Lyft will pay various amounts in damages to the complainants, including $30,000 to J.H. It’s been ordered to modify its wheelchair policy to specify that “drivers are required to assist with the stowing of foldable or collapsible mobility devices used by individuals with disabilities, such as wheelchairs, scooters, and walkers.” The company will make a few changes to better educate drivers on the wheelchair policy, like sending quarterly reminders of the policy to drivers and creating a new educational video about the policy. For the next three years, Lyft will give the Justice Department biannual written reports on what it’s doing to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Accessibility of rideshares has been an ongoing concern and the subject of many legal battles. Uber has been sued multiple times for failing to accommodate passengers with disabilities. A 2018 study conducted by the New York Lawyers for Public Interest found that 70 percent of the time, Uber and Lyft failed to provide wheelchair accessible vehicles in New York City.

Google’s flurry of accessibility updates goes well beyond improvements to Maps. It’s releasing its long-promised Action Blocks feature (above) as an Android app, greatly simplifying Google Assistant tasks for people with cognitive and motion disabilities. You can call a family member, turn the lights off or take a selfie with a single tap on the home screen.

Live Transcribe is also considerably more useful for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Its updated Android app can vibrate your phone when someone nearby says your name, allows custom names for places and objects, and makes it easier to search through past conversations. Seven new languages are available, too, including Albanian, Estonian and Punjabi.

These are Connect Direct reps rather than Google staff, and they’ll only be available Monday through Friday between 11AM and 8PM Eastern. Nonetheless, this should make it considerably easier to get help without having to rely on text-based support or someone serving as a go-between. You might be that much more likely to use accessibility features and focus on enjoying your devices.

This adaptive system is made up of a zipper mechanism that ties around the heel, a Velcro strap for the ankle area, an adjustable tongue and laces that don’t need to be tied. Together, all these FlyEase features can create a way for simple, one-handed entry, the shoes. It’s a complete reimagined version of the Air Jordan 1, in essence, and yet Nike managed to make the AJI High FlyEase look and feel like its traditional model. The company says that, while it was important to bring FlyEase to the Air Jordan 1, it was equally key to stay true to the sneaker’s renowned design.

At a glance, the AJI High FlyEase appears to be just like any other Air Jordan 1, but its new technology is going to be a welcomed change for the accessibility community. Nike also recently introduced its FitAdapt self-lacing sneakers, the Adapt BB and Adapt Huarache. And although these aren’t being marketed as adaptive products, their auto-lacing technology can definitely benefit people with special needs and limited motor skills. Perhaps in the future we’ll see an Air Jordan 1 with power laces? That would be quite something, indeed.

For now, Nike’s launching the AJI High FlyEase on November 1st. You can buy a pair on Nike’s site or its SNKRS app.

Unsurprisingly, Toyota’s APM isn’t meant for the masses. The open-air vehicles resemble large golf carts, rather than futuristic vessels of public transportation. There’s a good reason why. Toyota intends it to be a “last mile” solution for staff and athletes, as well as visitors with accessibility needs — such as the disabled, pregnant women, the elderly or families with small children. Each APM can accommodate a wheelchair or a stretcher, and includes an access ramp.

This transportation solution will no doubt be vital for disabled athletes and guests. The Olympics and Paralympics haven’t had the best track record with accessibility. Disabled visitors at the 2018 Paralympic Games in South Korea encountered numerous challenges in rural areas. Tokyo, as one of the world’s most developed cities, could pose its own set of problems. Unlike previous Olympic games, where tickets have gone unsold, there’s been record-breaking demand for the Tokyo games, so crowds will be considerable. The last time Japan’s capital city hosted the worldwide event was in 1964, so expectations for its return are sky-high.

Toyota is expected to reveal even more innovations ahead of the event, including a flying car that will light up the Olympic torch and robots that can bring food and drinks to guests. The automaker is even planning on building robots that can assist guests in wheelchairs. With any luck, the 2020 Olympic Games will be a demonstration of technology’s real-life impacts — and not just futuristic whimsy.

If you live with disabilities, shopping for furniture can be difficult. Many common furniture items aren’t designed with accessibility in mind, and those that are can be rare or non-existent. IKEA Israel has a technological solution: 3D print pieces that make them easier to use. The store has collaborated with Milbat on ThisAbles, a project that provides 3D-printed add-ons for furniture that can be tough to use with certain conditions. Among the 13 initial items are easier-to-grab handles, bumpers to protect cabinets and lifts to raise couches.

On Monday, the White House released a fiscal 2020 budget proposal that would allow the Social Security Administration to “use all collection tools to recover funds in certain scenarios” as well as hold fraud investigators liable for overpayments. Right-wing think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and the Republican Party have long attacked the disability benefits program as being wasteful and rife with abuse. But the number of disability beneficiaries is actually plunging due to a stronger economy. Roughly 9.2 million Americans received disability benefits in 2017.

People who collect disability benefits, known as Social Security Disability Insurance, receive monthly payments after not being able to work for a year or more due to a disability. Families of deceased beneficiaries are also eligible for these payments in some cases. The disability must limit the recipient’s ability to “do basic work such as lifting, standing, walking, sitting, and remembering for at least 12 months”, according to the agency website.

While Republicans love the Trump administration proposal, disability rights advocates are worried that Facebook photos could be an inaccurate barometer of a person’s current physical state. “Just because someone posted a photograph of them golfing or going fishing in February of 2019 does not mean that the activity occurred in 2019,” chairwoman of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Lisa D. Ekman told the Times.

Stalking people’s Facebook and Twitter has been a popular strategy throughout Trump’s time in office. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under the Department of Homeland Security, has ramped up social media surveillance of both Americans and foreign visitors. The US Border Patrol was found to be compiling a database of journalists, activists, and other social media influencers involved in work related to the migrant caravan. The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Northern California is currently suing the Trump administration for information related to its social media surveillance.

Update 3/11 7PM ET: EFF senior staff attorney Adam Schwartz chime in with Engadget, noting that a photo might be old and not reflective of their current health. “”People post old pictures of themselves on social media,” Schwartz said. “So when a disabled person posts a picture of themselves doing something a disabled person should not be doing, it is not necessarily evidence of fraud about government disability benefits.”