Good Thursday morning.
Do you ever stop to ponder about life without the internet? Some of us are old enough to actually remember a time when every piece of information in the world – along with reams of misinformation – wasn’t available at the few clicks or swipes.
We actually used books to look things up. It was a very laborious, but rewarding, process, as I recall. Though, not terribly unlike today, the quality of your research depended on the veracity of your source. The number of times my dad sent me to the dictionary or encyclopedia to check some arcane fact or how to spell a particular word I can’t event count. Does anyone even keep these sort of reference books in their home anymore?
So, we all agree that the internet is amazing and also sometimes deeply frustrating. There is nothing so infuriating as trying to access something for which the link doesn’t work, or the page is no longer found. I don’t know about you, but while this happens to me from time to time, it doesn’t happen all that much.
Imagine if it happened every single day – even every hour – how annoyed would you be?
This is the case for individuals living with disabilities, as an estimated 98 percent of U.S.-based websites fail to comply with legal accessibility guidelines, according to the 2020 Web Accessibility Annual Report. That report was compiled by the accessiBe initiative. which analyzed more than 10 million webpages, which sounds like a lot, but actually is a relatively small fraction of the more than 1 billion existing internet sites, some 200 million of which are active.
With approximately 250,000 new sites emerging every single day, and the ever increasing shift of daily activities online – everything from banking and education to healthcare and work – the difficulties are mounting for individuals who struggle with accessibility.
For the record, websites are indeed required to be accessible, as per the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and the DOJ – especially those that are maintained by businesses open to the public and/or state and local governments. That means sites should be designed so those with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, or neurological disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, interact with, and contribute to the web content.
However, due to the aforementioned sheer volume of sites on the internet, it is nearly impossible to police them all. So holding site owners accountable usually falls to the individuals with disabilities themselves and/or organizations that advocate on their behalf. It is possible for sites that fail to comply to face legal challenges alleging discrimination.
There are a series of best practices to ensure your website is accessible and complies with legal requirements. These include but are not limited to: ensuring there’s “alt text” on images and captions on videos, using contrasting colors so individuals with color blindness can tell the difference between text and background, not relying on mouse-only site navigation, and providing clear instructions for filling out and submitting online forms.
Today is the 14th anniversary of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which was founded to raise awareness about the need for digital access and inclusion to the benefit of the more than 1 billion individuals living with disabilities and/or impairments around the world.
It will be cloudy today with a slight chance of rain showers. Temperatures will reach highs in the mid-70s.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump is set to travel today from Qatar to the United Arab Emirates, the final leg of a Middle East tour that has so far yielded a major diplomatic breakthrough with Syria and multibillion-dollar deals for U.S. firms.
When Trump declared from the stage of an opulent ballroom in Saudi Arabia that the US was done nation-building and intervening, that the world’s superpower would no longer be “giving you lectures on how to live,” his audience erupted in applause.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted making a “mistake” in slashing the health program that serves Sept. 11 first responders, but dodged questions about whether he would return it to full staffing.
RFK Jr. told Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, that firing many staffers at the World Trade Center Health Program was an error made as the incoming Trump administration sought to make deep across-the-board cuts to spending.
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen was removed from the committee hearing where Kennedy Jr. was testifying for protesting.
“I told Congress they’re killing poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs, and they’re paying for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid in the US. This was the authorities’ response,” Cohen said in a post on the social media platform X.
Kennedy Jr. said he is rescinding the terminations of about 330 employees of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
The Environmental Protection Agency is narrowing and delaying its drinking water regulations for toxic “forever chemicals.”
Former White House chief of staff and Democratic politician Rahm Emanuel teased a potential presidential bid on ABC’s “The View”
Overdose deaths in the United States fell by nearly 30,000 last year, the government reported on Wednesday, the strongest sign yet that the country is making progress against one of its deadliest, most intractable public health crises.
The data, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the latest in a series of reports over the past year offering hints that the drug-related death toll that has gutted families and communities could be starting to ease.
House Republicans pushed forward with major legislation to deliver Trump’s domestic agenda, moving over the opposition of Democrats to advance cuts to taxes, Medicaid and food assistance after slogging through all-night and all-day drafting sessions.
Cheers broke out as Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee signed off on the GOP tax breaks bill after a grueling round-the-clock session that pushed Trump’s package past overwhelming Democratic opposition. But there’s still more work to do.
Republican members of New York’s congressional delegation have split over a deal to increase a tax deduction – the latest step in an intra-party dispute that could stall Trump’s fiscal agenda.
Almost all of the new tax cuts that Republicans have included in the bill, which could evolve over the coming weeks, will last only until the end of 2028, just days before Trump is set to leave office.
House Republicans, mostly from New York, have gone to war with party leadership over their push to raise or abolish the $10,000 cap on the so-called SALT deduction.
New York will soon be sending inflation refund checks to eligible residents. They’re expected to hit the mail this fall. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the details of the plan yesterday, calling the idea “profoundly simple, but so impactful.”
“This is basically one-time non-recurring money, so I can’t use this to make up for Medicaid cuts or education cuts or anything else,” Hochul said. “What’s the number one issue on people’s minds? It’s affordability.”
Roughly 8.2 million households are slated to qualify for the relief payments as part of the $254 billion budget plan. The direct payments of up to $400 will start going out to 8.2 million eligible tax filers starting in October and will continue through November.
Some State University of New York campuses will escape an unpopular transit tax under the $254 billion budget that was passed by the Legislature last week.
The homicide of Robert L. Brooks, who died after being severely beaten by correction officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in December, could spur an overhaul of the state’s prison system by the state Legislature.
A correctional officer indicted in the fatal beating of an inmate at Marcy admitted in court yesterday that he cleaned up the scene after the brutal assault in an attempt to conceal evidence.
The commissioner of New York’s state prison system told a joint legislative panel that leaders of the recent correction officer strike used the “threat of force” to keep fellow officers from returning to their jobs, earning a lifetime ban from state employment.
New York may close more prisons as state officials continue to grapple with a severe staffing shortage that was worsened by the firing of 2,000 striking correction officers in March.
Hochul should ramp up New York enforcement against illegal-flavored cigarettes and vapes coming from China that end up in the hands of New York’s teens, a rival Democrat, Rep. Ritchie Torres, said.
New York is suing the banking giant Capital One over what the state is calling bait-and-switch messaging that ultimately cost New Yorkers millions of dollars.
Irate state Republicans want to bottle up a sneaky $10 million “slush fund” that could be used to pay Attorney General Letitia James’ legal bills as she faces a criminal probe.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has seen some momentum behind her mayoral bid lately. But even amid those positive signs, the speaker hasn’t unlocked any public matching funds.
Hoping to boost her candidacy, Speaker Adams today releases a detailed plan to address public safety, vowing to fill the more than 2,400 vacancies in the Police Department in her first eight months in office.
Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa called Eric Adams the “Trump candidate.”
Eric Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander, who is angling to be the next mayor, traded barbs over who was doing more to protect Jews amid rising antisemitism.
A guerrilla ad campaign targeting disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and embattled Mayor Adams is sweeping across Brooklyn, one bus stop at a time.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio will pay $330,000 in restitution and fines for violating city rules by using his NYPD detail during his long-shot 2020 presidential bid — the largest settlement in the history of New York City’s Conflicts of Interest Board.
The settlement struck yesterday with the Conflict of Interest Board also wrangled an apology from de Blasio, who has stubbornly insisted for years he was in danger – and thus needed taxpayer-funded security – during his 2019 vanity run for president.
Anthony Saccavino, a Fire Department chief convicted in a scheme to fast-track building inspections in return for bribes, was sentenced to three years behind bars.
The court orders that allowed the city sheriff to seal illegal cannabis businesses with padlocks for one year have begun to expire, requiring the city to remove the locks, and raising the possibility that illicit stores could reopen and overwhelm legal operators.
At the news conference Adams took a shot at Cuomo, who is his most formidable opponent as he seeks re-election and signed the cannabis legalization law. “I had to clean up a lot of the stuff that the former governor did”, Adams insisted.
Former US Rep. Jamaal Bowman endorsed democratic socialist and Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in the race for mayor, but critics bashed the candidate for embracing the controversial ex-“Squad” member.
Grand Central Madison was buzzing yesterday as 54 musicians and groups auditioned for a chance to join the MTA’s Music Under New York program, now celebrating its 35th year.
When Sean Combs was losing his grip on Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, he beat her so savagely his own security guards were brought to tears and threatened to publicly release humiliating footage of her having sex with strangers, a Manhattan jury heard yesterday.
Ventura testified yesterday that Combs raped her in 2018, was frequently physically abusive to her and others, and blackmailed her by threatening to release explicit videos that would have damaged her career. She will be cross-examined by the defense today.
Ventura revealed that she received a $20 million settlement in her bombshell 2023 lawsuit against Combs, which opened the floodgates of claims against the hip-hop mogul.
Thousands of Wall Street big shots crowded into the Javits Center for the annual Robin Hood gala. Robin Hood is one of New York’s largest anti-poverty groups, and its yearly fund-raiser lures the city’s deepest pockets for a night that results in millions in grants.
Michael Dowling, the CEO who helped transform Northwell Health into the state’s largest health system and led it through the COVID-19 pandemic, is stepping down after 23 years at the helm.
According to new data from the National Association of Realtors, Monroe County ranked fifth nationwide in March for market “hotness,” a measure that blends buyer demand with housing supply indicators, such as time on market and online listing activity.
Liz Bishop is retiring after more than 50 years in Capital Region journalism. CBS6 Albany made the announcement yesterday afternoon.
Bishop is one of the longest-running anchors on TV news, being just eight years behind the record holder. That honor goes to Don Alhart, a Rochester-based TV anchor who retired from WHAM, an ABC affiliate, in June of 2024.
Department of General Services Commissioner Sergio Panunzio and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan announced two expansions of the city’s composting program at a news conference at DGS headquarters in Albany.
The now 17-year-old “on-again, off-again” boyfriend of Samantha Humphrey has been charged with second-degree murder for allegedly strangling the teenager and dumping her body in the Mohawk River.
KIPP Albany Community Charter School and its middle school closed yesterday after a frighteningly specific threat was made on social media Tuesday night. Three other local schools closed for similar reasons.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
