skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, November 22, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump announces Pam Bondi of FL as new attorney general pick, hours after Matt Gaetz withdraws; House passes bill targeting nonprofits in NY and nation; NM researcher studies why pedestrian and bicyclist deaths are on the rise; Researchers link better outcomes to MN adoption reforms.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump has a new pick for Attorney General, his incoming "border czar" warns local Democratic officials not to impede mass deportation, and the House passes legislation that could target any nonprofit group accused of supporting terrorism.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The CDC has a new plan to improve the health of rural Americans, updated data could better prepare folks for flash floods like those that devastated Appalachia, and Native American Tribes could play a key role in the nation's energy future.

ADA Marks 29 Years with Room for Improvement

play audio
Play

Friday, July 26, 2019   

CHICAGO – Legislation that has changed the lives of millions of Americans, including nearly one in five Illinoisans, marks its 29th anniversary today. The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law on June 26, 1990, and is considered the most significant piece of civil-rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Peter Berg with the Great Lakes ADA Center in Chicago explains in 2008, the bill was amended to clarify the definition of 'disability,' and provide broad protection from discrimination. And he notes as the world changes, the law needs continued updating.

"Within the last five [to] eight years, the Department of Justice revised its regulations covering state and local governments, and private businesses,” says Berg. “It also issued updated accessibility standards. It went a long way in attempting to unify the ADA standards with other industry standards."

The ADA aims to ensure that people with physical or mental disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as others in all areas of public life – including employment, education and transportation. While the law has transformed accommodations for many with disabilities, some advocates contend the country must be committed to fulfilling the full promise of the ADA, by working to create a more inclusive society.

Berg says one area that needs improvement in the ADA is information technology, since it was implemented at a time when the internet didn't exist.

"There are no accessibility standards that apply to technology,” says Berg. “There could be some room to issue standards that say, 'OK, this is what an accessible website is. This is what an accessible kiosk is, and this is what an accessible app is.'"

Recently, two retail organizations asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take a case involving a blind customer who sued Domino's Pizza because its website and mobile app were not accessible to people using screen-reading software.

Research conducted by the international law firm Seyfarth Saw found website-accessibility lawsuits rose from about 800 in 2017 to 22-hundred in 2018.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
The smoking rate among adults in Maryland is 9.6%, much lower than the national average of 12.9%. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A new report on lung cancer by the American Lung Association showed Maryland has quite a bit of room to improve diagnoses and treatment but experts sa…


Social Issues

play sound

La Niña is bringing a cooler, wetter winter to Oregon and likely driving up heating bills as systems work harder. This is the third year of …

Environment

play sound

The number of pedestrians and bicyclists killed on roadways in the U.S. has nearly doubled in the past 12 years and a New Mexico researcher wants to …


Social Issues

play sound

This Saturday is National Adoption Day and the latest findings showed Minnesota has made progress in helping kids in the foster care system secure a b…

Health and Wellness

play sound

By Kyla Russell for WISH-TV.Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the WISH-TV-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service C…

Social Issues

play sound

A recent study from Florida Atlantic University highlights a concerning rise in alcohol-related deaths across the United States, with mortality rates …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021