Other News

We need your help to make emergency alerts and warning systems accessible to people with disabilities!  People with disabilities are sometimes not considered when sending emergency alerts and information. This can impact how you prepare, respond and get back to normal after an emergency. We invite you to discuss how you receive emergency alerts and information and your preferences for two-way communications with emergency response personnel.  Technology will be demonstrated.

June 2014 – The National Council on Disability (NCD) has announced the addition of Phoebe Ball as their Legislative Affairs Specialist. Previously a staff attorney with the non-profit group Disability Rights Florida (DRF), Phoebe’s experience includes “access to home- and community-based services, self-determination, and guardianship,” along with other Medicaid focused work. Her personal experience dealing with Spina Bifida while being a parent will allow her to bring firsthand expertise to the concerns of parents with disabilities.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has made nearly $15 million available for state workforce agencies in an attempt to “develop flexible and innovative strategies to increase the participation of people with disabilities in existing career pathways programs in the public workforce system.” These grants are the fifth round of funds made available through the Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) from the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration and the Office of Disability Employment Policy.

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) will hold its 2^nd Annual Effective Access Technology Conference July 17-18, 2014 in Rochester, New York. The conference will focus on innovative solutions for barriers facing technology access for people with disabilities. RIT has issued a call for papers.  The papers should focus on the following areas: 1. “The development of hardware, software, or processes that assist people with disabilities in daily living activities, the workplace, the classroom, the rehabilitation process, and/or recreational activities,” 2.

May 2014 – The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN) have announced the release of an online “benchmarking tool” that rates a company’s effectiveness regarding implementations of policies that promote the inclusion of people with disabilities. The online tool, known formally as the Annual Disability Equality Index (DEI), was tested as a pilot in March 2014 with 48 Fortune 1000 companies.