The upcoming presidential debates have me thinking about what I might ask the candidates if I were a debate moderator. It isn’t often that disability issues get front-and-center attention during a nationally televised event like a presidential debate, let alone issues specific to people who are blind or visually impaired.
But what if they did?
Helen Keller reading braille at her home in Westport, Connecticut. October 1965.
I am delighted that the fifth in our series of posts focusing on the Helen Keller Digitization Project is from Mara Mills New York University Associate Professor of Media, Culture and Communication. Mara’s post - on the continued importance of human transcribers - is fascinating and I encourage everyone to read it. Many thanks, Mara!
This year marks the 26th anniversary of the signing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Each year, advocates look for ways in which to properly commemorate the ADA and to celebrate the promise of equal access that it represents. We at the American Foundation for the Blind are also weighing in, not only with praise for the barriers that the ADA has broken down, but also with concern about the work that still needs to be done.
By William Reuschel and Aaron Preece
Image: Aaron Preece stands with his guide dog Joel and a Pidgey Pokémon.
May 19 marks the fifth celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day—a day designed to “get people talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) accessibility and users with different disabilities.”
The Washington Post published an article today about accessibility problems that occur not only on companies' websites, but in their mobile applications (apps), noting that "Apps can be a game-changer for people with low vision — if companies build them right."
TechCrunch also recently reported on the question: Will apps become the next disability lawsuit target?
