The Smithsonian is using technology to improve museums and the resources people have access to. The goal is for everyone, no matter where they are, to get a better understanding of the changing world. New software will make things better for visitors, donors, volunteers, and others who deal with the Smithsonian. The aim is to...
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has a program called the "On the Move Riders Program." It received the Spirit of Accessibility Award for helping seniors with transportation. The program teaches L.A. older adults about using public transportation through workshops, events, and tours. Seniors aged 62+ who sign up get discounted fares on Metro...
The University of Kansas is looking for adults with disabilities to complete a survey. The survey is called the National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD). People with disabilities can share what they think and their experiences with things like healthcare, housing, and jobs. It's open to adults in the U.S. who are 18 or...
The Arizona prisons are changing how they treat people who are blind or have low vision. They weren't giving them aids or services like Braille, audio materials, or screen reading software so they could communicate well. It was also hard for people with vision disabilities to ask for help or complain about the problems. The...
The U.S. Department of Transportation wants public transportation buildings and facilities to be usable by everyone. Their goal is to make sure everyone, with or without a disability, can use public transportation easily and independently. They're looking for ideas from people on how to make these facilities easier for those with disabilities to use. They're...
The Department of Justice reached an agreement with Alameda County, California, and others who had filed complaints, to improve community-based mental health services. The Department found that Alameda County violated Title II of the ADA by putting people with mental health disabilities in institutions when they could have been helped with community-based services. The agreement...
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has introduced an "accessibility" map for its recreation sites to help people with mobility or accessibility needs. This map is part of Disability Awareness Month and is the first step in a bigger effort by the BLM. A team of experts has improved the online map, allowing users to...
The Justice Department has new guidance about how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)'s "integration mandate" applies to public employment and day services. The integration mandate says state and local governments have to provide services to people with disabilities in the most inclusive setting possible. Many people with disabilities are in sheltered workshops and day...
The Justice Department reached a settlement with a Hawaii developer and others who were accused of not designing and building five multifamily housing complexes with the required accessible features. This violates the Fair Housing Act, which is a law that ensures housing is accessible to everyone. The agreement requires the companies to pay a fine...
The American Council of the Blind (ACB) won a case in California against Quest Diagnostics. The case is about their self-service kiosks being inaccessible to blind people. This violates the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). The case can now go to trial and is for all legally blind people who visited Quest in 2018 and 2019...
A new resource from the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) talks about options an employer should consider if they can't identify a reasonable accommodation after making a good-faith effort to do so. They could: Talk to the employee and review past attempts. If the employee can't provide more ideas, look for help from outside resources like...
Jan Garrett, Deputy Director of ADA Programs at the Pacific ADA Center, was recently interviewed by the L.A. Times. She shared guidance from the Americans with Disabilities Act on service animals in public spaces. Here are some key points: Service animals are trained to help people with many different types of disabilities. They don't have...
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has a new campaign called #AccessibleAirTravel to celebrate the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and let travelers with disabilities know about their rights. The ACAA, created in 1986, makes it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities in air travel. DOT has created the Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill...
The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) has put out a new webpage talking about why it's good to have flexible work options. It talks about: Who benefits from a flexible workplace Types of workplace flexibility Things for employers to think about when making workplaces flexible There are also links to reports...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has joined more than a dozen former workers in suing Union Pacific over the way it used a vision test to disqualify workers the railroad believed were color blind and might have trouble reading signals telling them to stop a train. Union Pacific fired some of their workers when...
The Justice Department is suing Colorado because they're putting adults with physical disabilities, including older people, in nursing homes when they could live at home. Colorado was told about this problem in March 2022 and given steps to fix it, but they didn't. The law says people with disabilities should get help in the best...
Healthcare practices serve patients with disabilities who may face extra problems in getting care. Providers, become an ally for people with disabilities by making small changes that can really improve their lives, starting with assessing your practice and building a more inclusive practice by using: Welcoming Spaces: Make sure your programs and physical spaces are...
Section 504 prohibits discrimination against individuals based on disability in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance or are operated by a Federal agency. HHS is proposing to update the regulations to clarify important requirements that are not currently addressed and improve consistency with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Americans with Disabilities Amendments...
This Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and U.S. Department of Labor Document document talks about the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which helps people with disabilities get jobs. It was the first law of its kind in the United States and served as a model for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Section 501 stops job discrimination...
The U.S. Access Board made five new videos on the Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines. The first four videos offer a chapter-by-chapter review of the guidelines to better understand the accessibility requirements to make sidewalks, crosswalks, shared-use paths, on-street parking, and other pedestrian facilities accessible to people with disabilities. The fifth video, “What’s New in the...
