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How are Workplaces Supporting Canadian Workers With Disabilities?

November 28, 2021

This is the weekly Careers newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web or someone forwarded this e-mail newsletter to you, you can sign up for Globe Careers and all Globe newsletters at the link below. Radhika Panjwani is a former journalist from Toronto and a blogger.

Underneath the veneer of her successes and accomplishments in Canada’s charitable sector, Wanda Deschamps struggled to make sense of the duality she experienced at work where she says she was both “highly praised and harshly admonished.”

Ms. Deschamps says she was often misunderstood because she lacked the intuitive ability to interpret her colleagues’ non-verbal social cues. Even though she was highly intelligent and competent, she could come across as blunt.

How are Workplaces Supporting Canadian Workers With Disabilities? full article

CERB and CRB Discriminated Against Canadians With Disabilities, New Charter Challenge Claims The Star

Unlike other income replacement programs like parental or maternal benefits, the Canadian Pension Plan Disability benefit did not count toward the $5,000 threshold to qualify for CERB and CRB. By Rosa SabaBusiness
Toronto Star, Nov. 26, 2021

A worker with a disability has launched a challenge under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, claiming that the federal government’s COVID-19 relief programs for workers discriminated against workers with disabilities.

Valerie Jacob hopes this challenge could bring long-overdue recognition to the value of workers with disabilities and the many structural and cultural barriers they face in seeking and maintaining employment.

CERB and CRB Discriminated Against Canadians With Disabilities, New Charter Challenge Claims The Star full article

N.S. Singer ‘Making a Connection’ with Audio Described Music Video, Accessible Show

Christina Martin worked with a consulting company to make her music accessible to all Haley Ryan, CBC News
Posted: Nov 24, 2021

Hit play on Christina Martin’s latest music video and you’ll hear an unfamiliar voice.

Instead of the Nova Scotia singer’s vocals, an audio description begins for those who are visually impaired, describing Martin’s wavy blond hair, black dress and a shadowy setting in a historic house before the music kicks in.

The move is one way Martin is working to bring accessibility into her music, website and live shows, including one planned for Saturday afternoon at the Presbyterian Church of Saint David in Halifax.

N.S. Singer ‘Making a Connection’ with Audio Described Music Video, Accessible Show full article

For People With Disabilities, Transportation is Getting More Expensive – If It’s Available at All

Alisha Dicks, CBC News
Posted: Nov 18, 2021

Living with a disability can sometimes be frustrating, expensive and isolating. But, as the CBC’s Alisha Dicks knows, it’s so much more than that. Her disability has taught her to think creatively and look at things from a different perspective. In her new series, Access with Alisha, she gives us a look into her life and helps break down barriers for others.

Recent record high gas prices are hitting people across Newfoundland and Labrador right in their bank accounts, but for people with disabilities, especially outside St. John’s, the cost of transportation is even higher – and sometimes there’s no access to transportation at all.

For People With Disabilities, Transportation is Getting More Expensive – If It’s Available at All full article

Throne Speech Leaves Blind Canadians Behind Again

For Immediate Release
November 23, 2021

Ottawa–“While the members of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians / l’Alliance pour l’Ãgalité des Personnes Aveugles du Canada (AEBC) support such issues as continuing to fight the pandemic, amendment of the Broadcasting Act, dealing with the climate emergency and giving greater priority to reconciliation for all indigenous peoples, we were dismayed that the 22% of Canadians who are blind or otherwise disabled received so little attention in today’s Speech From the Throne,” said Marcia Yale, National President of the AEBC. “The fact that the Speech failed to address any of our substantive issues leaves me fearful that our community is being left behind once again,” added Yale.

Throne Speech Leaves Blind Canadians Behind Again full article

Some Young Adults With Disabilities are Stuck in Long-Term Care.

They say that’s discrimination.

Without proper support to live at home, they have no choice but to stay in “medical prison cells” By Meagan Gillmore
Broadview Magazine, November 15, 2021

Sometimes, the most exciting place Victoria Levack can go is her bedroom. The decorations testify to the 30-year-old’s interests and aspirations. A constellation of photos of her with celebrities at Hal-Con, Halifax’s annual comic convention, fills one section. Figurines of superheroes and Disney princesses surround the room. Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Wonder Woman are her favourites: strong, intelligent women, ready to protect others. They both reflect parts of Levack’s personality, too. She spends much of her time advocating for adults with disabilities, like her, to have equal access to opportunities, whether that’s sexual education or, most pressingly, housing.

Some Young Adults With Disabilities are Stuck in Long-Term Care. full article

MTA Completes $29M Upgrade to Brooklyn Museum Subway Station

NEWS RELEASE

Brooklyn, NY – Urbahn Architects and contractor Gramercy Group have completed an extensive renovation of the Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum subway station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line for MTA Construction & Development (MTA C&D).

This station, serving subway trains on routes 2 and 3, was identified in the MTA 2015-2019 Capital Plan as one of a group of key stations throughout the New York City subway system that would be made fully accessible in order to better serve riders.

Many of the existing stations were constructed up to 100 years ago and predate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

MTA Completes $29M Upgrade to Brooklyn Museum Subway Station full article

eSSENTIAL Accessibility Named a Fastest Growing Tech Company by Deloitte

eSSENTIAL Accessibility is the smarter way to digital accessibility and legal compliance. As the leading Accessibility-as-a-Service platform, it enables brands to empower people by helping them deliver inclusive web, mobile, and product experiences that comply with global regulations and ensure that people of all abilities have equal access. Learn more at https://www.essentialaccessibility.com. NEWS PROVIDED BY
eSSENTIAL Accessibility
Nov 17, 2021

Accessibility-as-a-Service leader recognized on Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and Fast 500 lists, attributes three-year revenue growth of over 420% to an increased need for inclusion in a digital-first world

eSSENTIAL Accessibility Named a Fastest Growing Tech Company by Deloitte full article

U.S. Justice Department Sues Uber for Allegedly Overcharging People With Disabilities

Christina Carrega
CNN
Published Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Customers with disabilities across the United States have been overcharged by Uber since 2016 for allegedly taking too long to load into their designated vehicle, according to a federal civil lawsuit the Justice Department filed on Wednesday.

Uber’s policies and practices of charging “wait time” fees for disabled passengers and potential passengers violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the lawsuit filed with the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

U.S. Justice Department Sues Uber for Allegedly Overcharging People With Disabilities full article

Memorial University has an Accessibility Problem, Say Students

Broken elevators and other challenges can hinder the academic experiences of students with disabilities Darrell Roberts, CBC News
Posted: Nov 16, 2021

As tuition rises and government cuts continue, Memorial University students with disabilities say accessibility is being left out of the equation.

CBC News talked to multiple current and former students who say Newfoundland and Labrador’s only university has significant barriers that hinder the learning experiences of students with disabilities.

Those barriers include infrastructure issues like broken elevators and doors that don’t open automatically, and broader issues like an overextended disability resource centre and difficulties getting accommodations.

Memorial University has an Accessibility Problem, Say Students full article