$240,000 USD verdict for blind students (SBLTN Lab Notes 048)
Blind students win accessibility lawsuit against community college, prosthetics for Black amputees, Arabic Design Archive, India’s street lettering and signage
IN THE MARGINS
“Gentle Reminders” card of the week (the one that I pulled)
You can find more clarity by moving through the fog, rather than moving around it.
“This daily oracle deck by artist & writer Barry Lee is all about emotional self-care. It’s not meant to tell you what to do, but to help you connect with your own inner knowing—to gently bring you back to your own center every day, and to add a little slice of tranquility & joy to your day. No matter what’s going on, you deserve to be reminded you are worthy of love and tender moments of comfort, beauty, and whimsy.”
Purchase the deck | Creator: Barry Lee (@barryleeart Instagram)
ACCESSIBILITY
$240,000.00 Jury Verdict in Blind Students’ Accessibility Lawsuit against Community College
Earlier this year I mentioned how the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) ruled that the online content for University of California, Berkeley was inaccessible. I was hopeful that a legal action like this would mean more regulation for institutions of higher education that aren't compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
That hope seems to be seeing the light of day. Students are also in the fight for accessibility.
On May 26, 2023 a jury in Los Angeles, California, USA awarded two blind students a little over $240,000.00 USD in their lawsuit against the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). The 2 students and National Federation of the Blind claimed LACCD’s courses were not accessible to blind students who used screen readers. The students, with the help of the NFB and their lawyers, had already won in two courts before this jury trial. The Community College District threatened to go to the US Supreme Court. Disability community advocacy convinced the District to abandon its attempt to go to the highest court in the country. (Source)
What’s next? Now the judge will be deciding other issues, including the scope of a court order that will (finally) ensure that blind students of LACCD are able to fully participate in the school’s courses.
“We are grateful that the jury held LACCD accountable for failing to provide an equal educational opportunity to blind students. We hope other institutions of higher learning will take heed: failing to ensure accessibility — including by maintaining inaccessible websites and educational resources—is unlawful discrimination.”
Jessie Weber, a partner at Brown Goldstein & Levy and co-leader of the legal team
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Inclusive prosthetics for Black amputees
John Amanam is a skilled sculptor from Nigeria who specializes in creating prosthetics for Black amputees with a focus on dark skin color. He holds a degree in Fine and Industrial Arts from the University of Uyo and is the first person from Akwa Ibom state to produce hyper-realistic prosthetics.
I was hesitant to share photos of the actual prosthetics because of my personal reaction. So, to not harm anyone else, you can check them out over at John’s Instagram (@)john_amanam or the company’s Instagram (@)immortal_cosmetic_art.
The hyper-realistic style was a bit… jarring at first, tbh. I don’t know how to put it into words other than that immediate thoughts of slavery and objectification came to mind. Something about seeing Black body parts in isolation like that... Which is odd considering I’ve seen large scale hyper-realistic art in museums before and if anything, that just felt weird or creepy but not as visceral as this felt.
Anyways… What I think is so beautiful about this is how seen and cared for the amputees may feel. The medical system in the U.S. is geared toward, and based on, white people. From the research to treatments, BIPOC are often dismissed, overlooked, or flat out disregarded. Medical textbooks rarely have examples of skin cancer on darker skin tones. Black women are in a constant fight for their physical pain to be seen as legit. Medical products “off the shelf” usually don’t accommodate different skin tones and therefore can cost more for darker skin people to even get access to customization - assuming insurance would even help cover this as it can be classified as ‘cosmetic’. It can be traumatizing dealing with the medical system. I can’t imagine all that on top of coping with healing physically from the amputation itself as well as the mental and emotional toll of adapting to your new life and identity.
ART & DESIGN
Arabic Design Archive
The Arabic Design Archive (ADA) is a research project that aims to archive modern Arabic graphic design from the early 30's to mid 90's. ADA is a non-profit initiative that seeks to enable knowledge production about Arabic design and its history through a framework of collecting, digitizing, and displaying. ADA aims to provide an open and accessible platform for graphic items to the public to counter the parallel, inaccessible, and non-existent physical archive of the second half of the 20th century.
India Street Lettering
After watching a short doc about political posters in Mumbai, this next project was right up my alley! The “India Street Lettering” project documents street lettering and signage from India, including a map and photos that can be sorted by city, script, and material/technique. Check out their blog posts ranging from walking type tours to remnants of single-screen cinema signs in Delhi.
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Signing off from the Starship SBLTN,
Laneen (Pronouns: she/they)
HEARD IN THE HALLWAYS
And now, a word from 2 biz besties…
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