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It's been 30 years since the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted. Signed into law on July 26, 1990, the ADA is our nation's most comprehensive disability rights law, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in areas including employment, transportation, communication, and access to government programs and services. This three-hour block of diverse programming celebrates the 30th anniversary of this critically important civil rights law with diverse programming including universal design, communication, employment, recreation, and more. Presented in collaboration with TVW, and King County TV.

NOTE: Scroll down past the descriptions for bookmarks to each segment.

Karen Braitmayer presents ADA

A Blessing All My Own (Rooted in Rights): For National Poetry Month, Rooted in Rights is excited to share "A Blessing All My Own," a poetry collaboration between Claudia Castro Luna and Angela Lemus-Mogrovejo.

Bottom Dollars (Rooted in Rights): "How would you like to work for two weeks, and come out with a $6 check?" That's the reality for almost 250,000 Americans with disabilities who are paid below the minimum wage. Bottom Dollars exposes this exploitative system and offers solutions to end segregation and discrimination against workers with disabilities.

Breaking down barriers with Supported Employment - Janet Mejie: King County's Supported Employment Program matches job seekers with developmental disabilities to jobs by identifying efficiencies and unmet needs throughout King County government. Janet Mejie recently started working in Transit Safety & Training section. "It's made us more efficient and more effective as a safety staff in general in the Safety office to have this type of backing and support from Janet," said Michael Marks, Superintendent Transit Safety.  

Supported Employment in Transit - Brandon Sims: King County's Supported Employment Program matches job seekers with developmental disabilities to jobs by identifying efficiencies and unmet needs throughout King County government. Brandon Sims started working with the Transit in July of 2018 to provide support around the shop as well as detail non-revenue vehicles, all none bus vehicles utilized in Transit. "Brandon has done very well... You tell him what you need done and he goes to it," stated David (Tom) Personius, Vehicle Maintenance Chief.    

Serving People with Disabilities

Community Stories: Cyrus Habib - From Braille to Yale: The experience of losing his eyesight to cancer at age 8 led Cyrus Habib on a path to help others. Elected lieutenant governor of  Washington in 2016 at the age of 35, Habib is both the first and only Iranian-American official to hold statewide elected office in the United States. The Rhodes Scholar and Yale Law grad shares his personal journey to public service.

Accessible Online Meetings

Audio Description Video (Rooted in Rights): Have you heard of this hack to make your videos accessible for blind and low vision social media users? Watch this video to learn how to Audio Describe.  

Alt Text (Rooted in Rights): Alt Text provides people who are blind and low vision access to online visual information. Learn how to become a pro in just 60 seconds! 

Alt Text and Audio Description with Cindy (Rooted in Rights): Imagine being left out of millions of conversations all across the internet. This is what happens to blind and low vision people when content on social media isn't described. Cindy shared her experience with inaccessible content with us, and her thoughts on how to create more inclusion in the digital realm.  

Transcripts (Rooted in Rights): Hey fellow media makers! Transcripts make videos accessible for many people, and without them, lots of folks are unable to enjoy your content. Watch this tutorial on how to do a transcript so you can make media for everyone!

Transcripts with Debra (Rooted in Rights): Why should you describe? As part of our #WhyDescribe campaign, Debra talks transcripts and why they're so important - especially to those who are D/deafblind.

Captions (Rooted in Rights): Want to learn some tricks and tips for making captions for your social videos? Watch this video! #AccessibilityIsCool

CityStream: Braille Challenge: The Braille Challenge is a competition for visually impaired students in Seattle and around the country to show off their braille literacy. It tests skill levels in categories ranging from braille speed to spelling to reading comprehension. Along the way, it builds community for kids and parents.

Mental Voices Africa and Rooted In Rights - Noela (Rooted in Rights): Why talk about Mental Health? Noela Luka is a documentary filmmaker from Kenya working with Rooted in Rights as part of the International Professional Fellows Program for Inclusive Disability Employment (PFP-IDE). 

Mental Voices Africa and Rooted In Rights  - Brian (Rooted in Rights): Brian Emmanuel Mbuthia created an online open forum on Mental Health called The Stronger Forum. Here he engages especially with young adults and invites teachers, parents and caregivers as part of creating conversations around Mental Health that he has been able to set up with the help of his psychologist. 

Parenting Without Pity (Rooted in Rights): #ParentingWithoutPity is a storytelling project where disabled parents offer compassionate and frank advice and guidance to non-disabled parents of disabled children. 

CityStream: Seattle Slam Wheelchair Rugby: They go all out, punishing the competition in the fast-moving, full-contact game of rugby. Wheelchair rugby. For Jeremy Hannaford, coach and player for the Seattle Slam, this is much more than a game. It gives him an outlet, provides him with some independence, and reminds him that his disability does not determine his every move.

Don't Snow Us In (Rooted in Rights): The Seattle Department of Transportation and Rooted in Rights partnered to create a video highlighting the importance of clearing snow and ice from sidewalks.

Don't Block the Box (Rooted in Rights): Did you know, according to a study by Georgetown University, wheelchair users are 33 percent more likely to be killed by drivers than other pedestrians? When drivers block the box, it makes the streets more dangerous for everyone.

Karen Braitmayer presents Universal Design

CityStream: Universal Design & Aging in Place: As the population ages, some opt to "age in place." While this may require some home modifications to increase accessibility, a few simple adjustments and alterations using Universal Design principles can lead to big benefits.