May 21, 2021, Hotel Management: Like a flood, cases challenging hotels’ compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act website rules keep coming. People with disabilities want information about accessible features so they can confidently book rooms online and travel independently and safely. Fortunately, a recent case clarifies what is required.
May 21, 2021, CMSWire: Global Accessibility Awareness Day comes each May as a reminder to keep all users in mind when designing digital experiences like mobile apps and websites. And while much of the attention on digital accessibility is paid to lawsuits and the costs of non-compliance with laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), businesses should remember that the point of digital accessibility, much like physical accessibility measures like wheelchair ramps, designated parking and Braille touchpads, is to provide a usable and enjoyable experience to every person, regardless of ability.
May 20, 2021, Accessibility.com: On this tenth Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), we are proud to announce AccessibilityPlus 2021 — a global and entirely virtual accessibility summit for the business world. We welcome leaders from various disciplines to join us, participate, and contribute to a new kind of accessibility conference that connects you with the information and network you need to build the organization you want. The conference will be held over three days of learning and engagement: October 12–14, 2021.
May 20, 2021, World Economic Forum: Ten years ago, the US American web developer Joe Devon posted a blog post about the need to mainstream digital accessibility and proposed an annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day to campaign for digital access and inclusion – a day that is now celebrated globally every third Thursday in May.
May 20, 2021, Yahoo! News: Dean Kamen is the first to admit it. “From the day it came out, and from that day forward, I’ve been known as the Segway guy,” the serial inventor tells Yahoo News, referring to the two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter that he first brought to market in 2001.
May 19, 2021, PhoneArena: With 365 million users around the world, Spotify is now one of the biggest music streaming services. Such a title always comes with certain responsibilities, especially when it comes to accessibility.
May 19, 2021, Apple Newsroom: Apple today announced powerful software features designed for people with mobility, vision, hearing, and cognitive disabilities. These next-generation technologies showcase Apple’s belief that accessibility is a human right and advance the company’s long history of delivering industry-leading features that make Apple products customizable for all users.
May 18, 2021, The Dallas Morning News: Have you ever noticed the ramps at a street corner? These are called curb cuts. The initial purpose was to allow wheelchairs to cross the street. The curb cut ended up helping a lot more people: parents pushing strollers, travelers pulling luggage, skateboarders flying, bikers riding and workers carrying heavy loads.
May 18, 2021, University Business: In early 2020, as learning moved rapidly online, a key issue surfaced at every level of education: how to make learning accessible for every student. Whether it was students with disabilities or those who lacked access to devices or high-speed internet, the rush to distance learning dramatically increased existing challenges of delivering inclusive learning to all.
May 18, 2021, BBC News: Some of the world's biggest firms have signed up to a campaign which aims to tackle prejudice towards disabled people in the business world. Companies with combined sales of more than $8 trillion and 20 million staff, including Apple, BP and Coca-Cola have joined the Valuable 500 initiative.
May 18, 2021, Complete Music Update: Accessibility charity Attitude Is Everything has launched a new ‘Accessible Employment Guide’ as part of its ongoing work to “improve the inclusion of deaf and disabled workers in the commercial music sector”.
May 17, 2021, Business 2 Community: I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all visited a website at one point or another and had a frustrating experience. Why won’t this site load on mobile? Which form fields are actually mandatory? Who thought 8pt type in yellow was easy to read?!? While the average user may find these design oversights annoying, to a disabled or impaired individual, they can make a website virtually unusable.
May 17, 2021, Herald-Mail Media: The month of May is designated as Better Speech and Hearing Month. The mission behind it is to make effective communication a human right, accessible and achievable for all, despite any barriers.
May 17, 2021, ArtsHub–AU: In a post-COVID world, how do we ensure that Australia’s arts and cultural sector is inclusive of arts practitioners and audiences with disability? That’s the question posed at this year’s Arts Activated 2021 conference.
May 17, 2021, IBC: Broadcasters go above and beyond to ensure that they schedule enough programmes with subtitling, audio description and signing to exceed the targets of regulators. But how do they cope under the pressure of an audience constantly seeking news and new live experiences?
