Accessibility in the News — 2/10/2023.

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Feature Stories

Chicago’s Plan to Make Crosswalks Accessible for Blind Pedestrians Moving at a Crawl

January 27, 2023 | Source: WTTW

The city of Chicago’s efforts to make intersections accessible to blind pedestrians are moving at a snail’s pace, according to city records. Last March, the Chicago Department of Transportation said it was planning to install about 150 accessible pedestrian signals in 2022 and 2023. So far, only nine of those signals are actually up and running – and only eight of them are new, since one of those installations was an upgrade to an older signal. Just 33 of the 2,846 signals the city maintains have an accessible pedestrian signal, or APS…

Q and A with JoyAnn Ruscha | RTD director sets sights on accessibility, equity in public transit

January 30, 2023 | Source: Colorado Politics

JoyAnn Ruscha was sworn in on Jan. 10 as a member of the Regional Transportation District’s 15-member board of directors as the newly elected representative of District B, which covers Northeast Denver, including Park Hill, Central Park, Montbello, Green Valley Ranch, Denver International Airport and parts of Aurora and unincorporated Adams County. Ruscha lost a bid for the seat four years ago but had the ballot to herself in November and won election as the only certified write-in candidate, after the incumbent decided against seeking another four-year term…

Workshop Aims to Help Blind and Low-Vision Riders Navigate BART

January 31, 2023 | Source: NBC

Bay Area Rapid Transit held a workshop Tuesday in Oakland aimed at helping visually impaired riders better navigate the system. The effort is part of the transit agency’s mission of increasing accessibility. “When you’re somewhere you don’t even know where you are going and when you can’t see that can be frightening,” passenger Linda Brooks said. Tuesday’s gathering addressed everything from brail maps to creating a mock track and showing passengers where to crawl if they fall on the tracks…

National News (U.S.)

Dream come true.’ Couple with disabilities celebrate new Habitat for Humanity home in OKC

January 27, 2023 | Source: The Oklahoman

Over the years, a local couple living with disabilities adjusted to life in rental homes that weren’t always accessible — the cabinets were too high, some doorways were too narrow for a wheelchair or the garage was too small to accommodate a ramp extending out from a specially equipped van. Darin and Alyson Smith didn’t have to think about such adjustments on Thursday at the dedication of their Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity house. Their new Oklahoma City residence was modified to accommodate their needs, and the pair said they couldn’t be more grateful…

Bryan Cranston Says He ‘Got Grief’ For His Role In ‘The Upside,’ Announces Sequel

January 27, 2023 | Source: HUFFPOST

Bryan Cranston understands the notion of equality of opportunity — but he apparently doesn’t think it’s feasible in the entertainment industry. The actor appeared on an upcoming episode of Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast, where he acknowledged the negative feedback he received for his portrayal of a billionaire with a disability in 2017’s “The Upside.” However, Cranston also announced he and co-star Kevin Hart are “doing a sequel” to the film regardless…

United States Reaches Settlement With Commonwealth Clinical Group, Inc. Regarding Compliance With ADA

January 27, 2023 | Source: Department of Justice

The United States Attorney’s Office announced a civil settlement with a Harrisburg mental health service provider to ensure equal access under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the U.S. Attorney’s Office received a complaint that patients with physical disabilities could not access the entrance of the Commonwealth Clinic Group, Inc. located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The front entrance could only be accessed by stairs…

Lacking Accessibility: Why Churches Fail To Offer People Full Accommodations To Worship Spaces

January 29, 2023 | Source: Milwaukee Independent

Jerry Lamb could not maneuver his wheelchair into the rows of pews at his church. It would not fit. Nor could he sit in the aisles without awkwardly blocking the way. So he adapted. It is a regular part of his new life with limited mobility that requires near-constant calculations of how to navigate a world no longer set up for him. That included his longtime church in Camden, Tennessee – one of the many U.S. houses of worship with accessibility limitations…

As climate shifts, so does need for accessibility

January 30, 2023 | Source: Christian Science Monitor

When a natural disaster occurs, safety can hinge on moving people quickly. That becomes especially complicated when people have mobility issues or other disabilities. The challenge is gaining relevance as global temperatures rise and extreme weather events like floods and heat waves grow more severe. In many parts of the world, residents and governments are not fully ready for this “acceleration and multiplication of threats,” says Sébastien Jodoin, founding director of the Disability-Inclusive Climate Action Research Program at McGill University in Montreal…

Bill to Assist Cities With Website Accessibility Heard by House Committee

January 30, 2023 | Source: League of Minnesota Cities

The bill would provide funding to the Minnesota Council on Disabilities for training, assistance, and support to cities and counties in meeting website accessibility standards. The House Human Services Finance Committee on Jan. 24 heard HF 480 (Rep. Steve Elkins, DFL-Bloomington), which would provide the Minnesota Council on Disability (MCOD) with funding to help cities and counties with outreach, training, assistance, and auditing related to website accessibility…

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Eye Surgery Centers to Pay $1M in Damages and Penalties to Resolve Alleged ADA Violations

January 31, 2023 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw

We predicted that the DOJ would get more aggressive in enforcing Title III of the ADA during the Biden Administration and we were right. On the heels of a comprehensive Consent Decree with UC Berkeley comes a Consent Decree involving 24 eye surgery centers in Arizona. The Consent Decree concluded a lawsuit the DOJ filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona against the medical practice operating these eye surgery centers, as well as the organization that provided management, infrastructure, and technology services to that practice, as well as other partner practices…

Settlement Agreement Creates Accessible Absentee Voting Options for Voters with Print Disabilities

February 1, 2023 | Source: Disability Rights Advocates

A historic Indiana lawsuit seeking increased ballot accessibility for voters with print disabilities has settled. As a result of the settlement, the state has agreed to acquire a new remote accessible ballot marking tool that will allow these voters to cast their absentee ballots privately and independently. Voters will be able to access and mark their ballots digitally with their own assistive technology thanks to this tool. Once the ballot has been marked, voters will be able to submit it via email. The tool will be available to voters in time for the May 2023 primary election…

Meet the first-ever accessibility engineer at The Washington Post

February 1, 2023 | Source: Nieman Lab

“The Coding Is The Easy Part”: A Conversation About Accessibility In Journalism

February 1, 2023 | Source: Kottke.org

Holden Foreman is the first-ever accessibility engineer at The Washington Post. Like many “first-ever” roles, the new job is a deeply multidisciplinary one. Foreman makes the case that accessibility in journalism is important for everyone: Making news products more accessible, after all, often means making them more user-friendly and efficient. He hopes to discover and standardize ways of making the Post’s journalism accessible to as many people as possible…

Exclusive: John Fetterman Is Using This Assistive Technology in the Senate to Help With His Stroke Recovery

February 1, 2023 | Source: Time

The 164-year-old Senate chamber was not designed for wires and screens. Senators aren’t even allowed to use their phones when they’re inside. But to help with freshman Senator John Fetterman’s stroke recovery, the chamber just got a digital upgrade. As Fetterman learns how to do his new job while struggling with lingering auditory processing issues resulting from the stroke, he’s relying on some extra tech. The new assistive technology installed in his workspaces requires some adjustment from colleagues in an institution known for its stagnancy…

Digital accessibility requires a proactive government

February 2, 2023 | Source: FedScoop

Websites are viewed as a critical asset for states because they often provide a first, and sometimes only, means of communication between government agencies and residents seeking services. And online services need to be accessible to all constituents. However, agencies with underperforming websites cannot effectively deliver services to constituents that require enhanced digital accessibility. Though the public sector continues to make strides to make the digital delivery of services and the customer experience more equitable and accessible, less than half of state and local (39%) and federal (43%) respondents saw that digital accessibility is a top priority…

World Wide Web Consortium is now a public-interest nonprofit organization

February 2, 2023 | Source: MIT News

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which leads development of the technical standards and guidelines to ensure that the web remains open, accessible, and interoperable, officially launched as a public-interest nonprofit organization as of Jan. 1. After 28 years of being hosted collectively at MIT and three other international host organizations, the crusaders for web standards have become their own entity. Many diverse brains make up and contribute to the community collective that is W3C, cultivating and setting global standards for building websites, browsers, and devices…

Twitter is getting rid of its free API tier. That’s a nightmare for accessibility activists

February 3, 2023 | Source: Mashable

No surprise here: Elon Musk has once again made Twitter worse. The CEO’s latest blow to the platform’s functionality removes free access to its API, posing an imminent threat for users with disabilities, accessibility advocates, and helpful bots. On Feb. 1, Twitter announced it would be moving all API access to paid tiers based on usage, another revenue grab as the site continues to lose its advertiser-based income streams. APIs, or web application programming interfaces, let programmers and developers utilize existing information from a secondary source to create programs, data visualizations, and more…

East Lyme Agrees to Increase Town Hall Accessibility to Comply with Americans with Disabilities Act

February 3, 2023 | Source: Department of Justice and NBC and Hartford Courant and The Hour

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has reached a settlement agreement with the Town of East Lyme to resolve allegations that the East Lyme Town Hall was not operating in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”). The settlement agreement resolves an ADA complaint filed by an individual with physical disabilities alleging that multiple aspects of East Lyme’s Town Hall facility were inaccessible to individuals with mobility disabilities…

Whirlpool class action alleges KitchenAid website not accessible to visually impaired, blind visitors

February 6, 2023 | Source: Top Class Actions

Bealls class action alleges website not accessible to visually impaired, blind users

February 7, 2023 | Source: Top Class Actions

New ADA lawsuit target? Local brewery websites

February 7, 2023 | Source: The Business Journal

A new class action lawsuit filed against Whirlpool claims its website kitchenaid.com is not accessible to visually impaired and blind people. More specifically, the lawsuit claims the company has not made its website compatible with screen-reading software that helps visually impaired consumers navigate websites. Visually impaired individuals rely on this software to render images into text and vocalize descriptions so they can understand what images are being displayed on websites, the Whirlpool class action claims…

Jack Fact — According to The Lancet, the number of older Chinese people with difficulties in performing daily activities from dressing to shopping is expected to reach 59.3 million in 2030, while China has 8.8 million people with different disabilities requiring relevant infrastructure.

Hit The Road Jack — Amilla Maldives Resort verified for disabled accessibility and How to Make Your RV Accessible for Wheelchair Users and Others With Disabilities

International News

Making Cinema Accessible To Everyone

January 28, 2023 | Source: Live Law- India

The Delhi High Court on January 16, directed the producers of the upcoming movie ‘Pathaan’ (Yash Raj Films), to make the movie accessible for hearing and visually-impaired persons. The producers of the film were directed to include audio description, close captioning and subtitles for the movie’s oover-the-top (OTT) release. This is a welcome step but more needs to be done to strengthen the entertainment accessibility rights of differently-abled in the theatres…

‘He’s close to us’: Wheelchair users in Africa await pope

January 28, 2023 | Source: AP News- Africa

When Pope Francis arrives in Congo and South Sudan next week, thousands of people will take special note of a gesture more grounded than the sign of the cross. Watching from their wheelchairs, they will relate to the way he uses his. The pope, who began using a wheelchair last year, is visiting two countries where years of conflict have disabled many, and yet they are among the world’s most difficult places to find accessibility and understanding. His visit is heartening Catholics and non-Catholics alike…

Jerusalem Temple Mount should be accessible for those with disabilities

January 28, 2023 | Source: The Jerusalem Post- Israel

The Old City, all of one square kilometer, is the area many call the “atomic reactor of the Middle East,” maybe of the whole world. Particular attention is focused on the Temple Mount – or, as Muslims call it, al-Haram al-Sharif, Islam’s third-holiest place. For Jews, it’s their holiest site. During the last five years, thanks to a generous government budget allocated for this purpose (the 3790 plan), some NIS 2.3 billion was approved to improve infrastructure in the Old City, including a budget to make the alleyways accessible to people with disabilities…

‘Catch a bus instead’: Locals decry accessibility lift planned at historic stairway

January 29, 2023 | Source: WAtoday- Australia

Plans for a lift next to one of Sydney’s public stairways have stoked concern from a residents’ group that says people who cannot climb the steep set of steps should catch a bus instead. The City of Sydney will investigate the feasibility of a lift next to the historic McElhone Stairs after the council backed Liberal councillor Lyndon Gannon’s call for improved accessibility between Potts Point and Woolloomooloo. Gannon said a lift next to the stairway would make it easier for pedestrians to go from Kings Cross, through Woolloomooloo and past the Art Gallery of NSW, to Sydney’s CBD…

Lollapalooza’s Inadequate Accessibility Facilities Show the Need For Disability First Planning

January 31, 2023 | Source: The Swaddle- India

When Nu Misra went to Lollapalooza India, their disability was brought to the center-stage immediately. The “special needs” entrance, at a distance from the main festival, also served as the men’s; wheelchair users were provided with ramps and an elevated platform but no safe way to reach it over inhospitable terrain; and a PWD (people with disabilities) counter that, according to Misra, was understaffed and untrained. The organizers of the festival had, however, set up a “wall of inclusion”—a well-intentioned, albeit misguided, attempt at mainstreaming accessibility…

Making spaceflight accessible to people with physical disabilities

January 31, 2023 | Source: Physics World- UK

The European Space Agency (ESA) recently made history by selecting John McFall – an amputee, Paralympic sprinter and medical scientist – among its latest cohort of astronauts. McFall’s inclusion is part of an ESA parastronaut feasibility project for making human spaceflight accessible to people with physical disabilities. In the latest episode of the Physics World Stories podcast, people involved in this initiative explain why making space more accessible is not only fair but also the very essence of exploration…

Sudbury residents reflect on David Onley’s legacy to improve accessibility in Ontario

February 1, 2023 | Source: CBC- Canada

Jo-Anne Thistle of Sudbury, Ont., is visually impaired. She is grateful there have been barriers removed for those with disabilities, and headway has been made to improve accessibility. But said more work is still needed around acceptance. Thistle credits the late David Onley for a lot of that progress. He was Ontario’s lieutenant-governor between 2007 and 2014 — and was the first person with a physical disability to take on the role. Onley was partially paralyzed from age three and used leg braces, a cane and a motorized scooter to get around…

Ukrainian soldiers benefit from U.S. prosthetics expertise but their war is different

February 7, 2023 | Source: NPR- Ukraine

Oleksandr Fedun had been in the Ukrainian army for two years when he got hit last May. “The enemy reconnaissance did their job and they mined the roads,” he says. He was driving the first truck in a convoy. When he felt the explosion, Fedun says, he managed to swerve and block the road so none of his fellow soldiers would drive on into the mines. Then he started tying tourniquets on himself. Ukrainian medics saved him, but he lost both legs above the knee…

Navigating unchartered waters: A glimpse into the life of a deaf pharmacist

February 7, 2023 | Source: Canadian Healthcare Network- Canada

The task before me seemed overwhelmingly daunting—and understandably so. It is uncommon to hear of someone with hearing loss working in the healthcare profession. Pharmacy is no exception. I was nervous when I applied to pharmacy school. I did not know any deaf individuals in the pharmacy profession. In fact, I felt like the odds were against me because there was a deaf medical student at another university going through a legal battle due to violations of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990…

‘Why partial loss of vision not considered for railway fare cut?’

February 9, 2023 | Source: The Hindu- India

The Ministry of Railways has been asked to explain why only persons with 100% visual impairment were entitled to rail travel concession and not others with less but progressive and irreversible visual disability. Passing orders on a petition filed under the Right to Information Act, 2005, why travel concession was being granted only to persons with 100% blindness and not to those less than that but with progressive and irreversible conditions, the Central Information Commission (CIC) directed the Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO) to furnish a correct, detailed and point-wise reply since the matter related to public interest…

Climate change is the next big threat to eye health. Here’s why

February 9, 2023 | Source: The European Sting- Europe

Climate change has a significant impact on our health, as well as the stability of healthcare systems, governments, and local communities. It is a global emergency that affects us all on a personal, community, national, and global scale. Environmental degradation, air pollution, and climate change are having devastating effects all over the world, with vulnerable and low-income communities bearing the brunt of the burden. Climate change is exacerbating poverty and health disparities while impeding the global health community’s efforts to achieve universal health coverage and eye care…

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