Visionaries: Episode 22, The ADA celebrates 35 years by Susan Gray
This July, the Americans with Disabilities Act is turning 35! As our political environment seeks to eliminate necessary services for peers in need, it is a good time to reflect on the gratitude we all have for the access and accommodations this act and its advocates have provided to us.
The primary function of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to provide a similar experience as non-disabled people, in public places, for people with disabilities, ensuring their rights of access and accommodations are met.
The list below is just a few of the services our peers utilize regularly. It is hard to imagine our lives without any one of them:
The National Library Service’s BARD: through the Talking book and Braille library, thousands of peers that cannot see print are able to listen to or read Braille books through this free service. Patrons are sent either Braille books upon request, or rechargeable readers and cartridges that contain books from a catalog of over nine thousand authors and topics. This service gives our peers the ability to still enjoy books and magazines without the expense of purchasing audio books, or the need to go out to a library. Many of our peers read over one hundred books a year, and rely on this service for both education and entertainment.
Architectural accessibility for federally funded programs : For wheel chair users and peers with vision loss, having accessible buildings helps make navigation through them to offices possible. There is a work around action being taken by the current administration to eliminate these accommodations, such as audible elevator announce systems, Braille on elevators and rest rooms, and ramp requirements for entrances in new buildings that house federally funded programs. Should this action eliminate structural accommodations, peers with disabilities will not be able to independently enter or use newly built public spaces.
Centro’s Call-a-bus: This Central New York transit service is available to peers that cannot drive and need to get from their homes to appointments, jobs, shopping or social engagements. Through this ride share program, peers are able to call or use the Centro “Move” app to schedule rides during Call-a-bus hours during the week. Fares range from $2 to $6 one way, and pick up times are scheduled so that you arrive at your destination on time. Drivers are friendly and helpful, and as the service is door to door, there is little to no anxiety in navigating to your destination.
Clear vote accessible voting machines: these accessible voting machines are located in every polling place in the nation, and are fully accessible for peers with low or no vision. They are equipped with a large screen that is magnified and able to be contrasted to help those with low vision to see the ballot. For peers with no useable vision, the machine has an audible function that works with headphones so that peers can go through the ballot, using a tactile panel to move through the ballot and mark it. Once completed, the secured ballot is scanned and counted. The independence peers have felt in being able to vote again cannot be duplicated by the use of absentee ballots.
Website accessibility: Advocates have been working for years on making all websites accessible for peers that use screen readers to navigate their computers. While not every website is accessible, it is now a law that they are required to be. Companies large and small now have accessibility departments that work on every aspect of the user’s experience, and for the most part it is much easier to use websites. Having this become a standard for businesses has been a huge step in accommodation and access for peers with vision loss.
Smart phone accessibility: Through artificial intelligence, virtual assistants and voice over, technology has brought smart phone use to peers with vision loss. Peers are able to navigate a touch screen device that has been equipped with voice over, and virtual assistants can help with tasks through voice commands. Along with this, apps have been created specifically to assist people with vision loss, through the use of AI interpreting a photograph audibly to the user. Other apps use live volunteers to assist the peer with whatever task they are looking to do. Smart glasses have the capability of assisting peers using some of the same technology.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: This oversight has been in the cross hairs of the current administration, and has ben eliminated in many public and private institutions, businesses and corporations. These standards ensured that all people living with differences from the main stream were given the opportunities and access to function just like everyone else. The loss of these standards will make working, learning and living with disabilities or differences more stressful, as the guarantees of an equitable environment disappear.
Elimination of 988 LGBTQ routing: The mental health crisis hotline-988- has been available for people struggling with mental health issues for over two years, and has fielded millions of calls from people in crisis. The federally run hotline has been instructed to remove the routing of calls specifically for LGBTQ callers. This means that staff who specialized in assisting LGBTQ people in crisis will no longer be available to help.
Medicaid health insurance programs: These programs provide health insurance to thousands of people that are disabled, low income and caring for others in their family. With federal cuts threatening to remove many of the Medicaid programs, many people will be forced to go without health insurance, as they cannot afford to pay for it. .
As we celebrate the anniversary of the ADA this July, we must also monitor any threats to the services and programs that were established to grant access to us. Follow the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind as they are updating peers regularly on proposed government actions. Use your voice in support of the services that support you!