Disability news, May 2026, by country

Robots can't replace guide dogs. “Man’s best friend shares an ‘invisible care world’ with humans that AI can’t beat—yet.” (Apr, Popular Science)

The Weight of the House We Built. Rethinking representation of people with disabilities and the role of OPDs:

‘The CRPD provided a framework for realising “nothing about us without us”, but in doing so it also shifted the emphasis towards identifying representative organisations. In practice, this shift has reduced the broader political principle to the technical question of “what counts as an OPD?”’ (May, Disability Debrief)

Accessible Lines: Accessible illustrations in the voices of the illustrators. (Accessible Lines) See also an introduction of the project by Hatiye Garip, on Illustration Research.

'Code of Silence,' 'Pulse' and More Honored by Ruderman Family Foundation for Portrayals of Characters With Disabilities. (Apr, Variety)

In Data and Research:

Disability Identification Instruments in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries: A Literature Review of Prevalence, Populations, and Characteristics. (Apr, Disabilities)

Advancing Disability-Inclusive Participatory Research: Lessons, Challenges, and Future Directions: “Parents were motivated seeing me, a disabled person, interviewing them.” (IDS Bulletin)

In Digital Accessibility and Technology:

Accessibility fundamentals an introduction to accessibility. (Apr, Inklusivo)

AAC, AI, and authenticity: “Should we be measuring authorship or agency?” (Apr, Beth Moulam)

Robots can't replace guide dogs. “Man’s best friend shares an ‘invisible care world’ with humans that AI can’t beat—yet.” (Apr, Popular Science)

What Works: Learning from Inclusive Education Projects Across Five Countries. (IDS Bulletin)

Is This Disability Justice? Hating and Wanting Hyflex. Discussion of hybrid events in academic settings. (Canadian Journal of Disability Studies)

840,000 deaths a year linked to psychosocial risks at work, “such as long working hours, job insecurity, and workplace harassment”. (Apr, ILO)

In Health:

The autism spectrum isn’t a sliding scale: 39 traits show the complexity. (Mar)

What is Required to Support the Implementation of Inclusive Health in Mainstream Programmes? (IDS Bulletin)

In Indigenous People and Minority Communities:

Review of Indigenous Disability Studies by John T Ward. (Canadian Journal of Disability Studies)

In International Cooperation:

Voices of strength: international civil servants share personal reflections on disability inclusion and their work. (April, newSpecial)

What we have learnt about disability inclusive programming: Lessons from Inclusive Futures. (Mar, Inclusive Futures)

Disability Stigma Reduction: Learnings From Disability-Inclusive Programming:

“The lack of a shared conceptualisation of stigma contributed to many Inclusive Futures projects not having stigma reduction as an explicit outcome and not being intentional in how they were going to reduce stigma through their interventions.” (IDS Bulletin)

Lessons on Power and Partnership in Disability-Inclusive Safeguarding. (IDS Bulletin)

Adapting Development Programmes or People with Disabilities with High Support Needs. (IDS Bulletin)

People with Disabilities and Transport Access: Evidence from PENDA and Inclusive Futures:

“However, even within holistic, multi-level interventions that aim to both support individuals and address structural barriers to inclusion (e.g. inaccessible workplaces, negative attitudes), access to transport is often treated as peripheral or left unaddressed entirely.” (IDS Bulletin)

In Justice Systems and Legal Capacity:

Implementing the Right to Decide under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A book on Supporting the Legal Capacity of All Persons with Disabilities by Janos Fiala-Butora. (2025, Bloomsbury)

In Policy and Rights:

CRPD Pulse: outcomes, highlights and new elements in recommendations from the 34th session of the CRPD Committee. (Apr, IDA)

ElectionPATHS. A platform with “transparent data about the accessibility features of election technology on the marketplace today.” (IFES)

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Latin America and the Caribbean

In Mental Health:

Looking at madness from a rights perspective. (In Spanish, Apr, ElChasque)

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Africa

Egypt

In Gender Equality and Women with Disabilities:

In Search of Trans Identity and Community in Cairo:

“I firmly believe in the becoming; that through being perceived as disabled, we become just that. And I have witnessed, before my very eyes, the resilience wrought within us by virtue of being excluded … by being abnormally alone. By being different.” (Apr, Disability Culture Lab)

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Nigeria

'I was tortured and lost my hand' - one student's struggle to get an education in Nigeria. (Apr, BBC)

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Sierra Leone

In Policy and Rights:

Positive Visibility: Demystifying Albinism in Sierra Leone: “Nobody can side-line you if you start by accepting and appreciating your state of being”. (Apr, International Journal of Disability and Social Justice)

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South Sudan

From lockdown to Los Angeles: the rise and rise of South Sudan’s blind footballers. (Apr, The Telegraph)

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Asia

Bangladesh

Disability-Inclusive Budget 2026–27:

“Bangladesh currently runs 95 social security programmes, with only seven focused on persons with disabilities, and just two provide direct individual benefits. Although 35.31 lakh people receive support, including 1 lakh students, the overall allocation remains limited, only 0.52% of the national budget. The monthly allowances remain at Tk 900, significantly lower than the support in the neighbouring countries.” (May, The Daily Star)

The disability-poverty loop: school exclusion traps disabled workers:

‘In Dhaka’s elite English-medium schools, disabled children access resource rooms, therapists and trained teachers. These schools charge 20,000-50,000 taka monthly, ten times what most families earn. For the poor, “inclusion” exists only in United Nations documents.’ (Apr, Development Policy Centre)

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India

In Climate Crisis and Environment:

As Climate Threats Rise in Eastern India, Evacuations Still Fail Disabled People. (Apr, The Global Disability News Network)

Response to Union Budget 2026-27 Commitments Vs Expectation & Promises. (Mar, CIP)

In Mobility, Travel, Transport and Tourism:

How young leaders are advocating for more inclusive and accessible urban mobility in Indian cities:

“Last year, 40 Mobility Champions conducted 88 accessibility audits, surveyed 370 individuals, organised 8 empathy-building workshops with people with disabilities and mixed groups, reached 1,300 individuals through workshops and audits, and reached 1.6 lakh cumulative online impressions and interactions.” (Apr, Social Story)

In Policy and Rights:

Harish Rana: First Indian to be allowed 'passive euthanasia' dies. (Mar, BBC)

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Indonesia

Indonesia targets 300 certified coaches for disability sports. (Apr, ANTARA News)

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Israel

Naftali Bennett launches disability inclusion plan, pledges accessibility reforms if elected. (Apr, The Jerusalem Post)

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Lebanon

In Conflict and Peace:

A War of Exclusion: Lebanon’s Displacement Crisis Hits People with Disabilities. (May, Humanity & Inclusion)

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Pakistan

In Communication and Language:

AI-powered sign language alerts launched for deaf community. (Apr, The News)

Finding my armour in threads. Fashion and identity as a wheelchair user in Pakistan:

“My disability made my body a unique canvas for fashion and styling. Through clothes I found new forms of inclusion and participation. And with a unique form of self-expression, I found my identity.” (May, Disability Debrief)

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South Korea

"Punish Sloppy Investigation" Disability Advocacy Group Holds Prostration Protest Over Late Director Kim Chang-min Case. (Apr, Seoul Economic Daily)

Protests expose divide over disability care. With protests for and against provision of care in residential facilities. (Apr, The Korea Herald)

SADD Protest Halts Seoul Traffic During Rush Hour, Officer Injured. (Apr, The Chosun Daily)

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Taiwan

Official apologizes for comment on disabled people. “A senior Ministry of Health and Welfare official has apologized for implying that people with disabilities should be excluded from public hearings to prevent them from slowing down the process, groups said yesterday.” (Apr, Taipei Times)

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Vietnam

From beneficiaries to policymakers: Persons with disabilities seek a voice in Việt Nam’s legislature. (Mar, Viet Nam News)

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Europe

Renewed leadership: meet our new governing bodies. (May, EDF)

In Communication and Language:

The History of Sign Language at the Eurovision Song Contest. (May, A11y News)

In Health:

Haemophilia Rights: The Half a Million Euro Question:

“A person with haemophilia whose treatment is switched without meaningful consent, whose clinician is constrained by tender outcomes, who has no say in decisions that directly affect their quality of life, is not living independently. They are subject to institutional discretion in exactly the way Independent Living principles exist to challenge. Haemophilia belongs on the disability spectrum not because of what it does to the body but because of what institutions do to the person living with it.” (Apr, ENIL)

In Humanitarian, Migrants and Refugees:

The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum Doesn’t Protect People with Disabilities:

“Among the gaps they identify are patterns of discrimination faced by persons with disabilities in detention and return procedures; inaccessibility and/or discrimination faced by many with disabilities to reception and screening procedures, and exclusion from social protection and risks of institutionalisation.” (Mar, HRRC)

A Pact That Excludes: Closing the Protection Gap for Migrants and Asylum Seekers with Disabilities in the EU:

“From inaccessible reception systems and discriminatory migration requirements to exclusion from national social welfare schemes, discrimination within the migration and asylum frameworks continues to undermine the rights of migrants and asylum seekers with disabilities and restricts their full participation in society.” (Feb, EDF)

In Policy and Rights:

Update of EU Disability Rights Strategy lacks ambition to advance our rights:

“The Strategy focuses more on studies, preparatory work, and already foreseen actions than on adopting new legislative and funding initiatives.” (May, EDF)

A Europe-wide celebration of accessibility in football. (Apr, UEFA)

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France

The Direct employment rate of people with disabilities in the civil service will exceed 6% by 2025. (Apr, fiphfp)

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Greece

Ancient Greece and Disability: A zine showing how: “disabled people were present across all levels of society, from soldiers, labourers, poets, seers, and even kings.” (Apr, DisabilityARK)

A Dwarf Maiden on the Athenian Acropolis: Disability and Dedication in the Archaic Polis. (Feb, The Art Bulletin)

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Hungary

System change has been promised to people with disabilities for 28 years, it's time for it to actually happen. (In Hungarian, Apr, Mérce)

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Italy

Francesca Sbianchi, the first female President of the Italian Disability Forum. (In Italian, Apr, Superando)

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Netherlands

In Digital Accessibility and Technology:

6 in 10 Dutch webshops inaccessible to users with disabilities: “In 61 percent of cases, ordering was entirely impossible, with assistive tools failing to function.” (Mar, NL Times)

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Spain

In Policy and Rights:

Spanish woman to die by euthanasia after long legal battle with father. (Mar, BBC News)

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Ukraine

For $25,000, she promised to issue a disability certificate, which would serve men of conscription age grounds for declaring them unfit for military service. (Apr, Prosecutor's Office)

Ukraine Wins First UEFA Grassroots Gold for War-Born Disability Initiative. (Apr, UNITED24 Media)

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United Kingdom

This Designer Is Turning Assistive Devices Like Compression Gloves, Ostomy Bags Into Stylish Accessories. (Apr, Teen Vogue)

This Designer Is Turning Assistive Devices Like Compression Gloves, Ostomy Bags Into Stylish Accessories. (Apr, Teen Vogue)

A Right to Try Work Must Come with the Support to Succeed:

“For many Disabled people, the greatest barrier to work is not the benefits system itself but whether the right support will be in place to make work possible and sustainable.” (Apr, Disability Rights UK)

Government publishes response and “confirmed that it will proceed with mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers”. (Apr, Lexology)

In Gender Equality and Women with Disabilities:

EHRC Trans Guidance Disabled People and Adapted Toilets: “The new guidance on single sex toilets and trans people targets the trans community - and disabled people are becoming collateral damage in this cultural warfare.” (May, Jamie Hale)

Graham Findlay obituary. ‘The idea of inclusive design was one of Graham’s main preoccupations, and he was a champion of disabled people becoming the “architects of their own lives”.’ (May, the Guardian)

Piss On Pity: The Graphic Novel. “That gives a condensed history of the disability rights movement, from its original theory to its victory with the enshrinement of the Disability Discrimination Act” (Apr, NDMAC)

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

Book review of The Silence They Wrote for Me: A Black Disabled Woman’s Fight Against Institutional Erasure. (Mar, National Survivor User Network)

In Mobility, Travel, Transport and Tourism:

‘People assume we’re grifters’: disabled Britons report rise in abuse over blue badges. (Apr, the Guardian)

In Relationships, Sex and Reproductive Rights:

From Sex To Ghosting, These Are The Realities Of Dating With A Disability. (2025, Elle)

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North America

Canada

The R-word was taboo as a slur for people with disabilities. Now it's being normalized again. (Apr, CBC)

”My Disability was Treated Like a Big Secret”: Disabled Perspectives on Anti-Ableist Discussion in Elementary and Secondary Classrooms in the United States. (Canadian Journal of Disability Studies)

Student Perceptions on Academic Accommodations: Needs and Barriers for Support. (Canadian Journal of Disability Studies)

In Policy and Rights:

Ableism Entrenched: Inside the Pedagogical Politics of Canada’s MAiD Curriculum. (Canadian Journal of Disability Studies)

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Mexico

With challenges and pending works, Electric Transport affirms: Light Rail will be 100% accessible for the World Cup. (In Spanish, Apr, Yo También)

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United States

In Accessibility and Design:

How A Coalition Of Retail Giants Is Rewriting Accessibility Standards. (May, Forbes)

How a blind man made it possible for others with low vision to build Lego sets. Profile of Matthew Shifrin, founder of Bricks for the Blind. (Apr, AP)

The Access Coalition Releases Unprecedented Suite of Inclusive Design Resources to Transform Retail Spaces, including the inclusive spaces playbook. (Feb, AAPD)

A Definitive Ranking of Every Wheelchair I’ve Ever Owned. (May, Steve Way's Substack)

Forbes' Accessibility List 2026: “highlights the biggest innovators and impact-makers in accessibility, from juggernauts like Microsoft to VC-seeking startups”. (May, Forbes)

In Communication and Language:

“My Deaf Kid Connected Me With a Whole Deaf Community”: A conversation with Will Fertman, author of The Deaf Baby Instruction Manual. (Apr, Switchbacks)

Why (and How) to Hire a Blind Producer:

An Interview with Christine Sun Kim. “I realized that if I wanted to become an artist, I had to learn how to be with hearing people—like, really with them, not just next to them.” (Mar, Believer)

“There are inherent skillsets that a visually impaired person has that can make them a better radio journalist,” [Jason Strother told me] “When I’ve been out in the field covering a demonstration, for example, I can’t see what’s written on the signs, so I’ll ask a protester, ‘Hey, what’s written on your banner?’” It sounds better to have his sources read it than for Jason to repeat it back. “They don’t realize I’ve deputized them as my in-field guide,” (Apr, Transom)

“Girls, I've Made It.” Aariana Rose Philip On Attending The 2026 Met Gala. (May, British Vogue)

Tilting the Lens and the Met – a story of accessibility and representation in ‘Costume Art’. (May, Tilting the Lens)

The Met Gala's Inclusion of Disabled People Proves Fashion Can't Exist Without Body Diversity. (May, Teen Vogue)

Pasco County woman accused of hiding son’s disappearance to use his disability benefits: DOJ. (Apr, News Channel 8)

Helping Disabled College Students of Color Prepare for Life After Graduation. (Apr, Center for American Progress)

A hiring rule meant to help people with disabilities get federal jobs instead left them more vulnerable to DOGE mass firings. (Apr, Government Executive)

In Gender Equality and Women with Disabilities:

Queer and Trans Histories of Disability. (Apr, A journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies)

The Disability History of Brown v. Board of Education:

Eleven Deaf Men Got Us To The Moon. That Talent Pool Is Still Untapped. (Apr, Forbes)

In 1978, they stopped buses — and helped launch a disability rights movement. Civil disobedience in Denver. (Mar, NPR)

“This Article concludes that the recognition of the disability history of a prominent civil rights case like Brown adds important nuance to the story of desegregation.” (Feb, Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice)

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

Caregivers with Disabilities: “An estimated 36% of adult family caregivers in the U.S. are disabled themselves:”

“Caregivers with disabilities face the highest levels of housing insecurity, food insecurity, and transportation barriers. They are least likely to receive social and emotional support and report the highest levels of social isolation and loneliness. They experience high levels of multiple chronic conditions and report the greatest levels of stress, difficulty sleeping, poor mental health, and unmet healthcare needs.” (Apr, The Heller School)

Trump’s Vision for the Homeless Is Already Here. “Forcing the most vulnerable among us into institutions only perpetuates their trauma. I know, because I’ve lived it.” (Apr, Progressive.org)

In Justice Systems and Legal Capacity:

Supreme Court Leaves Rulings on Executing the Intellectually Disabled in Place. “Alabama won’t be allowed to kill someone because of a single passing IQ test.” (May, Mother Jones)

Mapping Disabled Justice: Empirical Research Towards a People-Centered Approach. (Global Perspectives on People-Centered Justice)

In Lived Experience and Opinion:

Oral History An excerpt from the new memoir Mother Tongue, on deafness, parenting, and enduring communities. (Apr, Bomb)

In Mobility, Travel, Transport and Tourism:

A New Yorker Rediscovers Her City, in a Wheelchair. (Apr, NYT)

Ranking: US Airlines Most Likely to Damage Wheelchairs. Delta airlines the best performer at 0.43% and JetBlue Airways last place at 1.44% in rate of mishandled wheelchairs and scooters per 100 enplaned. (Apr, Wheelchair Travel)

In Relationships, Sex and Reproductive Rights:

"It should have been my decision": A mixed methods investigation of contraceptive coercion among U.S. patients with and without disabilities. (Apr, Social Science & Medicine)

In Space Exploration:

Eleven Deaf Men Got Us To The Moon. That Talent Pool Is Still Untapped. (Apr, Forbes)

In Violence and Harassment:

Quadruple amputee and bean-bag-toss champion “facing a murder charge after he allegedly shot a man in his car during an argument.” (Mar, BBC)

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Oceania

Australia

27% of Australian students now have an adjustment for disability at school:

“There is no incentive for schools to meet children’s needs through accessible quality universal teaching – in fact, there’s a perverse incentive not to.” (May, the Conversation)

The sound of our cities: why the Australian pedestrian button belongs in our archives. (Apr, The Conversation)

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New Zealand

How Bruce the Parrot Landed Atop the Pecking Order, Without a Beak:

“Male keas typically bite one another around the neck. Bruce can’t bite; instead, he has learned to joust. He rushes his opponents and slams his lower beak into their bodies.” (Apr, New York Times)

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

Eight patients in seclusion for more than 45,000 hours combined in one year:

“Five of the patients, who were in intellectual disability services, spent on average the equivalent of 283 days of the year in seclusion.” (Apr, RNZ News)

In Lived Experience and Opinion:

'I was too scared... too angry': Journalist Sally Wenley revisits the school bus crash that changed her life about 40 years ago. (Apr, RNZ)

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Papua New Guinea

In Policy and Rights:

Disability support in PNG: bridging policy and reality. (Apr, The National)

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South America

Brazil