What We’re Reading: April 20, 2015

This week the spotlight continues on Netflix, as the streaming video provider responds to calls for accessibility. We’re also working through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s Proposed Rule on employer wellness programs, personal accounts from the intersection of the criminal justice and mental health systems, accessible design, and more.

• Netflix announced it is rolling out audio descriptions for its original shows, beginning with its newest original series Daredevil, The Verge is reporting. The announcement follows calls by comic book fans to make the show, which features a blind protagonist, and others made available through the streaming video service accessible (via audio description tracks) to individuals with visual impairments. Related: A new app aims to improve smartphone accessibility for individuals with upper limb disabilities, per the Samsung blog.

• The EEOC has published a long-awaited rule last week clarifying how employers can construct voluntary wellness programs under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. Under the proposed rule, voluntary is defined, in part, by a maximum allowable reward (or penalty) for participating (or not participating) of up to 30 percent of what the employee would pay for health coverage. More from Kaiser Health News.

• POLITICO Magazine’s Friday Cover features the personal account of a Spokane-area writer and activist with the State’s criminal justice and mental health systems. Related: The Wall Street Journal shares additional accounts of access to mental health services and treatment for individuals involved in the criminal justice system.

• The New Yorker is spotlighting changes in accessible design – from fashion to wearables – in the 25 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act, suggesting the commercial shift is the result of a national, “disability-rights orientation, in which those in need of assistive devices act as educated consumers who demand more choices."

• Doctors are 14 percent less likely to take a proactive approach to screening, diagnosis and treatment when families cited concerns about autism, according to a study published online this week in The Journal of Pediatrics. More on the findings from healthfinder.gov and Disability Scoop.

• More from the White House Conference on Aging ahead of Older Americans Month: forums in Phoenix and Seattle, plus a webinar on retirement security for Thursday, April 23.