Accessibility in the News — 11/18/2022.
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Free Thanksgiving Dinners and Turkeys
Feature Stories
This traveler’s wheelchair was left in the rain with no guarantee that it won’t happen again
November 13, 2022 | Source: USA Today
‘A whole new world’: Georgia debuts all-terrain wheelchairs at its state parks
November 12, 2022 | Source: CNN
Accessible trails make nature available to all
November 14, 2022 | Source: Trentonian
Track chairs boost accessibility at Nebraska state parks
November 17, 2022 | Source: Sioux City Journal
When Andrew Gurza traveled to San Francisco for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance’s Remarkable Tech Summit earlier this month, they were hoping for a smooth journey. But, as a disability awareness consultant and user of a custom-fitted power wheelchair, Gurza, who uses they/them pronouns, knew there could be trouble along the way. “You never know what they’re going to do to your chair,” they told USA TODAY. “It’s really just luck.” On this trip, Gurza wasn’t so lucky…
Airbnb Using AI To Vet Accessible Rentals
November 17, 2022 | Source: Disability Scoop
Airbnb is turning to artificial intelligence to make it easier for people with disabilities to find rentals that meet their needs. The short-term rental platform is introducing a new “adapted” category on its website this week. The new section will feature more than 1,000 homes worldwide “offering features specifically modified or designed for guests with mobility needs,” the company said. “These wheelchair accessible homes with wheelchair accessible features have been reviewed to ensure they have step-free paths into and through the home and to one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, and also at least one accessible feature in the bedroom or bathroom.”…
How to make future autonomous transportation accessible to everyone
November 17, 2022 | Source: Purdue University
When Brad Duerstock was 18, a spinal cord injury paralyzed his arms and legs, requiring him to use what control he had left in his hands to operate a power wheelchair. Throughout the more than 30 years since, Duerstock has seen smartphones, tablets and other types of technology get developed but not become usable for him or others with disabilities until years later. “It’s always been a retroactive accommodation,” he said. Duerstock, a professor of practice in industrial engineering and biomedical engineering at Purdue University, is working to change that for autonomous vehicles while the technology is still in its early days…
National News (U.S.)
For Many Disabled Patients, the Doctor Is Often Not In
November 7, 2022 | Source: UNDARK
Ben Salentine, associate director of health sciences managed care at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System, hasn’t been weighed in more than a decade. His doctors “just kind of guess,” his weight, he said, because they don’t have a wheelchair-accessible scale. He’s far from alone. Many people with disabilities describe challenges in finding physicians prepared to care for them. “You would assume that medical spaces would be the most accessible places there are, and they’re not,” said Angel Miles, a rehabilitation program specialist with the Administration for Community Living, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services…
U.S. Attorney’s Office Reaches ADA Settlement with Portland Motel Lacking Accessible Entrances or Guest Rooms
November 10, 2022 | Source: Attorney’s Office District of Oregon
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced today that it has reached a settlement with Studio 6, a Portland motel, to resolve allegations that the motel lacked accessible entrances, rooms, and other facilities.
The settlement resolves an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complaint filed by an individual with a mobility impairment who alleged that Studio 6 did not have an available guest room to accommodate persons with mobility-related disabilities, including wheelchair users; had no accessible entrances or internal routes from the motel’s lobby to its guest rooms…
How the Owner of an Upscale Family Shop Uplifts the Entire City of Chicago
November 11, 2022 | Source: Oprah Daily
Ellen Stirling, the 73-year-old CEO and owner of The Lake Forest Shop, a local fashion institution in the Chicago area that’s celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, always planned to use her ample advantages to uplift her beloved city of Chicago. Her first major foray into philanthropy and improving the lives of Chicagoans started in 1972 after she graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. with a B.A. in art history. A friend suggested she work with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (now the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab) and its legendary founder, Henry Betts, M.D., a pioneer in the field of rehabilitative medicine…
Bumble and Bumble class action claims website not accessible to visually impaired, blind visitors
November 11, 2022- Top Class Actions
Hair product company Bumble and Bumble does not make its website accessible to blind and visually impaired people using a screen reader, a new class action lawsuit alleges. Plaintiff Daniel Rodriguez filed the class action lawsuit against Bumble and Bumble LLC on Nov. 10 in a New York federal court, alleging violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Rodriguez is a visually-impaired and legally blind person who requires screen-reading software to read website content using their computer…
Twitter Was a Lifeline for People With Disabilities. Musk’s Reign Is Changing All of That
November 11, 2022 | Source: Time
On October 28, Twitter users woke up to a new reality: Elon Musk had taken over the platform and almost immediately begun making changes. For people with disabilities who’d found an emotional support system on Twitter, anxiety over Musk’s upheaval was especially sharp. Twitter had been one of the most user-friendly social media platforms out there—with a world-class team that made sure it was usable by people who had a variety of different needs. Plus, it’d been a megaphone and a lifeline to the outside world, for those who’d been especially vulnerable during the pandemic and mostly stayed indoors. Everything was now up in the air…
Disneyland adds dolls in wheelchairs to ‘It’s a Small World’
November 11, 2022 | Source: WHEC and ABC30 and HUFFPOST
Disneyland on Friday added two new characters in wheelchairs to its iconic “It’s a Small World” attraction, saying it wanted a “more accurate representation of diversity around the world.” The animatronic dolls are among some 300 costumed dolls representing singing children from many nations featured in the attraction. One is in the Latin American section of the boat ride and the other appears in the finale. The dolls were unveiled on the first day of Disneyland’s Christmas season…
Daily meditation may work as well as a popular drug to calm anxiety, study finds
November 11, 2022 | Source: NPR
Anxiety symptoms like restlessness, feelings of worry and dread, and sleep problems, can interfere with daily life, relationships and career goals. Many people get relief using psychiatric medications, but finding the treatment that works best is an individual journey, and some look to find additional ways of coping with their symptoms. Meditation is a well known method of calming anxiety, but now there’s new evidence showing it to be effective at managing anxiety…
People who do this one thing have HALF the Alzheimer’s risk
November 12, 2022 | Source: MarketWatch
The things to remember about dementia are that it is absolutely horrible for you and everyone around you; it’s a high probability; and when it comes to fighting it or avoiding it you are pretty much on your own. Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are currently killing 6.5 million people in the United States and devastating the lives of many times that when you count the patients’ friends and family. The National Institutes of Health reckons this number is likely to double in the next four decades…
Baby boomers can’t stop staring at their phones
November 12, 2022 | Source: The Washington Post
Too much screen time is something we usually associate with children. We think of little kids watching hours of CoComelon on iPads, or teens who would rather be absorbed in video games or YouTube than talk about their day.
But there is another demographic that is struggling with putting down their devices: Baby boomers. Smartphones came into their lives late, but they were quickly won over. Now some of their children say they are hooked, staring at their screens constantly, even when they should be paying attention to their own grandchildren…
Making New York City Crosswalks Accessible For The Blind
November 13, 2022 | Source: NoCamels
Hundreds of junctions in New York City will become accessible to blind people, in a new project powered by technology developed in Israel. The Electra Group, one of the country’s leading contracting, construction and infrastructure companies, is providing voice accessibility services in junctions for blind pedestrians and the visually impaired. They’ll be installed over the next three years, in the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island in New York, at a cost of $62 million…
How accessibility for disabled university students can benefit all students
November 14, 2022 | Source: The Conversation
Although many university students are eager for in-person elements of the university experience they missed early in the pandemic, what might we overlook in the rush to “return to normal”? The pandemic forced universities to re-evaluate their delivery of classes, extending remote teaching practices and building in flexibility to manage an unpredictable situation. After over two years of innovation, if the main lesson universities take away from the on-going pandemic is that students miss being on campus, we risk squandering new skills and insights of broad value…
U.S. Attorney’s Office Resolves ADA Accessibility Complaint with Burger King Restaurant
November 14, 2022 | Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Michigan
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan settled a complaint regarding the accessibility of a Burger King restaurant located in Indian River, Michigan. The settlement agreement resolves the Office’s investigation, prompted by the complaint of an individual who uses a wheelchair. The complainant alleged that he was forced to rely on the assistance of a stranger to use the bathroom, due to the restaurant’s inaccessibility. The settlement agreement requires the owners and operators of the restaurant to maintain a barrier-free facility, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)…
Why Do People With Disabilities Have to Sue To Get Accessible Sidewalks?
November 14, 2022 | Source: Streetsblog USA
Why Accessible Sidewalks Fall by the Wayside
November 15, 2022 | Source: Planetizen
Philadelphia just became the latest U.S. city to agree to begin the slow process of making its sidewalks accessible to people who use assistive devices — though some say the win would be more significant if people with mobility challenges weren’t so often forced to sue to get basic access to the places where they live. On Nov. 7, the City of Brotherly Love announced the final terms of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit launched in 2019 that will require local officials to either install or fix 10,000 curb ramps over the next 15 years, at a pace of at least 2,000 ramps every three years…
There are now 8 billion people on Earth, according to a new U.N. report
November 15, 2022 | Source: NPR
People around the world are living longer and having fewer children. Those are just a few of the trends the United Nations described in a report on the world’s population. While the average life expectancy is projected to rise from 72.98 in 2019 to 77.2 in 2050, the rate of growth will continue to slow down across the globe, according to the report released Tuesday. The world reached 7 billion people in 2011 and the U.N. predicts it will not reach 9 billion for another 15 years…
14-year-old inventor from California named ‘America’s Top Young Scientist’
November 15, 2022 | Source: Yahoo
A 14-year-old student who invented a device that detects and treats mid-ear infections in children was awarded this year’s 3M Young Scientist Challenge grand prize. Leanne Fan, an eighth grader from San Diego, California, developed the low-cost wearable device by using machine learning technology and blue light therapy. Fan named them “Finsen Headphones” after Niels Finsen, the Nobel Prize recipient who discovered that ultraviolet light can help treat bacterial infections…
ADA ‘tester’ can sue over website’s non-compliance
November 15, 2022 | Source: Virginia Lawyers Weekly
A “tester-plaintiff” had standing to sue over a hotel reservation website’s alleged failure to comply with federal regulations governing accessibility for the disabled, even if she had no plans to actually book a room at the hotel, a federal appellate court has ruled. Plaintiff Deborah Laufer sued defendant Acheson Hotels for allegedly failing to comply with regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act that require hotels to make information about the property’s accessibility available on reservation portals…
Stroke victim overcomes debilitating injury that was compounded by lack of accessible housing
November 15, 2022 | Source: Manchester Ink Link
Travis Janvrin is a survivor, a man who at 29 suffered a stroke that left him hospitalized for three months, followed by a month-long rehab only to be released unable to walk and with no accessible place to live. Seventeen months after that massive stroke, that left him 100 percent disabled and in a wheelchair “for now,” Janvrin is now living in a handicap-accessible apartment. Janvrin suffered a hemorrhagic stroke on June 13, 2021. He attributes the stroke to the stress of his job…
More than 1 billion young people could be at risk of hearing loss, a new study shows
November 16, 2022 | Source: NPR
More than 1 billion young people could be at risk of facing hearing loss, a new study shows. “It is estimated that 0.67–1.35 billion adolescents and young adults worldwide could be at risk of hearing loss from exposure to unsafe listening practices,” according to the study, which was published in BMJ Journal on Tuesday. Recommended noise limits are no more than 85 decibels throughout a 40-hour week. Young people from ages 12 to 35 using devices such as MP3 players and cellphones, actively listened to content at 105 decibels, while the average noise level at entertainment venues was 104 to 112 decibels…
Cities and Feds Work on Accessibility Guidelines for Curbside Car-Charging Stations
November 16, 2022 | Source: Streetsblog MASS
In the race to add more electric car charging stations to city streets, Cambridge and Boston are taking steps to ensure the new infrastructure includes access for people with disabilities, despite a lack of well-established standards.
This September, the Biden-Harris administration announced the first round of states to receive funding to expand electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program in an effort to “help build a convenient, reliable, and affordable EV charging network across the country.”…
Justice Department Launches Disability Rights Investigation into Missouri’s Use of Skilled Nursing Facilities
November 17, 2022 | Source: Department of Justice
The Justice Department announced today that it has opened an investigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into whether the State of Missouri unnecessarily institutionalizes adults with serious mental illness in skilled nursing facilities. The department will investigate whether these individuals could be served in the community with services such as supported housing, assertive community treatment, crisis services and peer support services, and whether the State’s use of guardianship for people with serious mental illness contributes to unnecessary placements in nursing facilities…
Senator Markey, Rep. Eshoo introduce legislation to ensure accessibility of video, communication, and emerging technologies for individuals with disabilities
November 17, 2022 | Source: Senator Edward Markey and The Hill and American Council of the Blind and TVTechnology and Gizmodo
Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and author of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), and Representative Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18), senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today introduced the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act (CVTA). The CVTA updates and amends the CVAA to keep pace with the proliferation of emerging technologies that have come online since Senator Markey’s 2010 bill was passed with bipartisan support…
Jack Fact —The global population is projected to reach 8 billion on November 15, 2022, and India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023, according to World Population Prospects 2022, released on World Population Day.
Hit The Road Jack —The most accessible cities in the US and Los Cabos Looks To Improve Accessibility For Tourists
International News
Calgary’s Next Economy: Included by Design is opening doors to improved accessibility
November 11, 2022 | Source: LiveWire Calgary- Canada
Sean Crump has spent years in Calgary dedicated to making local businesses more accessible. His company, Included by Design, and before that, Universal Access, has been focused on improving the physical accessibility. “Through Covid, as you can appreciate, obviously less and less places were interested in making their space accessible when the doors weren’t even open to their general public,” he said. “It really gave us a time to kind of have a bit of perspective on what we’re doing.”…
Disabled people ‘don’t feel welcome in nightclubs’
November 12, 2022 | Source: BBC- UK
“The amount of people I’ve seen out in wheelchairs in nightclubs, I could count them – it’s under 10.” This is the dispiriting assessment of nightclub accessibility from Cardiff student Alex Kingdom, a wheelchair user who loves to go out to listen to music with his mates. However, he knows all too well that, for people who use wheelchairs or have other access needs, trying to go for a night out can be a lottery – one which it is all too easy to lose. A quick browse through a range of websites for Cardiff and Swansea nightclubs makes for sobering reading for anyone hoping to find out whether venues offer help to those with reduced mobility…
Special needs students: An analytical approach to inclusion
November 12, 2022 | Source: University World News- Europe
The establishment of the European Higher Education Area led to changes in universities which mean today’s institutions are required to create accessible environments for all students and to train new generations of university teaching staff in educational inclusion. In this sense, the inclusion of students with special educational needs is the responsibility of all higher education institutions. Inclusive education is a worldwide movement that sets higher education in a context of equality and social justice, considering that students with special educational needs should have the same learning opportunities as others…
Disabled users of Newry ‘tennis bubble’ must drive a mile if they want to spend a penny
November 13, 2022 | Source: Independent.ie- Ireland
A Northern Ireland council could face legal action over the level of disabled access to a new sports facility. Newry, Down and Mourne District Council recently opened a new “tennis bubble” on the site of Our Lady’s Grammar School in Newry. Funding for the bubble, which covers two of four tennis courts owned by the school, was provided as part of the Your School Your Club, established to promote shared public use of school sports facilities. The rest of the costs of the bubble were met by the council…
Retailers should take steps to avoid black marks for accessibility on Black Friday
November 14, 2022 | Source: The Scotsman- UK
With the increased popularity of online shopping, it is important to check if your online presence is as accessible as your physical premises to maximise sales and customer satisfaction, as well as to ensure legal compliance. As a retailer, you may be wondering: What should be done to ensure your user journey is accessible, legally compliant and aligned to your company values? And how does this interact with other regulatory requirements, like data protection?…
Losing billions: Why are brands still not prioritising digital accessibility?
November 14, 2022 | Source: Campaign- Asia
Last month, Whatsapp’s 2 billion users worldwide experienced collective frustration after the popular app experienced a brief outage resulting in users having trouble sending messages. Although it wasn’t long before WhatsApp resolved the technical error and resumed normal service, it was long enough for public uproar and thousands of users globally to report problems. For a brief moment, many experienced what it’s like to encounter digital inaccessibility – something that for millions of disabled people is a daily occurrence…
How accessibility for disabled university students can benefit all students
November 14, 2022 | Source: The Conversation- Canada
Although many university students are eager for in-person elements of the university experience they missed early in the pandemic, what might we overlook in the rush to “return to normal”? The pandemic forced universities to re-evaluate their delivery of classes, extending remote teaching practices and building in flexibility to manage an unpredictable situation. After over two years of innovation, if the main lesson universities take away from the on-going pandemic is that students miss being on campus, we risk squandering new skills and insights of broad value…
Prince George’s new fully accessible pool welcomed by people with disabilities, advocates
November 15, 2022 | Source: CBC- Canada
A new community pool in downtown Prince George, B.C., with a host of accessibility features is being welcomed by people with disabilities and their advocates after it opened to the public on Monday. The $39-million Canfor Leisure Pool replaces the 50-year-old Four Seasons Leisure Pool, which had several accessibility and safety shortcomings, according to a 2016 Aquatic Needs Assessment Report. The report cited issues such as poor or non-existent accessibility inside and outside the facility, slippery tiles on all decks, and a lack of accessible and family change room space…
Downtown Barrie business aims to become more accessible
November 15, 2022 | Source: CTV News- Canada
One downtown Barrie business will be the first to receive a free deployable ramp to become more inclusive. The owner of Bohemia, an eatery on Dunlop Street East, reached out about getting a ramp with the StopGap Ramp Project after a would-be customer sent an email. “She said she would love to come into my place but that she couldn’t because she couldn’t get in the door,” explained owner Jill Dyck. “With most of the buildings downtown being older, they aren’t as accessible as we would like them to be. When they were built, it wasn’t something that was considered at that time,” said Sarah Jensen of the Downtown Barrie BIA…
Report claims almost two thirds of major websites in Ireland inaccessible to people with disabilities
November 16, 2022 | Source: Independent- Ireland and Silicon Republic and Business Plus
Almost two thirds of major websites in Ireland are inaccessible to over 600,000 people with disabilities, according to new research. The report, from Inclusion and Accessibility (IA) Labs and the National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI), claims that three of the country’s five most popular social media platforms are not digitally accessible, while four out of the five food delivery apps checked “could not be used by a person with a disability”. The research is based on an audit of over 40 websites and mobile apps “that would typically be used on a daily basis”, according to the IA and NCBI…
Accessibility Issues Are Preventing Disabled Attendees From Participating Fully at Film Festivals
November 16, 2022 | Source: Variety- Netherlands
Music Festivals Are Notorious for Inaccessibility—This Organization Is Pushing for Change In 2023
November 17, 2022 | Source: EDM- UK
When it comes to accessibility for the disabled IDFA, by its own admission, is falling short. During a panel discussion running as part of IDFA’s Industry program on Monday, the festival’s senior editor Julia Yudelman explained that the festival had an accessibility audit done in 2019. That led to a list of recommendations on how to make IDFA and its market organizations more accessible. The fest also worked with a consultant who helped formulate a five-year plan to make the festival more inclusive both physically and virtually. But despite the efforts, Yudelman said, “We are still really behind at IDFA when it comes to accessibility.”…
Toronto mother spends days in van outside school in effort to provide accessibility
November 16, 2022 | Source: Global News- Canada
For nearly three months, Toronto mother Michelle Cousins has spent her days outside her daughter’s high school inside the family van in case she is needed to help out with a trip to the bathroom. “She just wanted a normal experience and a part of that is using the elevator, a part of that is going to the bathroom without it being a big deal and preserving her own safety and her dignity as well,” said Cousins. Fourteen-year-old Colette Cousins has arthrogryposis, which causes joint stiffness. She uses a wheelchair…
“Media and Accessibility” Two-days orientation cum training programme started at CUK
November 16, 2022 | Source: Rising Kashmir- India
On National Press day, Two-day orientation cum training programme on “Media and Accessibility” started at Department of Convergent Journalism, Central University of Kashmir in collaboration with Ali Yawar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities, Mumbai under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt of India on Wednesday at Tulmullah Campus. Speaking on the opening session, Dr. John Babu Koyye, Department of Convergent Journalism said, the training helps the participants of media professionals and students to learn various aspects of the impaired people and how to report on the issues of disabled communities…
Saskatoon introduces act to make province more accessible for people with disabilities
November 16, 2022 | Source: CBC- Canada and 650 CKOM
The Saskatchewan government introduced The Accessibility Saskatchewan Act, which aims to prevent and remove barriers for people with disabilities, Tuesday. The act stems from a 2015 recommendation in the Saskatchewan disability strategy. People with disabilities currently have to file human rights complaints when they face a barrier. Minister of Social Services Gene Makowsky said he hopes this proposed act will create a smoother process for eliminating impediments…
To help their daughter, they created a device that revolutionizes classroom accessibility
November 17, 2022 | Source: Aleteia- Colombia
Sometimes life gives you surprises. Eight years ago, Antonio Sánchez Káiser and Mónica Hernández Jiménez were expecting the birth of their daughter, Vega. The day of the birth arrived. What a special moment! But something unexpected happened: Vega was born with albinism. Albinism is a genetic condition that affects the production of melanin, resulting in a lack of pigmentation in the skin and hair, and often to visual impairment. “First, as parents, we had a scare,” Mónica says. The doctors initially told her and Antonio that their daughter would be blind, but they soon discovered that she had 5% visual capacity…
Legislation sets higher accessibility standards to aid disabled
November 17, 2022 | Source: Penticton Herald- Canada
Beginning January 1, 2023, a new set of codes will come into effect which should help improve life for those with accessibility challenges. The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) was first enacted into law ten years ago. The goal of the legislation was to work at removing the barriers that make accessibility difficult in both indoor and outdoor public spaces for those experiencing all levels of mobility challenges or sight impairment. “To develop accessibility standards, the Manitoba government is working with representatives from the disability community, as well as the public and private sectors,” says the AMA website…
How a para-athlete worked on making a swimming pool accessible for everyone
November 18, 2022 | Source: The Hindu- India
Madhavi Latha’s eyes shine when she talks about swimming. “At the age of forty, I became a national-level para swimming champion,” she says with a laugh, when she talks about her journey. Her story of how she overcame several challenges and became a successful para-athlete is an inspiring one. For her, however, the buck doesn’t stop there. “Swimming is good for everyone — persons with disabilities, senior citizens and even those who can’t do strenuous exercise standing up. However, it is a challenge for many of us to even enter a pool,” she says…
Accessibility Blogs and Information
- GitHub Accessibility
- DIVERSEability Magazine
- U.S. Law And Web Accessibility- Ken Nakata
- Accessible Travel Press – FRANCE – Issue #32
- SGA Endorses Accessibility Proposal – Troubadour
- An Employee’s Right to Assistive Technology- Braille Works
- Digital stories celebrate disability pride- University of Calgary
- 2022 ADA Lawsuit Report: Insights For Business Leaders- UsableNet
- Who is responsible for web accessibility?- Northern Kentucky University
- Embracing neurodiversity in business: how to support customers- DLA Piper
- Passengers with Disabilities: Barriers to Accessible Air Travel Remain- GAO
- Google leader on building accessible and inclusive workspaces- HRD America
- 8 disabled influencers from different ethnic minority groups- Disability Horizons
- Why you need to monitor and report on accessibility—all the time- Sachin Gupta
- Advancing Digital Accessibility in Academic and Workplace Education- Frontiers
- Tell Congress to Ensure the Web is Accessible!- National Disability Rights Network
- Why Should I Make My Cannabis Website ADA Compliant?- Cannabis and Tech Today
- How Robots Are Paving The Way For Increased User Accessibility- Ritukar Vijay- Forbes
- Literally underground: Problems with accessibility in UVM’s band scene- The Vermont Cynic
- Student leaders advocate for greater physical accessibility of UCSB campus- The Daily Nexus
- Creating a More Accessible Internet: Context Matters- Stanford University Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence
- ‘It opens people’s eyes’: The growing Burlington-based movement to make the world more accessible- Inside Halton
- Salesforce Accessibility Execs Derek Featherstone, Catherine Nichols Talk Disability Inside And Out Of The Company In New Interview- Forbes
- Why you need to know about Section 508 if you send mass communications- Owura Gyamfi, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters
Accessibility Announcements and Products
- Take the Euan’s Guide Access Survey
- Roberta Flack announces she has ALS
- Queensland announces Year of Accessible Tourism
- Popular Hearthstone Accessibility Mod Ends Support
- Presenters needed for virtual accessibility conference
- PSHSB Announces Effective Date of Certain EAS Rules
- FCC Sets the Deadline for Accessibility Changes to EAS
- 5 Home Health businesses creating accessibility through growth
- Evansville Regional Airport announces new accessibility programs
- Researchers develop wireless device for remote Parkinson’s monitoring
- Access Brookline: Nov. 2022 Accessibility-Related News, Events and Info
- New accessible playground unveiled at the Kentucky School for the Blind
- Google Maps Gets New AR Features, Accessibility Icons, EV Charging Info
- Fox Cities PAC allocates $1 million donation to enhance accessibility services
- NSA opens an innovative workplace for critical missions focused on the future
- Riverside Insights Wins Excellence in Equity Award for Accessibility Features
- FLVC Announces Visitor Experience Grant Fund to Improve Accessibility for All
- CN Tower gets ‘gold-level’ accessibility certification from Rick Hansen Foundation
- CBC/Radio-Canada is inviting you to take part in public consultations on accessibility
- #NextUP: Achieving Accessibility in Academic Journal Publishing- The Chicago Blog
- SilverEdge Awarded Section 508 (Information Technology Accessibility) Contract Work
- Microsoft Introduces New Sign Language View, Accessibility Preferences Pane For Teams
- RTA of Northeastern Illinois launches new website that prioritizes accessibility and usability
- Accessibility-focused proposal wins the Co-designing Equity in the Public Realm competition
- Quality of life impact of Brain in Hand results of an independent clinical study- Brain in Hand
- Technology crucial to driving accessibility and inclusivity movement, says QSTP-funded startup
- Comcast Announces ‘Breakthrough’ New Xfinity Large Button Voice Remote For Better Accessibility
- University Of Greenwich: AccessAble And University Of Greenwich Launch New Accessibility Guide
- Cognitive Systems and MaxLinear partner to expand Wi-Fi Sensing accessibility for broadband platforms
- Event Leadership Institute Unveils New Certificate Course to Make Events More Inclusive for Disabled Attendees
- Microsoft supports IWill with ‘AI for Accessibility’ grant to develop AI CBT mental health program for 615 million Hindi users
- Towards Accessibility! RampMyCity, A Bengaluru-Based Start-Up, Is Making Cities More Accessible For The Differently Abled
- Microsoft Accessibility Nonprofit Tech Accelerator launches to provide technology and funding support to disability nonprofit organizations around the world
- November is National Home Care and Hospice Month, so here’s a look at home health organizations who recently expanded services and accessibility through growth initiatives
Accessibility Forums, Tips, and Gaming
- Assistive Technology Videos
- Getting Started Testing with NVDA
- Tips on Getting Digital Inclusion Right
- Mobile accessibility testing checklist- DRAFT
- Your Accessibility Claims Are Wrong, Unless…
- 5 takeaways from screen reader usability interviews
- A look at a few accessibility issues with open-world games
- Blind game developer flips the script on incorporating accessibility
- Your iPhone Has 26 New Accessibility Tools You Shouldn’t Ignore
- How This Beta Accessibility Mode on iPhone Could Make Using It Easier
- God of War Ragnarök: Accessibility Options To Be Aware Of – Expansive
- If You Have Vision Problems, These Phone Accessibility Settings Can Help
- The Way Sonic Frontiers Battles Motion Sickness Could Pave the Way for Future Games
- Xbox Game Accessibility Features tags are a vital “first step” – and more storefronts should do the same
- Use Your iPhone or Apple Watch as a Remote Control for Your iPad Using This Hidden Built-in Feature
Accessibility Statements
- Unifyed
- iCanConnect
- Eckerd College
- Odeum Music Centre
- Old Dominion University
- College of Central Florida
- Johnson and Johnson MedTech
- Brighton and Hove City Council
- Ohio Board of Engineers and Surveyors
- Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Microassist Digital Accessibility Services
Have you received an accessibility demand letter because of your website or application? Please contact us for any questions you have about our accessibility services and how we might support your organization.
Services include:
- Accessible Website and Application Development— We rely heavily on accessibility best practices and using HTML5 and ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) standards to build WCAG-compliant and human-tested accessible environments. Our teams are proficient in open source technologies such as WordPress, Drupal and Moodle, as well as custom frameworks in .NET, PHP, AngularJS, and other frameworks. Our Learning and Development team can also help you create accessible custom training.
- Accessible Document Services— Whether you’re dealing with a few or a warehouse of Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, or other files, there are several ways Microassist can enable your team to offer documents and materials that meet stringent accessibility standards.
- Accessibility Remediation— Our accessibility remediation services help you fix existing materials so that they conform to WCAG, Section 504 and 508, Department of Education OCR, and ADA Title II/III requirements. We remediate websites, applications, documents, and elearning, recommending re-creation when that is more efficient and economical. Especially for website and applications, to find out what is in need of remediation, we’ll start with an Accessibility Audit.
- Accessibility Training— With several courses available for developers, testers, and content creators, your team can become equipped to consistently and expertly produce accessible digital products and online environments.
- VPAT®Evaluation Services— Primarily used by government purchasers and government vendors during the procurement and sale of ICT products and services under Section 508, a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT) attests to the accessibility of a given product or service. Contact us to make sure the VPAT you write or review is accurate and meaningful.
Learn More About Digital Accessibility
Our Digital Accessibility Digest blog covers our Accessibility in the News archives as well as expert commentaries on digital accessibility issues.
Our most popular commentaries include:
- What is a VPAT®? A VPAT Primer
- Understanding Digital Accessibility in the Procurement Process
- Accessibility in the News, Legal Edition: Updates on ADA Title III News and More
- What Lawyers Need to Know: A Primer on Digital Accessibility Terms and Today’s Legal Landscape
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