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by Jonathan Simeone
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- 3 weeks ago54 min
Our Experience with an Inaccessible Local Government Website
In this episode, Desiree and I discuss the issues we are facing because the child support web page run by the attorney general of Texas and documents required by the child support program are inaccessible to those of us with disabilities. When we recorded this episode, we were hopeful it would demonstrate why the Department of Justice’s rule on accessible web and mobile content shouldn’t be delayed or weakened. Sadly, since we recorded this episode, the Department of Justice has chosen to give state and local governments an additional year to comply with the rule.
- 3 weeks ago40 min
Advocating for Accessible Emergency Alerts
Disclaimer The information presented in any of the Demand Our Access podcast episodes, on the Demand Our Access website, or otherwise shared in conjunction with or through association with the Demand Our Access project is expressly not individual legal advice. Applying the law depends on the circumstances and events that comprise every situation. Since legal advice is fact-specific, nothing about the Demand Our Access project can provide an individual, a group of individuals, or any organization legal advice. Introduction In this episode, we will be continuing our look at emergency preparedness. Specifically, we are going to look at how we can advocate for emergency alerts that are accessible to those of us with disabilities. Questions and Comments I greatly appreciate your feedback. If you want to contact me about this episode, or about Demand Our Access in general, you can fill out the contact me form on the Demand Our Access website. If you prefer email, you can write me at Jonathan@DemandOurAccess.com. The Next Episode The next live episode of the Demand Our Access podcast will be on Saturday, April fourth at two Eastern. As of now, I don’t have a topic for that episode. If you have suggestions, let me know. Advocating for Accessible Emergency Alerts Introduction to Advocating for Accessible Emergency Alerts In continuing our look at the life-saving work of ensuring our state and local governments include those of us with disabilities in their emergency preparedness plans and operations, I thought I would demonstrate how we can advocate for accessible and inclusive emergency preparedness by working through a specific, narrow example. Since emergency alerts are the most important part of emergency preparedness because they warn us of pending emergencies, tell us what to expect, and tell us what we should do, it makes sense to focus this discussion on emergency alerts. If people find this episode helpful, I would be happy to continue this kind of work in future episodes. We could consider discussing advocating for accessible transportation during emergencies, sheltering, or something else. In order to help us better advocate for accessible emergency alerts, I will first briefly describe the basics of accessible emergency alerts. I will then set forth a series of four questions for us to consider. If there is time, we will work through a scenario. The Basics of Accessible Emergency Alerts When a government issues warnings or updates about wildfires, flooding, earthquakes, hurricanes, or warnings of an active shooter (I hated including that one), they are all examples of governments issuing emergency alerts to the public. As you will see, the accessibility of emergency alerts are governed by requirements placed on government and broadcasters by the Department of Justice (DOJ) through its ability to define compliance with Title II of the ADA, and by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) through its ability to regulate television and radio broadcasters. The Structure of Emergency Alert Systems The systems for providing emergency alerts are highly technical. In putting this episode together, I have only provided the information I believe we need to advocate for more accessible and inclusive emergency alerts. If you want to learn more about emergency alerts, I will link to sections of the Code of Federal Regulations when this episode is published to the Demand Our Access Website. Wireless Emergency Alerts Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are the alerts that appear directly on compatible mobile phones with a distinctive tone and vibration pattern. Wireless Emergency Alerts are used to transmit presidential alerts, imminent threat alerts, Amber alerts, and public safety messages. Wireless Emergency Alerts are regulated under 47 C.F.R. Part 10 by the Federal Communications Commission. WEA uses cell broadcast technology rather than traditional SMS messaging. That means one broadcast message is transmitted to all compatible devices within a defined geographic area. It does not depend on subscriber lists and does not require prior registration. WEA messages are limited to 360 characters. Originally, the limit was 90 characters. The FCC expanded the limit after concluding that the shorter format reduced clarity and created confusion. The 360-character limit app
- Mar 21, 202650 min
My Journey into Emergency Preparedness
This is a special episode of the Demand Our Access podcast. In this episode, I describe my journey with emergency preparedness for those of us with disabilities. I also describe my personal advocacy to ensure my local area has emergency preparedness plans and operations that are accessible to and inclusive of those of us with disabilities.
- Mar 10, 202654 min
Interviewing Erin Taylor From Upstream Access
This episode was a very special one in the history of the Demand Our Access podcast because it was the first time I was joined by a guest. Erin Taylor from Upstream Access joined me to discuss emergency preparedness for those of us with disabilities. I was thrilled to have Erin join me because she is one of the people doing the most to ensure those of us with disabilities are prepared when emergencies strike. Among other things, Erin and I discussed Person-Centered Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) a program developed in Australia and brought to America by Erin and Upstream Access. P-CEP is a program that certifies people in assisting disabled people in developing our individual emergency preparedness plans. Currently, I’m getting certified in P-CEP. If, after listening to the interview, I would appreciate your feedback on dedicating an episode to P-CEP.
- Jan 26, 202652 min
Emergency Preparedness With Scenarios
Disclaimer The information presented in any of the Demand Our Access podcast episodes, on the Demand Our Access website, or otherwise shared in conjunction with or through association with the Demand Our Access project is expressly not individual legal advice. Applying the law depends on the circumstances and events that comprise every situation. Since legal advice is fact-specific, nothing about the Demand Our Access project can provide an individual, a group of individuals, or any organization legal advice. Introduction In this episode, we will be discussing emergency preparedness for those of us with disabilities. Specifically, I will explain why emergency preparedness is the most important issue we could ever advocate for, review what state and local governments are required to do to ensure their emergency preparedness is accessible to and inclusive of those of us with disabilities. After the review, we will use scenarios to see how we can advocate with our state and local governments to work with them on making their emergency preparedness accessible to and inclusive of us. Questions and Comments I greatly appreciate your feedback. If you want to contact me about this episode, or about Demand Our Access in general, you can fill out the contact me form on the Demand Our Access website. If you prefer email, you can write me at Jonathan@DemandOurAccess.com. The Next Episode The next live episode of the Demand Our Access podcast will take place on Saturday, February seventh at two Eastern. I believe we will be continuing our look at emergency preparedness during that episode. We may even have a guest join us. I will keep you updated through the Demand Our Access website. Reviewing Accessible and Inclusive Emergency Preparedness Why This Really Matters Emergency preparedness is the most important issue we will advocate for with our state and local governments. Not being able to access web content matters. Not being able to apply for jobs matters. Not being able to enter buildings matters. Not having interpreters if you need them matters. Emergency preparedness is literally life or death. If we die in an emergency because our state and local government didn’t properly accommodate us, it won’t matter to us if a website is inaccessible, or if we can access a building. Since there are very few advocacy efforts addressing emergency preparedness, and because most state and local governments hardly comply with the ADA to begin with, the odds are extremely high that if a disaster took place in your community people with disabilities would die deaths that would have been preventable had your state and local government followed their legal requirements and ensured their emergency planning was accessible to and inclusive of those of us with disabilities. If we want to ensure we don’t die a preventable death when an emergency hits our communities, we must advocate with our governments for accessible and inclusive emergency planning and response. If you are one of those people who doesn’t believe government could or should have a role in your protection during an emergency, I want to ask you to consider what happens when an emergency requires you to evacuate your home and the government’s notice is inaccessible to you? What happens if you are required to evacuate but there is no accessible way for you to evacuate? What if you are required to evacuate to an inaccessible shelter? Issues like these and many more can and must be addressed by proper emergency preparedness on the part of our state and local governments. Introduction to Emergency Preparedness Six years ago I found two resources that have profoundly influenced my interest in emergency preparedness for people with disabilities. The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies released an after action report in May of 2018 detailing widespread governmental failure to properly plan for people with disabilities as a part of emergency preparedness. The report made numerous suggestions as to how emergency preparedness could be more inclusive of people with disabilities while illustrating how ineffective planning led to preventable death, injury, and illness. Appendix G of the after action report has a detailed discussion of the limitations of additional needs registries. Additional needs registries became somewhat popular among state and local governments in the 1990s as a reported way to ensure people with disabi
- Nov 14, 202550 min
Advocating in Private Housing Situations When the Property Manager Doesn’t Understand Our Rights
This is the recording from the October 18,2025 live episode. In this episode, we had a good discussion about how to advocate for our rights in private housing situations when the landlord or property manager knows nothing about the rights we have under the Fair Housing Act. To make this easier to follow, the content has been edited to remove the breaks and pauses. All of the discussion that took place during the episode is part of this recording.
- Oct 26, 202555 min
Advocating in Private Housing Situations
In this episode, I tried something new. I began with a brief recap of our rights under the Fair Housing Act in private housing situations. Then, I posed some scenarios to the people listening live in Zoom and we had interactive discussions as to how we could advocate for our rights under the fictional scenarios. Note, I haven’t yet figured out how to make a transcript of these kids of recordings. So, I don’t know how to yet make them accessible to people with hearing disabilities. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
- Aug 21, 202521 min
A Brief Introduction to the Fair Housing Act
Disclaimer The information presented in any of the Demand Our Access podcast episodes, on the Demand Our Access website, or otherwise shared in conjunction with or through association with the Demand Our Access project is expressly not individual legal advice. Applying the law depends on the circumstances and events that comprise every situation. Since legal advice is fact-specific, nothing about the Demand Our Access project can provide an individual, a group of individuals, or any organization legal advice. Introduction In this episode, I am briefly introducing the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and its amendments. Since this is intended to be an introduction to the FHA, I will only be covering the protections afforded people based on disability status in this episode. If we continue this discussion in future episodes, I would be happy to discuss the protections based on other protected classes. Questions and Comments I greatly appreciate your feedback. If you want to contact me about this episode, or about Demand Our Access in general, you can fill out the contact me form on the Demand Our Access website. If you prefer email, you can write me at Jonathan@DemandOurAccess.com. The Next Episode The next episode of the Demand Our Access podcast will take place on Saturday, September sixth. As of now, I’m not sure what I will cover in that episode. If there is interest in more about the Fair Housing Act, let me know. Citations As always, I will not be providing citations to sections of law during this episode. But the citations will be provided when this episode is posted to the Demand Our Access website. Introducing The Fair Housing Act Since I have not yet covered the Fair Housing Act (FHA) through Demand Our Access, this episode is intended to be a brief introduction to the FHA. I’m keeping this introduction brief, because I want to gage interest from the community in the subject of fair housing. If there is interest in diving deeper into housing discrimination, I’m very open to continuing this discussion into future episodes. Since this is a brief introduction, I have sought to keep the explanations at a very high-level. If we continue the housing discrimination discussion in future episodes, I will take deeper dives into specifics based on your feedback. I’m trying this new approach to introducing new subjects to see if community will assist me in planning what subjects are covered and how they are covered. I’m also hoping that by breaking things into smaller pieces they will be more relatable. With that explanatory information out of the way, let’s begin our introduction to the Fair Housing Act. Roadmap In this episode, I will be covering the following five topics: Brief history of the Fair Housing Act Intent of the Fair Housing Act Enforcement agencies Protected Classes and Scope Impact on People with Disabilities Brief History The Fair Housing Act (FHA) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1968, one week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. When it became law, the FHA was added as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The original statute barred housing discrimination in terms of race, color, religion, and national origin. In 1974, the FHA was amended to add sex as a protected class. In 1988, the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA), added familial status and disability as protected classes when it comes to housing. The FHAA also added accessibility requirements that applied to newly constructed multi-family dwellings of four or more units intended to be occupied after March 13, 1991 to include certain accessibility features. Those accessibility features include: an accessible entrance on an accessible route; accessible common and public use areas; doors wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair; and more. The FHAA also granted the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) additional enforcement powers through the introduction of administrative hearings, civil penalties, and expanded judicial remedies. The FHAA transformed the Fair Housing Act from being a law that was largely symbolic to a law that would actually try to provide protections to those facing housing discrimination through meaningful enforcement. In 1995, the Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA) provided criteria for 55+ and 62+ housing and modified the familial status provisions of the FHA. In 2021, HUD issued a directive covering gender and sexual
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