New England ADA Center
June Newsletter

ADA Question of the Month - Do You Know the Answer?
Question : Are state and local government websites required to be accessible?

The answer is at the end of the newsletter.

IHCD Lunch & Learn: Join Us for a Screening of Healing Voices
Healing Voices Movie Poster PJ Moynihan of Digital Eyes Film, Director/Producer of the award-winning social action documentary HEALING VOICES, will share excerpts from the film and lead a discussion about a topic that for so long we have been socialized to be frightened of: mental illness.

Date: June 28, 2017
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Where: Institute for Human Centered Design
RSVP Anytime and to request an accommodation contact Maggie Austen or call (617) 695-1225 x235 by June 5th. 

Read more.


Submit a Nominee for the 2017 New Hampshire Governor's Accessibility Awards
New Hampshire Governors Commission on Disability The New Hampshire Governor's Accessibility Awards celebrate the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by recognizing organizations and individuals who go beyond the requirements of the ADA to enhance the lives of people with disabilities.
 

ADA 27th Anniversary Events Around New England
Dunn State Park Massachusetts Statewide Independent Living Council invites you and your family to celebrate the passage of the ADA at Dunn Pond State Park

Date: July 21, 2017
Time: 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Where: Dunn Pond State Park 289 Pearl St. Gardner, MA
RSVP online, email Sadie@masilc.org or at 508-370-3299

City of Boston Seal Boston Mayor's Commission for Persons with Disabilities presents ADA Celebration Day

DateTuesday, July 25, 2017 
Time : 12 noon - 2 p.m.
Where : Boston City Hall Plaza

ADA 27Celebrate the 27th Anniversary of the ADA!
Wednesday, July 26th 3:00 - 4:30 PM
At the Institute for Human Centered Design
A red carpet event to celebrate the anniversary of the ADA on July 26th! This event will mark the release of new Public Service Announcements (PSAs) produced in partnership with Digital Eyes Film. The PSAs are part of a larger campaign from the Institute for Human Centered Design's New England ADA Center aiming to reframe our understanding of disability in the context of changing demographic patterns inherent to New England.

Date: Wednesday, July 26th, 2017
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Where: Institute for Human Centered Design, 200 Portland St. Boston, MA
RSVP: Contact Stacy Hart at shart@IHCDesign.org or call 800.949.4232
Request an Accommodation: Contact Stacy Hart by July 12th

Read more!

Online Now! The ADA Title II Action Guide for State and Local Governments!
ADA Title II Action Guide for State and Local Governments - 7 Steps to  Implement the ADA Graphic State and local governments (public entities) have obligations under Title II of the ADA to provide people with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in all services, programs and activities. 
 
The ADA Title II Action Guide leads public entities through a process to compliance with the ADA.

Service Animals the Focus of Two Human Rights Commission Cases in Vermont
Service Dog The rights of people with service animals are at the center of two recent Human Rights Commission cases in Vermont.

In one case, a Stowe hotel discriminated against a woman by refusing to honor her reservation unless she paid a pet fee to have her service dog. In a separate case, a man was asked to leave a Montpelier deli because of his service dog.


Photo: Creative Commons, photo by Linda Shannon Morgan.

News From Outside New England
Facebook Live Adds Closed Captioning for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Facebook Live Facebook is bringing closed captioning to Facebook, making some of the videos streamed live accessible to people who are deaf and hard of hearing. If publishers deploy captions, and if Facebook users turn them on, Facebook users will automatically see closed captions on Live broadcasts.


'Speechless' Creator Calls for Casting More Actors With Disabilities at TV Academy Honors 
Television Academy Logo Scott Silveri, the creator of the award-winning television show "Speechless," stated, "The number of Americans with disabilities is a lot, people on TV with disabilities is not a lot, and the number of those people portrayed by actual performers with disabilities is like next to none."

Read the full story.

Answer to the ADA Question of the Month

Answer: The Department of Justice considers websites to be an integral aspect of how Title II entities interact with their citizens and the public and therefore they need to be accessible. Until we have ADA Standards for accessible information technology, the Department recommends compliance with the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0.

Read more about website accessibility!
 
To learn more about the obligations of state and local governments (public entities) under the ADA, visit the ADA Title II Action Guide for State and Local Governments. It is a free and available 24/7.

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New England ADA Center, a project of the Institute for Human Centered Design