Retrofitting accessibility: The legal inequality of after-the-fact online access for persons with disabilities in the United States

First Monday ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Wentz ◽  
Paul T Jaeger ◽  
Jonathan Lazar
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Individuals With Disabilities ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Global Population

Despite the significant advantages that access to information and communication technology has made to many of our lives, the related benefits, opportunities and even equalizing effect of this technology are often not accessible or only partially accessible to a growing portion of the global population. Current disability rights laws which are supposed to exist for the protection and well–being of individuals with disabilities are often too close to the heart of the problem, as they can actually promote a separate but unequal online environment. If current U.S. laws were revised to encourage born–accessible technology and there was consistent enforcement of such laws, the online experience of millions of individuals with disabilities could be drastically improved. This article examines the aspects of the current laws that perpetuate a separate but unequal online environment, discussing past and current examples of such inequity. It also contrasts the structure of current U.S. disability rights laws with other civil rights legislation and offers a set of policy recommendations that could have a positive impact on accessibility.

scholarly journals Building Bridges Between the Civil Rights Movements of People with Disabilities and Those with Terminal Illness

2017 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Tucker
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Terminal Illness ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Aid In Dying

The movement for disability rights in the United States is grounded on a bedrock commitment to empowering the individual with autonomy and independence. Despite this foundation, a sharp line has been drawn by much of the disability advocacy community when it comes to the autonomy of a mentally competent terminally ill patient to choose a more peaceful death through aid in dying. This exercise of autonomy has largely been opposed by the disability advocacy community. This Article proposes that given the common principles shared by these two social justice movements and evidence from two decades of open practice in the United States that shows that no risk arises for people with disabilities when aid in dying is available, it is time for the disability advocacy community to reexamine and evolve its position on aid in dying. This evolution has the potential to benefit both advocacy communities.Part I discusses the principles common to the movements for disability rights and end-of-life liberty, demonstrating how they are virtually identical. Part II reviews arguments advanced by proponents of end-of-life liberty in favor of empowering terminally ill patients with more options, specifically including aid in dying, and those advanced by disability rights advocates against this position. In Part III, the data from nearly twenty years of openly practiced aid in dying in the United States is reviewed. Particular focus is given to how data regarding this practice relates to persons with disabilities. Finally, Part IV suggests that it is timely and strategic for the disability advocacy community to reconsider its opposition to aid in dying, and it sets forth indicators that such reconsideration is emerging. 

Support for the Americans With Disabilities Act Among Nondisabled People

2021 ◽  
pp. 104420732110231
Author(s):  
Carli Friedman ◽  
Laura VanPuymbrouck
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Americans With Disabilities Act ◽  
A Priori ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Limited Participation ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Relationship

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) opened the doors to access and enhanced the civil rights of people with disabilities. However, a lack of accessibility to all segments of society continues throughout the United States and is frequently described by people with disabilities as a leading cause for limited participation. Beliefs and attitudes regarding disability can affect critical decisions regarding inclusion and people with disabilities’ civil rights. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore support and opposition to the ADA among nondisabled people. We had the following research questions: (a) What is the relationship between disability prejudice and support for the ADA? and (b) When controlling for disability prejudice, what other factors lead people to support the ADA? To do so, we examined secondary data from approximately 13,000 participants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Findings from this study revealed that people who oppose the ADA are significantly more prejudiced toward people with disabilities than people who support the ADA. Understanding and becoming aware of attitudes and prejudice toward persons with disabilities can be a first step toward dispelling such beliefs and possibly a priori step to achieving the intent and spirit of the ADA.

scholarly journals THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN CANADIAN AND AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ravi Malhotra
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Americans With Disabilities Act ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Senate ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Domestic Courts ◽  
Défense Des Droits ◽  
Personnes Handicapées ◽  
Droit International

In this paper, I explore the still evolving jurisprudence with respect to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [CRPD] in Canada and the United States. I argue that the Canadian disability rights movement has always been open to insights from international law. Although the 1990 passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] has had an impact internationally as other countries enact similar legislation, the CRPD, which the United States Senate has yet to ratify, has played a marginal role to date in American courts. It remains to be seen if a more robust judicial dialogue can be fostered between the CRPD and domestic courts in both countries. Dans le présent document, j’explore la jurisprudence toujours en évolution au sujet de l’application de la Convention relative aux droits des personnes handicapées [CDPH] au Canada et aux États‑Unis. Je soutiens que le mouvement canadien de défense des droits des handicapés a toujours été ouvert aux points de vue émanant du droit international. Bien que l’adoption, en 1990, de la loi clé intitulée Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] ait eu des répercussions à l’échelle internationale, puisque d’autres pays ont adopté des lois similaires, la CDPH, que le Sénat américain n’a pas encore ratifiée, a joué un rôle marginal jusqu’à maintenant devant les tribunaux américains. Il reste à déterminer s’il est possible de promouvoir un dialogue judiciaire plus vigoureux entre les organes qui appliquent la CDPH et les tribunaux nationaux des deux pays. 

scholarly journals Lawyers With Disabilities: L’Handicape C’est Nous

2008 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
The United States ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
American Federation ◽  
Brown Decision ◽  
Physically Handicapped ◽  
Rights Issue

For having helped to make disability a twentieth-century civil rights issue in the United States, our profession deserves much credit. Lawyers have written, codified, and enforced several progressive initiatives. Inspired by the struggle for racial justice through law that culminated in Brown v. Board of Education, the disability rights movement was itself a civil rights inspiration even before the Brown decision, earning important early legislative advances for rehabilitation, vocational training, and integration of disabled persons in public life. The first national organization to focus on disability as such rather than one particular condition, the American Federation of the Physically Handicapped, took an early interest in fostering legal change and lobbied for employment-discrimination laws and new statutes to advance the interests of disabled Americans. The Rehabilitation Act of 19733 made federal law out of the radical yet sensible idea that societies construct disability at least as much as they reflect it and that prejudices and stereotypes, which are as potent as purely medical or anatomical facts, impede persons with disabilities.

scholarly journals Disability Rights in Botswana: Perspectives of Individuals With Disabilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-56
Author(s):  
Sourav Mukhopadhyay ◽  
Emmanuel Moswela
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Individuals With Disabilities ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Information Barriers ◽  
Transport Barriers ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The Government ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Access Services

Even though the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (UN-CRPD) 2006 has been in existence for the last 10 years, the Government of Botswana has not ratified the convention. As a result, individuals with disabilities (IWDs) fail to access services and are at the mercy of the service providers. This qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with 30 IWDs about their experiences related to disability rights. Analysis of the data indicated that IWDs face several challenges in exercising their basic rights; these challenges being (a) stigmatization, (b) infrastructural barriers, (c) transport barriers, and (d) information barriers. Findings suggested that awareness of disability rights among IWDs, caregivers, and the general public was generally low. As a result, many IWDs were not aware of their rights and therefore could not exercise their rights fully.

Disability Rights

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Findley
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Community Mental Health Centers ◽  
Individuals With Disabilities ◽  
Disabilities Education Act ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Mental Health Centers ◽  
Definition Of

The role of disability rights has developed and evolved over the course of the United States’ history. The definition of disability has broadened as well as the pursuit for equal treatment, inclusion, and more accessible environments. Key pieces of legislation such as the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act demonstrate a course of steps toward these more empowering themes of independence for those with disabilities. Disability advocates are strong in their message of “nothing about us, without us.” The disability rights movement helped to propel culture shifts and has promoted inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Despite the intention of disability policy to move the nation to more accessible, inclusive, and less discriminatory environments, more work is still needed to support the rights of those with disabilities.

scholarly journals THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY: EXAMINING OUTCOMES OF TECHNOLOGY USE AMONG OLDER ADULTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S194-S194
Author(s):  
Shelia Cotten ◽  
Shelia R Cotten ◽  
Travis Kadylak
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Mobile Phone Use ◽  
Ict Use ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Nationally Representative

Abstract Older adults are increasingly using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to communicate with social ties, gather information to make decisions, and for entertainment purposes. Research is increasingly showing that using ICTs has a range of potential benefits for older adults. However, less research examines the potential negative outcomes of ICT use for older adults. Data from a nationally representative sample of older adults in the United States is used to examine positive and negative outcomes of ICT use. Traditional well-being and social connection outcomes are examined as well as new stressors associated with mobile phone use. Our findings suggest that ICT use has varying effects on older adults, depending upon the type, level, and purposes of use. Implications are discussed for entities seeking to encourage ICT use to enhance health and quality of life among older adults.

Disability, human rights, and social justice: The ongoing struggle for online accessibility and equality

First Monday ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul T. Jaeger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Professional Standards ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Technical Issue ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Local Levels

This paper argues for a reconsideration of the arguments made for online equality for persons with disabilities, using the context of the United States as a primary lens through which to examine the issues. By linking the existing legal protections and professional standards for accessible design to structures and institutions of human rights and social justice from international to local levels, advocates for an accessible online environment will have new opportunities to establish online equality for persons with disabilities within the broader continuum of human rights and social justice. Framing and discussing accessibility as a human issue as much as a legal and technical issue may bring significant changes to the current relationships between disability and the Internet.

scholarly journals Somewhere between Jim Crow & Post-Racialism: Reflections on the Racial Divide in America Today

Daedalus ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence D. Bobo
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Voting Rights Act ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
Racial Divide

In 1965, when Dædalus published two issues on “The Negro American,” civil rights in the United States had experienced a series of triumphs and setbacks. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 extended basic citizenship rights to African Americans, and there was hope for further positive change. Yet 1965 also saw violent confrontations in Selma, Alabama, and the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles that were fueled by racial tensions. Against this backdrop of progress and retreat, the contributors to the Dædalus volumes of the mid-1960s considered how socioeconomic factors affected the prosperity, well-being, and social standing of African Americans. Guest editor Lawrence D. Bobo suggests that today we inhabit a similarly unsettled place: situated somewhere between the overt discrimination of Jim Crow and the aspiration of full racial equality. In his introduction, Bobo paints a broad picture of the racial terrain in America today before turning the volume over to the contributors, who take up particular questions ranging from education and family support, to racial identity and politics, to employment and immigration.

scholarly journals Orange is the New Asylum: Incarceration of Individuals with Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Becky Crowe ◽  
Christine Drew
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
The United States ◽  
Advocacy Groups ◽  
Access To Services ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Individuals With Disabilities ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Behavior Analysts ◽  
Civil Rights Movements ◽  
History Of

Individuals with disabilities and/or mental health concerns were historically removed from society and placed in institutions and asylums. Advocacy groups, drawing on civil rights movements, protested and lobbied for deinstitutionalization and increased inclusion of disabled individuals in schools and communities (Chapman et al., 2014). Although disabled individuals have more rights and access than ever before, they are still segregated in schools, encounter the judicial system more often, and are murdered by police (Reingle Gonzalez et al., 2016). We examine the history of and ongoing incarceration of individuals with differences in the United States through analyzing contextual variables as well as systemic inequities, including school-to-prison-pipeline, access to services, and prison infrastructure. We offer resources and actionable ways for behavior analysts to begin antiracist and anti-disableist work, apply principles of behavior analysis to address personal and systemic racism, and engage in advocacy toward a more just and equitable future for all.

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