Accessibility Works Best When Disabled People Shape the Solution

Male, female, access symbols | Microassist Accessibility in the NewsAccessibility in the News — 7/10/2026.

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Feature Stories

 

Pittsburgh teens with disabilities help shape more accessible healthcare

July 6, 2026    |   Source: 90.5 WESA During a mock appointment to a UPMC adolescent health clinic, a group of Pittsburgh teens stood in as patients. They were actually there as accessibility experts as they are also people living with disabilities. The group, called the Health Ambassadors, is a special initiative of Friendship Circle — a global advocacy nonprofit with an outpost in Pittsburgh since 2006. The ambassadors are teens who participate in The Beacon, Friendship Circle’s emotional wellness center. Earlier this year, the Health Ambassadors received a grant from the FISA Foundation, a grantmaking organization that supports nonprofits in Southwestern Pennsylvania…

Making the World Cup Accessible — From the Inside

July 8, 2026    |   Source: The Silicon Valley Voice Mad Men fans might remember a line from that show, “Create the job you want and be the one to fill it.” You could say that’s the motto of FIFA Accessibility Coordinator Natalie Gross, who has devoted much of her career to developing a new discipline of making accessible to people with disabilities things that most people take for granted — specifically, sports events. She got into this profession – you might say created this profession – out of her own experience as a blind person. “When I graduated from college, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for people with disabilities,” Gross said…

Designer’s accessibility sticker encourages communities to rethink who automatic doors serve

July 6, 2026    |   Source: Rapid Growth A blue sticker placed on an automatic door button is helping spark a larger conversation about accessibility, inclusion and who public spaces are designed to serve. Designer Aidan Van Doren traces the project to a question raised years ago during a presentation at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University: Why do accessibility door buttons represent only one type of user when they benefit so many people? “These door buttons should represent all the people that they service,” Van Doren says. “When we design a world for people with disabilities, we design that world for all people.”…

National News (U.S.)

 

State commission to allocate thousands to boost Kern County’s wheelchair accessibility

July 3, 2026    |   Source: KGET The California Public Utilities Commission will distribute millions of dollars in funding to make local transit systems more accessible — and Kern County will be receiving a slice of the money. The state agency approved more than $15.4 million in grant funding from the Transportation Network Company’s Access for All Program to help expand and improve wheelchair-accessible transportation services throughout the state. The funding will be awarded to the counties during the 2026-2027 fiscal year…

More students with disabilities learning in general education classrooms

July 6, 2026    |   Source: K-12 Dive The number of students with disabilities spending some of their school day in general education classrooms steadily increased over the past decade, driven by a rise in students who spend at least 80% of their time learning alongside their peers without disabilities, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Between the 2012-13 and 2023-24 school years, the portion of students with disabilities in general education classes for much of their day increased in 42 states and the District of Columbia…

What customer service loses when it fails on accessibility for deaf customers

July 6, 2026    |   Source: CX Dive Deaf and hard of hearing people are often an afterthought when companies design customer experience workflows, and those companies are leaving money on the table, according to Greg Pollock, division president of CSD Access at Communication Service for the Deaf. There are 11.5 million deaf and hard of hearing customers in the U.S., according to CSD data. These shoppers represent $175 billion in discretionary spending. However, their customer service experience hasn’t changed much in decades…

The Velomont bike trail is getting more accessible — one turn at a time

July 6, 2026    |   Source: Vermont Public Mountain bike enthusiasts have been working for years on an ambitious 485-mile multi-use trail known as the Velomont that will span the length of Vermont. When finished, the collaborative project will knit together existing trail networks, connect 27 communities, and include 30 new huts and five downtown hostels for overnight stays. New trail construction is finally ramping up after years spent on permits, plans and public input. And organizers say they’re focused on ensuring the Velomont is accessible for everyone…

New law aims to improve accessibility at movie theaters in Virginia

July 7, 2026    |   Source: WRIC New options are here at movie theaters across Virginia. That’s because a new state law that went into effect on July 1 now requires most movie theaters to provide showings with open captions. “My hope is that this makes, you know, like I said, the simple pleasure of life accessible for everyone, not just the deaf and the hard of hearing, but also think about seniors who may benefit from this, veterans who have hearing loss associated with their service,” said Delegate Phil Hernandez (D-Norfolk), who helped write the new law.”…

Are Retailers Doing Enough To Serve the Needs and Desires of Shoppers Facing Disabilities?

July 7, 2026    |   Source: Retail Wire Retailers have, over the years, improved their operations to make things easier (and more attractive) for U.S. consumers facing disabilities to shop with them. Historically speaking, as Fable noted, in 1984 Jane Snowball — an elderly woman with mobility concerns — was able to place the first-ever online order, including eggs, corn flakes, and margarine. Now, in a recent research paper produced by Disability:IN in conjunction with the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the topic of how retailers might better serve the needs and desires of American consumers with disabilities was thoroughly examined…

Seattle Transit Measure Amendment Prioritizes Accessibility Improvements

July 8, 2026    |   Source: The Seattle Medium A proposed amendment to Seattle’s 2026 Transit Measure would expand funding for accessibility and safety improvements at transit stops, sidewalks and pedestrian connections, with supporters saying the changes would make public transportation more accessible for people with disabilities, older adults and others who rely on transit. The amendment, introduced by Seattle City Councilmember Debora Juarez, was presented Monday during a meeting of the City Council’s Select Committee on the Seattle Transportation Benefit District as councilmembers continue reviewing the proposed renewal of the Seattle Transit Measure before it goes before voters this fall…

WHO calls for urgent action as new cancer cases are projected to nearly double by 2050

July 8, 2026    |   Source: World Health Organization

Watchdog warns of risks to patients as private equity’s stake in US healthcare grows

July 6, 2026    |   Source: The Guardian Millions of people are facing physical, emotional and financial toll of cancer, a disease that claims more than 26 000 lives every day, according to a report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO). With an estimated 20.6 million new cases and close to 10 million deaths annually, cancer remains the second leading cause of death globally, after cardiovascular disease. Reversing this trend will require a fundamental shift towards a people-centred approach that responds to the health needs and lived experiences of affected people and communities. Without urgent action, annual cancer cases are projected to rise to nearly 35 million by 2050…

From the legislature to sports arenas to websites, NC weighs accessibility upgrades

July 9, 2026    |   Source: North Carolina Health News Two decades ago, lobbyist Julia Adams started out at the North Carolina General Assembly as an advocate for people with disabilities. Adams, herself, alternates between using a wheelchair and crutches to get to lawmakers’ offices and committee meetings. In those days, it was a real challenge in the legislative building, which was completed in 1963. “Really, that building was built before any of the [Americans with Disabilities Act] standards, and it can be very complex to navigate,” said Adams, who remembered only a few people with disabilities trying to access the building back then. “I think it was just me, and one staffer and one liaison” from a state agency…

Mapping Disabled Americans’ Access to Democracy

July 9, 2026    |   Source: Center for American Progress “Voting is supposed to be a private, independent process, and when I couldn’t enter the building or had to complete my ballot from my vehicle, I felt that independence slip away,” shared Hope R., a disabled voter from Mississippi.1 Hope’s story echoes around the country: Disabled Americans have long faced barriers to exercising their right to vote. In fact, they were more than three times as likely as voters without disabilities to report difficulty casting a ballot in the 2022 election. A wave of restrictive voting laws and regulations proposed or enacted in recent years has only exacerbated these barriers to voting…

Most California senators supported this ADA lawsuit bill. It died anyway

July 9, 2026    |   Source: CalMatters For years, state Sen. Roger Niello has attempted to address what he sees as a persistent issue: predatory law firms and their disabled clients suing swaths of small businesses for disability access violations. It started when he heard about Scott Johnson, a quadriplegic man in his district who filed thousands of lawsuits against small businesses in Northern California, enriching himself in the process. Since then, Niello, a Republican from Fair Oaks who also helps run his family’s group of auto dealerships, has been pushing for change…

Advocates work to improve accessibility amid housing crisis

July 9, 2026    |   Source: WXXI Disability rights activist Luticha Doucette calls the lack of accessible housing in Rochester a dire situation. “When I did some research last year, I only found 15 available units,” she said. Fewer than 5% of homes in the United States have basic accessibility features, according to a 2022 Harvard University study. Accessible homes have features like zero step entries, wider doorways, and other modifications to allow people with disabilities or limited mobility to live independently…
Jack Fact — Autism diagnoses have risen dramatically over time: about 1 in 31 eight-year-old children (3.2 percent) were identified with autism in 2022 surveillance data, up from 1 in 36 in 2020 and just 1 in 150 when the CDC first began tracking it among children born in the early 1990s. Hit The Road Jack —Get Out: Making Sure Everyone Feels Welcome and These Solo-Travel Experts Have Logged Millions of Miles. Here’s What They Always Pack

International News

Accessibility in Cinema Case Study: Expanding the Screen

July 3, 2026    |   Source: Independent Cinema Office- UK Around 25% of the UK population has a disability of some kind – a huge audience for whom accessibility is essential. When I started working as the cinema programmer for the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham, major efforts were in process to make the venue as a whole more accessible, while the cinema programme struggled to keep up and make meaningful interventions. After Film Hub Midlands approached us about working on a project to boost cinema audiences for independent cinema in Birmingham, I knew that the focus needed to be on accessibility…

German Inclusion Law Tightens: Companies Face New Duty to Provide “Reasonable Accommodations”

July 4, 2026    |   Source: Ad-hoc-news- Germany Germany’s federal government has advanced a sweeping overhaul of the Act on Equality for People with Disabilities (BGG), introducing a ban on discrimination by private companies for the first time. Rather than prescribing rigid technical standards, the reform obliges employers to take “appropriate accommodations” — a flexible benchmark that shifts the burden onto businesses to prove they have acted. A strengthened system of conciliation bodies will handle complaints, and affected individuals gain enforceable legal claims…

Making public transport fully accessible ‘could boost UK economy by £176bn’

July 5, 2026    |   Source: The Guardian- UK and Safer Highways Investing in the UK transport network to make it fully accessible to disabled passengers could boost the economy by £176bn by helping millions more people into work, according to a report. Making the economic case for an inclusive transport network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) said the current system was inaccessible to almost a quarter of the working-age population. Highlighting a lack of lifts and ramps at stations, large gaps on platforms, and a lack of tactile paving and sensory-friendly environment, IMechE said people were being shut out of work, education and everyday life…

Delhi High Court Asks ZEE to Make ZEE5 Accessible for Persons with Disabilities

July 6, 2026    |   Source: SCC Online- India In a writ petition seeking directions to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEE) to make its OTT platform, ZEE5, fully accessible to persons with disabilities in accordance with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Standard IS 17802:2022 (Part 1: Requirements and Part 2: Conformance) for accessibility of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products and services, a Single Judge Bench of Dr Swarana Kanta Sharma, J. directed expeditious steps to ensure that the platform complies with the prescribed accessibility standards…

When photography becomes accessible to everyone

July 6, 2026    |   Source: Hindu- India “Take 10-15 pictures of the same subject. The tree or the lake will not move; [you must] move yourself,” Partho Bhowmick, founder of Blind with Camera, instructed a group of 40 visually impaired individuals at the immersive photography workshop, “The Art of Seeing Differently”, conducted by The Accessibility Research Centre (ARC), IIT Madras, on Friday. The workshop was all about how photography is not just the creation of a visual product. “It is a form of self-expression where persons who are visually impaired can take pictures using non-visual senses and cognitive skills,” he adds…

This festival makes accessibility a priority instead of an afterthought

July 6, 2026    |   Source: CBC- Canada On a warm Saturday evening in June in downtown Toronto, advocates, allies and artists who are shaping the disability community came together to celebrate accessibility and inclusion in a tangible way. AccessFest is a free festival that celebrates accessibility, and as a blind concertgoer it’s a unique opportunity to witness artists with disabilities being represented on a main stage. The 2026 lineup included headliners X Ambassadors and ASL performer Julian Ortiz, as well as Haviah Mighty and Renforshort…

Saskatchewan group advocates for accessibility — starting in their neighbourhood – Regina

July 6, 2026    |   Source: Global News- Canada

Hamilton to change accessible intersection infrastructure, despite opposition from advisory group

July 9, 2026    |   Source: CBC- Canada Barrier Free Saskatchewan is a group that wants to see better accessibility in the city. Group member Rodney Sawa is one of the residents hoping to bring attention to the Demarco and Second Avenue area after concerns were been raised about the sidewalk and road conditions, including severe cracks in the roads, unevenness and drainage concerns.  These concerns have been brought to the City of Regina’s attention for years, but nothing has been done to fix the situation. Sawa and fellow group member Terri Sleeva are both people with disabilities and have encountered many issues getting around the city…

What does it take for beauty to be accessible?

July 7, 2026    |   Source: Vogue- Singapore The beauty sphere is full of surprises—and if there’s one thing all beauty fiends can agree on, it’s the fact that there is always so much to discover. Formulations may excite us, but the packaging of something can really make us want it. Every so often, a new release pushes the boundaries of what we are already familiar with—and sparks debate in the process. When Rare Beauty first launched, its bulbous packaging became a topic of contention, until it was revealed to be designed with accessibility in mind. Having been diagnosed with lupus and arthritis, the tactile elements and soft-matte finish of Selena Gomez’s products helps her use them without too much strain…

Why Researchers With Disabilities Are Pivotal to Research on Disabilities

July 7, 2026    |   Source: The Wire- India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh While 68% of South Asia’s population uses the internet, as per the World Bank’s statistics, nuanced data for people with disabilities remains limited. Research by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) in low and middle-income countries shows a significant disparity in mobile phone ownership; however, a lack of disability-disaggregated data hinders targeted insights into the use of assistive technologies. The ‘Accessibility, Language and Tech for the People’ (ALT), a research-in-action initiative at Whose Knowledge?, aims to increase engagement and improve online experience for persons with visual impairments, both as users and producers of digital knowledge…

Two-thirds of disabled people feel poorly represented by the UK Government

July 7, 2026    |   Source: Learning Disability Today- UK One in three (34%) disabled people do not feel they belong in their communities, and two-thirds feel unrepresented by the Government, according to a new report published by the Belonging Forum to mark Disability Pride Month. The UK study found that nearly half (48%) of disabled LGBT+ people often feel lonely, compared with a quarter (25%) of non-disabled people, with disabled women considerably more likely than disabled men to experience loneliness frequently (42% versus 29%). There was also lower wellbeing, greater concerns about safety and weaker feelings of representation, all of which make it harder to connect with communities…

Transport accessibility infrastructure rework needed to bring 2.8M disabled people in to work

July 7, 2026    |   Source: New Civil Engineer- UK A report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) has laid out how making the UK’s public transport network genuinely accessible could bring 2.8M additional disabled people into work. The report outlines the economic case for deploying large scale accessibility upgrades to unlock tens of billions of pounds of economic value. IMechE’s analysis calculates a “direct transport‑linked gain” of roughly half that sum, on the basis that nearly 50% of disabled professionals have declined jobs because of transport barriers…

Campaigner who calls out store’s access invited in

July 7, 2026    |   Source: BBC- UK A disability campaigner who called out a department store’s lack of accessibility hopes meaningful change will come from speaking up. Rebecca Scollay, 30, uses a wheelchair because of fatigue and pain caused by chronic health conditions. Posting about accessibility in Norwich on social media, she highlighted difficulties she had faced in the city’s branch of John Lewis – and was surprised when she was then invited to the shop to share her experiences with staff.  She said she wished more shops had “the humility to reach out”. A John Lewis spokesman said it wanted to make every customer’s visit easier…

Railways bill must ensure accessibility becomes a reality, disabled peers tell minister

July 9, 2026    |   Source: Disability News Service- UK Disabled peers have called on the government to ensure that an accessible rail system becomes a reality through its new railways bill, with no sign yet that ministers will listen to calls for a greater focus on accessibility and disability rights. Rail minister Lord Hendy told the Lords this week that the bill would set up a new public body – Great British Railways (GBR) – to “get to grips with the mess, mismanagement and misery that so many rail users have experienced for years” and to act as the “directing mind for the railway”…

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