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Welcome to the Weekly Reading Roundup! Stay informed with our latest selection of accessibility news highlights, curated for you!
LOCAL NEWS
Throughout Audi Field, fans could find various activations and homages to Disability Awareness Day. Upon entering Audi Field, headphones were available to listen to the Washington Spirit Radio Network for an inclusive game experience.
Throughout the match, the Spirit’s in-game host, Haiya Kofler, was accompanied by an ASL interpreter. And at the community zone, multiple organizations, including the Special Olympics, tabled.
US Soccer legend and captain of the famous 99ers, Michelle Akers, was the team's honorary captain, while two-time Paralympian Hannah McFadden delivered the game ball.
With a new tool, federal officials are working to help people with disabilities and employers understand the wide array of accommodations available to make employment more achievable.
The U.S. Department of Labor is rolling out what it’s calling the “Situations and Solutions Finder,” which highlights hundreds of examples of accommodations that businesses are using to support employees with disabilities.
USA NEWS
DISABILITY SCOOP: Universal Modifies Disability Access At Theme Parks
Some of the nation’s most popular theme parks are quietly making changes to their procedures for accommodating visitors with disabilities.
Universal recently stopped requiring visitors to get advance approval from a third party to access accommodations at parks in Florida and California.
Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood offer individuals with disabilities who have difficulty waiting in lines the opportunity to schedule a return time for one ride at a time so that they can check out other areas of the park while they wait if they qualify for an Attractions Assistance Pass.
NBC LOS ANGLES: LA Fitness facing federal lawsuit over disability discrimination
LA Fitness is facing a lawsuit by the federal government for allegedly discriminating against people with disabilities at its gyms and fitness clubs, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
LA Fitness, whose parent company is Irvine-based Fitness International LLC, is accused of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide people with disabilities equal access to its services and facilities.
Federal authorities also alleged LA Fitness violated the ADA by charging extra fees to people with disabilities while failing to remove architectural barriers.
OPB NEWS: Disability rights group slams Grants Pass’s treatment of disabled homeless people
Portland-based Disability Rights Oregon has sent two letters to Grants Pass officials, saying its new rules on homeless campsites violate federal and state law.
The city has designated two campsites for homeless people, and campers must move from one site to the other every week or risk a citation and a $50 fine or potential arrest.
Tom Stenson, deputy legal director for Disability Rights Oregon, said the city should investigate whether disabled homeless people need reasonable accommodations, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“I think in this case, the notion that you’re going to get arrested if you don’t physically transport yourself and all your belongings on your back a mile through town, that has a very obvious physical connection. There’s very obviously a whole host of disabilities that would be affected,” he said.
GLOBAL NEWS
UBER NEWSROOM: Empowering Riders with Disabilities
Riders who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and/or blind or low vision often worry about potential misunderstandings with drivers who are unaware of their disability. Nobody should have to stress about locating their driver’s vehicle or missing their ride.
This fall, we are giving riders around the world the choice to self-identify on the app and customize the following accessibility preferences all in one place:
- Hearing: riders can choose to disclose to drivers that they are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Vision: riders can choose to disclose to drivers that they are blind or low vision.
- Communication: communication preferences will be moved to the new Accessibility page where riders can continue to choose their preferred contact methods with drivers. For example, if you prefer to communicate via in-app chat, drivers will be notified of this preference and won’t have the ability to call you.
CULTURE NEWS
FORBES: Culture Amp’s Heather Walker Talks Richer Disability Inclusion In The Workplace In Interview
The subject of disability employment is right up Walker’s proverbial alley. However unstated, her attention towards disability in the workforce dovetails with NDEAM insofar as she told me the focus on disability employment “stems from a meaningful gap in opportunities and outcomes for disabled employees compared to their non-disabled peers.” As ever, despite the steady drumbeat for increasing DEI societally, Walker said the reality is disabled people oftentimes are “left out” of conversations surrounding the metrics of diversifying employment through equity and inclusivity. No matter how “diverse” a workplace may be championed to be, Walker said even when disability is considered during strategy planning, “disabled employees still face systemic barriers unique to the disabled experience that hinder their employment opportunities and career grow.” These barriers, she added, end up having a detrimental effect on how disabled workers feel, which Walker characterized as “meaningfully worse than non-disabled employees.”
VOX: The resurgence of the r-word
Over the past decade, bit by bit, the r-word more or less vanished. (To a certain extent, though, the expected also occurred, as other euphemisms did in fact emerge. Donald Trump has lately taken to contending, just on the edge of a slur, that he thinks Kamala Harris might be “mentally disabled.”)
Until the past year or so, that is, when the r-word appeared to be trending back up.
Posts using the word have racked up tens of thousands of likes, bookmarks, and reposts on X in the last year. Edgelord comedians have started to use the word in their sets.
