deaf or needing to use a wheelchair…

How AI could increase art world accessibility for disabled artists

September 20, 2018 | Source: Dazed- UK | Art/Entertainment, Innovation, Inclusion

Artificial intelligence, just like all major technological developments before it, poses major questions for the meaning of art. AI has made art that has fooled the experts; critics still wrestle with the idea of an AI artist. But AI also has the potential to destabilise the ableist assumptions at the heart of the art world, supporting artists and audiences with disabilities in radical new ways. How will painting be reimaged by someone who has never had the use of their arms? How will photography be approached by the blind, or music by the deaf?…

‘Stuck at the back row’: Western student wonders why renovated classroom doesn’t have a ramp

September 20, 2018 | Source: CBC- Canada | Education, Discrimination, Advocacy

Fourth-year film student Jeremy Grace was excited to get back to class for his fall semester at Western. His enthusiasm was more than the usual September high that comes with a return to school after a summer away. Grace was looking forward to having some of his classes in newly renovated lecture rooms at University College. Renovations often — though not always — bring accessibility improvements that are essential for Grace, who has cerebral palsy and relies on a four-wheel walker to get around…

MUHC upgrading public bathrooms to better accommodate disabled users

September 20, 2018 | Source: Montreal Gazette- Canada | Building/Facilities, Inclusion, Mobility

Three and a half years after opening, the McGill University Health Centre superhospital is now carrying out renovations to make its public bathrooms fully accessible to patients and visitors in wheelchairs. However, the MUHC has only enough funds to upgrade a minimum of two bathrooms a year. The $1.3-billion superhospital in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce has a total of 72 public bathrooms and, to date, only seven are fully accessible to mobility-challenged individuals…

Dubai Chamber seminar highlights best practices in supporting people of determination

September 20, 2018 | Source: ZAWYA- Dubai, UAE | Government, Mobility, Inclusion

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently hosted an informative seminar where members of its Sustainability Network highlighted best practices in supporting people of determination and improving physical accessibility within corporate buildings in Dubai. The seminar, held at the Chamber’s premises, was organised by the Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network’s task force on Inclusion and Employment of People of Determination…

What AI can do to improve workplace accessibility for employees with disabilities

September 20, 2018 | Source: Silicon Republic- Ireland | Innovation, Workforce, Businesses

Artificial intelligence (AI) – and technology more generally – has already changed the workplace to make it more accessible and inclusive for employees with intellectual, visual, hearing and mobility disabilities, and it has the potential to do so further with technological developments. The use of AI not only benefits employees with disabilities, but also employers and workplaces as a whole, creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace. AI can also assist employers in honouring their legislative responsibilities more easily and potentially achieving real ‘reasonable accommodation’ more cost-effectively…

Why the inclusion of disabled people still has a long way to go

September 20, 2018 | Source: The Spinoff- New Zealand | Inclusion, Discrimination, Government

This week, we celebrated 125 years of women finally getting the vote in Aotearoa. It’s indeed something to celebrate. It took a petition of 32,000 individuals (25,000 women) and much resistance for women to get the right to vote. We can be proud that we became the first country where the suffrage pioneers succeeded and open the door for Māori women to get the vote at the same time (but only if they were landowners – discrimination much?). But there’s something that bothers me. No, I’m not denying the importance of celebrating this incredible moment in history…

China’s Disability Aids Industry: High Demand Creates New Opportunities

September 20, 2018 | Source: China Briefing- China | Aging, Inclusion, Awareness

China’s elderly population currently amounts to over 240 million. Further, 85 million people in the country live with disabilities and 20 million are users of temporary disability aids. This growing and substantial population of senior citizens and persons with disabilities has resulted in an increasing demand for rehabilitation products and services. It makes the disability aids industry one among China’s fastest growing sectors, catering to potentially the largest domestic market in the world…

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Remediation Services — Whether for a time-sensitive response to a legal action, or for proactive remediation, we can fix what doesn’t meet accessibility standards.
Accessibility Training — Contact us to get your teams introduced and informed about accessibility best practices.

Please contact us for any questions you have about our accessibility services and how we might support your organization.

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