News and issues on the disabled 2 Nov 2024
Azmi Anuar
Contents
1. Nation Thailand - DEP and partners announce results of disability rights convention monitoring
2. National Disability Rights Network USA - Disability Rights Advocates and Union Workers Launch Joint Campaign to Improve Access to Air Travel for Passengers who Use Wheelchairs
3. Disability News Service USA - Budget failed on addressing systemic challenges facing disabled people, Treasury is told
4. Truthout USA - Disabled People Still Face Barriers to Online Voter Registration in Most States
5. Mirage News USA - USAID Unveils New Disability Policy
6. ANTARA News Indonesia - Food aid for elderly, disabled people meets nutritional requirement
7. Department of Justice USA - Justice Department Announces Settlement and Consent Decree with
8. Disability Rights UK - House of Lords publish report on the transition from education to work for young Disabled people
9. Barbados Today - Sixth-former champions disability awareness
10. Punekar News India - Pune Polls: 90,000+ Disabled Voters to Benefit from Enhanced Facilities
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1. Nation Thailand - DEP and partners announce results of disability rights convention monitoring1 Nov 2024
The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEP), as the government agency responsible for overseeing and monitoring the implementation of the CRPD in Thailand, is continuously and concretely advancing disability issues. This includes promoting, protecting, and ensuring that all persons with disabilities can fully and equally access human rights and fundamental freedoms.
It also aims to uphold the dignity inherent to all individuals, eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities in all forms, and ensure equal access to employment, healthcare, and political participation.
The APCD plays a significant role in disability initiatives across the Asia-Pacific region and provides recommendations for improving data collection related to the implementation of the CRPD.
This data is crucial for monitoring actions aligned with international policy frameworks, such as the CRPD, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Incheon Strategy. These frameworks emphasize the need for accurate, disaggregated data to inform policy decisions, track progress, and identify existing gaps.
However, current data collection practices often fall short and do not meet academic standards, leading to a lack of clarity in amending laws and establishing public policies that promote and enhance the quality of life for persons with disabilities.
Consequently, this study aims to develop data collection tools for analysis and to ensure comprehensive monitoring of international commitments related to disabilities. This initiative will support the sustainable development of inclusive policies that address all aspects of disability.
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), as an international organization closely working with partners across Asia and the Pacific, promotes inclusive development for persons with disabilities in line with the goals and spirit of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Incheon Strategy, and the Jakarta Declaration on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities.
ESCAP supports this study project to enhance the capacity of stakeholders in all sectors related to disabilities, enabling them to collect and utilize data effectively, ultimately ensuring that the rights and freedoms of persons with disabilities become a reality.
Lastly, Ekkamal emphasized that the key to driving the implementation of the CRPD lies in empowering and strengthening persons with disabilities and their organizations. As rights holders, they are essential partners in policy formulation and in translating laws and policies into practice. The realization of the rights of persons with disabilities depends on collaboration among all sectors, including government, private sector, and civil society, based on the principles of Disability Inclusive Development (DID).
He urged all sectors to continue advancing the principles of DID as articulated by Professor Montien.
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2. National Disability Rights Network USA - Disability Rights Advocates and Union Workers Launch Joint Campaign to Improve Access to Air Travel for Passengers who Use WheelchairsOctober 31, 2024 – Disability rights and labor communities recently launched a joint campaign in support of accessibility, safety, dignity and respect for both passengers with disabilities and the airport service workers who support them.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) and the United Spinal Association joined forces to highlight the challenges facing passengers with disabilities, call out the airline industry’s failure to meet their obligations under federal law, and urge Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to adopt the strongest possible requirements as submitted in comments to the DOT, in response to proposed rulemaking, from the disability community and SEIU to improve training for airport service workers who support people with disabilities.
In our nation’s airports, the safety and the dignity of passengers who use wheelchairs and the service workers who support them is intertwined. Airlines are required by law to ensure passengers with disabilities travel free of discrimination and that airline personnel provide dignified, timely, and effective assistance from workers who are trained in a manner that safeguards their safety and dignity, but they have not invested in ensuring the well-being of passengers and workers. Passengers with disabilities who use wheelchairs report facing numerous rights violations, including bodily injuries and damage to their assistive devices, and concerns regarding unsafe, inadequate, and undignified assistance, while wheelchair attendants often struggle to get by on low-wage, no-benefit jobs.
Passengers and workers both report that workers are not adequately trained, staffed or equipped for their critical work, a point that was underscored this month with a $50 million penalty levied against American Airlines by the Department of Transportation. In the contracting system, airline service providers compete to provide services for the lowest cost, which results in poverty-level wages and poor benefits which in turn results in high turnover for airport service workers, compounding the issues of training as skilled workers cannot afford to stay in their jobs.
DOT is now considering final rules that could help fix this broken system. SEIU, AAPD, NDRN and United Spinal have joined forces to urge Secretary Buttigieg to build on the landmark $50 million fine on American Airlines and issue a final rule Ensuring Safe Accommodations for Air Travelers With Disabilities Using Wheelchairs with the strongest possible training requirements as submitted in a comment by the disability community and SEIU in response to the proposed rulemaking, including:
- Enhanced competency-based training where airlines and their service providers must certify that their employees have demonstrated their ability to perform the work before they are allowed to engage a passenger who uses a wheelchair.
- Active, vigorous enforcement of airline compliance.
- A partnership between airlines and their service providers, disability rights groups, and the union representing service workers to develop and implement disability advocate-led training, drawing on the union’s experience of delivering quality training to its members.
A virtual coalition launch call earlier in the month featured the voices of national leaders, workers, and passengers who use wheelchairs, each discussing the urgent need for federal action to protect the safety and dignity of passengers with disabilities and the workers who support them.
Vincenzo Piscopo, President/CEO of United Spinal Association, shared his first-person experience and the stakes for wheelchair users: “Service workers transfer us to an aisle chair that can fit down the narrow width of the aircraft aisles, then push us on board, and then transfer us again into a passenger seat. A lot can go wrong with all those transfers. And believe me, it does – really terrible things happen to wheelchair users way too often.” Piscopo shared a personal story of being injured by an airline employee when no airline service worker could be found to transfer him into an aisle chair. “Airlines outsource this work to airline service providers, who are forced to compete to offer the lowest price instead of the best service. Our service is reduced to a race to the bottom system.”
Jennifer Kumiyama, an actor, advocate, and the citywide accessibility coordinator for the city of Long Beach, CA. Kumiyama echoed Piscopo’s experiences: “For me, transferring from chair to chair requires something like a bear hug, chest to chest with a stranger. I don’t think the people that are responsible for getting us in and out of the airplanes are provided with the tools and the training and the resources they need to successfully and confidently assist somebody in such a personal way. I’m actually flying tomorrow, and I’ve had anxiety for the last week.”
Cecilia Ortiz who alleges that she was unfairly terminated from her job as an airport service worker in retaliation for union organizing; the union has filed unfair labor practice charges on her behalf. “I’m proud that my work protects the rights of people with disabilities. But there are problems at work you know that keep us from being able to provide the best quality service to passengers.” Ortiz highlighted gaps in her training, particularly around the nuances of different types of disabilities and the ways to properly support different passengers’ needs and communicate respectfully. She continued, “We need better training, and we want better training. We need better pay and benefits so that we can afford to stay in our jobs and not have to go to work sick. And we need the companies to listen to us and respect our rights to form a union.”
“SEIU is proud to join forces as we urge the Department of Transportation’s proposed rule be approved with the strongest possible training requirements,” said Rocio Saenz, Secretary- Treasurer of SEIU. “Airport service workers are fighting to organize their union to improve their jobs and the quality of service for passengers they support […] Corporate greed from the airlines has left this largely black, brown and immigrant workforce underpaid and undertrained for critical services they provide. The workers want to provide their passengers with the highest quality support, but these conditions compromise workers’ ability to safeguard passenger safety and dignity as Federal regulations require. Together, we must ensure the safety and dignity of passengers as well as working people.”
Marlene Sallo, Executive Director of the National Disability Rights Network summarized the coalition’s demands: “Airport service workers and passengers who use wheelchairs all want the same thing: they want workers who can afford to stay in their jobs. They want workers to receive competency-based training that’s been developed with the relevant stakeholders and properly enforced – and we are currently in a position to make this happen.”
“I am a person with a disability who relies on wheelchair assistance and on a mobility device to get through airports. As essential to me as the engineers who build these planes and the pilots who fly them, are the people who make it possible for me to get from the airport entry onto the plane and who ensure the safe transportation of my mobility scooter. It is because of these workers that I can do my job and that I can see my family and friends and be there for them in good times and bad. The struggles of airport workers and the passengers with disabilities they support are inextricably linked,” said AAPD President and CEO Maria Town.
The October event was moderated by Ari Ne’eman, consultant to SEIU and an Assistant Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who summarized the significance of this coalition: “We believe that protecting the safety and dignity of passengers with disabilities and advancing the safety and dignity of the service workers who support them are inextricably linked. The disability rights and the labor communities have shared interests and are collaborating to advance our common dignity and respect.”
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3. Disability News Service USA - Budget failed on addressing systemic challenges facing disabled people, Treasury is told31 Oct 2024
Labour’s first budget for 15 years has failed to do enough to address the “systemic challenges” faced by disabled people across society, user-led organisations have warned the Treasury.
The first budget speech of chancellor Rachel Reeves included no serious attempt to address the crises in accessible housing, adult social care and inclusive education – although there was some new funding – or the huge barriers in accessible transport.
Instead, there was a clear focus on “cracking down” on benefit fraud and investing in new schemes to push “inactive” disabled people into work.
Reeves mentioned the government’s fraud, error and debt bill, which the chancellor said would provide “direct access to bank accounts to recover debt”, strengthening the powers of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The budget report highlights how the bill will also introduce “new powers to check benefits are being paid correctly using data shared by banks and financial institutions”, which disabled campaigners have warned will see DWP ordering banks to “spy” on the accounts of benefit claimants.
Reeves also confirmed that next April’s annual increase in working-age benefits would be just 1.7 per cent, because of the low rate of inflation in September.
The only direct mention of disabled people in her speech was when she said ministers would deliver the cuts to out-of-work disability benefits planned by the last government, although her comments sparked huge confusion among activists, disabled people’s organisations, charities and the media (see separate story).
Despite the failure to place any focus on disability equality, Reeves did announce a £1 billion increase in spending on special educational needs (SEN), a real terms increase of six per cent; and £600 million extra in grant funding for social care, although it is not yet clear if this is solely for adult social care.
Her speech came just days after a report published by the government found that tens of thousands more disabled children could have their needs met in a mainstream setting rather than a special school, if there were major improvements to the SEN system (see separate story).
The budget report also reveals an £86 million increase in spending on the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which will support “around 7,800” more adaptations to disabled people’s homes, although Reeves made no mention of this in her speech.
That figure suggests DFG spending – which currently helps to adapt about 50,000 homes a year – will rise by nearly 14 per cent in 2025-26.
The budget report makes clear that work and pensions ministers plan to set out their plans for reforming disability benefits early in 2025.
Reeves said the government would soon publish its Get Britain Working white paper, which she said would take “an integrated approach across health, education and welfare” to addressing the “root causes of inactivity”.
The budget report says the government is providing “record levels of capital investment in health” to help reduce NHS waiting-lists and “thereby supporting people into work”.
And it says the white paper will show how the government will “test new approaches and collect robust evidence on how to tackle the root causes of ill-health related inactivity”.
It will set up eight “trailblazer” areas across England and Wales that bring together health, employment and skills services to “improve the support available to those who are inactive due to ill health and help them return to work”.
This will include NHS England “health and growth accelerators” in at least three areas to “develop evidence of the impact of targeted action on the top health conditions driving economic inactivity”.
The government will also spend £115 million next year on a new supported employment programme, Connect to Work.
From 2026-27, the Connect to Work programme will support nearly 100,000 disabled people a year, with councils able to “tailor their delivery” of the scheme “in ways that meet their local needs”.
In total, the budget report says, the government will spend more than £800 million on disability employment support in 2025-26.
The budget report also says the government will spend £120 million in 2025-26 to support the purchase of new electric vans and support the manufacture of wheelchair-accessible electric vehicles.
In response to the budget, DPO Forum England – whose members include nearly 50 disabled people’s organisations, such as Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Panel, Inclusion London and Buckinghamshire Disability Service – has written to the Treasury to express its concern at the measures announced by Reeves.
It said the budget “fails to address the level of poverty experienced by disabled people” and that it saw the focus on getting the “economically inactive” back to work as “targeting vulnerable groups like the sick, disabled, and young people with mental health issues”.
It told the Treasury: “The increases in disability benefits, social care, and special educational needs funding are a drop in the ocean compared to the actual funding shortfalls, which are estimated to be much higher.”
The forum said the budget had failed to “adequately address” the “systemic challenges” around inclusive education, carers’ support, and the institutionalisation of disabled children.
And it said the budget “appears to further the troubling regression of disabled people’s rights, falling short of the support required to rectify these issues and build a genuinely inclusive society”.
Julia Modern, senior policy and campaigns manager at Inclusion London, said the budget was “a huge missed opportunity to reset the relationship with disabled people”.
She said: “The chancellor claims her budget shows ‘no return to austerity’; she really should have added ‘except for disabled people’.
“While we are pleased to see modest increases in some budgets for essential services like the NHS and an additional £600 million for local government-provided social care (a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of crisis in the £28 billion a year system), there is nothing in the budget to address the huge rates of poverty among disabled people.
“Instead, our social security is being eroded.”
Disability Rights UK (DR UK) said the budget represented “a failure to make real change”.
A DR UK spokesperson said: “Despite the minimal uplift in spending to fund our crumbling public services, the budget doesn’t give disabled people the confidence that the services we rely on every day will tangibly get better.
“At the end of the day, the biggest announcement was one our community had been expecting: more disabled and working-class people seeing their benefits cut whilst there will be no real difference in our local services.”
Gabrielle Johnson, communications and membership manager for National Survivor User Network, said there was frustration “at the ongoing neglect of appropriate social security for those most in need of state support” and the government’s decision to “reinforce harmful rhetoric” through measures in its fraud, error and debt bill.
They said the bill would give DWP “access to benefit recipients’ financial records without their consent, criminalising disabled people and creating fear and anxiety around penalisation”.
And they said the Get Britain Working white paper evoked “familiar and damaging messaging around the inherent value of human life as a tool to economic productivity”.
Johnson said: “Seriously ill and disabled people, including those with lived experience of mental ill-health, distress and trauma, deserve dignity, care and personalised support, but our government seems unable to meet even the very basic needs of those made vulnerable by the policies they continue to implement.”
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4. Truthout USA - Disabled People Still Face Barriers to Online Voter Registration in Most States31 Oct 2024
Less than a third of 43 online voter registration forms for 42 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., could likely be navigated and completed independently by disabled users, according to research published earlier this month.
In the new comprehensive evaluation from QAwerk, titled “The State of Web Accessibility for U.S. Voters with Disabilities,” only North Carolina’s voter registration website received a “very high” accessibility score; the other 41 states and Washington, D.C., fell short. Online voter registration is unavailable or unnecessary in the remaining eight states.
“Most of the examined websites exhibit accessibility issues that hinder the ability of users with visual, motor, or cognitive impairments to effectively navigate and utilize these essential services,” the report stated.
To evaluate online voter registration forms for the new report, software test engineers at QAwerk used 15 testing criteria based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium. These criteria include offering zoomable content, high-contrast text, keyboard navigation, autocomplete options and compatibility with screen readers (an assistive technology that renders text and image content as speech or braille output). When sites do not meet these standards, it could prevent those who cannot grasp a mouse, some with cognitive or intellectual disabilities, and blind or low-vision people from using them. QAwerk scored states by assigning a point for each criterion a state met, making 15 a perfect score.
Unfortunately, many voter registration websites nationwide fall short of these standards. None achieved a perfect score, with only North Carolina coming close at 14/15. QAwerk found that more than half of current voter registration sites have insufficient contrast, making them difficult for many low-vision people to navigate. More than half also lack link labels, meaning a link’s destination or action cannot be communicated with a screen reader. Meanwhile, over three-quarters of the states that offer online voter registration forms have not labeled the input fields on those forms, meaning a screen reader could not provide the information needed to fill the form. Altogether, evaluators at QAwerk found that all but one voter registration site nationwide had issues that could interfere with the proper functioning of assistive technologies.
When the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published the first comprehensive evaluation of barriers to online voter registration for disabled Americans in 2015, it similarly found that only one of the 20 states that offered online voter registration at the time had an accessible online registration form. While the number of states offering online voter registration has more than doubled since, many of the same access barriers remain.
“Web access is overlooked, so I think about: How many people are we leaving behind because there are so many access barriers?” said Kenia Flores, a voting access and election protection fellow at Detroit Disability Power, a disability-led nonprofit focused on building political power in the disability community. The answer to that question is that shortcomings in web accessibility, alongside other common obstacles to accessing the polls, threaten to disenfranchise 40.2 million eligible disabled voters nationwide.
Flores is familiar with many of these issues as one of the estimated 7.6 million Americans nationwide with a visual disability. Specifically, Flores is blind and uses a screen reader to access online information. She told Truthout that when she last moved and wanted to update her voter registration online, the form was inaccessible. Rather than an editable web form, Flores’s state offered a .pdf whose input fields were not screen readable. “Theoretically, online forms make things easier, but if the .pdf isn’t tagged correctly and there are not editable fields that a screen reader recognizes, it’s essentially not usable.”
Rather than complete her voter registration privately and independently online, Flores had to go to the local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office and seek assistance. The employee who helped her misspelled her name on her voter registration form, creating additional work to correct the error. “If I were able to do this completely on my own, that wouldn’t have been a barrier,” Flores told Truthout.
Shortcomings in web accessibility affect more than just the ability to register to vote. “People go to websites to find out when to vote, where to vote and how to vote, and that information can be really hard to find,” said Alexia Kemerling, REV UP Coalitions coordinator at the American Association of People with Disabilities. “When you do not have access to accurate information, or that information is hard to get, it can keep people from voting or dissuade them from wanting to vote.”
“People forget that one in four Americans are disabled. We’re a big part of the voting bloc, and you’re excluding all of us when you fail to make your information accessible.”
Flores told Truthout that finding information about candidates and their platforms and engaging with voter education and Get Out the Vote groups can also be challenging. “I cannot tell you how many posts I come across that are just untagged images without any alt-text,” said Flores, referring to text used to describe images, charts, or other graphic elements to make those elements accessible. “How are we supposed to know a candidate’s issues and who we want to represent us when we can’t even access their social media posts?”
While the online experiences of disabled voters and the results of QAwerk’s recent evaluation paint a grim picture, new guidelines from the Department of Justice (DOJ) could result in vast improvements before the next election. Published in April 2024 as an update to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the new guidelines make clear that all aspects of the voting process must be accessible to disabled people, including the web content and digital apps of election authorities and opportunities to register to vote online.
The new rule follows years of disability-led advocacy, including hardball tactics from organizations such as the ACLU, which sued the New York State Board of Elections and DMV in 2016 over inaccessible online voter registration. That suit was filed on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind, the Center for the Independence of the Disabled, and individual blind voters who could not independently register online in New York because the state’s website only offered a downloadable .pdf, which was not navigable with a screen reader. The parties in that case settled in February 2019, and the defendants agreed to ensure fully accessible online voter registration by the end of that year.
Still, years later, New York’s online voter registration form could be further improved. It earned only 11 out of the possible 15 points in QAwerk’s recent assessment. The new DOJ rule should help close the remaining gap, as it requires all government entities, and the organizations they contract with, to make their web content and apps accessible by April 2027.
Kemerling told Truthout the relatively quick timeline for implementation is “a recognition of the dire need for this guidance, and also just how important it is because the internet is key to how so many people get their information for voting, and you are really disenfranchising a full population of people when you do not make that information accessible to them.”
To achieve the needed improvements before the deadline, Kemerling told Truthout she hopes governments will engage with the disability community because “the best experts in this field are the people who use this technology themselves.”
QAwerk also recommends that election offices collaborate with disabled people to improve their websites in the conclusion of its report. It also suggests implementing regular accessibility testing, offering staff training on web accessibility issues and rethinking web accessibility as a core component of web development rather than an afterthought. “By embedding accessibility within the software or product development from the outset, organizations can establish an effective and sustainable accessibility program,” QAwerk founder Konstantin Klyagin concluded in that report.
Iryna Tkachenko, a quality assurance engineer at QAwerk who spoke to Truthout, said many needed changes are simple for the average developer, and some are achievable even without specialized knowledge. “These are easy to fix; they just need attention,” she said.
For disabled voters, advocates and experts like Flores, the changes cannot come soon enough. “People forget that one in four Americans are disabled,” she told Truthout. “We’re a big part of the voting bloc, and you’re excluding all of us when you fail to make your information accessible.”
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5. Mirage News USA - USAID Unveils New Disability Policy1 Nov 2024
Today, USAID announced the release of the new 2024 Nothing Without Us: USAID Disability Policy. There are more than 1.3 billion persons with disabilities around the world - 80 percent of whom live in low- and middle-income countries. Any issue that affects humans - climate change, hunger, disease - often disproportionately affects persons with disabilities. Intentional, sustainable, and meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities in all areas of USAID's work is therefore no longer an option - it is essential to realize our potential and meet our development goals.
The 2024 Policy is a comprehensive update to the 1997 USAID Disability Policy in response to stakeholder feedback and changes in the 21st century. At its core, the Policy reinforces USAID's commitment to championing disability-inclusive development and the rights of persons with disabilities. The Policy, upheld by seven key operating principles, seeks to empower and elevate the lives of persons with disabilities by ensuring that USAID and our partners recognize, respect, value, meaningfully engage, include, and are intentional in supporting persons with disabilities and their representative organizations.
The Policy:
- Updates our framework of understanding disability to a social and rights-based framework in which the goal is to remove societal barriers to participation of persons with disabilities in their communities;
- Promotes the inclusion of persons with disabilities both in wider USAID programming and in activities focused specifically on persons with disabilities;
- Underscores the importance of working with persons with disabilities and local disability-led groups across all phases of the program cycle;
- Highlights promising approaches to disability inclusion in the full range of USAID programming areas.
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6. ANTARA News Indonesia - Food aid for elderly, disabled people meets nutritional requirement1 Nov 2024
Jakarta - Deputy Minister of
Social Affairs Agus Jabo Priyono reviewed the distribution of food assistance
for the elderly and people with disabilities in Cipayung Sub-district, East
Jakarta.
"This menu is complete, and it meets the
nutritional needs. There is rice, vegetable soup, tofu, tempeh, grilled
chicken, and orange," Priyono stated here on Friday.
According to the deputy minister, the food
assistance for elderly people meets the required nutritional values. In
addition to containing balanced nutritional elements, he highlighted that the
food assistance program also creates jobs for local people as more public
kitchens are opened.
"In addition to providing food for the
people in need, this (the program) can create jobs. This is very dynamic for
socio-economic development, especially in sub-districts or villages,"
Priyono remarked.
On Friday, food assistance for the elderly and
disabled in Cipayung, East Jakarta, involved 82 cooks.
Chair of the Cipayung Community Group, Neneng,
71, admitted to still being healthy and productive as she is actively involved
in providing nutritious food to the elderly and disabled people in the area.
"Since 1984, I have been a member of this
community group. I remain healthy because I meet with the community and help a
lot of people. In 1996, I received an award from the minister of social affairs
for being active in the community group," she remarked.
In addition to providing food assistance, Deputy
Minister Priyono also provided school supplies, other staple necessities, and
education funds to an orphan who currently goes to a vocational high school.
The orphan said he chose to go to a vocational
high school as he aspires to own a vehicle workshop one day.
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7. Department of Justice USA - Justice Department Announces Settlement and Consent Decree with31 Oct 2024
The Justice Department today announced a settlement and proposed consent decree with the Chicago Cubs to resolve alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at Wrigley Field.
“The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that sports venues like Wrigley Field be accessible to people with disabilities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities have full and equal access to public accommodations, including our ballparks.”
“As a result of this settlement, baseball fans with physical disabilities will have vastly improved options at Wrigley Field — on par with those available to all other patrons,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois. “The Chicago Cubs are to be commended for working collaboratively with our office to find solutions, demonstrating their commitment to providing accessibility for people with disabilities.”
The department filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the Cubs, alleging that the organization’s renovation and reconstruction of Wrigley Field — a multi-year undertaking known as “the 1060 Project” — discriminated against individuals with disabilities. The lawsuit alleged, among other things, that the Cubs failed to provide wheelchair users with adequate sightlines as compared to standing patrons and failed to incorporate wheelchair seating into premium clubs and group seating areas.
Under the settlement, the Cubs will make numerous remediations to ensure accessibility for people with disabilities, including by removing noncompliant wheelchair spaces and companion seats and replacing them with wheelchair spaces that have significantly improved views of the field and fully compliant sightlines. The remediations will take place in every area of the stadium, including incorporating wheelchair spaces and companion seats into premium club areas at the front of the grandstand that will, for the first time, provide some front-row access for fans in wheelchairs. The Cubs have also agreed to modify protruding objects along circulation paths within Wrigley Field and ensure that certain parking and shuttle services outside the stadium are compliant. All Cubs employees and contractors whose job responsibilities involve contact with patrons with disabilities will receive training on the settlement before each of the next three baseball seasons.
The settlement and proposed consent decree have been submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for final approval. Over the next several years, the Cubs will submit to the United States written reports detailing their compliance with certain obligations in the consent decree. The United States may review compliance with the consent decree, including by inspecting Wrigley Field, at any time during the next three years.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abraham J. Souza and Patrick W. Johnson for the Northern District of Illinois handled the case.
For more information regarding the Justice Department’s efforts to combat discrimination in public accommodations, please visit the ADA’s government website.
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8. Disability Rights UK - House of Lords publish report on the transition from education to work for young Disabled people331 Oct 2024
The House of Lords Public Services Committee has published the report "Think Work First: the transition from education to work for young disabled people." This report follows an inquiry that was held last year which explored the barriers young Disabled people face when transitioning from education to employment.
Disability Rights UK submitted written and oral evidence to the inquiry which you can find on our website. Our evidence included platforming the voices of young Disabled people - as members of our Disabled Apprentice Network (DAN) met with the committee to share their experiences of school, training and work. DR UK's evidence is referred to several times in the committee's report.
The report explores a variety of topics, but the key takeaway is that policy makers and education providers must "think work first" if they are going to improve the transition from education to work. This includes ensuring support is put in place so we have equal access to our education, and joining up support so children don't fall through the cracks between public services. It also includes raising aspirations and challenging the discriminatory narrative that Disabled people can't succeed. The committee also explores the need for better careers advice and highlights the importance of co-producing policies with Disabled people.
Some of the key recommendations from the report include:
- "Co-production: It is vital that young disabled people – both those that are yet to leave education and those who have already made the transition – are able to be fully involved in helping to design and shape the services that support them.
- Vocational profiling: This is a particularly effective way of identifying a young disabled person’s aspirations from an early age and can help schools and colleges to put the right careers support in place from the start. The Committee believes the Government should make vocational profiling a standard part of careers information, advice and guidance for young disabled people in schools.
- Joined up support: The Government should work with local authorities to improve the availability of 'ready to work' programmes, such as that provided by ThinkForward, to support young people from school until they are settled in work.
- Supported internships: The new Government should honour the commitment of the previous Government to double the number of supported internships and take steps to make as many young disabled people as possible eligible for them: not just those with Education, Health and Care Plans. Internships should be particularly targeted at those with the highest support needs.
- Education: The Government must review and improve the support that young disabled people receive while in education, and it must also properly support local authorities to deliver EHCPs, both in terms of application timelines and the robustness of decision-making.
- Careers advice: Many of the young disabled people who spoke to the Committee highlighted the poor careers advice they had received, and the Committee heard evidence from several witnesses of a lack of a systemic, specialised approach to training careers advisers working with young disabled people. The Government should review the training that careers advisers and leaders are expected to receive, making in-depth special educational needs training mandatory."
The Chair of the Public Services Committee Baroness Morris of Yardley said “there are many excellent innovative schemes tackling the barriers that young disabled people face when trying to enter the workplace and helping them to make the transition from education to employment. However, we found that these are the exception rather than the rule and this has to change... This report provides a blueprint for the new Government to implement its commitment to getting more young disabled people into work. It highlights how to put in place appropriate support for young disabled people and employers so that the system is both cohesive and effective."
Bethany Bale, DR UK Education Campaigner, said "The evidence we submitted to the inquiry last year demonstrated how the current system fails young Disabled people at every stage. The odds are stacked against us long before we enter employment, yet we are made to believe that we're the problem. DR UK welcomes this report and appreciates the time the committee has taken to explore this complex issue. The Government must remove the systemic barriers that Disabled people face in education and work if they are committed to closing the disability employment gap."
The Public Services Committee have asked the Government for regular updates on their progress in meeting the report's recommendations, and they are expected to respond to the report.
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9. Barbados Today - Sixth-former champions disability awareness31 Oct 2024
Secondary school student Naomi Jordan wants to see changes in the education system to better accommodate pupils with disabilities.
The Lower Sixth student at Harrison College who lives with dyslexia, expressed her desire at the inaugural Bright for Sight Day which she organised at her school. It featured interactive games and specialised equipment used by visually impaired persons, while raising funds for the Irving Wilson School.
“Really and truly, it’s just to build awareness for all those in the disabled community in Barbados because as someone with dyslexia, I know what it’s like to be in the public school system currently, and how it has not shaped or been reformed to help me or others with the same disability,” Jordan told Barbados TODAY.
The initiative emerged after Jordan visited the Irving Wilson School, where teachers highlighted their need for specialised equipment to support students with disabilities. This visit inspired her Let Me Read project, which culminated in Bright for Sight Day.
Students participated by wearing bright clothing and purchasing wristbands, with proceeds going to the Irving Wilson School. The entry fee was $2, whilst wristbands were sold for $5.
Former president of the of the Barbados Council for the Disabled Kerry Ann Ifill teaches students how to play spades with braille cards. (SB)
The advocate for people with disabilities emphasised that, given the current gaps in the school system’s support for students with physical or mental challenges, she hopes to make this event an annual opportunity for students with disabilities and their peers to come together and enjoy inclusive games.
“I really would like for this to continue, as in every year we would celebrate this exact same day, everyone would dress up in their bright colours, [as] it would keep funds going towards the Irving Wilson School,” Jordan said. “Hopefully by doing this, we are creating empathy in the students towards those who have disabilities, as well as creating awareness around the fact that this is the reality for others; even though it may not be the reality for you, you still need to be able to support and realise that some people need more help than you do.”
The young advocate acknowledged the support received from the National Disabilities Unit and the Irving Wilson School: “I think that they really have really helped me where it comes to getting this launched and getting this started and then helping me to understand what those of the disabled community currently need.”
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10. Punekar News India - Pune Polls: 90,000+ Disabled Voters to Benefit from Enhanced FacilitiesPune, 31st October 2024: District Collector Dr. Suhas Diwase has appealed to disabled and senior citizens to actively participate in voting during the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly General Elections on November 20, 2024. Special facilities, including wheelchairs, magnifying glasses, ramps, vehicle arrangements, and the appointment of volunteers, have been set up at polling stations to ensure a smooth voting experience for all.
Following the reorganization of polling stations across 21 Assembly constituencies in the district, a total of 8,462 polling stations have been finalized, with 3,225 new locations identified. According to the district’s ‘ERO Net’ software, there are 90,134 registered disabled voters, including 22,239 with physical disabilities, 3,864 who are deaf, 7,919 who are blind or visually impaired, and 56,112 with other disabilities.
To ensure inclusive voting, a comprehensive survey was conducted to map and flag disabled voters constituency-wise. The District Social Welfare Officer has been appointed as the Coordinating Officer for these efforts, with five additional officers serving as Assistant Nodal Officers for the District Disability Ward. A total of 22 officers have been appointed to manage constituency-wise disability cells, with one dedicated to overseeing the district-wide efforts.
In line with the Election Commission’s focus on inclusive elections, the District Model Committee on Accessible Elections (DMCAE), chaired by the District Collector, and the Vidhan Sabha Constituency-wise Accessible Elections Committee (ACCAE), chaired by the Election Decision Officer or Voter Registration Officer, have been established to monitor and evaluate these measures across the district.
Facilities for Disabled Voters
To assist disabled and senior voters, the district will provide 4,136 wheelchairs, 8,462 magnifying glasses, and 5,963 volunteers, in line with the Election Commission of India’s guidelines. Support from student volunteers from the National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme, and Scout Guide will also be enlisted.
Additional amenities at polling stations include barrier-free access, ramps, ground-floor polling stations, transport facilities from home to the polling station, separate queues, direction boards, waiting rooms, drinking water, restrooms, parking areas, first aid boxes, help desks, Braille materials, and interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing. Voters with disabilities will also have the option to vote from home by filling out Form 12D. A dedicated helpline number (9226363002) has been established, and further requests from disabled voters can be accommodated through the Saksham app.
To raise awareness among disabled voters, 23 specially appointed “Disabled Icons” will lead campaigns on social media and through various advertisements.
Disability Voter Awareness Programs
In a bid to promote voter registration among people with disabilities, 48 registration drives have been held, benefiting 242 voters. Between September 20 and October 26, 2024, 73 awareness programs have been organized throughout the district. These initiatives have included activities such as the reading of voting oaths, rallies featuring disabled voters and students, street plays, rangoli and painting competitions, and campaigns run by disabled students, who have encouraged their parents to vote.
The District Social Welfare Officer, Radhakisan Deodhe, who serves as the Coordinating Officer for the Disability Ward under the Assembly General Election, has expressed confidence that these efforts will significantly increase voter turnout among the disabled population.
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This Google Group news service has been made possible by courtesy of the Society of the Blind in Malaysia