Accessibility in the News — 11/20/2020.

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“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
― Eckhart Tolle

Thanksgiving In The Time Of COVID-19:

To Grandmother’s House Or No?

Feature Stories

Justice Department Enters Agreement to Resolve Employment Discrimination Lawsuit

November 16, 2020 | Source: DOJ & ADA

The Justice Department today announced that it reached an agreement with the Commissioner of the Revenue for Caroline County, Virginia, in his official capacity (the “Commissioner”) to resolve the department’s lawsuit alleging disability discrimination in violation of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The department’s complaint alleges that a former Caroline County Commissioner of the Revenue terminated an employee with a respiratory impairment on the basis of her disability, after almost 24 years of service…

How Will DOJ Enforce Title III of the ADA in a Biden Administration?

November 17, 2020 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw

A Biden Administration DOJ will likely bring higher engagement and more aggressive enforcement on ADA Title III issues. While the current administration may still be unwilling to concede the election, it appears there will indeed be a new administration in charge at the Department of Justice (DOJ) come January 20, 2021. How will the Biden Administration approach Title III of the ADA and its enforcement? We think there will be much higher engagement – and likely more aggressive enforcement – on multiple fronts…

Congress passes bill to help veterans with disabilities

November 17, 2020 | Source: 13News Now & Senator Bob Casey & Augusta Free Press

Help could soon be on the way for thousands of disabled veterans. Both the House of Representatives and Senate have passed a version of the “VA Website Accessibility Act.” The bipartisan bill directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study of all VA websites and kiosks at medical facilities. The secretary will then submit a report to Congress and provide a plan to bring those sites into compliance. “I am proud the House will send to the President’s desk this legislation to eliminate barriers that prevent veterans from receiving the care and benefits they earned,” said Rep. Elaine Lura (VA-02). “…

National News (U.S.)

Accessibility to all: The importance of American Sign Language in everyday life

November 13, 2020 | Source: The Arbiter

Over 5% of the world’s population is Deaf or hard of hearing, according to the World Health Organization. Many people believe those who are deaf and hard of hearing deserve equal access to communication, a higher quality of life and that ASL should be accessible to everyone in everyday life. Part of this inclusivity is the capitalization of the word ‘Deaf’ when referring to the Deaf and hard of hearing community. This small detail helps to familiarize others with Deaf culture and normalize how people refer to the Deaf and hard of hearing community, according to the Deaf Counseling Center…

Making the outdoors accessible to all

November 14, 2020 | Source: Baker City Herald

There are hundreds of hiking, fishing and hunting spots in Oregon. But only a portion of them are accessible to people with disabilities. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), Travel Oregon, Oregon Adaptive Sports and other organizations are working to identify which spots are the most accessible every day. While there are no identified hunting spots in the Northeast Region compliant with the federal Americans With Disability Act (ADA), ODFW has an interactive map and guide to the most accessible hatcheries and areas for fishing. These spots can include paved paths, ramps and accessible restrooms…

This startup wants to replace the white cane for blind people

November 14, 2020 | Source: Fast Company

Lots of companies are pouring resources into teaching cars to see the world around them. Now a startup called Strap Technologies is developing a wearable pod that uses some of the same kinds of sensors used by autonomous vehicles—radar, lidar, ultrasonic—to give blind people a clearer sense of their surroundings. “Each sensor has a different resolution, has a different threshold,” said founder and CEO Diego Roel in a Zoom conversation last week in which he showed off a preproduction Strap. “We use the best of each sensor and we combine them.”…

Life Skills for Your LifeSpan: How hearing loss can affect you

November 14, 2020 | Source: Journal Gazette & Times-Courier

Are you or someone you love experiencing loss of hearing and do not know why? Verbal communication is critical in our day-to-day activities. Knowing what to look for as symptoms and know potential causes may help. What is hearing loss and what are the symptoms? Hearing loss is a sudden or gradual decrease in how well you can hear. If someone is experiencing any of these symptoms there is a chance you may have challenges with hearing…

A Burgeoning Movement Improves Outdoor Accessibility for the Blind

November 15, 2020 | Source: Sierra Magazine

Whether he’s hiking in his beloved White Mountains or ascending a distant peak, Randy Pierce pays attention with all of his senses. He listens to the wind as it whistles through a ravine or rustles in a stand of American beech trees. He lets the fragrance of the forest, as it becomes dominated by pine, tell him when he’s reached an elevation milestone. With one hand on a trekking pole and the other on his guide dog’s harness or a friend’s backpack, Pierce feels the ground and focuses on the shifts in his partners’ movements to anticipate roots or rocks in his path. Even the air on his face provides clues about his environment, he says…

‘Finally’: SG disability department fights for inclusion on campus

November 15, 2020 | Source: The Reveille

When psychology junior Josh Price learned that a committee at LSU passed an initiative to implement braille signage in a number of buildings in LSU’s Quad, he had one question: “Finally?” Price is one of the few blind students enrolled at LSU, and he said he faces accessibility issues on campus every day. To Price, Student Government’s braille initiative is a big step toward inclusion, but he said the fact that it passed in September shows how little the university has done thus far to make LSU accessible to visually impaired students…

In Savanna, deer hunting began a week early, for a few hunters living with disabilities

November 15, 2020 | Source: WQAD8

Nearly 35 hunters, along with their attendees, spent the weekend of Nov. 14-15 at the old army depot in Savanna, for a special hunt for those living with disabilities. For the rest of Illinois, firearm season for deer hunting won’t open up until Nov. 20. But this hunt was given special permission to take place early, and allow those who might be gatekept out of many other hunting grounds, the chance to try and nab a deer. The annual disabled hunt has been taking place at the depot since 2007, and has grown from just 15 open spots, to 35…

Betsy DeVos’ Legacy: Transforming How The Education Department Treats Civil Rights

November 16, 2020 | Source: HuffPost

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has spent months failing to make meaningful progress on urgent complaints of education discrimination relating to COVID-19, even as the pandemic continues to turn schools upside down and put vulnerable students at an even further disadvantage, according to multiple sources. In September, employees in at least some of the department’s regional offices were informed that civil rights complaints specific to COVID-19 ― such as for children who have not been receiving accommodations for their disability during remote learning ― would require scrutiny from the highest levels of management…

‘How am I going to do this again?’: Michigan families squeezed as COVID cases skyrocket and classrooms shut down

November 17, 2020 | Source: Chalkbeat Detroit

The Troy School District in suburban Detroit shut down its in-person classrooms last week because of an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases. Just like that, life for the Onyx family was back to impossible. Stephanie Onyx sees herself as a single mother and an accountant — not a teacher. She never doubted that she needed help to support her two children, both of whom have severe, complex special needs. Both of her children are accompanied by aides every minute of a normal school day…

Many Seattle intersections lack accessible crossing signals for people with vision or hearing loss

November 17, 2020 | Source: Seattle Times

Jessica Thompson is accustomed to close calls. At the intersection near her condo in North Seattle, she steps to the edge of the curb and listens. When it sounds safe, she steps into the street. “I have people honking at me and yelling at me all the time,” Thompson said. “They assume I’d be paying attention to the cross[ing] light.” Thompson, who is blind, can’t rely on the light. Instead, she listens to traffic patterns to determine when drivers are slowing and stopping at the intersection at Northeast 95th Street and Fifth Avenue Northeast…

In Florida, budget woes won’t get you out of accessibility issues

November 17, 2020 | Source: WMNF

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act provided federal civil rights safeguards for people with physical and mental impairments. But in the years since numerous pieces of federal and state-level legislation have determined exactly how those protections are enacted. Florida’s guidelines for transportation compliance often encourage going beyond minimum standards, including putting budget concerns in the back seat. Carey Shepherd, Civil Rights officer for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration in Florida, will be the first to tell you – Budget issues won’t get you out of ADA compliance…

Trump Administration Finalizing Last-Minute Safety Net Cuts

November 17, 2020 | Source: Huff Post

The American people have voted to kick President Donald Trump out of the White House, but in its waning weeks, his administration is still trying to fulfill his inaugural promise to “get our people off of welfare.” The Trump administration finalized a regulation Monday that could make it harder for people who apply for disability benefits to appeal denials. Starting next month, the Social Security Administration can use its own lawyers to hear appeals instead of administrative law judges, who have more independence from the agency…

3 Principles For Including Disabled People In This Year’s Pandemic Holidays

November 18, 2020 | Source: Forbes

I started out a week ago to write an article offering practical suggestions for including people with disabilities in safe holiday events, starting with Thanksgiving. It was supposed to be based on the premise that home celebrations with friends and extended family could be relatively safe, if the right precautions were taken and if all of your guests were on the same page about the risks of Covid-19. I don’t think anyone can write such an article now in good conscience…

Showcasing the Michigan DNR: Marking accessibility gains while looking toward a more inclusive future

November 19, 2020 | Source: Michigan Department of Natural Resources

On a late July day in the summer of 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law on the south lawn of the White House, before a crowd of about 3,000 people. The landmark civil rights legislation – which the U.S. Department of Justice said prohibits disability discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life – was patterned after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on color, race, sex, religion or national origin…

DOJ Reaches Landmark Agreement with Massachusetts Department of Children and Family to Address Discrimination Against Parents with Disabilities

November 19, 2020 | Source: DOJ & ADA

The Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that they reached a landmark agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF). The agreement resolves findings by the Justice Department and HHS that DCF discriminated against parents with disabilities in the administration of its child welfare program in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This is the first Department of Justice settlement to address disability discrimination by a state child welfare agency…

Because of My Son’s Invisible Disability, His Right to Accessibility Was Questioned

November 19, 2020 | Source: POPSUGAR

For the last six years and counting, autism has been an intrinsic part of my families lives. My son fundamentally connects to the world differently than everyone around him. It is both challenging and undeniably beautiful. His ability to be completely genuine, to always put his most authentic self forward, to be unfailingly honest, and to always move through life with determination is inspiring. That isn’t to say that he doesn’t struggle. For years he was unable to effectively communicate, with those skills only recently emerging…

Lowe’s Goes All-Out for Boy w/ Autism Who Loves The Store – Crowning the 4-Year-old an ‘Honorary Associate’

November 19, 2020 | Source: Good News Network

When you wander the aisles of a big-box hardware store, you can hunt up everything from garden gear to grills to paint. What you might not expect is that in the appliance section, you can also find a jumbo-sized package of goodwill and compassion. Lowe’s may be a hardware giant, but it seems they have a soft spot when it comes to one very special Missouri 4-year-old. Like most children his age, Jaxon Maples is bright and inquisitive. He also has autism. From an early age, Jaxon has been drawn by the language of mechanical objects…

ASL is a language

November 20, 2020 | Source: The Blue & Gray Press

Slowly but surely, post-secondary educational institutions are accepting American Sign Language (ASL) as a foreign language that can satisfy general education requirements. Many universities, including UMW, do not offer classes in ASL, but accept transfer credits in ASL from other colleges. This gradual acceptance of ASL as a foreign language prompts the question: is American Sign Language, or any form of sign language, a real language? Emerging studies have shown that yes, it is a language. Perhaps the reason people are hesitant to accept it as a language is because they do not know about the nature of ASL…

Jack Fact — Sometimes referred to as the ‘purple pound’, the combined spending power of British families with at least one disabled person is more than £249bn per year (€285bn) – but charity Purple estimates that UK businesses lose £2bn (€2.3bn) a month by overlooking the needs of people with disabilities.

Hit The Road Jack — India – the land of yoga and the Taj Mahal

International News

Highgate flats slammed for being ‘not fully accessible’ but set for approval

November 13, 2020 | Source: Birmingham Live- UK

Accessibility campaigners have criticised plans for 116 apartments for being “not fully accessible” as there is no lift access to some parts of flats. Prosperity Developments seek to make an apartment building at the site of a former industrial building in Darwin Street, Highgate. A planning application is due to be considered for the part five and part six-storey building by Birmingham City Council’ s planning committee next week. The scheme, designed by K4 Architects, is recommended for approval, and a report to councillors by a planning officer states it would provide “significant urban design and visual amenity benefits”…

‘See the art and see the artist’: Free virtual festival celebrates all abilities

November 13, 2020 | Source: The South Africa

“See the art, and see the artist, because we are all here and able,” says Nadine Mckenzie, artistic director of the Unmute Dance Company. As the driver behind Africa’s premier inclusive arts festival, Mckenzie sees the ArtsAbility Festival as an important challenger of preconceived notions surrounding ability and disability. We spoke to her about inclusivity and accessibility as Unmute’s sixth festival got under way in its innovative online space. The festival began on 3 November and will be staged over a month until 3 December…

Blind boarders repurpose skatepark for youth with vision loss

November 15, 2020 | Source: Calgary Herald- Canada

Blind and visually impaired youth took to the half-pipes Saturday as a Calgary skateboard park was repurposed with high-contrast markings and audio cues. The group, who have given themselves the nickname “Skate Bats,” spent the afternoon enjoying visually accessible ramps at The Compound skatepark in Ramsay. “We’ve been doing this for visually impaired youth, working with bright-coloured, fluorescent duct tact that increases contrast, which is vital for some visually impaired skaters,” said Curtis Ruttle, a member of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind’s National Youth Council…

How digitalization during COVID-19 has made Canadian art more accessible

November 15, 2020 | Source: The Varsity- Canada

Disability is a prevalent experience among Canadians. The most recent Canadian Survey on Disability found that one in five Canadians aged 15 or above had one or more disabilities. The University of Toronto alone has more than 2,000 students registered with accessibility services. Whether physical, sensory, cognitive, or mental, all disabilities have the potential to pose significant barriers for individuals to fully enjoy the arts. Theatres may be wheelchair-accessible, but the bus ride to get there may not be; museums may display educational artifacts, but the stressful long lines may stop a visitor with autism from comfortably learning…

Transportation and grocery store distribution make Toronto inaccessible, U of T experts say

November 15, 2020 | Source: The Varsity- Canada

For many of us, Toronto is a great place to live. Indeed, it’s been ranked highly by many indices, like the Economist Intelligence Unit, for its notable liveability feats. Nevertheless, our city poses accessibility challenges on a systems-wide level in various ways. For able-bodied individuals, accessibility may seem like a concern for an individual building, such as when a college building lacks elevators. But a growing body of evidence argues that the accessibility of a city is as much a matter of urban design as it is the architecture of its individual buildings or neighbourhoods…

‘The bond between a blind person and her guide dog is hard to compare to any other relationship’

November 16, 2020 | Source: The Japan Times

As a dog lover, one of the first things I did when I arrived in Tokyo was head to Shibuya and visit the Hachiko statue just outside the station. The story of Hachiko, a dog who waited for his owner on the same spot even after his master passed away, has won the hearts of dog lovers around the world and I was definitely one of them. There were so many people at the statue, and it made me think about how human fondness for dogs is largely universal. Indeed, a recent study found that dogs are humans’ oldest companions. It’s not hard to think of reasons why this is true…

NWT human rights body issues building code warning

November 16, 2020 | Source: Cabin Radio- Canada

Meeting the requirements of the National Building Code may not be enough to avoid human rights complaints about accessibility, the NWT Human Rights Commission says. In a news release on Monday, the commission warned northern businesses that the age of their building does not necessarily protect them from complaints. Many downtown Yellowknife buildings are now more than half a century old. Though they may have met the building code of the time, comparatively few have basic accessibility aids like elevators…

Persons with disabilities, elderly demand accessible footpaths

November 18, 2020 | Source: The Hindu- India

Every year, during the wedding anniversary, TMN Deepak entertains a particular wish — buy his wife a saree at T.Nagar or any other shopping centre. A simple wish which can be fulfilled easily, you may think. But Deepak doesn’t think that way. The very thought of getting into T.Nagar depresses him as the pavements there are not accessible to him. It is not a problem faced just by him, many persons with mobility issues and elderly citizens of the city have been denied a social life due to lack of access to footpaths…

Information access is vital for older citizens

November 17, 2020 | Source: The Hamilton Spectator- Canada

Housing Minister applauds Habinteg on 50 years of accessible housing

November 17, 2020 | Source: Home Care Insight- Canada

Advancing Accessibility in Ontario: Increasing Participation in the Economy for People with Disabilities

November 18, 2020 | Source: Government of Ontario News- Canada

Ontario Increasing Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities

November 18, 2020 | Source: Ontario Newsroom

In order to learn about health and community services, housing options, transportation choices, recreation and leisure activities, or just about any other services or resources, we must know how to locate this information. Further, information needs to be up-to-date, accurate, reliable and easy to find. Working together the Hamilton Council on Aging with its partners the City of Hamilton and the Seniors Advisory Council are preparing the second Hamilton’s Plan for an Age-Friendly City (2020-2026)…

How Can We Talk About Accessibility If I Can’t Even Use Food Delivery Apps?

November 18, 2020 | Source: Youth Ki Awaaz- India

Many people think of ramps and braille labels whenever they think of accessibility. But, is that it? Before getting into this question, let’s deal with what accessibility means. Accessibility is when you can access certain things, for economic, social, technological feasibility. The meaning of accessibility is wide and deep and goes beyond popular understanding. There are different hurdles in exercising our right to access resources and opportunities. I am mainly going to deal with accessibility in terms of physical/visual/other body-related disabilities…

Punjab Govt. to launch Punjab Divyangjan Shaktikaran Yojna to empower persons with disabilities

November 18, 2020 | Source: PTC News

In a bid to empower people with Disabilities (PwDs), the Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday passed a new scheme – Punjab Divyangjan Shaktikaran Yojna (PDSY), to be implemented in a phased manner across the state. The first phase of the scheme will involve strengthening the existing programmes to ensure that their benefits reach the persons with disabilities in a more effective manner, while in the second phase, 13 new interventions are proposed to be undertaken for the empowerment of such persons…

StorySign, Huawei’s initiative to help children with deafness

November 18, 2020 | Source: Explica- UK

People with deafness, particularly children, face various challenges outside due to lack of access to special education. Although it does exist, not many can access it. Did you know that there are at least 32 million deaf children in the world? To take a market as a reference and understand the problem, for example, in the case of the United Kingdom, there are only 20 specialized schools to serve the more than 45 thousand deaf children, which means that 78 percent of these children attend normal schools with little or no special help…

Make roads, footpaths accessible to differently abled

November 19, 2020 | Source: The Hindu- India

The roads and footpaths under the control of the Kochi Corporation, its nodal agencies and the Public Works Department shall be maintained and repaired and made accessible to differently abled persons within three months, ordered the Kerala High Court. It was on a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Chairperson of Centre for Empowerment and Enrichment, an NGO, that the Division Bench of the court consisting of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly issued the order…

Varija Life to hold National Ability Summit-India to build disability awareness

November 19, 2020 | Source: Newz Hook- India

Building an inclusive global society is about much more than just jobs. It involves art, fashion, technology, cinema, to name just a. A few. This is what Varija Life, the well-known non profit, is seeking to highlight through a two-day virtual international summit in December. Newz Hook is media parter for the event. The World Health Organisation (WHO) Disability Report says that one billion people, that’s 15% of the world’s population, experience some form of disability. While there is no recent disability data available in India for this population of society, the WHO estimates that disability prevalence is higher than 15% in developing countries…

Does wearing glasses make your child’s eyesight worse?

November 19, 2020 | Source: RTE- Ireland

Wearing glasses is an emotional subject for a lot of people with a lot of myth masquerading as fact. It is true that vision changes as we age and, in many cases, the changes can be gradual and creep up on us. Vision develops and changes throughout childhood, and eyesight stabilises for most people as an adult and then starts to change again when we reach the mid-forties when reading starts to be an issue. Myopia or short-sight is one of the leading causes of preventable blindness and vision impairment in the working age population and it is estimated that 50% of the world’s population will be short-sighted by 2050…

Toy story with a difference: Amusements for those with extra needs

November 19, 2020 | Source: The Irish Times- Ireland

The “frustration and difficulties” Áine Conacur and her husband Michael endured while trying to source suitable products that would assist with their eldest child Ailis’s development was a catalyst in encouraging the couple to set up their family business, Thinking Toys, which sells toys and equipment for children and adults with additional needs. Ailis, who is now 24, has Sturge Weber Syndrome and had major brain surgery when she was just two years old. “Her main additional needs are as a result of her autism, epilepsy and her visual impairment,” Áine says…

Accessible symbol launched across the UK in quest to make lifer easier for millions

November 19, 2020 | Source: Access and Mobility Professional- UK

As face coverings become the norm in the current COVID-19 climate, communication between people is becoming increasingly challenging – and – for approximately 14 million people, who have additional communication needs, it is even tougher. In light of this, a new disability symbol, designed to make life easier for millions of people in the UK, will be launched. The Communication Access Symbol, with underpinning training and standards, has been created for businesses, organisations and consumers by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)…

Christine is visually-impaired and loves playing video games. So she designed an AI to help her

November 19, 2020 | Source: The Sydney Morning Herald- Australia

Christine Douglas loves video games. They give her not just entertainment, but a portal to new friendships and interesting conversations with other people. But because she is visually-impaired, the Seven Hills High School year 10 student often feels excluded. So she invented a concept to make gaming more accessible for people like her: harnessing virtual reality headsets and sensory gloves to enable gamers with vision impairment to play online with their friends…

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