Disability Rights Advocates - Advancing equal rights for people with all types of disabilities nationwide.

Person using a wheelchair inside of prison

Lawsuit Challenges Oregon Department of Corrections’ Policy of Charging People With Disabilities for Durable Medical Equipment

Edith Prentiss in a wheelchair at the bottom of a staircase preventing access to FDR Four Freedoms Park, NYC

DRA Establishes Edith Prentiss Disability Justice Award

Man sitting in front of large television, browsing options

HBO Max Rolls Out Audio Described Content

Disability Rights Advocates Announces New President and CEO

Have you been denied medication for opioid use disorder by residential treatment programs including the Salvation Army? We want to hear from you

A motion blurred photograph of a patient on stretcher or gurney being pushed at speed through a hospital corridor by doctors & nurses to an emergency room

DRA is Interested in Your Experiences at Providence Health Facilities in Washington State

Man uses headphones while reading a book

DRA Is Investigating Remote Learning in Higher Education. Take Our Survey to Help Out.

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Our Impact

Flooding and submerged benches in Buffalo, NY during April 2018 windstorm

Chiappetta vs. New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

Case Area: Emergency Preparedness, Public Entities, Technology Disability: Blind/Low Vision

In October 2020, Disability Rights Advocates filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of blind New Yorkers and the American Council of the Blind, New York against New York state entities, challenging the inaccessibility of “NY-Alert,” a Mass Notification System intended to warn New Yorkers and visitors of emergencies and other critical information in a[…continue]

View from behind bars inside ICE detention center

Fraihat v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Case Area: Architectural Barriers, Healthcare, Jails/Prisons/Detention, Public Entities Disability: Blind/Low Vision, Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing, Developmental, Learning Disability, Mobility, Other Disability, Print Disability, Psychiatric

Click here for community resources including information explaining the consequences of the court’s order, who it applies to, and aspects of the decision that may be useful in your advocacy. In August 2019, Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center (CREEC), Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed[…continue]

News & Current Events

Lawsuit Challenges Oregon Department of Corrections’ Policy of Charging People With Disabilities for Their Prostheses and Other Durable Medical Equipment April 21, 2021

April 21, 2021– Salem, OR – Yesterday Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a national non-profit legal center, and Lynn S. Walsh, filed a class action lawsuit against the State of Oregon and the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) on behalf of current and former people with disabilities who are incarcerated and who have been charged[…continue]

DRA Establishes Edith Prentiss Disability Justice Award April 15, 2021

To carry forward the critical legacy of fiery, grassroots disability justice advocates in New York and across the Country April 15, 2021—New York, NY—Today Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) announced, with support from the Prentiss family, the establishment of the Edith Prentiss Disability Justice Award, to be bestowed annually on a disability justice advocate who[…continue]

HBO Max Rolls Out Audio Described Content March 26, 2021

Customers Who are Blind Will Notice Many New Features, With More on the Horizon March 26, 2021 – Boston, MA – Advocates for people who are blind applaud WarnerMedia’s first delivery date of significant upgrades in the landmark agreement signed last October by WarnerMedia; the American Council of the Blind (ACB); the Massachusetts-based Bay[…continue]