More than one million people have been ordered to evacuate regions of the Eastern seaboard today as Hurricane Florence steams her way toward Virginia and the Carolinas. The category four hurricane is expected to make landfall Thursday evening, at which time it may escalate to a category five storm. Evacuating from the path of ... Read more
Trending
Jacksons Foods Settles EEOC Discrimination Lawsuit for Deaf Worker
A chain of convenience stores in the Pacific Northwest learned the hard way this week that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is not a piece of legislation you want to mess around with. Jacksons Food Stores, Inc. settled a lawsuit after Nathaniel Prugh, a job applicant who is deaf, was refused a job ... Read more
U.S. Access Board to Hold Forum on Assembly Area Accessibility – Be There!
On September 6th 2018, the U.S. Access Board will hold a public forum on accessibility and assembly areas. The daylong event will focus on accessibility issues related to the design of movie theaters, dinner theaters, performing arts centers, lecture halls, stadiums, arenas, grandstands, and other assembly venues. It will be structured as a town hall meeting ... Read more
People with Disabilities have Severely Limited Access to Justice System, Report Finds
No one ever finds themselves sitting in a courtroom and thinking about how happy or lucky they are to be there. Not unless you’re a plaintiff on the cusp of raking in a big pile of money, anyway. Unfortunately, a new report from the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict) shows that people with disabilities ... Read more
Toyota’s New Car Share Service: One More Step Toward Tackling Mobility
In the world of corporate charity and advocacy, there are generally three types of companies. First, you have the companies that donate money to causes, sometimes looking for a cushy tax write-off. Next, there are companies that apply their know-how and resources toward advancing causes they believe in. And then there’s Toyota, who really ... Read more
Will Automated Vehicles Help or Hurt the Workforce? A New Toyota-Funded Study Hopes To Find Out
On paper, automated vehicles sound pretty enticing. Hopping in your car, telling it where you want to go, and then reading a book while your car itself navigates bustling city traffic without human input most certainly has an appeal that goes well beyond it’s own coolness factor. Self-driving cars can save lives. They can ... Read more
Defending Deaf Prisoners in Georgia Who are Forgotten — and Abused — by the Prison System
Imagine for a moment that you’re in a foreign country. You don’t speak the language, and you haven’t met anyone who speaks English. You’re arrested — you might not even fully understand why you were arrested or what you did wrong — and sent to a jail where no one speaks your language. And then ... Read more
Katherine Beattie – Skate Park Fun
By day, Katherine Beattie is a television writer whose name graces the credits of big hits like NCIS: New Orleans and Californication. But when she’s not shredding up her keyboard, she’s shredding up something else—skate-parks. And she’s promoting using a wheelchair. Katherine Beattie isn’t just known for her work in television. She’s also an ... Read more
Meet The Improvaneers: The World’s First Comedy Troupe Made Up of Performers with DS!
The Improvaneers Are a Groundbreaking Ohio Comedy Troupe For decades, improv groups have provided us with some of the most famous comics in the world. Second City gave us Dan Aykroyd and Stephen Colbert. The Groundlings made Will Farrell and Melissa McCarthy household names. It makes you wonder… what future stars might be born in the ... Read more
Veteran Soldier Ride Participants to be Honored at White House
More than 70 veterans with The Wounded Warrior Project will visit the White House this week to be honored during an annual ceremony hosted by President Donald Trump, as part of the ongoing festivities surrounding Soldier Ride. Soldier Ride is a four-day adaptive cycling program that takes place each year in Washington DC. Wounded veterans ... Read more
This New Depression Treatment Involves Red Wine and Dark Chocolate
For most adults, drinking red wine and eating dark chocolate is a fairly surefire method of making a bad day better. Toss in a good movie and a comfy blanket and you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a quality evening that can put a sweet note on a sour day. Knowing this, it shouldn’t ... Read more
Deep Learning Project Using AWS DeepLens to Translate American Sign Language Alphabet to Speech
At the intersection of technology and American Sign Language Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently held a hackathon challenging people to put DeepLens, the first Artificial Intelligence camera, to good use. One couple came up with the ability to translate ASL into speech using DeepLens and SageMaker. And Amazon just announced DeepLens will be available to the public in ... Read more
New Font Combines Braille with Existing Characters
Braille Neue is a universal typeface that combines braille with existing characters. This typeface communicates to both the sighted and blind in the same font. Braille Neue Standard is for English alphabet and Braille Neue Outline is for Japanese and English. Braille Neue founder Kosuke Takahashi‘s aim is to use this universal typeset for ... Read more
Salvation Army to pay $55,000 to settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit
When Good Organizations do Bad – Salvation Army Refused to Hire Qualified Applicant at Wasilla Store Due to His Intellectual Disability According to the EEOC’s suit, the Salvation Army, a global humanitarian organization, refused to hire Eric Yanusz as a donation attendant, an entry-level position, at its Wasilla, Alaska thrift store. The position ... Read more
Milestone or Minefield? Hawaii Passes Aid-In-Dying Bill
Hawaii’s State Legislature passed a fiercely-debated bill on Thursday that will allow those suffering with terminal illnesses to determine for themselves whether or not it’s time for them to end their own lives. House Bill 2739, the “Our Care, Our Choice Act,” which was openly supported and endorsed by Governor David Ige (D), allows ... Read more
Diabetic Alert Service Dogs Sniff More Than Crotches and Butts
Dogs sure do love to sniff stuff, don’t they? The sidewalk, trees, fire hydrants, bits of canine and human anatomy we probably shouldn’t mention here… dogs seem to poke their noses around with reckless abandon and an utter disregard for humility. But what if dogs could use their impeccable sense of smell for something ... Read more
New Emojis Representing People with Disabilities Proposed by Apple
Person in Manual Wheelchair; Deaf Sign; Person with White Cane; Prosthetic Leg: Service Dog with Vest and Leash. Person in Power Wheelchair; Ear with Hearing Aid; Guide Dog with Harness; Prosthetic Arm Working with American Council of the Blind, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation and the National Association of the Deaf, Apple’s submission to Unicode: ... Read more
Vision Enhancing Relúmino Needs to be Seen
Relúmino, named for the Latin word meaning ‘to return back the light’, is now a visual aid app for people with low vision. VR + APP = SEE Relúmino is a visual aid app used with virtual reality devices for people with low vision. By running the Relúmino app on a mobile phone connected ... Read more
Oksana Masters Wins Gold with Broken Arm
Oksana Masters won her second Paralympic Gold Medal in Middle Distance Cross Country ski event — Plus elected U.S. Flag Bearer for Closing Ceremony! (18 Mar 2018) Unofficially, it’s reported Masters has 5 broken bones in her arm. With arm wrapped for support, Masters fought the pain to win the Cross Country Sit Ski ... Read more
NATIVE Hotels and ABILITY Magazine are Partnered to Expand Awareness for the Need and Benefits in Accessible Destinations
Since 2010, NATIVE Hotels have worked with clients, hoteliers and engineers to provide better experiences for all. Your accessible journey begins on an accessible website, perhaps as accessible as NATIVE’s, where you can browse the Internet without looking at the screen, without touching the keyboard and without talking to the computer. Simply by blowing, ... Read more
