Dear Valued Readers,
We invite you to explore the latest insights with Continual Engine’s August Monthly Newsletter. The August edition features a variety of carefully selected news articles and updates that keep you informed about the newest trends and innovations in accessibility and AI.
- Gain Insights from our Latest Blogs on Accessibility: What is Web Governance and Why it Matters?, ADA Title II Updates (2024)
- Upcoming Event: Our CEO & Founder of Continual Engine, Mousumi Kapoor will be presenting at the 2024 M-Enabling Summit
- Latest Advancements in Accessibility that are Helping Improve User Experience Include: Microsoft’s Efforts to Promote Accessibility with Partners, EMG Tech & Video Games for Wheelchair Accessibility
- Discover the Latest News Articles that Include: Video Conferencing Services’ Compliance Deadline, Senators Introduce Section 508 Refresh Act, New Rule on Medical Equipment Accessibility, AI for Sustainable Development Goals, Barbie® Launches Blind and Down Syndrome Fashionista Dolls, Customer Experience Meets Accessibility, Equal Access for Deaf and Hearing Audiences, Ukrainian Civil Servants Trained in Web Accessibility, History of Disability Access in Video Games, Paris 2024 Village Accessibility for Paralympians, ADA Anniversary Proclamation 2024, Colorado’s Shine Festival Adds Color Accessibility, Transportation Challenges for People with Disabilities
We aim to deliver compelling, insightful, and relevant information about accessibility and compliance through these newsletters. We welcome any feedback or questions.
Warm Regards,
Continual Engine
I. LATEST BLOGS ON ACCESSIBILITY
1. What Is Web Governance and Why It Is Important?
Imagine an office without a manager or any policies in place! No one has role clarity, no hierarchy, and no systems…only chaos. Such a workplace would not be an ideal choice to work, right? Similarly, think of your website. Websites are generally the first thing anyone would read about your company or business; they set the tone for a new customer regarding what you offer and how you operate.
2. ADA Title II Updates (2024): All You Need to Know
For many years, there’s been a concern about the lack of clear guidelines in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on how to make digital experiences accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. This has been a point of frustration for people who work on digital accessibility, as well as state and local government agencies. There’s some good news!
II. UPCOMING EVENTS
1. Continual Engine will be Presenting at the 2024 M-Enabling Summit
We are thrilled to announce that Continual Engine will be attending the M-Enabling Summit 2024! The 12th annual conference dates are scheduled for October 15-17, 2024, which will be hosted in Washington, DC, with the mission of promoting accessible technologies and environments for persons with disabilities.
Our CEO & Founder, Mousumi Kapoor, will be presenting at the event, alongside a panel of accessibility experts, in a session titled “AI Accessibility Tools for Developers” on October 15, 2024 (Tuesday). During this session, they will delve into the practical applications of AI tools for developers, exploring how these tools can be effectively implemented to enhance accessibility. The attendees will gain insights into both proprietary and open-source solutions, understanding their potential benefits and challenges.
If you’re joining the summit, we invite you to attend our session and stop by our booth. You can also contact us at contact@continualengine.com to schedule a meeting with our leadership team. We look forward to seeing you at the event.
III. LATEST ADVANCEMENTS IN ACCESSIBILITY
1. How Microsoft is Working with Partners and Policymakers to Advance Accessibility as a Fundamental Right Through Technology
Today, we proudly celebrate Disability Pride Month and reaffirm our commitment to closing the disability divide through technology and policy. Disability Pride Month also coincides with the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law on July 26, 1990, and is considered one of the most comprehensive civil rights laws for people with disabilities in the world.
2. Using EMG Tech, Video Games to Improve Wheelchair Accessibility
Whether it’s solving the world’s biggest problems or investigating the potential of novel discoveries, researchers at the University of Central Florida (UCF) are on the edge of scientific breakthroughs that aim to make an impact. Through the Research in 60 Seconds series, student and faculty researchers condense their complex studies into bite-sized summaries so you can know how and why Knights plans to improve our world.
IV. NEWS ARTICLES ON ACCESSIBILITY
1. Real-Time Video Conferencing Services Face Rapidly Approaching Compliance Deadline
Marking a major shift in digital accessibility regulation, by September 3, 2024, providers of real-time video conferencing services in the United States will need to comply with the accessibility requirements of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA). This new requirement from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) comes at a busy time for accessibility compliance, following the U.S. Department of Justice’s new digital accessibility rule for state and local entities and their private contractors and significant developments in Europe.
2. Senators Introduce Section 508 Refresh Act to Enhance Technology Accessibility for People with Disabilities
U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), John Fetterman (D-PA), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) have introduced the Section 508 Refresh Act. This new bill aims to ensure that federal agencies make their technology accessible to people with disabilities. This move seeks to address longstanding issues revealed by a 2022 Senate Aging Committee investigation, particularly within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
3. New Rule on the Accessibility of Medical Diagnostic Equipment Used by State and Local Governments
On August 9, 2024, the Federal Register published the Department of Justice’s (Department) final rule updating the regulation for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The final rule has specific requirements for accessible medical diagnostic equipment (MDE).
4. Here’s How We Can Use AI to Supercharge Sustainable Development Goals
When world leaders signed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, in 2015, we collectively committed to “transforming our world”. The SDGs represent a shared blueprint for “peace and prosperity for people and the planet”. While progress has been made in some areas, the latest milestone report shows significant setbacks in everything from climate to biodiversity loss, gender inequality, and poverty eradication.
5. Barbie® Introduces the First Blind Barbie Fashionista Doll and Black Barbie Fashionista Doll with Down Syndrome, Allowing Even More Children to Tell Stories Through Play
Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) announced today the addition of a blind Barbie doll and a Black Barbie doll with Down syndrome, created to allow even more children to find a doll that represents them and inspire all children to tell more stories through play.
6. All Access: Customer Experience and Accessibility Collide
Accessibility in the world of government IT refers to the fact that digital services should be fully and equally available to every resident. This includes the more than 13 percent, or 42.5 million, people in the United States with a disability. This vast group consists of people with a range of challenges both obvious and invisible, including cognitive-, hearing- and vision-related.
7. Equal Accessibility for Deaf and Hearing Audiences? It’s Possible!
The beautiful thing about theater is that there is never just one way to do it. Directors are able to take a piece and stage it in new and creative ways while holding true to the story and the text. As a director who specializes in Deaf theater, I look at each script to find ways to increase accessibility. My goal is always to ensure that the show is accessible to both Deaf and hearing audiences while finding ways to challenge traditional theater norms.
8. Civil Servants From 12 Regions of Ukraine Trained in the Basics of Web Accessibility
Five hundred employees of the executive authorities and local self-government bodies from 12 regions of Ukraine have undergone training on the basics of web accessibility organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, with funding from Sweden.
9. How People with Disabilities Got Game − The Surprisingly Long History of Access to Arcade and Video Sports
If you’ve seen an esports competition, chances are that there was a big stage with about 10 gaming PCs, each with a young person behind it wearing a look of intense concentration. They may have been competing for upward of a million dollars, and at the moment of victory, the winning team suddenly started screaming in joy.
10. How The Paris 2024 Village Has Been Transformed for Paralympians with Accessibility In Mind
Just four days before the start of the Paralympic Games, the athletes’ village was buzzing with activity on Saturday as athletes from 168 delegations were settling into their temporary homes, preparing for their upcoming competitions. The village, nestled in the northern suburbs of Paris, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, closed its doors on Aug. 13 after the conclusion of the Olympic Games, giving organizers a week to make necessary adjustments for the upcoming Paralympics.
11. A Proclamation on the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 2024
Today, we celebrate the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), one of our nation’s most significant civil rights laws to protect people with disabilities from discrimination. For the more than 70 million Americans living with a disability, the ADA enshrines into law the idea that we all deserve opportunity, inclusion, respect, and dignity. I am proud to have co-sponsored this landmark legislation years ago, and I am honored to celebrate its lasting legacy today.
12. Colorado’s Shine Music Festival Adding Color Accessibility
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe is headlining this year’s Shine Music Festival. Denson is an American funk and jazz saxophonist who’s played with the Rolling Stones and Lenny Kravitz’s band. Dopapod drummer Neal “Fro” Evans will be bringing his Neal Evans Fro Down to the festival as well. While the music will be first class, the Shine Music Festival is known for being one of the most accessible experiences in the nation.
13. People with Disabilities Struggle to Find Reliable Transportation
Two mothers shared their story of a disability ride service scare. Their 3-year-old sons with autism were mixed up by a transportation company driver. One of the boys was left with the wrong mom 12 miles from his Anoka home. The boys are both safe, but as Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield shows us, there’s a larger story here.
