Washington (December 21, 2015) – Last week, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) led a group of eight other Senators in a letter to the Obama administration calling for the prompt release of rules that would...
As we prepare to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, I cannot help but ask, how many corporate CEOs, presidents or high-level executives with disabilities easily come to mind? Although I use four prostheses and steer a large nonprofit in the New York metro area, I can only rattle off a few CEOs with a disability. While we’re seeing broadened gender and ethnic diversity at the top of the ladder, people with disabilities are still lagging when it comes to making it to the C-suite...
The Americans with Disabilities Act was a watershed piece of legislation. As we approach the 25th anniversary of the ADA, advocates want to fold another facet of daily life into the law: the Internet.
In order to be full participants in the society they live in, people who have visual impairments must be afforded alternative means of accessing books, magazines, and other printed materials. Students need access to textbooks. Employees need access to publications related to their chosen work, and all of us need access to the books and magazines that influence the cultural life of our communities. Although advances in technology in recent years have given people with visual impairments many more options for accessing printed materials in accessible formats, the World Blind Union estimates that we still have access to only about five percent of the books published worldwide each year. In parts of the world that are less developed, less than one percent of published works are accessible to people with print-reading disabilities.
In November of 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) promulgated a regulation that has had a detrimental impact on the lives of countless individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
Since 1975, Public Law 94-142, now the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), has revolutionized educational opportunity for all children and youth with disabilities. However, without key improvements, our national special education system cannot fully keep IDEA's promise of a truly appropriate education for students who are blind or visually impaired.
Comcast will make its debut as a national advertiser in the Oscars in Sunday's telecast. The topic won’t be promotions or new services, but rather TV technology for the blind.
The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with Washington County, Missouri, to improve access to all aspects of civic life for people with disabilities. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access, the department's wide-ranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
In the special needs community, we are often faced with disheartening statistics. A couple examples being the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' January 2015 report that just 17.3 percent of individuals with disabilities were employed or the National Center for Learning Disabilities' survey showing 45 percent of parents reported their children with learning disabilities were bullied in the past year. The list gets grimmer the deeper we dig. One thing is clear, there is an unfortunate lack of opportunities and understanding for people with disabilities in modern society.
