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Accessibility in the News – September 22, 2017

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Accessibility in the News—9/22/17.

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AITN Quote of the Week

“Let’s stop ‘tolerating’ or ‘accepting’ difference, as if we’re so much better for not being different in the first place. Instead, let’s celebrate difference, because in this world it takes a lot of guts to be different.”
—  Kate Bornstein

National News (U.S.)

 Meet Diana

September 12, 2017   |  Source:  Dove | Real Beauty Productions

The third film from Dove Real Beauty Productions features the story of Diana Wright who shows that #RealBeauty means having the confidence to overcome life’s challenges. As a teacher, athlete, and mother of two girls, Diana was used to living up to her namesake, Wonder Woman. So when Diana lost her leg in an accident, she called on her inner passion and strength – and stepped out again into the world with unwavering confidence. Now she is sharing a powerful message with the girls in her life, and with every woman who wants to help the next generation reach their full potential…

 Retiring and want to stay in your home? Here are your options

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  MarketWatch

For the stubborn retirees who refuse to move out of their homes even as they age and begin to need physical assistance, there is a solution: renovate the home they’ve got. One of the most important factors in home renovation for baby boomers is mobility, which might mean redoing a floor plan, widening door frames for wheelchairs, installing a ramp into the home and placing grip bars around the bathroom, said Domenick Forte, head of home-equity lending at Citizens Bank. Older homeowners account for about 45% of home improvement spending, according to a 2015 report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, though few are thinking of accessibility — at least, until they’re forced to…

Rochester School Board backs magnet school renovation plan

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  Fosters

The Rochester School Board voted 9-3 Thursday night to send a roughly $82,000 renovation plan to the federal office investigating Maple Street Magnet School’s accessibility issues. The plan requires approval from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. While school district officials expect the OCR’s approval, residents have questioned that because the plan only makes the first floor of the two-story, 1928 building fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. “In my opinion, this is a good step,” School Board member Julie Brown said of the renovation plan Thursday. The OCR has been investigating Maple Street, a public K-5 school and the state’s only magnet school, because the school has no handicapped-accessible ramps or entrances, no bathrooms on the first floor that are accessible to wheelchairs, and no elevator despite the cafeteria’s location on the second floor…

Disability Access Services provides access for students with disabilities

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  The Daily Barometer

Oregon State University’s Disability Access Services is a campus resource that provides various modes of access across campus for students with disabilities. The DAS office is housed on the second floor of Kerr Administration building. According to the DAS webpage, DAS is present on all OSU campuses. “About 12 percent of students on campus have a disability of some sort. About three to four percent of students disclose that to a disability services office,” Martha Smith, the director of DAS, said in an email. “That seems to be the same for OSU. We had 1006 students registered with DAS last year.” Students can register with DAS either online or in person at any point in the term, according to the DAS webpage…

Seattle Looks to Tech to Make Life Better for Aging Citizens

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  Government Technology

To make life easier for citizens who face challenges connected to aging and accessibility, Seattle is turning to civic tech. The city will host a hackathon dubbed A City for All, which begins Sept. 22 and spans three days. The event will include technologists, of course, as well as input from national accessibility experts and the release of new data sets that provide insights into how Seattle supports residents as they age. The event is the work of the Age-Friendly Seattle Initiative, part of a city council resolution passed earlier this year, a resolution that included funding for a civic tech event, said Candace Faber, civic technology advocate for Seattle. Participants will have the chance to win $10,000 in prize money as part of this hackathon…

Sign language interpreter used gibberish, warned of bears, monsters during Hurricane Irma update

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  AL.com & People

Officials in Manatee County, Florida are under fire after an interpreter for the deaf warned about pizza and monsters during an emergency briefing related to Hurricane Irma. The interpreter, Marshall Greene, is a lifeguard for the county whose brother is deaf, according to the DailyMoth, a video news site that provides information via American Sign Language. Greene was used as the interpreter for a Sept. 8 press conference regarding the incoming storm and possible evacuations. Members of the deaf community said Greene mostly signed gibberish, referencing “pizza,” “monsters,” and using the phrase “help you at that time to use bear big,” during the event. Other information signed to viewers was incomplete, experts said…

Mother injured during building collapse gets new, handicap-accessible home

September  14, 2017   |  Source:  Fox19

It has almost been a year since a northern Kentucky mom was seriously hurt while chaperoning a school field trip. Valerie McNamara was walking on the sidewalk in Covington when a building collapsed, burying her under rubble. Now, the community is coming together to help her family with a new home. The family broke ground on the new project Friday. During the event, there were a lot of smiles, laughs, even a few tears as Sutter Homes revealed plans to help build a new home for the McNamara family. When Valerie McNamara was pulled from the pile of rubble in Covington this past September , her family wasn’t sure she’d pull through. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and broke all of her ribs, plus several bones…

Why Marketers Need to Deliver Accessible Emails

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  Salesforce

“Accessibility” is a term you have probably heard in email marketing circles, and one you will soon be hearing more often. What is it, and why does it matter to brands? Here’s a quick primer on accessibility in email marketing and some quick tips to get you started building your own accessible emails. Web accessibility refers the ease with which people can access a brand’s online content and communications, including email. Typically, it concerns guidelines that designers, developers, and content creators can use to build digital communications so that people with disabilities can use and engage with them in meaningful ways. Disabilities that affect how people are able to access content online include visual and hearing impairments, limited mobility, and cognitive or neurological disabilities, among others…

DeVos: Minimum Progress For Kids With Disabilities ‘Preposterous’

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  Disability Scoop

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, flanked by school officials at a private autism center in Denver, called on the nation’s public schools to work with parents to better serve students with special needs. Minimum progress for students with disabilities, she said, “is preposterous. Our students deserve better.” DeVos’ statement comes nearly six months after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that set a new — and higher — standard for how schools educate students with special needs. DeVos spoke Wednesday after touring the Firefly Autism center as part of her first multi-state tour as education secretary…

At home: Accessible home designed for wheelchair users is both beautiful and functional

September 16, 2017   |  Source:  STLtoday.com

Universal, or accessible, design is a growing trend in the homebuilding and remodeling industries as the baby-boomer population continues to age and people with disabilities wish to live as independently as possible in their homes, while not sacrificing style for functionality. Jessi and Jamie Hatfield are a young, active couple who both happen to be wheelchair users. They met at the Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis, where Jamie was doing outpatient therapy, and began dating. When they got married, the Hatfields shared a small apartment in Midtown that didn’t provide the accessibility they needed. They knew they wanted to live in the city and considered buying an older home and remodeling it to suit their needs, but Jessi says, “By the time we paid for a house and did all of the adaptations it needed, it would have ended up being too much.”

Downtown Troy forum to kick off inclusiveness campaign

September 17, 2017   |  Source:  Troy Record

Local political and community leaders are hoping to get the city and its residents to Think Differently about accommodating people with special needs, and they’re ready to take their effort public. More than a year after the City Council became one of the first bodies outside Dutchess County to adopt the Think Differently campaign created by Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, the local program will host its first event, a public forum, from 9 a.m. to noon Friday at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River St. The program was introduced locally in June 2016 by council President Carmella Mantello, who is also the parent of a special-needs child that she said has given her a unique perspective of the challenges faced by her son in daily life and moved her to help find ways to help other families face those challenges…

The Americans With Disabilities Act Is Under Attack

September 17, 2017   |  Source:  Daily Iowan

More than two decades after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Americans with disabilities still navigate a country that resists its duty to advance to a more accessible society. Now, Congress wants to vote on a bill that would further enable this negligence. Earlier this month, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted to move forward on the ADA Education and Reform Act (H.R. 620), a bill that would effectively eradicate protections under Title III of the ADA.  Title III creates a continuous responsibility for places of public accommodation (restaurants, museums, doctors’ offices, retail stores, etc.) to “remove architectural and structural barriers in existing facilities where readily achievable.”  It also legally empowers a person with a disability to file a lawsuit or a complaint with the Justice Department…

Inclusive Design Can Remove Barriers, Prevent Social Isolation

September 18, 2017   |  Source:  SHRM

It was going to be a momentous day. A day that Crystal Renée Emery had dreamed of since she was a girl. The 2016 documentary that she wrote, directed and produced, “Black Women in Medicine,” had been nominated for an Oscar. The intense and expensive process to qualify for Oscar consideration included hosting a premiere in an Academy Award-approved theater in New York City. Emery, who has a type of muscular dystrophy that leads to paralysis, uses a wheelchair. A member of her staff, checking the venue to make sure it was wheelchair-accessible, confirmed that there was a wheelchair lift mounted on the wall of the theater. As the big day neared, Emery’s staff checked the venue once more. They discovered that the tiny, old lift was designed for a manually operated wheelchair. It could not handle a 350-lb. chair and the person using it…

Colorado Mesa University lacking handicap access

September  18, 2017   |  Source:  The Criterion

Of the several hundred doors on Colorado Mesa University’s campus, 104 doors in 24 buildings have what’s called an automatic handicap door opener. According to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) laws, which all universities in the United States must adhere to, on all public facilities and campuses, 60 percent of the entrances must be handicap accessible. What the ADA doesn’t mention, however, are the entrances to interior rooms, such as bathrooms on public campuses. None of the bathrooms on campus at CMU have a door opener. Consequently, some disabled students have to wait for someone to come along who is willing to open the door for them…

PLU invests more than $630000 to continue accessibility improvements across campus

September 19, 2017   |  Source:  Pacific Lutheran University

Noelle Green ’18 says equal access to education means equal access to facilities across campus. Leaders at Pacific Lutheran University agree. The institution recently invested more than $630,000 to improve accessibility for students such as Green, who was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy when she was 3 years old. Growing up, doctors told her she may never move out of her parents’ house. Now, she’s a senior living in South Hall at PLU and considering law school. “I didn’t let that define me,” she said of the prognosis. Still, her journey hasn’t always been easy. Green, who relies on a wheelchair to get around, almost didn’t return to PLU after her first semester. She worried about her ability to access some spaces on campus and the potential that it would interfere with her academic success…

From ADA compliance to universal design: Creating accessible training

September 19, 2017   |  Source:  HR Dive

It could be the person you just hired, or that intern you’re hosting this season. Or it may be the long-term employee who always completes tasks on time, but keeps to himself, never drawing management’s attention.; Chances are, you know someone with a disability. How can employers make sure that learning and development teams reach workers with disabilities? And how how can companies ensure that training complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) accessibility mandates? First, it’s important to think about the various impairments that may affect an employee’s ability to participate in learning programs. This can range from hearing and vision impairments to more “invisible” disabilities, like those affecting learning…

Syracuse University council completes recommendations for campus accessibility

September 19, 2017   |  Source:  The Daily Orange

Syracuse University’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion, over the last year, has completed multiple initiatives that aim to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. The initiatives, recommended by a diversity and inclusion workgroup, included an accessibility audit of the campus and new training for faculty and staff who respond to requests for accommodations. The council is responsible for implementing initiatives recommended last year by the Chancellor’s Workgroup on Diversity and Inclusion. Council members also advise Chancellor Kent Syverud on issues of diversity and inclusion…

Why The Price Of Sight For The Visually Impaired Is Too High

September 20, 2017 Source- CNBC (Video)

The technology that helps those who are blind see is often not covered by insurance, which is forcing people to choose between sight and affordability…

Parking policy requires students to validate handicap tags

September 20, 2017   |  Source:  The Ithacan

Ithaca College Parking Services has created a new parking policy requiring students who have accessible hangtags for their vehicles to get them validated in an effort to maximize handicap parking spots. The college’s parking services, in collaboration with Human Resources, Student Accessibility Services and the Office of General Counsel, launched a new initiative effective Fall 2017. Carl Cohen, Parking Services supervisor, said students, faculty and staff members of the college must go to parking services to have their state-issued accessible hangtag validated by Sept. 29.  He said that those who go to parking services to get their hangtags validated will receive a registration sticker to place on the back of their rear-view mirror of their primary vehicle…

Accessibility Resources and Service office cannot always accommodate students

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  The Daily Tar Heel

The Accessibility Resources and Service (ARS) office at UNC knows that when an office with five full-time staff members serves a community of 1,300 students, there are bound to be challenges. Tiffany Bailey, the director of the ARS office, said ARS provides accommodations for students with a variety of disabilities. “If there’s a diagnosis, we look at the impact and how to best accommodate students,” Bailey said. When it comes to providing assistance and resources to more than 1,000 students, the office does its best, she said. “We do have a high volume, but I don’t think it impacts our ability to address student concerns when they’re brought to our attention,” she said…

Individuals rally to improve accessibility

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News

Disability advocates crowded the sidewalk on the corner of Bigelow Boulevard and Forbes Avenue Wednesday, Sept. 20, to spread information on three key issues they want to reform. These three initiatives — distributed to passersby on multi-colored flyers — focused on problems with accessibility in the Oakland and Greater Pittsburgh area, primarily taking issue with aspects of the proposed Bus Rapid Transit. The BRT project is intended to connect Oakland and Downtown — the two largest job centers in the city — with more frequent and faster buses. In attendance was Joan Stein, 62, a private Americans with Disabilities Act consultant from Forest Hills and an advocate for people with disabilities — individuals whose needs, Stein said, are often overlooked by community planners…

Nintendo continues to shirk accessibility

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  The Duquesne Duke

Nintendo, I think it’s time that you and I had a little chat. I’ve been a devoted fan throughout my entire gaming life. I’ve purchased every system (including the egregiously inaccessible Wii) knowing that your vast array of titles will keep me entertained. However, your recent inabilities to accommodate disabled players has left me sick to my stomach. Now, I will admit, you are trying. Your efforts to apply fully customizable controls to ARMS is admirable. However, one accessible game within your library is certainly not enough. Greater efforts need to be taken to ensure that your games are accessible, as well as enjoyable…

Netflix, Microsoft, and Google just quietly changed how the web works

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  The Outline

This week the World Wide Web Consortium, the non-profit that debates and sets the standards that make all the web’s browsers and websites compatible, held its most contentious vote in history. The proposed standard that was voted on is called Encrypted Media Extensions, or EME. Basically it standardizes parts of how copyrighted video is delivered within a browser. The most obvious effect of this will be that users will never have to download the Microsoft Silverlight or Adobe Flash add-ons in order to watch a copyright protected video from an authorized source like Netflix. This transition began in 2012 but is now set in stone. Opponents, who include net neutrality father Tim Wu and stakeholders like the Ethereum Foundation, say this change will make the web less secure, less open, less accessible for people with hearing and vision impairment, and harder to archive…

Dr. Therese Willkomm Receives the 2017 New Hampshire Governor’s Accessibility Award

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  University of New Hampshire

On Tuesday, September  12, 2017, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu presented Dr. Therese Willkomm with a 2017 Governor’s Accessibility Award. This award honors those who embody the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Dr. Willkomm received it for her work as the director of the Assistive Technology in New Hampshire program.  “Therese Willkomm has an infectious love for all things adaptable that can lend an assist to anyone in need,” shares Ann Dillon, a member of the Governor’s Commission on Disability and Coordinator of the NH Leadership Series. “Her job requires her to do specific tasks, but her heart and soul give to this community far beyond the framework of a job. She has helped students, farmers, firemen, and people from all walks of life adapt to new disabilities or create more choices and control for people who have lived with disability all of their lives.”…

Recent Developments Regarding Website Accessibility Demonstrate Continued Uncertainty

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  Briggs & Morgan

Four recent developments illustrate continued unpredictability in litigation concerning whether e-commerce websites must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA requires that places of public accommodation must take steps to ensure that individuals with disabilities are not denied access. Over the last 15 years, there has been increasing litigation about whether e-commerce websites are places of public accommodation—if a website is a place of public accommodation, and the website is not designed to work with tools used by disabled individuals to navigate websites, the website operator risks claims seeking injunctive relief and attorney’s fees…

The NYC subway has an accessibility problem—can it be fixed?

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  Curbed NY

Every morning, like many New Yorkers, Chris Pangilinan checks his phone to see if there will be interruptions to his subway commute. There is a mixed bag of possibilities commuters have come to dread: track work, track fires, signal problems, injuries, overcrowded trains, or just unexplained delays. But Pangilinan’s main concern doesn’t make that list. As he is getting ready to leave for work, he’s thinking about elevators. As a wheelchair user, elevator accessibility on the subway determines Pangilinan’s movement throughout the city every single day. Pangilinan works near a subway station with an elevator, Bowling Green, and lives near elevator stations at Jay Street-MetroTech and Borough Hall, in Brooklyn. But about once a month, he faces another challenge: One of the elevators between those three stations doesn’t work…

Jack Fact — As of 2015, just 1.9% of people ages 18 to 64 in the US had a visual disability, according to the Institute on Employment and Disability at Cornell University. However, only 41.8% of that population was employed.

International News

 Majority of procurement deals ignore accessibility requirements

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  LocalGov- UK

More than half of outsourcing deals by councils fail to take the needs of people with disabiilities into account, according to a business pressure group. This leaves many councils at risk of paying more to retrofit services or offices for accessibility, the Business Disability Forum warned. It found that only one in four organisations in a study reviewed contracts with third-party suppliers to ensure that they delivered on requirements for inclusion and accessibility. Less than two in five reported having discussions with suppliers about how they approach disability outside of formal processes…

Basic errors are obstacles to building accessibility

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  Planning & Building Control Today- UK

Building accessibility is covered by Approved Document M, yet many projects still suffer from avoidable errors and poor choices that can be costly to put right. From fancy – but flawed – design features to basic building accessibility errors, we’re surprised and disappointed to see so many projects that require remedial work. Recent examples have come from assessing accessibility of museums. If we were to open a museum of design howlers, these examples would probably be in it. The first site looked fine as we approached, with a gently sloping footpath leading to the main doors, and the alternative of a few steps with the correct nosings and appropriate handrails. But unfortunately, the handrails protruded part of the way across the path, which was also obstructed, albeit temporarily, by a carelessly located A-board…

MEP Marlene Mizzi welcomes the adoption of a strong European Accessibility Act

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  Independent- Europe & EASPD & Euractiv

Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Marlene Mizzi said that the adoption of a European Accessibility Act will bring a real change in the lives of millions people and in particular of elderly people, pregnant women and people with disabilities in Europe. “This was a real victory for the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament. We have managed to push through our priorities and to ensure that the European Parliament adopts a strong and ambitious position.” On Thursday, MEPs voted in Strasbourg a new directive on accessibility requirements for products and services. “This is the first ever European horizontal accessibility legislation that will make access to key products and services such as phones, ATMs and ticketing and check-in machines easier for elderly citizens and for people with disabilities,” commented Marlene Mizzi…

Campanile gets thumbs up as disability friendly and versatile

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  RNews- South Africa & Herald Live

Wheelchair-bound, Andrew Whitfield, on Thursday negotiated curbs, traffic and all other hazards a person with disabilities would face to test the accessibility of the iconic Campanile and in the end gave his journey the thumbs up. Whitfield, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture, took part in the Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities’ Wheelchair Wednesday campaign and reckons when new developments are designed, the needs of people with disabilities must be foremost in mind. “By an large I will give the trip from City Hall to the Campanile approximately 80%. The newly added lift at the Campanile, during the recent renovations, made a huge difference.  Previously people with disabilities were limited to wheeling themselves to the bottom, look up, turn around and go home…

Cork is not doing enough for blind people

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  Evening Echo Cork- Ireland

Cork is years behind Dublin in terms of accessibility, according to a blind man who recently had to reveal his private banking pin at the dentist as he could not use a modern touchscreen Visa machine which was not blind user-friendly. Mr McNamidhe said that new touchscreen Visa machines are impossible for him to use and on a recent trip to the dentist he had to give out his private pin to pay for services with his card. This is one of a number of issues Alan McNamidhe has encountered due to his disability while living in Cork. According to Mr McNamidhe, the city is cumbersome, difficult and dangerous to navigate as a blind person…

Californian chemists receive our first Inclusion and Diversity Prize

September 15, 2017   |  Source:  Royal Society of Chemistry- UK

The inaugural Inclusion and Diversity Prize was awarded to Dr Henry “Hoby” Wedler and Dr Dean Tantillo from the University of California, Davis, at our Joliot-Curie Conference in Bath last week. Our former president, Professor Lesley Yellowlees, presented the prize, which recognises an individual or team’s contribution and impact in promoting and improving the accessibility, inclusivity and diversity of the chemical science community. Dr Wedler was at the conference to accept the prize on behalf of himself and Dr Tantillo, who collaborate to make chemistry more accessible to people with disabilities. Dr Wedler has been completely blind since birth and completed his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at UC Davis in 2016. He is the founder and director of the non-profit organisation Accessible Science, which runs science summer camps for visually impaired teenagers. He delivered a lecture to conference delegates on his experiences as a blind chemist and his latest project, looking at developing intelligent sensory design…

Breaking free: Travel made accessible with Planet Abled

September 16, 2017   |  Source:  The Sunday Guardian- India & Independent- India

For Neha Arora, a family vacation with her parents, who are suffering from physical disability, is always more of a challenge than a leisure activity. Most, if not all, holiday destinations in India are marked by an utter lack of infrastructure and facilities for the differently-abled. In a conversation with Guardian 20, the 33-year-old tells us how her not so good travel experiences led to the inception of Planet Abled, a first-of-its-kind platform that organises customised tours for the differently-abled. Recalling her childhood, Arora confides that unfortunately for her as a kid, travel was always about school picnics and grandparents’ houses—since her father is visually-impaired and mother is a wheelchair user. “When I grew up and started travelling, as a family, we would face a lot of issues in terms of accessibility and the kind of leisure activities available when we travelled…

Activist inspires Seoul’s tourism policy for the disable

September 17, 2017   |  Source:  Korea Times-South Korea

Hong Seo-yoon is the founder of Accessible Korea, a non-profit consulting group for disabled tourists. Although wheelchair-bound, she’s been an avid traveler for almost all her adult life. For eight years, she documented her trips and shared her knowhow with others on her travel blog. Accessible Korea took off with the strong belief that helping the disabled travel eventually benefits all of society. “Wheelchair accessibility in buildings is also good for mothers with strollers and the elderly population who have difficulty walking,” Hong said during an interview with The Korea Times, Thursday. “That means services and infrastructure for the disabled are for all.”…

$6m allocated to improve life for people with disabilities

September 17, 2017   |  Source:  Tehran Times- Iran

We are planning to make houses and cars of 11500 people with disabilities more appropriate,” he explained. Making cities more accessible for people with limited mobility to have more social activities will inspirit them and help them have a stronger presence in the society, he added. The budget allotted to guarantee enhanced accessibility for people with disability living in urban areas was some 118 billion rials (nearly $3.4m) for the past Iranian calendar year (March 2015-March 2016). “We provided facility for houses and cars of 8000 people with disabilities during the past year,” he said. He also said a comprehensive plan on protection of the rights of persons with disabilities is being implemented by the organization…

Channel 4 to broadcast ad break through the eyes of those with sight loss

September 18, 2017   |  Source:  The Drum- UK & Adweek

Channel 4 has partnered with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and five advertisers to give viewers a glimpse of what it looks like to watch TV when suffering from sight loss. It forms part of the broadcaster’s drive to embrace accessibility – and encourage advertisers to follow suit. Having signed up O2, Paco Rabanne (PUIG UK), Amazon Echo, Freeview and Specsavers to take part in the campaign, viewers will for the first time be able to ‘see’ an entire ad break through the eyes of two million people living with sight loss conditions in the UK today. Different visual filters will be applied across ads for the five brands to illustrate the five most common eye conditions in the UK; macular degeneration (affects the central part of a person’s vision), cataracts (cause sight to become cloudy or misty), eye conditions caused by diabetes (which can affect the blood vessels at the back of the eyes), hemianopia (a person loses half of their vision) and glaucoma (a condition that damages the optic nerve)…

Have you been unable to shop due to poor accessibility?

September 18, 2017   |  Source:  The Guardian- UK

Britain’s 11.9 million disabled people represent a potentially large untapped consumer market with a perceived spending power of £80bn, yet many clothes shops are completely inaccessible. With London Fashion Week, the subject of diversity will continue to dominate the catwalks as Edward Enninful, the incoming editor of British Vogue, cements his vision for an inclusive approach to this elite industry. However, a recent study by the Extra Costs Commission has found that 75% of disabled customers have left a shop because of poor service or access, and that British companies risk losing £420m a week in sales. Where designers have supported the move towards diverse casting and even showcased disability models, many disabled consumers cannot access these trends due to poor shop accessibility…

Physical activity should be accessible to all amputees

September 18, 2017   |  Source:  Toronto Star- Canada

“Can I return to being physically active, the way I was before my accident?” That’s a common question I get asked in the Amputee Rehabilitation Program at West Park Healthcare Centre. Happily, I am most often able to answer “yes.” My patients may have lost a limb, but they have not lost their desire to be physically active and regain a sense of independence. For some, the goal is to get their lives back and have the confidence to walk again and one day return home. Others have their eye on a bigger prize — to return to recreational activities and sport. Not just in the gym, but also on the world stage. A handful of my patients are now Paralympic athletes, representing our country with pride…

Young woman seeks to place Jordan on wheelchair accessibility map

September 19, 2017   |  Source:  Jordan Times- Jordan

Coming to the realisation that people with disabilities in Jordan could not enjoy a daily life of entertainment as they wish to, Aya Aghabi took the matter into her own hands and created “AccessibleJordan.com”. “I realised that, whether they have a mobility impairment, a baby to push around in a stroller, or simply people with moving difficulties, people tend to cancel their plans because they know they won’t be able to access their destination because of stairs or the lack of ramps and elevators,” the 26-year-old told The Jordan Times on Monday. Jordan, the country she “always loved and that offered her so many options for fun, exploration and adventure” could no longer do so the second she sat in a wheelchair…

Josh Grisdale and Accessible Japan: Helping Disabled Visitors Follow Their Travel Dreams

September 19, 2017   |  Source:  Nippon- Japan

Canadian-born Josh Grisdale’s enthusiasm for encouraging disabled tourists to visit Japan is clear as he describes the impetus behind his Accessible Japan website. “When I first came to the country, there was really no information about accessibility, so I spent a lot of time researching in books or talking to people who live here. After living here myself for a number of years and seeing how great Japan’s accessibility is, I thought that there needed to be a resource for people interested in visiting.” Grisdale has cerebral palsy that he says was probably caused by a high fever he contracted while a baby. It affects all four of his limbs, and he has been using a wheelchair since he was four years old. The website began with information he gathered from his own perspective, but has expanded to cover other areas of disability…

Thailand to promote universal accessibility and tourism for all

September 19, 2017   |  Source:  Thailand Business News- Thailand & Pattaya Mail

The initiative is a direct result of last year’s highly successful 36th World Tourism Day, which was held in Bangkok on 27 September , 2016, with a range of events under the banner of ‘Tourism for All – Promoting Universal Accessibility’. During the event a number of speakers emphasised that the concept begins with universal design infrastructure that allows individuals with disabilities access to key tourism destinations and attractions. The initiative is a direct result of last year’s highly successful 36th World Tourism Day, which was held in Bangkok on 27 September , 2016, with a range of events under the banner of ‘Tourism for All – Promoting Universal Accessibility’. During the event a number of speakers emphasised that the concept begins with universal design infrastructure that allows individuals with disabilities access to key tourism destinations and attractions…

EP agrees on draft law making ATMs and banking services more better available to disabled persons

September 19, 2017   |  Source:  Independent- Malta

Members of the European Parliament have been hard at work to approve a draft bill which would require member states to make key products, such as ATMs, phones and banking services more accessible for persons with disabilities. In a communication published by the EP, it made reference to the roughly 80 million people living within EU boundaries who live with a disability to a greater or lesser degree. Due to Europe’s ageing population, where people are living longer and having less children, this figure is expected to rise to some 120 million people. ember states already cater for persons with disabilities in some respect; however the fragmented approach has created issues in terms of cross-border mobility. MEPs overwhelmingly approved amendments to the European Accessibility Act, which would “outline what needs to be accessible…

Halifax commits to improving accessible transit

September 19, 2017   |  Source:  Globalnews- Canada & MetroNews- Canada

Finding a reliable method of transportation is difficult in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), especially for those with mobility issues. That’s why regional council revisited the topic on Tuesday, discussing the two methods available in the city, a door-to-door service for those who can’t use the conventional bus system and accessible taxis. While the municipality has committed to improving an accessible taxi and bus system, directing staff to find ways to improve its programs, not everyone on the Halifax Regional Council agrees on the best way to do it. “We need to be firm on what it is that we can do for a certain segment of our citizens,” said Deputy Mayor Steve Craig at Tuesday’s debate…

RSU planning to improve academic accommodation process on campus

September 19, 2017   |  Source:  The Eyeopener- Canada

The Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) is looking to advocate for better accessibility and academic accommodation services for students on campus. Camryn Harlick, RSU’s vice-president equity, is pushing to eliminate the process of presenting medical documentation for academic accommodation services, making textbooks more affordable and implementing a student note-taker system that is more accessible to students than the one offered by the Academic Accommodation Support (AAS) office. Ryerson’s AAS office, which provides counselling and accessibility services, accommodates students with learning disabilities, sensory impairments, brain injuries, mental illnesses and physical disabilities. The process to register with AAS is a three-step procedure which involves providing a digital copy of medical documentation, completing an online intake form and then attending a registration appointment…

The KellyCaster reveals what accessibility means for instruments

September 20, 2017   |  Source:  Create Digital Music- UK

John Kelly recently played the debut of a new instrument, the KellyCaster. But this musician, this instrument, are significant for more than just novelty. It’s more than likely that you haven’t heard of John Kelly. So before talking about the instrument, it’s worth explaining not just who he is, but why he’s had an instrument named after him. John is a talented musician and songwriter who has extensive experience with multiple instruments and has recorded and played live internationally. John is also a musician with access needs. Probably a lot of people might say he’s a “disabled” musician, but I prefer the previous description, and I will explain why before the end of this piece. John’s personal page gives a full picture of him and his work…

Vision Australia joins global push for workplace accessibility

September   |  Source:  Vision Australia- Australia

Vision Australia has proudly become a signatory of the Global Charter for Inclusive ICT Procurement. By adding our voice to this Charter, Vision Australia, alongside many other organisations, is urging all levels of government across the world to use their purchasing power to support the procurement of accessible technology that suits the needs of all employees. Vision Australia is excited to be part of this global movement designed to enhance employment opportunities for people who face exclusion due to a disability…

G3ict and World Enabled partner with government of Brazil to promote digital inclusion of all citizens

September 20, 2017   |  Source:  India- Brazil

The government of Brazil has invited G3ict and World Enabled – two nonprofits with extensive global leadership in inclusive cities and accessible technology – to assist it with its efforts to guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities in the country. The two international nonprofit organizations will participate in an international seminar, Accessibility and Inclusion: Expression of Citizenship, on September  20-21. The purpose of the conference is to promote equal opportunities and social inclusion of persons with disabilities in Brazil. The event is being led by the Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU) in cooperation with other agencies of the government, including the National Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Secretaria Nacional de Promoção dos Direitos da Pessoa com Deficiência – SNPD)…

Roman holiday: how Chester became the most accessible city in Europe

September 20, 2017   |  Source:  The Guardian- UK

A step up to a restaurant and no threshold ramp in sight. A pub with its function room upstairs, making attending a friend’s birthday drinks impossible. A kerb that hasn’t been flattened, essentially imprisoning you in the road. To a wheelchair user, such as myself, some cities can feel like no-go areas. Moving around Durham and its seemingly endless cobbles and hills can be a nightmare for people with mobility problems; it’s the same in Bath. And I have spent years paying £40 for a taxi ride when working in central London because the tube is still largely inaccessible to wheelchairs. In Brighton, with its narrow lanes and frequent steps, I often can’t find a suitable restaurant. It’s the same the world over. Disabled tourists must often pay over the odds for accommodation because they need large, wheelchair-accessible rooms; Paris’s enormous kerbs are a menace…

Wheel-Trans users fear new program will force them to use inaccessible TTC

September 20, 2017   |  Source:  CBC

Michele Gardner never uses the TTC. Not because of delays or overcrowding, but because it scares her. “I really don’t like using the regular transit, especially because I know that it’s not fully accessible,” said Gardner. Gardner is in an electric wheelchair and has been using Wheel-Trans, TTC’s door-to-door service for people with mobility issues, since 1987. She says she doesn’t want to be forced into using buses or subways, and that’s one of the reasons why she came to the TTC Forum on Accessible Transit. The annual event drew about 300 people to the Beanfield Centre at Exhibition Place. It’s intended to highlight any concerns or questions people have about the accessibility of the TTC or Wheel-Trans…

IP Osgoode Innovation Clinic, Norton Rose to participate in Accessibility Innovation Showcase

September 20, 2017   |  Source:  Canadian Lawyer Magazine- Canada

Law students from the IP Osgoode Innovation Clinic, in collaboration with lawyers from Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP’s IP group, will offer pro bono one-to-one intellectual property advice at an upcoming Ask the Expert program. The program takes place Sept. 25 and 26 and is part of the Accessibility Innovation Showcase, an official event of the 2017 Invictus Games that are being held in Toronto this year. The group of 10 students and five lawyers will offer expertise to creators of emerging accessibility and assistive device technologies. “Accessibility and assistive device technology is definitely a growing area of IP and a new area of technology,” says Maya Medeiros, partner, patent agent and trademark agent at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada as well as an Osgoode Hall adjunct professor and the IP Innovation Clinic’s supervising lawyer…

Access denied: disabled metro maps versus everyone else’s

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  The Guardian- UK

From Paris to New York, we’ve matched metro maps against versions that only include fully accessible stations. The results are discouraging – but are any cities doing it right? The metro can be the quickest way to get around many big cities. Unless you’re in a wheelchair. Although it has invested recently in improving accessibility, the London Underground – the world’s oldest metro, opened in 1863 – still only has 71 out 270 tube stations accessible by wheelchair or mobility scooter from street to platform. Given that 21 of those require ramps and staff assistance to board trains, the number of fully accessible stations – which people in wheelchairs can use independently – is just 50…

Roundtable to enhance political participation of WWDs

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  The News International- Iran

To enhance political participation of women with disability (WWD), participants of a roundtable discussion stressed for concrete measures to ensure issuance of national identity cards to WDDs and voter’s registration besides making polling stations accessible for the disabled persons. The demand was highlighted at a roundtable discussion titled organised on Thursday titled ‘Making an Inclusive Pakistan Elections Regime: Roundtable Discussion on Political Participation of Women with Disabilities’ organised by Special Talent Exchange Programme (STEP) in collaboration with the High Commission of Canada, Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) and National Forum of Women with Disabilities (NFWWD)…

Broken lifts and stairs for commuters with wheelchairs

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  GroundUp- South Africa

There is no time frame on when railway stations in Cape Town will be universally accessible, but they will be upgraded says Metrorail. The trains themselves will only be fully accessible for wheelchair users in two to three years. The busiest route in the city, the Central Line, runs through Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Salt River, with 16 stops. Ten of these stations are accessible to people in wheelchairs, but at six key stations – Nyanga, Stock Road, Mandalay, Khayelitsha, Lentegeur and Mitchells Plain – lifts and ramps are still under construction, says Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott. There is a short ramp at Nyanga Junction but both platforms require the user to climb stairs in order to reach the bridge between platforms. The station has lifts but they do not work, which GroundUp reported a year ago. Vendors have now opened fruit and vegetable stands right in front of the lift doors…

Invisible disabilities: understanding dyslexia

September 21, 2017   |  Source:  Disability Horizons

Not all disabilities are obvious, or even visible. New Disability Horizons writer, Aurora Betony, shares her experiences of adult dyslexia, how people perceive it, and offers some guidance and support on adult dyslexia. I was identified with dyslexia in mid-adulthood. When I was identified I felt relieved. It was frustrating that I hadn’t known sooner how dyslexia affects me. But being assessed let me understand that, and so gave me the possibility of fulfilling my potential. It was liberating and exhilarating. Now, I write accessible self-help resources for dyslexic adults. I also write guidance on adult dyslexia for people, such as web developers and writers, so they know how to make things more accessible for people with dyslexia…

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