The International Day of Disabled Persons goals are to highlight issues relevant to persons with disabilities and to mobilize support for instituting laws and programs that promote the rights, dignity, and well being of persons with disabilities. This year's theme "Nothing About Us, Without Us" emphasizes equality of human rights and self-determination of persons with disabilities to effect change in their countries. Each year this observance seeks to increase awareness and support for the full integration of persons with disabilities into every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life in their respective societies.

On Wednesday, November 10, Utah Governor Olene S. Walker and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Chair Cari M. Dominguez signed a joint resolution aimed at enhancing state government employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities nationwide. With this agreement the State of Utah and the EEOC will jointly review Utah's recruitment, hiring, and reasonable accommodation programs to identify best practices that will be recommended for adoption by other states. Utah is one of 11 states to join the EEOC in this pioneer project. The EEOC will provide consultation, outreach, and technical assistance to the various departments of the participating states.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities and Schwab Learning have published Making the "No Child Left Behind Act" Work for Children Who Struggle to Learn. This guide introduces parents to several key parts of NCLB and tools to improve educational services for their child. The No Child Left behind Act (NCLB) is an education reform bill singed into law by President George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002. The provisions of NCLB call for increased funding to schools, yearly testing for students in public school from the 3rd to 8th grades in math and reading, and new measures to judge the success of schools and the progress of their students to meet the required educational goals mandated by NCLB.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) settled a lawsuit against Cinemark USA, Inc. filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The suit challenged Cinemark's construction of stadium-style movie theaters that failed to provide persons who use wheelchairs with a comparable line of sight to that of the general public. The consent decree requires all future construction of Cinemark theaters be designed in accordance with plans approved by the DOJ. Under the agreement, Cinemark will also make changes to existing theaters. It has agreed to move wheelchair seating further back from the screen in over 100 auditoriums in 14 existing complexes within the Sixth Circuit, and in theaters located elsewhere as well.

The United States Department of Justice and the City of Pueblo, Colorado, signed the 75th agreement under Project Civic Access to improve access to the cities services, facilities and programs. Project Civic Access is a nationwide initiative by the DOJ to ensure that local governments comply with the ADA. The City agreed to make physical modifications to its facilities to ensure that parking, routes of travel into buildings, entrances, toilet rooms, bathrooms, service counters, telephones, drinking fountains, playgrounds, and wheelchair seating are accessible to people with disabilities. The city also agreed to expand the provision of effective communication, adopt appropriate TTY call-taking procedures for its 9-1-1 emergency services, provide law enforcement officers with information and guidance on effective communication with people who are deaf or hard of hearing, appoint an ADA advisory committee, and train employees on the ADA.