MTA ignores Americans with Disabilities Act in planned renovations to Queens subway stops
The MTA plans to spend at least $100 million to renovate a group of subway stations in Queens — but the expensive work does not include the installation of elevators or ramps, which advocates say is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Unpacking The Spatial Implications Of Architecture's Accessibility Failures
There is a particular type of obliviousness to the built environment that most of us have the privilege of experiencing day-to-day. This obliviousness relates not to architecture’s aesthetic values, but rather to architecture’s accessibility out in the world. Built to Scale, an exhibition by artist Emily Barker currently on view at Murmurs Gallery in Los Angeles, is designed to knock you right out of it. And for designers and architects, it's a must-see. On view in a young gallery tucked between the nondescript buildings of LA's Manufacturing District, Barker's new solo show delves deep into the fundamental misunderstandings of architectural accessibility and its spatial implications, particularly in the realm of the home.
This app gives deaf users an on-demand ASL interpreter
For someone who is deaf, communicating with a clerk at a retail store or non-ASL-speaking friend over dinner often involves laboriously writing notes. An app called Jeenie offers an alternative: Push a button, and a live ASL interpreter appears in a video call.
“It can be challenging to communicate in everyday life with people who are not fluent in ASL,” says Laura Yellin, a woman who is deaf who tested the app’s new ASL feature, which is launching now. “For example, dealing with an issue at the dry cleaners and needing to talk to a supervisor or manager can be tricky via paper and pen or typing on the phone back and forth. It makes it a lot easier to have an interpreter available for situations like that.”
The app previously offered live interpreters for some languages—hearing customers who need a translator who speaks Mandarin or Spanish, for example, can use Jeenie to pull up a video call with that translator while traveling. The founders realized that the deaf community didn’t have a similar option for everyday life. While it’s possible to text or make a three-way call using TRS—an old-school system that lets people who are deaf or hard of hearing type messages to an operator who can read them to a hearing person, and then type back the response, or a video relay service, which allows signing—there wasn’t a simple or affordable solution for in-person conversations.
Study Initiated on Equipping Passenger Aircraft with Wheelchair Restraint Systems
The Access Board is undertaking a study that has the potential to advance access to air travel for passengers who use wheelchairs. As directed by Congress, this project will assess the feasibility of equipping passenger planes with restraint systems so that passengers can remain in their wheelchairs on flights. Having to transfer out of wheelchairs makes air travel very difficult, if not impossible, for many people with disabilities.
The Board is conducting this study through the National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board (TRB). TRB has organized a committee of experts to evaluate the feasibility of in-cabin wheelchair restraint systems. Members include experts in aircraft interiors and safety engineering, accessibility, wheelchair design and crashworthiness, airline operations, and other disciplines. Committee members will evaluate the design, engineering, and safety requirements for equipping aircraft with locking or tiedown mechanisms for non-motorized and motorized wheelchairs used as seats. If such restraint systems are found to be feasible, the committee will then assess the wheelchair restraint systems that can be used to accommodate passengers using wheelchairs through all phases of flight, from boarding to deplaning.
The committee will hold its first meeting February 5 – 6, 2020 at the Access Board’s conference center. Most sessions will be open to the public and available by web conference. Those attending in person do not need to register in advance, but registration is required (free) to attend online.
Visit TRB’s website for further information on this project, the meeting agenda, and the committee.