Marketplace Tech

The Americans with Disabilities Act turned 30 this summer, but this year also marks a decade since the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act was signed. That law sets federal rules for things like streaming video, mobile browsers and teleconferencing software. Regulators at the Federal Communications Commission are in charge of making sure people follow that law, and they get help from the FCC’s Disability Advisory Committee. Kimberly Adams speaks with Brian Scarpelli, co-chair of that group. He says tech has definitely outpaced the law.

The Americans with Disabilities Act turned 30 this summer, but this year also marks a decade since the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act was signed. That law sets federal rules for things like streaming video, mobile browsers and teleconferencing software. Regulators at the Federal Communications Commission are in charge of making sure people follow that law, and they get help from the FCC’s Disability Advisory Committee. Kimberly Adams speaks with Brian Scarpelli, co-chair of that group. He says tech has definitely outpaced the law.

This week we’re using the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act to talk about technology and accessibility. Kimberly Adams speaks with disability rights advocate Haben Girma, author of “Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law.” Girma created a communications system for herself while she was at Harvard and says, “Disabled people constantly have to come up with our own solutions.”

This week we’re using the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act to talk about technology and accessibility. Kimberly Adams speaks with disability rights advocate Haben Girma, author of “Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law.” Girma created a communications system for herself while she was at Harvard and says, “Disabled people constantly have to come up with our own solutions.”

Recently, we spent some time digging into just how crucial internet access is during the pandemic. But even if you have access to the internet, many parts of it are still not accessible. The Americans with Disabilities Act turns 30 years old this summer. A lot of the tech that makes things convenient for some can be game-changing for people with disabilities, such as screen readers that help visually impaired people read websites or software that lets us type with our voice. But some products that claim to help, actually make things worse. Nicolas Steenhout, a web accessibility consultant and trainer, said that’s partly because companies don’t always do a good job of consulting people with disabilities at every stage of development. He talks with Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams about the best way to create tech for everyone.

Late Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order, banning the social media app TikTok in 45 days. TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance and the administration says a Chinese company having access to Americans’ data is a national security threat. Trump also put a clock on WeChat, the popular Chinese texting app.  Kimberly Adams speaks with Shira Ovide, who covers technology at The New York Times, and she says this could have implications far beyond social media.

In July, federal Judge Esther Salas was deliberately targeted in her home in New Jersey. A gunman shot and killed her son and gravely wounded her husband. This week, Salas released a statement, speaking about how personal information, like her home address, was available online, making it easy for her attacker to find her. The judge called for better laws to protect the personal information of federal judges and their families, but the internet can make it relatively easy for anyone to track down the address, phone number and other personal details of people online, which can translate into real-life risk. So, what is the law surrounding our personal information online? Kimberly Adams speaks with Carrie Goldberg, a lawyer who leads a victims’ rights firm in New York.

With popular attention focused, at least for now, on racial justice, a new initiative wants to put more people of color in newsroom leadership by helping them start their own media companies. Kimberly Adams speaks with Erika Alexander, co-founder and chief creative officer of Color Farm Media. Many will know her as the character Maxine Shaw from the ’90s sitcom “Living Single.” Color Farm Media is partnering with Google to run a boot camp for entrepreneurs who want to launch digital news startups.

It’s Election Day in a half-dozen states, and another opportunity for election officials to sort out just how to run elections in a pandemic. As roughly 8,000 jurisdictions prepare for November, one concern is cybersecurity and if their systems can withstand any kind of hacking. Some of these folks don’t have the strongest security background, so they need training on setting up things like secure passwords and two-factor authentication. To help, the University of Chicago created a program called Election Cyber Surge to connect election officials with cybersecurity experts. Kimberly Adams speaks with Maya Worman, the executive director of the initiative.

Video games have become a huge release for lots of people, especially the many who are entering their sixth month of some sort of coronavirus lockdown. Sales of video games are up 26% from a year ago. But online harassment has been a problem in gaming for years, and in June, dozens of women accused streamers — people who broadcast their gaming on Twitch or YouTube — of sexual harassment, abuse or assault. Now, a longtime video game activist is launching a hotline for people who play games or work in the games industry to get support. Molly speaks with Anita Sarkeesian, the executive director of the nonprofit media site Feminist Frequency.