Welcome to Disability: IN’s monthly round up of digital accessibility news for July.
At Disability:IN we know that digital accessibility impacts all aspects of disability inclusion. If you have questions about our digital accessibility program, please contact Jeff Wissel, our Chief Accessibility Officer.
Disability:IN Happenings
The Global Corporate Disability Inclusion Event of the Year
July 15th – 18th Disability:IN will be hosting over 3,000 Corporate Partners and other guest in-person and over 1,000 guests, virtually. We are excited to learn and share with thousands of industry leaders in all things Disability Inclusion, Accessibility, and more!
Disability:IN welcomes Allyant, KPMG and Otis as the latest companies to sign onto the Procure Access Statement. If your company has a Procurement Accessibility Program in place to ensure the accessibility and usability of the products you purchase, then it may be time to consider applying to sign onto the Procure Access Statement. To learn more about establishing a Procurement Accessibility Program check out the Disability:IN Procure Access Website.
What Is Digital Accessibility And Why Is It Important?
Digital accessibility allows people with disabilities to access the same information and engage in the same transactions at the same time as others, with equivalent ease of use. This has become more critical as the internet has evolved to play an integral role in most every aspect of life. It’s not just websites, but also mobile applications that need to be accessible for everyone.
The federal government is making clear that the ADA, or Americans with Disabilities Act, doesn’t just focus on physical access accommodations, but also includes digital accessibility. Their most recent rule updated Title II of the ADA requiring state and local government entities to make their websites and mobile applications accessible within two to three years. It is expected that they will likely move to update Title III next.
Spotlight on Disability:IN Partners using technology to enhance the accessibility of products we use every day.
Amtrak
Amtrak has completed accessibility improvements at its San Francisco Bay Area stations.
Stations in Martinez, Hayward, Fremont and Oakland, California, received $20.8 million in upgrades. Since 2011, Amtrak has invested more than $870 million in upgrades at 124 stations to provide a better travel experience for riders with disabilities, Amtrak officials said in a press release.
“We’re delivering a new era of rail while bringing greater accessibility to stations nationwide,” said Amtrak Vice President of Accessibility David Handera. “As we prioritize station accessibility throughout Amtrak, we are thrilled that these Bay Area stations can provide a welcoming and comfortable experience for all customers.”
Apple
The Top New Features Coming to Apple’s iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 [Wired.com]
What exactly is Apple Intelligence? We break down Apple’s AI onslaught plus all the features worth talking about in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18.
Apple
Oko — Accessible Navigation App Wins Prestigious Apple Design Award for Inclusivity [AppleVis.com]
Apple has announced the winners of its 2024 Apple Design Awards, which honor excellence in innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement in app and game design across seven categories: delight and fun, inclusivity, innovation, interaction, social impact, visuals and graphics, and a new spatial computing category. The winners were chosen from 42 finalists.
Biogen x Delta
Upcoming community events will inform plans to create more equitable flying experiences for passengers with reduced mobility
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and ATLANTA, June 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) and Delta Flight Products (DFP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines established to create aircraft interior solutions to airlines around the world, announced that the companies will collaborate to inform future enhancements to the air travel journey for passengers with reduced mobility. In the United States alone, approximately 5.5 million individuals rely on wheelchairs for mobility.1“Cure SMA and the SMA community have been advocating to make air travel safer and more accessible for individuals with disabilities, especially passengers who use a power wheelchair.
Chase
Chase Bank Launches Aira Access Pilot
Aira is thrilled to announce that Chase Bank is launching an Aira Access pilot beginning June 3rd, 2024. The pilot will see Aira offered for free to anyone visiting one of 46 Chase Bank Innovation Lab locations. Visitors to any of these Chase Bank locations can download the Aira app and open it on their phone. They will be able to connect at the tap of a button with a professional visual interpreter who can stream a live feed via the caller’s camera. The visual interpreter can then assist by describing, reading aloud, navigating, and answering questions. Aira’s visual interpreters are highly trained and sign an NDA, ensuring confidentiality and security for callers.
Delta x Boeing
Accessibility improvements proposed by Delta, Collins and Boeing
One of the most positive trends at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo was accessibility for disabled people: especially for wheelchair users, people with reduced mobility, and blind and visually impaired travellers. From systems that allow wheelchair users to travel in their own chairs to lavatories that finally enable them to avoid starving and dehydrating themselves, these advances are not before time — but they are nonetheless very welcome.
GE
GE Appliances Improves Access For Visually Impaired Consumers
For quite some time now, people with vision loss have gained increasing audible access to digital displays and touch screens on electronic devices. Such advances in accessibility have not yet materialized in most major, and household appliances.
Inside Google’s Process To Creating Newly-Announced Maps Accessibility Features
According to Google, users will be able to access what it described as “more detailed walking instructions” while navigating to places. With Google Lens and its screen-reading capability, people will be able to hear the name and categories of places around them—Google used ATMs and restaurants as examples—and know how far away they are from getting there. In addition, Google has included support for detailed voice guidance which it said will “[provide] audio prompts letting you know when you’re heading in the right direction, crossing a busy intersection, or being rerouted if you’ve gone the wrong way.” Elsewhere for Maps, Google said the app features accessibility information for “more than 50 million places” thanks in large part to the crowdsourced data from business owners and Maps users. The details are denoted with a ♿ icon and highlights areas such as parking, seating, and restrooms. There also exist filters to help search places that are wheelchair accessible as well.
Mastercard
Mastercard accelerates commitment to digital transformation in Africa
Mastercard and the African Development Bank Group today launched the Mobilizing Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance: Africa to extend digital access to critical services to 100 million individuals and businesses in Africa over the next 10 years.
Microsoft
Microsoft unveils latest accessibility updates and innovations
Technology giant Microsoft has announced some of its latest accessibility features and projects, which include a modular adaptive gaming kit and a touchpad that allows users to control their laptop with different parts of their limbs. Microsoft’s Designed for Xbox team, in coordination with Microsoft’s partner Byowave, has launched the Proteus Controller (available for preorder). This is a modular adaptive kit with innovative “snap and play” parts that connect for use in Xbox and PC games out of the box, giving disabled gamers the tools to build their own way to play.
Microsoft x ServiceNow
This article highlights some key practices that Microsoft and ServiceNow have adopted as part of our accessibility journey, practices that have resulted in us making more than 15 different experiences accessible to consumers, including our employees and vendors, support agents, risk managers, and process owners.
Otis
It May Be Possible to Make Your Elevator More Accessible [Otis.com]
Elevators are a fundamental component of infrastructure, underpinning everyone’s ability to access our taller, faster, smarter world. An individual elevator can remain in a building for generations. This means that many elevators in use today do not have the latest accessibility features and technology. This is why Otis developed the Advancing Accessibility Fact Sheet, to inform customers on ways they can work with us to improve unit accessibility throughout the life of their elevators.
US Bank
Meet the Wealth Management VP Who Also Trains Service Dogs
Yelp
Yelp has announced new features and updates that enhance how consumers with disabilities connect with local businesses.
Yelp has introduced eight new business attributes that cater to specific accessibility needs and provide users with reliable and helpful information before visiting a business. To continue to make Yelp more inclusive, user-friendly, and accessible, we’ve rolled out new improvements throughout the app and website to better support people with visual impairments, including AI-powered alternative text descriptions for photos, improved color contrast, and other enhanced screen reader functionality. You can learn more about today’s announcement here and access resources for business owners here.
Other Accessibility Highlights for this Month
Comment: How innovative solutions can revolutionise accessibility for people with disabilities
Accessibility is a crucial aspect of modern life, yet it remains a challenge in many public spaces. At Wheelshare, we are dedicated to addressing these challenges by creating innovative solutions that enhance mobility for individuals with disabilities. Here are some insights from our journey in improving accessibility in various venues.
Championing Inclusive Tourism: An Interview with Tamar Makharashvili
Over the years, Tamar Makharashvili, an Inclusive Tourism, Universal Design, and Accessibility Audit Expert, PhD candidate, has dedicated herself to advocating for equal opportunities within the tourism industry, both in her home country of Georgia, and internationally. As the founder of the NGOs Inclusive Tourism Center (ITCP) and the International Institute of Universal Design Research and Education (IIUDRE), she has pioneered efforts to break down barriers for persons with disabilities and integrate inclusivity into the tourism sector in Georgia.
Ascott teams up with disability agency to elevate accessible accommodation
The Ascott Limited has formed a long-term partnership with SG Enable, the focal agency for disability and inclusion in Singapore, to raise the standard of accessible accommodation in the hospitality industry.
The partnership, which is the first of its scale in Singapore’s hospitality industry, will focus on the delivery of inclusive stay experiences through design and programming across Ascott’s properties in the country and deliver essential resources and disability inclusion training tailored for the hospitality industry at the Ascott Centre for Excellence (ACE)
How to Make Your Pictures and Videos More Accessible on Social Media
When you’re sharing images on social media, the first thing you’re thinking of is probably how many likes and comments will roll in. But before you hit post, consider that you could be excluding lots of people from enjoying your photos and videos because you haven’t made them accessible.
Accessibility, for those who do not have to deal with it on a daily basis, might not be top of mind but it’s a lifeline for those who do and just takes a few seconds to implement. It benefits those with different levels of ability, whether that’s people with hearing or visual disabilities (including colorblindness) or those who have trouble focusing or difficulty processing information. And sometimes, accessing something that’s more accessible is just about preference, like watching a video with captions on because you’re not one of those people who wants to subject an entire train car to TikToks.
ABC is looking for storytellers for International Day of People with Disability
Are you an emerging content maker with disability? Do you have a story that needs to be told? The ABC is partnering with International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) to recognise the 4.4 million Australians with disability. A series of factual stories and content will be commissioned by the ABC to be published and broadcast across ABC platforms for IDPwD on December 3. We are particularly interested in hearing from First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse content creators.
How to Make CAPTCHA Accessible: A Hands-On Guide
Learn how to make CAPTCHA accessible in accordance with WCAG regulations and balance effective security with accessible web practices.
The State of Maryland is making an effort to incorporate accessibility into the design of its digital services websites in order to serve a greater portion of residents.
The Old Line State on Thursday launched its “accessibility officer initiative,” which offers staff from every executive-branch state agency the opportunity to learn about accessible design standards so that websites and web applications are usable for Maryland residents with disabilities, including visual, auditory and cognitive disabilities.
Sunflower Accessibility Program featured at O’Hare and Midway Airports | Choose Chicago
A passenger is provided with a Sunflower lanyard at one of O’Hare’s 12 Information Desks
The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower – open in a new tab program allows travelers to voluntarily share that they have a disability with airport employees, many of whom will be wearing an “I Support the Sunflower” pin. Travelers can pick up a green-and-yellow Sunflower lanyard at an airport information desk, choosing from 25 specific icons that quickly communicate things such as: Stairs/ramps are a barrier to me, I have sight loss, or I have a hearing impairment.
Through the use of interactive devices, HeX’s hands-on empathy lab simulates the effects of online barriers. Raising awareness on the crucial need to remove them from digital platforms.
The definition of empathy is “the ability to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation.” A HeX empathy lab experience does just that, raising empathy through the most powerful tool of all – education.
Digital Accessibility Conferences and Events
National Federation of the Blind National Convention- Orlando, FL
Date: July 3-8, 2024
Disability:IN 2024 Annual Conference- Las Vegas, NV
Date: July 15-18, 2024
M-Enabling Summit in Washington, DC
Date: October 15 – 17, 2024
Accessing Higher Ground- Accessible Media, Web, and Technology Conference- Denver, CO
Date: November 11-15, 2024
