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Captioners for the Deaf Are “Unsung Heros”

June 21, 2009 | by

It didn’t mention Abledbody and I’m not really a Yankees fan, but I got a mention in today’s insightful New York Times article about Cory Macchiarola, the man who is behind the scenes captioning Yankees and Mets’ games for the deaf and hard of hearing. It’s a really tough job, I can imagine. Macchiarola began his career captioning Yankees games for TV in real-time. Not only did he capture the broadcasters’ play-by-play, he also translated live commentary from the sportscasters — some who talk a mile a minute; others who discuss “obscure movies with foreign names or unexpected topics like the fear of flutes (aulophobia).” After several grueling years with the Yankees, Macchiarola took a job at Citi Field to caption the comparatively easy public-address announcements at Mets’ games, which appear on the scoreboard. A lot of the text can be pre-programmed, including the lyrics for the Star Spangled Banner and Sweet ... keep reading »
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California’s No-Proof-Needed Disability Law

June 19, 2009 | by

The motto of Del Taco’s restaurant is “Go Bold or Go Home.” Kenneth Munson chose the first option. He sued the taco chain in 2005 after he was unable to get his wheelchair into their “narrow” restroom entrance. As a result, he had to go across the street to another business to use the facilities. Earlier this week, the California State Supreme Court sided with Munson. The unanimous ruling now makes it possible for California businesses to be sued for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act without proving the business did so “intentionally.” This is a mucho grande ruling. Federal law doesn’t let individuals sue — nor collect damage relief — for disability discrimination. A government agency must intervene on their behalf. But California lets individuals do both. And with this new no-proof-required ruling, Californians with disabilities now have an even stronger hand to play. Could this decision hurt small businesses ... keep reading »
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Senator Harkin Says Community Choice Act Is about “Civil Rights”

June 16, 2009 | by

Speaking before a crowd on Capitol Hill, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said expanding federal benefits for people with disabilities is “a civil rights issue.” The senator, a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, is also the sponsor of the Community Choice Act, one of two proposals introduced this year that that would significantly expand federal assistance for people in need of long-term care. Harkin and other advocates of the measures are folding their efforts into President Obama’s push for health-care reform. At issue is the government-funded Medicaid program, which serve the disabled and elderly. The Community Choice Act would reform Medicaid to give recipients eligible for institutional-level care the choice of receiving in-home or community-based assistance rather than nursing home care. Currently, individuals seeking in-home care must apply through a waiver program — but there’s a long waiting line. HELP Chairman Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) has sponsored a ... keep reading »
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EEOC to Hold Public ADA Meeting in Washington

June 16, 2009 | by

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will meet Wednesday in Washington to consider new regulations covering the recently amended Americans with Disabilities Act. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. at EEOC agency headquarters and will be open to the public. The 2008 Amendments Act, which was signed by President George Walker Bush and went into effect Jan. 1, 2009, emphasizes that the definition of disability should be construed in favor of broad coverage of individuals to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of the ADA and generally shall not require extensive analysis. The Act also makes important changes to the definition of the term “disability” by rejecting the holdings in several Supreme Court decisions and portions of EEOC’s ADA regulations. The effect of these changes is to make it easier for an individual seeking protection under the ADA to establish that he or she has a disability within the ... keep reading »
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Disabled Veterans Report to Entrepreneurs’ Boot Camp

June 16, 2009 | by

Kicking off its second year, the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities will hold summer sessions around the country to teach recent veterans on how to start a business or new career. The first group of 20 veterans has reported for duty at Florida State University’s College of Business. They’ll immerse themselves in entrepreneurship ideas and concepts during the week-long program, which is run by faculty and successful entrepreneurs. Veterans will also get to hear from professionals in various industries about entrepreneurship. In this the second year of the program, the students will hear a keynote address by a 2008 boot camp graduate, J.R. Martinez, who attended the program to learn how to market his persona and now is a regular cast member on the television show “All My Children.” The EBV program begins with a three-week online course and culminates in the on-campus residency “boot camp.” There is ... keep reading »
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An iPhone the Blind Can Get Behind

June 8, 2009 | by

When Apple announced a host of new features for its next-generation iPhone in March, they unveiled a few surprises, but kept the best ones under wraps. Until today, at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Apple revealed gigantic news: its new iPhone 3G S has a built-in screen reader for people with visual impairments — bringing this group one step closer to total cell-phone accessibility. The 3G S introduces VoiceOver for iPhone, Apple’s proprietary screen reader that speaks what appears on the iPhone display. VoiceOver lets visually impaired users make iPhone calls, read email, browse web pages, play music and run applications. TOUCH-SCREEN TECH. VoiceOver is already built into the Mac and iPod Shuffle, but for iPhone this screen reader is a whole new ball game. Calling it the world’s first gesture-based screen reader, VoiceOver for iPhone reads aloud what is touched on the screen. Users can then gesture with ... keep reading »
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U.S. Won’t Support Treaty for World’s Blind Readers

June 2, 2009 | by

Despite efforts by blind advocacy groups, the U.S. has sided against a World Intellectual Property Organization treaty agreement that would make books accessible to more blind and visually impaired individuals, as well as those with dyslexia or physical disabilities, throughout the world. The Obama administration, the governments of Canada and the European Union, and several other countries have opposed this initiative, which was introduced by Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay and supported by many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Asia and Africa. Other supporters include the World Blind Union, the National Federation of the Blind, Bookshare and Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, among others advocacy groups. Proposal advocates want to expand a U.S. copyright exemption to allow books to be distributed in alternative formats — such as text-to-speech, Braille and large type — to blind and visually impaired individuals around the world. The treaty would have ... keep reading »
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WHO Says ‘Avoidable’ Vision Loss Hurts Global Productivity

June 2, 2009 | by

A World Health Organization study published today says uncorrected vision impairments throughout the world are having an significant effect on the global economy. The WHO estimates that uncorrected reflective error, or URE — the biggest cause of avoidable blindness and vision impairment in the world — is costing $269 billion each year in lost productivity. The authors from Johns Hopkins University, the International Center for Eyecare Education, the University of New South Wales and the African Vision Research Institute University of KwaZulu-Natal, say the problem could be eliminated simply, and very cost-effectively, by an eye examination and a pair of eyeglasses. Today, 90 percent of blindness and vision impairment is in the developing world. The study says vision loss is highest in the Western Asia-Pacific region, which includes China and Vietnam. With 62 million URE cases, this region is responsible for almost half the potential loss of productivity. Bangladesh, India ... keep reading »
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Assistive Tech Helps Soften a Harsh Job Market

June 2, 2009 | by

This is a question I am often asked: Does the shaky economy make it harder for people with disabilities to find a job? Undoubtedly, yes. The job marketplace is more competitive, and frankly, it’s easier for an employer to hire someone who doesn’t need an accommodation. Though the American with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination of the disabled, it still happens indirectly — and more so when the hiring pool is larger. Just look at U.S. employment rates from the past year. Only 46 percent of working-age people with disabilities held jobs, vs. 84 percent of non-disabled people. The national unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 12.9 percent in April 2009, compared to 8.6 percent for non-disabled Americans. And here’s a little-known fact: It takes someone with a disability 10 times longer to land a job than the average person. “Employers want to hire people with disabilities but they’re often not trained ... keep reading »
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High-Tech Clothes May Be a Lifeline

June 2, 2009 | by

Researchers in Northern Ireland are examining how high-tech clothing could improve the lives of older people and people with disabilities, according to the BBC. The three-year project could see electronic devices built in to clothing that could provide information ranging from heart rate to bus timetables — helping these groups living more independently. The University of Ulster’s Computer Science Research Institute has been doing work on assistive technologies for independent living and healthcare monitoring. Its director, Professor Bryan Scotney, said they would be looking at sensor technologies that would automatically adjust to meet the elderly and disabled’s daily living needs. This technology could have benefits as diverse as monitoring temperature in the home and automatically adjusting the thermostat, to even providing a life-saving tool by alerting a doctor or relative if heart rate drops. Only time will tell if the merger of textiles and electronics marks the beginning of a new industrial revolution. keep reading »
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