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Durham, NC, December 21, 2022 –(PR.com)– Students benefit from entering classrooms that take advantage of a wide range of accessibility features and interaction modes on the devices they use to learn. Principled Technologies (PT) tested devices based on three different operating systems: Windows 11 Pro Education, Windows 11 SE, and ChromeOS.

According to the report, “[…] we found that devices running Windows 11 (Pro Education or SE) offered more breadth and depth in terms of accessibility features than ChromeOS-based devices. Windows 11-based devices also offered more touch, ink, and pen features to facilitate different user needs or preferences for interacting with content. By selecting classroom devices with accessibility features and interaction modes that better serve a wide range of students, educators can help keep students engaged to improve educational outcomes and create lifelong learners.”

The Strand bookstore fails to make its website fully accessible to blind or visually impaired people in violation of the law, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiff Marta Hanyzkiewicz filed the class action lawsuit against Strand Book Store Inc. Dec. 19 in a New York federal court, alleging violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

His interest in adaptive and voice-controlled technology arose after he experienced a severe spinal cord injury in a snorkeling accident in 2016 during his first visit to Haiti, his family’s home country.

Following his recovery, the Miami-based Cinous never imagined he would contribute to a NASA space mission. But this month, he found himself at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as part of a virtual team testing out Callisto, a communication technology project for the Artemis I mission’s Orion spacecraft.

“I was awestruck when I found out I was part of the crew,” says Cinous, who uses a power wheelchair for mobility. “This is the first time something like this has been attempted, and I’m humbled I was a part of it and represented the disability community.”

The majority staff of the Senate Committee on Aging urged in a new report on Dec. 14 – Unlock The Virtual Front Door – that the Justice Department (DoJ) resume critical oversight for digital and technological accessibility for people with disabilities, older adults, and veterans.

The report says that a biennial report from the DoJ on digital tech accessibility – required under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – has not been issued since 2012, despite guidance to do so from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
The committee’s efforts are having an impact, as the report says that “DoJ recently committed to issuing its first report in a decade.”

(KMAland) — Iowans with disabilities said the state could be doing more to make public places more accessible and inclusive.

In the new legislative session, the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council also wants lawmakers to make more money available to address dramatic staffing shortages. For the 12.5% of Iowans living with a disability, lack of accessibility is an ongoing issue.

Bananagrams Inc. faces a class action lawsuit alleging its website is not accessible to blind and visually impaired individuals, a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Plaintiff Lamar Brown is legally blind and requires screen-reading software to access website content on his computer, according to the class action lawsuit. He says he intended to purchase the classic version of the Bananagrams game from Bananagrams.com.

SEATTLE — For students with disabilities in Washington, the right to free special education services lasts until the end of the school year in which they turn 21. A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court recently says this age cutoff violates federal law.

The suit, aimed at the state’s education agency, seeks to raise the cap to 22 years old. It argues that under the federal statute, students are entitled to services through their 21st year and up until 22 if they live in states like Washington, which offer publicly funded basic education programs to adults without disabilities, such as GED programs.

The class of plaintiffs includes thousands of students who aged out of special education services before their 22nd birthday, according to the lawsuit, and attorneys want compensation for these students for being denied services under the current age limit.

On November 28, the Congressional Research Service published a paper entitled “Federal Hiring of Persons with Disabilities.” The findings of the paper are neither surprising nor controversial, and state, in part:

“Despite efforts to increase recruitment and hiring of persons with disabilities, retention of employees with disabilities is significantly lower than that of employees without disabilities. According to OPM, employees with disabilities leave the federal government at about three times the rate of those without disabilities. OPM outlines a number of strategies to improve retention of employees with disabilities, such as providing workplace flexibilities and reasonable accommodations.”

In short, the Federal Government can successfully hire people with disabilities, but is lagging in retention, especially because of challenges in the process of flexible work and reasonable accommodation.

A legally blind woman from New York filed a class action lawsuit against Gamefly.com, a popular gaming retail website, alleging the company makes its content inaccessible to legally blind people who use screen-reading software.

Plaintiff Jovan Campbell claims that other major retail sites make use of technology to help visually impaired individuals navigate sites, such as alternative text, accessible forms, descriptive links and resizable text. However, the Gamefly class action says Gamefly chooses to “rely on an exclusively visual interface” that discriminates against visually impaired customers.

For the first time in a decade, the Department of Justice will issue a report on agency progress in meeting accessibility requirements under Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

DOJ told the Senate Special Committee on Aging in a Nov. 14 letter that it has been working with the General Services Administration and will release the mandated report in the coming weeks.