AnnaRose Rubright has always worked to be a positive role model for her younger sisters. As the oldest of six girls, it was important to the 24- year- old from Medford, New Jersey, to show them the importance of hard work and how even with a disability, she could accomplish her dreams. In early May, one of those dreams turned into a reality when she achieved her lifelong goal of graduating from a four-year university. In the process, she became the first person with down syndrome to receive a diploma from Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey…
2. Comedy Still Has an Accessibility Problem, Even in an Online World- May 21, 2020 Source: Paste Magazine
Diversity on stage often means many things, but one of the more forgotten aspects of inclusion is accessibility. The clubs, bars, community centers, breweries, and houses that set up stages for comedians are largely inaccessible to many comedy fans and aspiring jokesmiths, and that goes beyond most venue and stage entrances not being wheelchair accessible. Just as diversity doesn’t mean representation for one group, accessibility is not limited to just one impairment. Perhaps one of the most overlooked facets is accessibility for the hearing impaired…
3. Diamond: Strides Made in Website Accessibility This Year, But More Work Needed- May 22, 2020 Source: Media & Entertainment Services Alliance & PDF
Website accessibility has improved in 2020 from 2019, but there are still many sites that are either fully inaccessible or accessible “with difficulty,” according to Diamond. “You might have some sites that actually try to do their best with accessibility, but if you don’t think about the user journey, you’re missing something big,” Joe Devon, Diamond co-founding partner and co-founder of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), which Diamond sponsors, said May 21 during a webinar on “The State of Accessibility Report Findings.”…
4. 'It's been hell': Parents struggle with distance learning for their kids with disabilities- May 22, 2020 Source: USA Today
Malika Simmons couldn’t believe her eyes when she received the schoolwork for her son to do at home during the coronavirus pandemic. Eli Simmons, 12, who has autism spectrum disorder and severe learning disabilities, usually works with a team of four professionals each day at River Springs Middle School in Orange City, Florida. He’s still learning his letters and numbers. The packet of work they received was filled with lessons on how to write a check and how to identify different angles – things that are miles beyond Eli’s ability…
5. The Inaccessible Internet- May 22, 2020 Source: Slate
When virtual events began proliferating due to calls for social distancing, Camisha Jones saw a silver lining. For years, she has had limited access to in-person events due to undifferentiated connective tissue disease, which causes, among other symptoms, joint pain and fatigue. But now that many events would be taking place online, she realized she could attend more poetry readings than usual. Her enthusiasm was short-lived. “I find myself opting out of events because very little effort is being made to provide accessibility services for them,” said Jones…
6. 21st Century IDEA envisioned a digital government, a pandemic made it happen- May 22, 2020 Source: Federal News Network
As the coronavirus puts a toll on public health and the economy, the demand for information during the pandemic has strained agency websites and the employees who run them. Webpages run by the IRS, the Postal Service, and the National Institutes of Health make up just a few of the dot-gov sites that saw hundreds of millions of visits over the last month. Amid this surge in traffic, investments in digital government have paid dividends for some agencies, and some have sought to expedite modernization projects through funding in the CARES Act…
Ex-Congressman Tony Coelho Opens Up About Being Disabled And Where The Americans With Disabilities Act Fails In A Digital, Pandemic-Ruled Age- May 22, 2020 Source: Forbes
2020 will forever be remembered as The Year Covid-19 Ruled The World, but it is memorable in another significant way. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Signed into law by President George H.W. Bush (the elder Bush) on July 26, 1990, the ADA, as it’s colloquially known, is essentially the Civil Rights Act for people with disabilities. The ADA is a landmark piece of legislation. The person credited with pioneering and writing the ADA is retired congressman Tony Coelho (D-CA)…
9. Panel Hears Disability Bias Case of Deaf Ex-Costco Worker- May 22, 2020 Source: Courthouse News Service
A deaf former Costco employee is challenging a judge’s decision to toss out a jury verdict that awarded her $775,000 on her disability discrimination claim against the popular supermarket chain. Christine D’Onofrio thought she won her lawsuit against Costco in June 2018 when the jury found that the company had not provided reasonable workplace accommodations for her deafness. The jury awarded her $750,000 for mental anguish, along with $25,000 in punitive damages…
10. The waiting game: Nearly 30 years later, companies lack meaningful regulatory guidance on the TCPA and ADA- May 26, 2020 Source: Eversheds Sutherland
Over the past eight years, the number of cases filed in courts across the country alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) has more than quadrupled, with thousands filed each year. In 2018, another strict liability statute, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), gave rise to more than 1,000 putative class actions based on allegations that defendants’ websites fail to provide effective communication for users with disabilities. The filing of new complaints under both statutes has continued unabated in 2020…
11. IA Gov. Responses to Test Iowa Accessibility Concerns- May 27, 2020 Source: KWIT
An update from Siouxland Public Media on concerns raised by disability advocates concerning Test Iowa. The Disabilities Resource Center of Siouxland and Executive Director Don Dew contacted the Governor and Iowa Department of Public Health a week ago to say there was no planning for the Test Iowa program to include people with disabilities. Testing requires someone to drive through the site. A week later, Governor Kim Reynolds said Test Iowa isn’t the only option…
12. Nonverbal Students Being Denied An Education During Pandemic, Lawsuit Says- May 27, 2020 Source: Disability Scoop
Students with autism are illegally being denied an education during the government-ordered coronavirus school shutdown, a lawsuit filed this month alleges. The outcome of the lawsuit, seeking class-action status and filed in federal court in Philadelphia on behalf of two Bucks County children, could potentially affect thousands of students with disabilities. At its heart is a claim that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf failed to name as “life-sustaining” services those that provide in-person education to nonverbal and partially verbal children with autism — kids for whom online instruction and services are ineffective…
13. In The Inner Ear, UVA Finds An Essential Key To Hearing Sensitivity- May 27, 2020 Source: UVA Today & CBS19 & Eureka Alert
New research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine is shedding light on the biological architecture that lets us hear – and on a genetic disorder that causes both deafness and blindness. Sihan Li, a graduate student in the lab of Jung-Bum Shin of UVA’s Department of Neuroscience, has made a surprising discovery about how the hearing organ in mammals achieves its extraordinary sensitivity. It was long suspected that tiny molecular motors maintain the proper tension in the so-called hair cell mechanoreceptors that are located in the inner ear…
14. New Report Says Most Organizations Don't Involve Disabled People In Website Testing- May 28, 2020 Source: Forbes
“Nothing About Us Without Us” may be a long-standing maxim within the disability rights movement but a sizeable proportion of creators of digital content appear yet to receive the memo. According to a new survey undertaken by digital accessibility consultancy Level Access, alongside G3ict (The Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs) and IAAP (International Association of Accessibility Professionals), 56% of organizations still don’t routinely test their digital products with disabled people to evaluate accessibility and usability…
15. PA offers accessible write-in ballots for voters with disabilities for upcoming primary- May 28, 2020 Source: Local 21
Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar announced today that the Department of State will provide accessible write-in ballots to voters with disabilities who request one. “These ballots will allow blind and low-vision voters to vote privately and independently in Tuesday’s primary,” Secretary Boockvar said. “We are committed to increasing accessibility for voters with disabilities and implementing a long-term solution for accessible ballots for the November election and beyond.”…
16. Federal lawsuit challenges voter accessibility in Alabama- May 28, 2020 Source: WHNT19
With COVID-19 case numbers rising in Alabama and an election less than 2 months away, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Alabama. The suit challenges a number of provisions in Alabama voting law, most importantly regarding absentee ballots. “The requirement for people who are voting by absentee ballot to either have their ballot notarized or for them to sign their absentee ballot envelope in the presence of two witnesses,” explained Caren Short, Senior Staff Attorney with the SPLC…
17. Feds investigate college twice since 2017 for disability discrimination- May 28, 2020 Source: Berkeley Beacon
The federal Office for Civil Rights has investigated the college twice for disability discrimination since 2017 with one case closed in April and the other still open, according to public records obtained by The Beacon. The ongoing investigation concerns discrimination on the basis of disability while the case that closed in April covered the accessibility of the college’s website. The case was closed after the college changed its website to comply with federal regulations, according to the documents…
Jack Fact — A Rutgers University study reported in the July 2019 issue of Time magazine, stating that 14.3 million people with disabilities said they voted in 2018, an increase of 8.5%. According to the U.S. Government Accounting Office report, “Voters with Disabilities: Observations on Polling Place Accessibility and Related Federal Guidance,” said 60% of the 178 polling places they surveyed had one or more potential impediments; steep exterior ramps, lack of signage indicating accessibility and parking or path problems.
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