An Americans with Disabilities Act anniversary – and the work that remains to be done

Rafuse, who was also an administrative judge for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has muscular dystrophy and uses a power wheelchair.

'The ADA was a law that opened doors for me - literally - creating ramps up to those doors so that I could access things like employment, reasonable accommodations, going to a restaurant,' she says.

A lack of equity in the areas of technology, employment and education is known as the 'disability divide,' a term used by The World Bank.

To help bridge that divide, Microsoft recently started a pilot program as part of its Airband Initiative in Los Angeles and New York City for people with disabilities that offers a bundle of services - hardware, software, broadband internet - at low-cost financing. Microsoft is also exploring how it can better support nonprofits that focus on people with disabilities and accessibility issues, Rafuse says.

'We've got to get more technology into people's hands and educate people on the power of accessibility,' says Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Microsoft chief accessibility officer. 'Digital accessibility has accelerated in the last five years, there is so much now built into software like Windows and Office.'

Another Microsoft effort will be a low-cost assistive technology grant program. 'Some people have coined the term 'disability tax,' because it can be so much more expensive to be a person with a disability,' Rafuse says. For example, her wheelchair and van to transport the wheelchair totals more than $100,000.

'All of these costs that people with disabilities experience are contributing to a disability tax,' she says.

To ease the burden, Victor Calise, commissioner of the New York City Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, thinks it's important for cities to 'go above and beyond the ADA in many respects.'

Like in New York City, where he says the city's building code and Human Rights Law exceeds federal requirements and has written inclusive design and inclusive recreation guidelines to provide technical assistance to designers that help them meet and exceed their ADA requirements.

The city is also working to make websites and digital platforms accessible to people who use screen readers; that accessible pedestrian signals are included on many streets; induction loop systems for people with hearing difficulties are in place in many taxis and city projects; and LinkNYC kiosks, which provide free phone calls, Wi-Fi and device charging, also have accessibility features including access to American Sign Language interpreting.

'A truly inclusive 'smart city' will ensure that all technology includes the needs of the disability community from the very beginning of the design process,' says Calise, who has used a wheelchair since a mountain biking accident in 1994 left him paralyzed from the waist down.

'If people with disabilities are not seen, they are not heard and if they are not heard they are not seen,' he says. 'It is important for accessibility to be discussed in the mainstream at all levels of discourse. People with disabilities are the largest minority in the U.S. and the world, and we need to be included in all aspects of society.'

Top photo: Angela Winfield, speaking at Cornell University. Photo credit: Jason Koski/Cornell University

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