Disability

“Making accessible technology is a lot like making blueberry muffins. You can’t put the blueberries in the muffin after the muffin is baked.” - Cordelia McGee-Tubb, web accessibility engineer at Salesforce

Too often, accessibility has been an afterthought and accessibility teams have been viewed as “enforcers,” rather than collaborators with shared goals – until the development of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Section 508 Playbook!

Virtual meetings have become so prevalent that “Zoom fatigue” is now part of our vocabulary. As we move to more virtual presentations, an often overlooked aspect is presenting content accessibly and inclusively. Captioned videos, labeled graphics, content structure, and correctly color-contrasted font are some of the major components that make the content of any virtual or in-person presentation more accessible. Accessible content, however, comprises only a half of the presentation.

In 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 virus accelerated a move to a remote and digitally dependent workforce. Many companies were able to accommodate employees working from home by providing a few technological changes and additional equipment to enable workers to maintain communication with their colleagues, supervisors, and clients. Some even found that productivity increased for employees working from home. The success of this remote workforce revealed a side benefit for people with disabilities.

On Wednesday, October 28th, New Editions supported the Administration for Community Living (ACL) National Disability Employment Awareness Month Virtual Event (NDEAM) through our Management Support contract with the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).

Seventy-five years ago, in response to the large number of service members with disabilities returning home from World War II, Congress passed a law establishing the first week in October of each year as “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.” Over the years, this week-long national observance has undergone several changes in name, focus and duration: In 1962, the name was changed t

New Editions is pleased to be a Silver sponsor of the 5th annual ICT TESTING SYMPOSIUM 2020. The testing symposium provides support to those tackling the issue of ensuring equal access to digital information for all members of our society, and is especially important in this time of rapid transition towards the use of online tools as a primary means of communication. This year’s conference will be online, as many conferences have converted to this year.

“Let the shameful walls of exclusion finally come tumbling down” is the directive that former President George Bush gave us when he signed the ADA into law 30 years ago, on July 26, 1990.

Why is April 1, 2020 so important? Every residence in the U.S. should have received a letter from the U.S. Census asking them to complete information about where they live on that day. The Census is constitutionally mandated to count every individual in the U.S. every 10 years.