Insights

When the Classroom Goes Digital, Who Gets Left Behind?

The rapid digitalization of education, while offering potential benefits, presents significant accessibility challenges for students with disabilities across U.S. schools and universities. Despite legal requirements under frameworks like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), unequal access persists in online environments. Many students with disabilities rely on assistive technologies, but institutional practices often fall short in ensuring digital content, platforms, and materials are compatible. Proactive measures, including comprehensive audits, faculty training, and adherence to accessibility standards for elements like captions and alt text, are critical to bridging this digital divide and achieving equitable educational opportunities.

Gym Equipment Got a Touchscreen. Blind Members Lost a Button.

Accessibility law can require gyms to provide an accessible route to exercise equipment. But it does not necessarily require the equipment's controls to be independently usable by a blind person once they reach it. As the fitness industry replaces tactile buttons with touchscreen consoles, that distinction is becoming increasingly consequential.

When an Agency Changed the Rules Without Making Policy

The Justice Department pushed back web accessibility deadlines for more than 90,000 state and local governments by up to two years. The nation's oldest blindness-rights organization is suing, not over the delay itself, but over how it was granted.

The Future of Accessibility Is the Future of Work

What happens to the workforce when the tools of the job are finally built for everyone who does it