News & historical events

Structured records connecting symbols to real-world reporting. We link to and summarise original sources rather than reproducing full article text — see our methodology.

• undisputed2014-07-25

  New York becomes first US state to require the 'dynamic' accessibility icon

  In 2014, New York became the first US state to require newly installed or replaced accessibility signage to use the 'Accessible Icon' — a redesigned, forward-leaning wheelchair figure distinct from the original International Symbol of Access — and to prohibit the word 'handicapped' on such signage. The redesign grew out of a grassroots street-art initiative, the Accessible Icon Project.

• contested2024-09-23

  California sues ExxonMobil over use of the recycling symbol on plastics

  In September 2024, the California Attorney General filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil alleging decades of deceptive claims about plastic recyclability, including allegations that the industry promoted use of the chasing-arrows recycling symbol on products despite knowing that most plastic could not, in practice, be economically recycled. The claims were disputed by ExxonMobil.