Accessibility News

Industry Applauds Obama Accessibility Bil

Julius — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 00:46:25 +0000

CTIA, Verizon Wireless and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski have lauded President Barack Obama’s passing of a bill that requires smartphones and other consumer
electronics be accessible to people with vision or hearing loss.

The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act includes a mandate that the web browsers, text messaging, and e-mail on smartphones be fully
accessible to people with vision or hearing loss and ensures that Internet-capable cell phones are compatible with hearing aids.

Council angry over AODA proposals

Tom — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Not even an adorable puppy could distract West Perth council from the "stick" behind the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

Shelby Wilson, accessibility coordinator for Perth County, combined training a service dog with seeking input from council on proposed AODA regulations
at council's Sept. 27 meeting.

And while the puppy may have warmed hearts, the proposed rules, including hefty fines for individuals and organizations, extra costs and extra requirements,
raised tempers.

House expands access to disabled, initiative pushed by Markey

Julius — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON – The House last night gave final approval to legislation that significantly expands access for the blind and deaf to technology such as the
internet, smart phones, and video.

“Whether it’s a Braille reader or a broadband connection, access to technology is not a political issue - it’s a participation issue,” said Representative
Ed Markey, a Malden Democrat and author of the legislation. “Two decades ago, Americans with disabilities couldn’t get around if buildings weren’t wheelchair
accessible; today it’s about being Web accessible.”

The measure, which was previously approved by the Senate, is expected to be signed into law next week by President Obama.

US Govt. Suing Post Properties for Illegal Accessibility Features

Julius — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0000

The US government is suing Post Properties (PPS: 28.68 ,0.00 ,0.00%) for allegedly failing to provide accessible features required by federal law at some multifamily housing developments in six states.

The US Justice Department said Post Properties constructed and developed at least 19 multifamily apartment complexes in Georgia, Texas, Florida, New York, North Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia without accessible routes leading into and through buildings.

Stevie Wonder Makes Pitch To U.N. To Ease Copyrights For The Blind

Julius — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Stevie Wonder has recently explained to the U.N.’s World Intellectual Property Organization that its current copyright system denies equal opportunities
for the blind. He urged delegates to adopt an action plan that would allow the blind and near-blind to side-step copyright rules and give them easier
access to books and learning. His stance was endorsed by the World Blind Union, which said that in developing countries less than one percent of published
works are available in Braille or audio format. The number is not much better in industrial nations, to which WBU gave an estimation of five percent.
Wonder stated that reformatting these published works could give the blind and visually impaired access to billions of science, history, and other books
that they currently cannot read.

Blind woman says federal websites discriminate against the visually impaired

Julius — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Donna Jodhan, who is blind, is taking the federal government to court because government websites are not accessible to blind and partially-sighted Internet
users.

Donna Jodhan was one of the first blind people in Canada to earn an MBA, in 1981, and one of the first in the world to obtain technical certifications from
software companies Microsoft and Novell.

So the Toronto accessibility consultant was shocked in 2004 when she had trouble applying for a position posted on the federal government’s jobs website.

Disability Group Targets Senate Candidate Who Questioned ADA

Julius — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0000

A newly formed political fund-raising group supporting disability-friendly candidates is taking aim at Rand Paul, a Senate candidate from Kentucky who publicly
questioned the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Disability Power & Pride Political Action Committee, or PAC, is planning an event later this month to raise cash for Paul’s opponent, Jack Conway, a
Democrat.

Hotel where even the blind take in stunning sea views

Julius — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0000

The Lauriston Hotel must have some of the best sea views of any hotel in Weston-super-Mare – with the redeveloped Grand Pier just a stone's throw away and
the rolling waves of the Bristol Channel glistening all the way to Steep Holm.

The true grandeur of the view has become something of a recurring joke between the staff and the residents at the elegant Victorian hotel – because for
the past 50 years, this remarkable place has been a hotel for the blind.

I vow to make city more accessible

Julius — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Talk of inclusiveness and equal access for all is everywhere -- but that doesn't mean reality has caught up to rhetoric. As a Calgarian with a disability,
I constantly run up against barriers that turn routine activities into onerous challenges.

Improving accessibility for Calgary citizens has never been as high a priority for civic leaders as it should be, as Sharon Foo, a Calgary freelance writer
with a disability, noted in last Monday's Herald. I'd like to respond to the challenge she issued by setting out how, as Mayor of Calgary, I will confront
what is clearly a very personal issue.

Kindle Accessibility Review: How Far Has Amazon Opened the Door to the Blind?

Tom — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0000

The Kindle is an electronic book reading device produced by Amazon that provides access to hundreds of thousands of in-copyright books and well over a million
more that are either out of print or in the public domain. In other words, it’s pretty safe to say that if it’s not available on the Kindle it’s not available
in e-book format.

The question we must ask is, “how effectively does the new Kindle 3 make the books in this vast library accessible to blind readers”?

Amazing Innovation: Mobile Apps for the Disabled

Julius — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0000

ThinkContacts is a new mobile application being developed by Nokia which would allow a disabled person to select a contact from a list and place a phone
call to that person using only their mind. The app, which is designed for Nokia's N900 Maemo platform, works with an accompanying headset that reads the
user's brainwaves to measure attention levels. If the attention level is higher than 70%, the software scrolls to the next contact in the list. If the
attention level is higher than 80%, the software makes a phone call to the selected contact.

It's one of the latest developments in making accessible smartphone applications for the disabled, the blind and deaf.

U.S. Senate Passes S.3304 by Unanimous Consent!

Tom — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0000

August 5, 2010, Washington, D.C.:-- COAT celebrates the passage of the "Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010" (S. 3304)
by the U.S. Senate today by unanimous consent. Due to the extraordinary efforts of advocates across the country and in Washington, D.C., COAT has secured
a monumental step forward in accessible technology.

New IBM Collaboration with Japan's TIC and KOA to Address Urgent Need for Elderly, Disabled Citizens to Join e-Government

Tom — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0000

TOTTORI, Japan and ARMONK, N.Y., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM ) Japan, Tottori Prefecture Information-Center (TIC) and KOA Corporation (KOA) today announced that they have embarked on a groundbreaking project to greatly
improve access to critical public government online services by constructing a first of a kind Web Accessibility Cloud Center. The effort, adopted by
the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan as part of its Information and Communication Furusato Genki Project, an effort to re-energize
regions in Japan, will build on Tottori Prefecture's official Website and dramatically increase citizen's access to important public services that have
until now been out of reach.

Open source initiative will help the disabled

Julius — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0000

THE OPEN AJAX ALLIANCE (OAA) is using open source web 2.0 initiatives to improve Internet access for the elderly and disabled.

The OAA
announced the open source tooling technology to help developers create accessible web 2.0 enabled sites that meet online accessibility standards. The guidelines
followed are the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0), considered as the industry-wide global standard
for accessibility.

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities and Public Accommodations

Tom — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:00:00 +0000

The Department of Justice (Department) is considering revising the regulations implementing title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA or Act)
in order to establish requirements for making the goods, services, facilities, privileges, accommodations, or advantages offered by public accommodations
via the Internet, specifically at sites on the World Wide Web (Web), accessible to individuals with disabilities. The Department is also considering revising
the ADA´s title II regulation to establish requirements for making the services, programs, or activities offered by State and local governments to the
public via the Web accessible. The Department is issuing this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) in order to solicit public comment on various
issues relating to the potential application of such requirements and to obtain background information for the regulatory assessment the Department must
prepare if it were to adopt requirements that are economically significant according to Executive Order 12866.

W3C Releases Unicorn Web Validation Tool

Tom — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:00:00 +0000

W3C has released Unicorn
, a one-stop tool to help people improve the quality of their Web pages. Unicorn combines four popular tools, including the Markup validator, CSS validator,
mobileOk checker, and Feed validator, with a single interface. This means you can check a Web page with a visit to one url instead of four. Unicorn allows
you to choose all four validation checks at once, or any one of the four individual checks as needed.

Unicorn allows the same three ways to validate your Web site as the individual tools, i.e. you can submit a url to the page to be tested, upload the files,
or enter (cut-and-paste) the code directly into a text box.

US to boost web accessibility

Tom — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Barack Obama's administration has announced plans to ensure people with disabilities get better access to retails and hospitality focused websites, in addition to ensuring better access to physical premises such as cinemas.

Most of the proposals are aimed primarily at improved access for the those with visual and hearing impairments.

Holder: New Rules For Disabled Access Coming

Tom — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 06:00:00 +0000

The Justice Department will soon be seeking comment on four proposed rules to establish accessibility requirements for websites, movies, equipment and furniture,
and 911 call-taking technologies, Attorney General
Eric Holder said Wednesday at an event commemorating the 15th anniversary of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

Holder spoke as part of the Justice Department’s week honoring the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, known as the ADA. He pledged
“aggressive and appropriate” enforcement of the landmark disabilities law — both in communities and the department itself.

PharmaPrix to Make Debit-Card Readers Accessible to Handicapped Customers

Tom — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Pharmaprix drug stores have agreed to make their debit card readers more accessible to handicapped customers, following an agreement with the Quebec Human
Rights Commission.

Pharmaprix, operated by Ontario-based Shoppers Drug Mart Corp., is to ensure all debit card readers at its franchised stores are connected to the cash register
with a cable, the commission said Wednesday.

In January, Montrealer Linda Gauthier, who uses a wheelchair, filed a complaint to the commission, after she couldn’t access the reader at a Pharmaprix
store in the Plateau Mont Royal. To prevent debit information theft, many retailers are attaching their card readers to an immovable metal base which is
inaccessible to customers in wheelchairs.

Blind behind the wheel

Tom — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Could a blind person drive a car? Researchers are trying to make that far-fetched notion a reality.

The National Federation of the Blind in the US and Virginia Tech plan to demonstrate a prototype vehicle next year equipped with technology that helps a
blind person drive a car independently.

The technology, called "nonvisual interfaces," uses sensors to let a blind driver manoeuvre a car based on information transmitted to him about the surroundings:
whether another car or object is nearby, in front or in an adjacent lane.

Disabled voters promised access to polling centres

Tom — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 06:00:00 +0000

AMMAN - People with disabilities (PWD) will have an easier time voting in November's parliamentary elections as several polling stations will be specially
equipped to accommodate them, the government said on Monday.

“Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Nayef Qadi has instructed all governors to take necessary measures to provide some polling centres with
special equipment needed to facilitate accessibility for PWD in the forthcoming elections,” Director of Elections at the Interior Ministry Saad Shihab,
told The Jordan Times yesterday.

Colleges cautioned about e-book readers' accessibility

Tom — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

As e-book technology becomes more commonplace on college campuses, the U.S. Justice and Education departments raised concerns Tuesday that some
universities are using devices that don't meet accessibility standards set by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

"It is unacceptable for universities to use emerging technology without insisting that this technology be accessible to all students," the departments said
in a joint letter to college presidents.

Australian Government Releases the Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy (NTS)

Tom — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

It is our pleasure to announce that the Australian Government Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy (
http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/wcag-2-implementation/index.html
) (NTS) was released today by the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, the Honourable Lindsay Tanner, MP and Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities
and Children’s Services, the Honourable Bill Shorten, MP.

You are no doubt already aware that web accessibility has been a government priority for a number of years and the government endorsement and adoption of
WCAG 2.0 will ensure that government websites are more accessible and more user-friendly to everyone.

Google Improves Chrome's Accessibility

Tom — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Unless you count the time Ford arranged for a blind man to drive a Mustang on the company's proving grounds, speed and special nods to accessibility don't
often go together. Today, however, Google made its speedy browser, Chrome, more accessible by introducing a new category of featured extensions.

ChromeVis, which was designed to improve the visibility of text, is perhaps the main attraction in the new "Accessibility" group.

Smartphones Flunk for Blind Users

Tom — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Smartphones can be pretty clueless when it comes to blind or visually impaired users.

For millions of consumers with normal vision, smartphones offer almost effortless conference calling, e-mailing and Internet browsing. They make it easy
to find a gas station, a rental car or a recipe. Vast music libraries and video games are expected features for a device with a $200 to $600 price tag.

But for many in the blind and visually impaired community, the absence of physical buttons on most smartphones makes interactions with some devices virtually
impossible.

Polling stations 'fail disabled' through lack of access

Tom — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Online voting should be introduced to assist disabled voters after access to polling stations failed to improve for this year's election, a charity said.

A Scope survey suggested more than two thirds of the general election polling stations failed basic access tests.

That was no better than in 2001 or 2005, despite new guidance and duties for local authorities.

Federal Update: The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act

Tom — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Recently the US Senate held a congressional hearing on legislation to improve access to the Internet and other technologies for blind and deaf individuals. In the US House of Representatives, the Committee
on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on their version of this legislation called the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, by updating
the statutory provisions found in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 and the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Committee Chairman, Henry Waxman, said that that this hearing was ‘the first step in a process to ensure that Americans with disabilities can more fully
participate in our evolving Internet-based society.” Chairman Waxman stated that he wanted the hearing “to outline and clarify where agreement exists …
and where some adjustment may be necessary.”

Report highlights economic clout of travellers with disabilities

Tom — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

The tourism industry is being urged to recognise the economic importance of catering for travellers with disabilities or health conditions.

VisitEngland has issued a report showing that almost £2bn was generated for the English domestic visitor economy in 2009 by overnight trips made by people
who either have or are accompanied by someone with a health condition or impairment.

Cable Ops Seek Time, Flexibility to Improve Online Access for Disabled

Tom — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Cable operators applaud the spirit of H.R. 3101, the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009, but a National Cable & Telecommunications
Association executive plans to tell a House Communications Subcommittee panel June 10 that the letter of that proposed law should be adjusted to give cable
operators the "time and flexibility" to comply with its directives.

The bill is an effort to apply the rules on access to communications services for the disabled to the new world of increasing broadband video and audio
delivery. That bill includes closed captioning, video description, access to emergency information, and more.

Partisan Bickering Erupts at Online Accessibility Hearing

Tom — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Sparks flew at a hearing June 9 on HR 3101, The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, a bill that would update communications accessibility
provisions in the 1996 Communications Act and apply them to access to broadband.

United States Congressional Website Adopts Patented Audio Eye Accessibility Technology

Tom — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

NEW YORK, Jun 09, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Audio Eye, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of CMG Holdings, Inc., (CMGO
0.04, +0.01, +14.29%) is pleased to announce that Congressman Raul Grijalva has adopted Audio Eye's technology on his official US Congress website:
http://grijalva.house.gov/ .

Audio Eye's technology effectively meets required criteria and standards of Section 508 legislation and needs of disabled, physically challenged, learning,
hearing or visually impaired, low vision, dyslexic, autistic, elderly, even internet novices and mobile users. The patented technology delivers an Internet
service that converts and indexes Internet content and automates multi-format publishing so that everyone seeking Audio Eye enabled content can access
Internet content. Audio Eye's Accessibility software meets standards and criteria for Section 508 of the Americans for Disabilities Act ($2.8 billion market).

National Federation of the Blind Files Suit Against Four California Law Schools

Tom — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of blind people, and three blind students who have applied or
are considering applying to law school in California-Deepa Goraya, Bruce J.
Sexton, and Claire Stanley-filed an amended lawsuit yesterday against the Law School Admissions Council and four California law schools for violating
provisions of the California Disabled Persons Act, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The suit was filed because the law schools require or encourage applicants to use a centralized Internet-based application process provided by the Law
School Admissions Council (LSAC) through its Web site (
www.lsac.org )
that is inaccessible to blind law school applicants. Blind students must
seek sighted assistance to use the LSAC system. Furthermore, blind law school applicants cannot perform other tasks on the LSAC Web site, such as
downloading official study materials for the Law School Admissions Test
(LSAT) that is required by almost all U.S. law schools.

Legal Issues: Techno File

Tom — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Published Date: 07 June 2010 Accessibility is keyA DRAFT British Standard on web accessibility warns organisations to consider how easily users with disabilities
can access websites on mobile phones, tablets and TVs. Ignoring their needs could breach BS 8878 and the Equality Act, it says.

rds body BSI has launched a second consultation on "BS 8878 Web Accessibility – Code of Practice". It explains how organisations should create policies
and production processes to identify and remove barriers that result in websites excluding disabled and elderly people.

EC plans technology to help the elderly

Tom — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Technologies including robots that can cook and exo-skeletons to help frail elderly people walk are being worked on as part of an EC project.

The European Commission has opened a €1bn (around £832m) consultation on using technology to help elderly European citizens.

Building a barrier-free society

Tom — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Hong Kong is a modern, dynamic and multicultural place. New designs take into account the needs of everyone, including the elderly and the disabled. But
we also live in a compact and vertical city. The pavements can be narrow and the hills steep. So, there is much work still to be done to enhance accessibility.

When planning new development areas and major public works, we are committed to make them sustainable and accessible to all. For example, accessibility
and sustainability are two of the planning principles of the 40-hectare West Kowloon Cultural District, one of the world's largest arts and culture undertakings
so far.

BSI seeks feedback on web accessibility code of practice

Tom — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

The British Standards Institute is inviting website owners, web
product managers, web procurement managers, usability and
accessibility specialists, marketing professionals and disabled
web users, to review and comment on the draft of a new standard on accessible websites.

The National Standards Body of the UK is developing the new code of practice
DPC BS 8878 Web accessibility – Code of Practice
, to ensure the web is more accessible to elderly and disabled users.

Denmark: Survey Results On The Web Accessibility Of Government Websites

Tom — Mon, 24 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

According to a survey conducted on behalf of the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation by a consulting firm specialising in information
technology for people with disabilities, 52 % of the Danish government websites are not fully e-accessible to people with various types of disabilities.

A total of 226 government websites were tested, including pages that are directly covered by the agreement on the mandatory open standards and a variety
of other government websites. Individual pages were tested in terms of compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA standard
and with the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) standards.

Game Industry Facing a "Collision" With Aging Gamers

Tom — Tue, 18 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

A new report suggests the videogame industry is at risk of losing $3 billion in potential revenue if it fails to accommodate the infirmities and decrepitude
of an increasingly-aging American gamer demographic.

A new paper called "Gaming on a Collision Course: Averting significant revenue loss by making games accessible to older Americans" speculates that as the
average age of videogamers continues to advance, the industry faces a "significant loss of both sales and customers" unless it takes steps to ensure that
games remain accessible to everyone.

Riyadh is disabled-friendly city

Tom — Mon, 17 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

RIYADH: Riyadh has been declared the Kingdom's first disabled-friendly city. Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman made the declaration on Sunday after signing a series
of agreements for disability accessibility between the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research (PSCDR) and a number of government departments.

Addressing a ceremony that was held on the occasion, Prince Salman highlighted the government's support for humanitarian and charitable activities. “Saudi
Arabia is proud of being called a humanitarian Kingdom and its king is called the humanitarian king,” he said.

Agencies struggle with 508 compliance, procurement

Tom — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Federal agencies clearly struggle to comply with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, members of the public told government officials during a May 12
public hearing by the federal Access Board to get feedback on a draft of section 508 refresh.

Most attendees said they are encouraged by the improved guidelines, but Claude Stout, executive director of Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing, said that federal agencies have trouble in particular with making internal documents accessible to their own staff. Not all federal websites are
optimized for screen-reader software, much of the video is not captioned and text size cannot be adjusted in some programs.

Xenos Axess Addresses ADA and Section 508 Compliance

Tom — Fri, 07 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Lora Bentley spoke with Craig Smith, VP of North American sales and marketing for Xenos. The content management solution provider recently announced the
upcoming release of Xenos Axess, which provides accessible PDFs from high-volume print streams.

PM highlights three levels of accessibility for elderly

Tom — Wed, 05 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Elderly people were a resource that should be tapped into further by providing an infrastructure allowing them to continue contributing towards society,
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said.

"There seems to be an assumption that when people reach retirement age they should be pigeonholed as individuals who can no longer contribute to society.
This is a misconception," Dr Gonzi said.

THE DISABLED: Don't shut us out!

Tom — Mon, 03 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

THERE was a glimmer of hope for the disabled at the National Conference for Universal Design and Accessibility last month.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil announced that Malaysia would ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in New York, the United States, sometime this month.

The minister promised that Malaysia would move forward to provide accessibility to the disabled.

KC residents with disabilities are fed up, and fighting for compliance with ADA

Tom — Sun, 02 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Patrick Palmer, who is blind, wonders why only 11 of Kansas City’s 580 traffic signals are equipped with audible pedestrian warnings.

Sheila Styron, who is also blind, recalls crawling over mounds of snow last winter to get to Kansas City bus stops.

Susie Haake, who uses a wheelchair, questions why a Brookside curb ramp was removed when a new curb was installed, and why light poles block the middle
of sidewalks at 43rd Street and Wornall Road.

Kansas Citians with disabilities say they are increasingly frustrated with what they see as city government’s noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities
Act in this, the 20th year since the landmark law’s passage.

Court: Theaters Must Offer Services for Disabled

Tom — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Theater owners have to make special devices available to ensure those with
hearing and vision disabilities can enjoy the movies, a federal appeals
court ruled Friday.

In a unanimous decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments
by attorneys for the Arizona-based Harkins theater chain that nothing in
federal law requires them to purchase and install the necessary equipment.
The judges said the kinds of devices at issue here clearly fall within the
requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

White House promising more attention to 508

Tom — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

The Obama administration record thus far in ensuring new Web sites are accessibility to people with disabilities hasn't been very good.

Initial releases of Data.gov and Recovery.gov, for instance, fell short of the requirements under Section 508 that mandate accessibility for people who are blind, deaf or have other
disabilities.

While the White House has since fixed these issues, Kareem Dale, the White House special assistant to the President on disability issues, is working with
fellow senior officials and the Chief Information Officer Council to ensure there are no future problems.

Prepare now for 508 web-compliance changes

Tom — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Ensuring that federal online content is accessible to the disabled--as section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires--is typically an afterthought, said
Bruce Bailey, accessibility IT specialist at U.S. Access Board, during an federally-sponsored web developer conference on April 27.

But access requirements could become more important as the federal Access Board prepares a refresh of the regulations. The board will hold a public hearing May 12 on guidelines it released in March; the draft rule is available for comment until June 21.

House Judiciary Subcommittee on The Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Hearing

Tom — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to talk with you again regarding accessibility of the Web. My name is Judy Brewer,
and I direct the Web Accessibility Initiative ni (WAI) at the World Wide Web Consortium nii (W3C).

For the Web to work, computers need to be able to talk to each other across the Internet in the same computer languages - and W3C is where those languages are agreed upon. W3C is an
international standards body with over 300 member organizations, primarily web industry leaders. We are based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
the European Research Consortium on Informatics and Mathematics in France, and Keio University in Japan. W3C is directed by Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of
the Web, and a strong believer in the Web for All. W3C has developed over one hundred technical standards and guidelines, ranging from HTML and XML, to
graphics, math, voice, rich media, mobile devices, web services, linked data, security, privacy, e-Government, internationalization, and more.

Among its other work, W3C hosts the Web Accessibility Initiative. WAI develops standards, guidelines and resources to make the Web accessible for people
with disabilities; ensures accessibility of W3C technologies; and develops educational resources to support web accessibility. WAI is supported in part
by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research at the US Department of Education; the European Commission; WAI Sponsors; and W3C Member
organizations. My comments do not necessarily represent those of WAI's funders.

Amendment of Copyright Act may affect print-disabled

Tom — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

CHENNAI: When G Udayaraj, a final year student, wants to read a book, he goes to the computer lab, dons a headset and listens to one of the 30,000 books
that Presidency College’s English department has converted into digital format.

Udayaraj has very low vision, which means everything from class notes to novels are easier to ‘read’ on the computer.

But a proposed amendment to copyright act might just change the way print- disabled people like Udayaraj ‘read’. The Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2010, introduced in RS on Monday, says there will be copyright exemption only for converting books into special formats such as Braille and sign language [Section 52 (1) (zb)

Civil Rights Division Pushes for Internet Accessibility

Tom — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

A Justice Department official told a House Judiciary panel Thursday that the Civil Rights Division will continue to push for accessibility on the internet
for Americans with disabilities.

Samuel R. Bagenstos, the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, said that division has worked to ensure that websites for state and
local governments and public accommodations comply with the American with Disabilities Act and are accessible by assistive technologies, such as text readers
or Braille displays, which convert text to Braille for blind web users.

World wide web at the fingertips of the visually challenged

Tom — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Mumbai: At the St Xavier’s Resource Centre at Fort, a visually challenged group of boys and girls sits before computer screens wearing headphones. But,
before you mistake them for a bunch of students bunking classes to surf the net, you can spot them taking printouts in Braille.

The centre that started in September, 2003 has helped the visually challenged make significant in-roads into the web world, sparing them exclusion from
the e-world of books, email, social networking sites and search engines. “You cannot change every obstacle but you can start by filling small gaps,” said
Dr Sam Taraporevala, director of the centre.

Simon & Schuster Provides Digital Files to Bookshare To Advance Timely Access to eBooks for Individuals with Print Disabilities

Tom — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Palo Alto, CA ( PRWEB) April 14, 2010 -- To serve individuals and students with print disabilities and to provide timely access to digital books, Simon & Schuster has signed an agreement that will give Bookshare’s members access to an extensive selection of titles from all imprints.

Simon & Schuster, one of the world’s leading publishers of English language books, publishes under numerous well-known imprints including Simon & Schuster,
Pocket Books, Scribner, Gallery Books, Free Press, Atria Books, Fireside, Touchstone, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster Books for Young
Readers, Little Simon, and Simon Spotlight.

25% of disabled people 'suffer discrimination'

Tom — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Almost a quarter of disabled people are still regularly suffering from discrimination, a charity has warned.

Leonard Cheshire Disability said there were "shockingly high" levels of discrimination despite the presence of the Disability Discrimination Act.

Common complaints included difficulty in using public transport, a lack of user-friendly facilities and not enough information being made available for
disabled people, a report by the charity found.

Accessibility: A Vehicle For Growth And Change In ECM

Tom — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Accessibility should be top of mind when considering the list of current and emerging concerns in enterprise content management (ECM). High-volume transactional
output environments (HVTO) in particular are challenged more than ever to provide accessible content to all users.

PDF files are still the primary mechanism to store transactional information in ECM systems. Yet unfortunately, they are almost always inaccessible to a
key subset of users: people with visual impairments using screen readers.

Sat-nav system plan to help blind navigate Swansea

Tom — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

A SAT-NAV system for blind people could make Swansea one of the easiest cities to navigate in the world.

There are plans to make sure that people who are unable to see have the freedom to access the whole city, along with Cardiff, thanks to a palm-held device.

The machine allows people to either text or speak and confirm their final destination.

Developers Peepo have created a device which clips onto the guide dog's handle, to help people get around.

Polling Station Was Spiked By Volleyball Game

Tom — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

A provincial byelection polling station was bounced to a non-accessible site by a volleyball game, disability activists say.

Members of the Accessibility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act Alliance have been trying to find out since February why a Toronto Centre polling station
was moved to a room that could be accessed only by stairs.

Website Accessibility for the Blind Gaining Ground

Tom — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

According to the National Coalition for Vision Health, the number of visually impaired and blind Canadians will double over the next 25 years. (iStock)”I
have lived a very complex existence,” says Valentina Gal, a novel writer and consultant based in Toronto who says technology is a double-edged sword. On
one hand, it’s essential for her writing. On the other, even the simplest of Google searches can turn into an hours-long marathon surfing session.

That’s because Gal has been blind since birth. And like many visually impaired people, she finds that functioning in the online world is not easy. That’s
despite the fact there are text-to-speech screen readers, Braille printers and other tools to help the cause.

Bank of America Completes Installation of Talking ATMs

Tom — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0000

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its long-standing commitment to customers with visual impairments, Bank of America today announced
that every Bank of America ATM in the country has been equipped with voice-enabled technology. Visually impaired customers can now access more than 18,000
Bank of America ATMs, the largest network of bank-owned ATMs in the U.S.

Talking ATMs provide audible instructions in English or Spanish to persons who cannot view information on an ATM screen. These machines make it easier for
people with visual impairments to withdraw cash, deposit money and perform other ATM transactions. The ATMs have audio jacks that deliver spoken instructions
privately through standard headsets to protect the security of users who are blind or have low-vision.

Street arts sector launches guidelines for disabled access

Tom — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0000

New guidelines have been published for street artists to help make events more accessible for deaf and disabled people.

The 76-page guide was commissioned by the Independent Street Arts Network following a symposium during which producers told the network there was no guidance
on accessibility for the sector.

Accessibility for all could be a future business model for some

Tom — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0000

New Delhi: George Abraham is an angry man. “Why is it,” he asks rhetorically, “that I can’t issue a cheque without having it countersigned by another person?
Or buy a railway ticket without wasting hours at a station?”

The brunt of his rage, however, is reserved for the cricket coverage of television channels. Very often, he says, at the end of an innings commentators
sign off leaving the final score to be displayed on screen. While that works fine for everyone else, it prematurely ends the game for him, because Abraham
is legally blind. But as a cricket enthusiast, bowler and the chairman of the Association for Cricket for the Blind in India, he’s very interested in knowing
the score that he can’t see. “The only reason I haven’t smashed the television so far,” he seethes, “is because I own it.”

Equality Bill makes Britain's web accessibility law harder to access

Tom — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0000

OPINION: The UK's law on web accessibility is being re-written in an apparent attempt to make it impenetrable. But even though algebra has replaced plain
English, the duty to make information accessible to disabled people survives, thanks to a blind peer.

The Equality Bill is nearing the end of its Parliamentary journey. It is likely to be in force in October, at which time it will replace the Disability
Discrimination Act (DDA) in England, Scotland and Wales.

U.S. Access Board updating Section 508 disability regulations

Tom — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0000

For the first time in a decade, the U.S. Access Board is proposing an update to regulations covering access for disabled people for computer software, Web
sites, cell phones and other IT products and devices.

On March 17, the Access Board released a draft proposal for standards for electronic and information technology in the federal sector covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. It also updates some portions
of Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act. The notice will be published in the Federal Register March 22.

Club lets eatery patrons read easier

Tom — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0000

MERRIMACK – Some restaurants in town are now better prepared to serve visually impaired customers, thanks to the efforts of a civic group.

The Merrimack Lions Club, in conjunction with the New Hampshire Association for the Blind, has spearheaded a project to provide large-print and Braille
menus at 10 restaurants in Merrimack.

Canada Ratifies UN Treaty for Disabled Rights

Tom — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Canada has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the eve of the Paralympic Games in Vancouver.

“Canada is committed to promoting and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and enabling their full participation in society,” Foreign Affairs
Minister Lawrence Cannon said Thursday after delivering the ratified document to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York City as activist Traci Walters
looked on, beaming, from her wheelchair.

Internet access for the 'differently-abled'

Tom — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:42:41 +0000

See amazing new technologies that give Internet access to disabled people.

About Victor Tsaran:

Victor Tsaran is one of those people whose story makes you stop in your tracks. He grew up in a Ukrainian orphanage and is now a talented computer engineer
in the U.S. He's an accomplished musician and songwriter. And he also happens to be blind.

There are more than 50 million people in the U.S. with disabilities, including blindness, hearing-impairments, mobility difficulties and cognitive and neurological
problems knowing how disabled people use the Web is the first step to making the Web accessible.

Victor runs a special program at Yahoo! specifically developed to help people understand the various assistive technologies that are available to help those
with disabilities use the web.

New Health System Site Makes Information Accessible

Tom — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

FALLS CHURCH, Va., March 8, 2010 – The Military Health System has launched a new Health.mil Web site that provides a single point of entry to military health
news, information and resources.

The site is part of the Defense Department's continued commitment to make health information available and easy to find, officials said. Content is categorized
by topic or audience, including servicemembers, retirees and families; health care providers; educators and researchers; Military Health System staff;
Defense Department leaders; and the media.

YouTube adds captions for all videos to improve accessibility

Tom — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

All YouTube videos can now carry captions created by speech recognition software in a move that the Google-owned video sharing site said would improve the
videos' accessibility.

The move has been welcomed by groups representing deaf and hard-of-hearing users as an important step in ensuring that non-textual online content is accessible
to people with hearing problems.

New web access to enable disabled

Tom — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Improved standards of accessibility for Government websites are being developed by the Department of Finance’s Australian Government Information Management
Office. Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner and Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Bill Shorten said the Government had endorsed
the new website accessibility standards, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.
Mr Tanner said the standards would improve the accessibility of Government websites for people with a range of disabilities.

Making Vancouver accessible to all

Tom — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Vancouver's hosting of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games is benefitting one very deserving group of travellers: Those with disabilities.

"The Games are a catalyst for change of the very best kind," says Bruce Dewar, CEO of a Vancouver not-for-profit society called 2010 Legacies Now. "We are
using the Games as a driver to get people thinking about how to make (Vancouver) one of the most accessible places in the world."

With an estimated one in eight people worldwide living with a disability, and $13 billion being spent annually in North America by travellers with disabilities,
Vancouver has tagged the group as one of the fastest growing market opportunities in the world.

Calling all Accessibility Advisory Committees (AAC) of Ontario, your voice needs to be heard!

Tom — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

With the uneven implementation of the Customer Care Standard in School Boards, Hospitals and a broad range of community services and the absence of any
meaningful enforcement mechanism, it is more important than ever that your voices be heard.

Just recently we had an incident of inaccessible Voting booths, apparently not an isolated incident. It’s become quite evident that the Disability Community is not being served by the McGuinty Government. Something
has to give and quite frankly it should not be us yet again!

Proposed US Law Would Force Product Accessibility

Tom — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Manufacturers and suppliers of consumer technology devices in the US could be forced to make all their products accessible to blind consumers, if proposed
legislation is passed by Congress.

Introduced by Jan Schakowsky, a Democratic House of Representatives member from Illinois, the Technology Bill of Rights for the Blind Act 2010 (
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h4533/text
) is based around creating accessible alternatives to what it calls “increasingly complex user interfaces” found in consumer electronics.

Vancouver Olympics Web sites are inaccessible to disabled people

Tom — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Testing shows Vancouver2010.com and CTVOlympics.ca are almost impossible to use for some people with physical disabilities, and hard to use and understand for blind or deaf people.

John Furlong made a promise

In 2004, Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) CEO John Furlong
promised that the Web sites for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games would be accessible to disabled people. This was important, because a blind man in Australia
could not use the Web site of the Sydney 2000 Olympics and later won a human-rights case against the Sydney Olympic organizing committee and IBM.

First Braille American flag unveiled in Illinois

Tom — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

February 22, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- The first Braille American Flag in Illinois was unveiled Monday at City Hall in Chicago.

The event was sponsored by the Blind Service Association, Kansas Braille Transcription Institute and the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities.

Recruiting Now for Survey on Synthesized Speech and Audio Description

Tom — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

IBM Research-Japan and WGBH’s Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) are conducting a joint study via an online survey
on the applicability of speech synthesis for audio description of Web-based video.

Adults (18+ years of age) who are blind or have low vision will be asked to share their opinions about a few short video clips which include synthesized
description.

Card Readers Draw Complaint

Tom — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Quebec associations for the handicapped are challenging retailers’ use of immovable debit-card readers.

They say the practice of attaching bank-card readers to store checkout counters discriminates against certain handicapped customers – such as those in wheelchairs
– who can’t easily reach the counter.

High street retailers still need to work on web accessibility

Tom — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

A new study suggests that some of the UK's online retailers are not taking the issue of accessibility seriously enough, with progress seeming to stall,
according to a new study.

Last year, Webcredible's Accessibility Report gave the websites of 20 UK high street retailers an average score of 62%, but this year the score has slipped to 60%.

Expedia.com Launches New Accessibility Search Tools for Disabled Travelers

Tom — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

BELLEVUE, Wash., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Expedia.com®, the world's leading online travel agency, has launched a unique suite of search tools designed
to help disabled travelers find and book accessible accommodations.

Travelers in the U.S. can now visit Expedia.com to search for lodgings in the U.S. that offer accommodations including accessibility equipment for the deaf,
accessible bathrooms, accessible paths of travel, Braille or raised signage, in-room accessibility, a roll-in shower and more.

Accessibility is biggest problem for people with disability

Tom — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Access to government buildings remains the biggest problem people with a disability face and in fact was at the centre of 55 per cent of complaints filed
last year with the National Commission For Persons With A Disability.

Complaints over lack of accessibility in government departments filed with the commission in 2009 increased by 20 per cent over the previous year, according
to the commission's annual report on the implementation of the Equal Opportunities Act that was released yesterday.

Music for the masses

Tom — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Reading music scores is not an easy task for blind people because the scores are either limited in number or difficult to get a hold of. An EU-funded team
of researchers, however, has designed and developed a demonstrative service that enables blind musicians to access and use Braille music scores that are
found in libraries and transcription centres. The CONTRAPUNCTUS ('Preservations and unification of new and existing Braille Music digital scores for a
new access methodology') project received almost EUR 4 million under the 'Information society technologies' (IST) Thematic area of the Sixth Framework
Programme (FP6).

Fans with Visual Impairments Gain Enhanced Access to MLB.com

Tom — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

NEW YORK, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Baseball fans with visual impairments will benefit from the implementation of functional improvements to MLB.com, the
official Web site of Major League Baseball, and all 30 individual Club sites as a result of a joint collaboration between MLB Advanced Media, LP (MLBAM),
the American Council of the Blind, Bay State Council of the Blind and California Council of the Blind. All three organizations applaud this fan initiative
taken by MLBAM.

"MLBAM has undertaken groundbreaking work to make its web sites accessible and has assumed a strong leadership position among sports, media and entertainment
properties in doing so," said Mitch Pomerantz, President of the American Council of the Blind. "We certainly urge similar sites to make this level of commitment
in following MLBAM's lead."

2010 Accessibility Plan Focuses on Delivery of Accessible Customer Service

Tom — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The City of Mississauga’s seventh Accessibility Plan; 2009 Annual Report and 2010 Initiatives was received today at Council.

“Removing barriers to persons with disabilities ensures that all citizens have access to our services,” said Diana Simpson, City accessibility coordinator.
“Our staff now have the tools to accommodate and better understand customers with disabilities.”

Simpson explained that the City’s focus for 2010 and beyond will be to develop a sustainment plan for delivering accessible customer service, to continue
to implement accessible improvements to Mississauga Transit and to monitor the provincial accessibility standards.

Accessible Sports the Focus of new Council

Tom — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Murray Howard and Darda Sales will serve as co-chairperson on the new Accessible Sports Council London and Area. The council, which was launched on Jan.
29, accepted a $2,300 cheque from ParaSport Ontario to help with start-up costs.

Darda Sales knows what it takes to overcome challenges while competing - and succeeding - at the highest level.

A three-time Paralympic swimmer in 2000, 2004 and 2008, and member of both the London Aquatic Club and the London Wheelchair Basketball Association, Darda
has travelled the world while competing in a sport she loves. It is a drive to succeed that Darda brings to her role as co-chairperson of the new Accessible
Sports Council of London and Area.

Expanding Accessibility

Tom — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

We've all imagined the future when robots and mechanized contraptions take over the world. But just how close are we? John Spletzer, an associate professor
of computer science and engineering, is developing a completely robotic wheelchair that is helping us find the answer.

"We hope that within the next 10 years the smart wheelchair will go to the commercial market. Robotics is finally at the point with its fast computers,
smart algorithms, that past science fiction is now science fact," Spletzer said.

AODA ALLIANCE CALLS ON ALL PARTIES TO STRENGTHEN BILL 231 TO PREVENT MORE INACCESSIBLE ELECTIONS IN ONTARIO

Tom — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The fallout continues from Elections Ontario’s operating a polling station in the February 4, 2010 by-election that was inaccessible to voters with disabilities,
and its then denying to the media that the polling station was inaccessible.

The Saturday, February 6, 2010 Toronto Sun included a follow-up story, set out below. It quoted the AODA Alliance as criticizing this incident and calling
for new legislation to prevent this from happening again. That story also quoted from the AODA Alliance’s February 5, 2010 update on that incident. You
can urge others to sign up for our updates, since we not only report the news to you, but they also make the news! A shorter version of the same news article
was included in the Saturday, February 6, 2010 Peterborough Examiner.

Social Inclusion for the Web

Tom — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

We no longer think it is acceptable to discriminate against people on grounds of gender or race and, as a community, we expect provision to be made for
people with disabilities in public transport and building design. However, when it comes to making sure web content is accessible to all users of the web,
including people with disabilities, some designers, developers and clients just ‘don’t get it’, to borrow a phrase popular with the geekerati.

We like to rejoice in the notion that all ‘men are created equal with inalienable rights’, or ‘from each according to their ability, to each according to
their needs’, to take a more Marxist approach, however this hasn’t always been the case.

Panel divided over approach to accessibility

Tom — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

CENTRALIA — When three members of the fledgling Centralia Accessibility Committee toured the business district to study accessibility issues in the summer,
members John Hinten, Jeannette Skirvin and Steve Oberman appeared united. That was then.

An ongoing power struggle among some committee members threatens to take the focus off their efforts to raise awareness of accessibility issues for people
with disabilities in this town. And when Hinten, the committee’s co-founder, filed a disability discrimination complaint with the Missouri Commission on
Human Rights against Mayor Tim Grenke, the committee told Hinten he would not be welcome at meetings until his complaint is resolved.

The human rights panel is investigating Hinten’s complaint and added Centralia to its inquiry.

The blind deserve equal access to library treasures

Tom — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Imagine taking your blind child to your local library and finding an extraordinary collection that you can read together -- your son's fingertips following
along in braille as you read the words aloud.

Imagine your teenage daughter devouring every word of Twilight on her MP3 player -- and being able to join her sighted friends' conversation about Bella
and Edward's forbidden love.

Imagine your aging parent losing his sight to macular degeneration -- and seeing the joy on his face when he receives in the mail the latest shipment of
talking books and magazines.

Literacy is at the heart of how we connect with the world around us: our education, employment and participation in culture and civic life depend on our
ability to read.

Yet reading is something most people take for granted.

For 79,000 Albertans with vision loss, the right to read is in jeopardy. Without partnerships with our federal and provincial governments, the CNIB library
could be closed in two years.

Beatrix Potter drawings reproduced for blind children

Tom — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

A part-time artist from Flintshire has been given permission to reproduce Beatrix Potter`s famous drawings so that blind people can enjoy them.

For the 107 years that the drawings have been copyrighted, very few people have been allowed to use them commercially and they have never been redesigned.

But worldwide merchandising agent for Beatrix Potter, Chorion, has made an exception.

Colin Antwis, a former civil engineer from Mold, will remodel the characters by drawing them on heat-sensitive paper with a thick black pen.

Tunisian-Canadian cooperation enables development of books in Braille

Tom — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

TUNISIAONLINENEWS- Tunisia continues to give a particular interest to the disabled people in order to ensure their effective integration into everyday life.
In a view of the Tunisian-Canadian cooperation, the regional union of the blind in the governorate of Gabes, printed textbooks materials into Braille,
a tactile written system of communication for the blind or visually impaired.

This cooperation has also provided computer rooms for two primary schools and a college in the southern region of Tunisia. The regional union of the blind
in the governorate of Gabes has also received a Braille printer as a gift from Canada.

INACCESSIBLE TORONTO POLLING STATION IN FEBRUARY 4, 2010 PROVINCIAL BY-ELECTION HIGHLIGHTS URGENT NEED FOR STRONG PROVINCIAL LEGISLATION TO ENSURE ACCESSIBLE PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Tom — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The February 5, 2010 Toronto Sun reported that a polling station in the February 4, 2010 Toronto provincial by-election was inaccessible to voters with
disabilities. (Making this incident worse, Elections Ontario initially denied that the polling station was inaccessible. See the article below.)

It is shocking, yet unsurprising to us that in 2010, voters with disabilities continue to face such obvious and easily prevented barriers to their constitutional
right to vote.

IBM hosts 8th Computer Eyes camp for the visually-impaired

Tom — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Resources for the Blind, Inc. (RBI) in collaboration with IBM Philippines concluded the 8th National Computer Camp for Blind Students. Twenty (20) visually
impaired students from high school and college levels gathered for a week-long basic training in computer literacy – computer applications,
such as keyboard skills, word processing, web page creation, social Internet networks (Facebook & Friendster), and the use of adaptive software that enable
individuals to use computers regardless of blindness or visual impairment. This year’s participating students came from various schools across Luzon, Visayas
and Mindanao.

The training took place at the IBM Plaza, the computer giant’s headquarters located in Eastwood City Cyberpark in Libis, Quezon City last November 2-6,
2009. More than 170 visually impaired students from all over the country were trained under the program since its introduction in 2001. The Computer Eyes
training program is an exemplary model showing how technology has been bridging the gap for the visually impaired and the digital divide in the Philippines.

Senior leader urges to provide better cultural services to the blind

Tom — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Li Changchun, a senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on Tuesday urged to provide the country's blind people with easier access to braille
publications, textbooks and library services.

Li Changchun (C), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China(CPC), looks at a braille
book during his visit to the China Braille Publishing House in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 2, 2010. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)
Li, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the comment when inspecting the China Braille Publishing House
in Beijing.

A Job Portal For Aspirants With Disabilities, courtesy Nasscom

Tom — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Nasscom (National Association of Software and Services Companies) is
going to launch a dedicated job portal that will facilitate recruitment for persons with disability by creating a repository of applicants, available skill-sets and potential recruiters.

This is one of the first initiatives that Nasscom has taken after the formation of Nasscom’s disability advisory group (DAG). In a bid to facilitate the
empowerment of individuals with disabilities, Nasscom Foundation is trying to leverage the Information and Technology applications. Their aim is to use
technology to serve the under served communities and reduce the gaps in the IT marketplace which hinder their chances.

Technology cited for rise in 'Braille illiteracy'

Tom — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Technology has made lives easier, but one area where it hasn't always helped is the world of the blind, the Journal Sentinel of Milwaukee
reports.

Fewer than 10% off the 1.3 million legally blind people in America can read Braille, according to a report issued last year by the
National Federation of the Blind, the paper said. One reason for what the newspaper calls "Braille illiteracy" is that both audio and Braille are widely available.

Misstep Within Hours Of Giambrone’s Campaign Kickoff

Tom — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Just hours after officially declaring his candidacy in the race to be Toronto’s next mayor there was a significant misstep in Adam Giambrone’s campaign.

The 32-year-old TTC Chair held a celebration marking his entry into the mayoral race at popular College Street nightspot Revival. CityNews reporter Tara
Weber, who uses a wheelchair, discovered the event was a bit of a challenge to cover as the venue wasn’t fully accessible.

University waiting to endorse e-books

Tom — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The Kindle 2 electronic reader is shown at an Amazon.com news conference in New York on Feb. 9. Macmillan CEO John Sargent said he was told Friday that
its books would be removed from Amazon.com, as would e-books for Amazon’s Kindle e-reader.
Mark Lennihan, The Associated Press

Technology is turning the page on hard copy textbooks — well, almost.

Twenty sections of RHET 105, one of the most popular courses on campus, are offering their textbooks in a computerized format. Students purchase an access
code and can read the book on their computer or on an e-reader such as Amazon’s Kindle or Sony’s Reader.

Polling place accessibility federal funds are awarded

Tom — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

St. Paul, MN -- Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie today (Thursday, Jan. 28) announced that his office is contacting local governments to award the
2009 Election Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities ("EAID") grants for polling place accessibility improvements.

He also announced that additional federal grant funds are now available for local jurisdictions who would like to install automatic doors at their polling
locations.

Dartmouth University Establishes New Student Disability Group to Talk About Campus Access

Tom — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Access By Leadership in Equity — a new student organization seeking to raise awareness about students with disabilities — has launched efforts to facilitate
greater campus dialogue about accessibility in its first weeks in existence, according to co-directors Emily Broas ’11 and Rebecca Gotlieb ’12.

ABLE’s goals include providing a peer-to-peer support network for students with disabilities, raising awareness about both visible and invisible disabilities,
and improving College accommodations for these students by serving as a voice for the community.

Is Web Accessibility a Human Right?

Tom — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The Web is now so tightly integrated into our society that it’s second nature to obtain employment, access education, do commerce, get information, get
entertainment and even build social relationships online. If the Web is now a permanent and integral part of our society, then is denying a group of people
access to much of the Web a form of discrimination and a denial of a human right?

If the Web is unusable …

Who is affected?

People with disabilities are not able to participate in much that is offered on the Web. They are computer users and able to be productive when using desktop
applications thanks to various assistive technologies. Yet when it comes to accessing the Web, they encounter barriers not found in general computer usage.

Accessibility and interoperability key, PA Digital group hears

Tom — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The PA's Digital Directors Group is "alert and ready to act" on key issues surrounding e-book strategies, delegates at yesterday's 'Blue Skies and White
Clouds' conference were told.

Kicking the day off, group chair and director of Random House Group Digital Fionnuala Duggan highlighted three themes identified by the group last year,
which they considered vital to the industry: interoperability, DRM and accessibility, piracy and standards. She said: "It's still early days and these
are things we can influence or shape... The Digital Directors Group is alert and ready to act on whatever comes out today."

An Internet for everyone

Tom — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Disability advocates are demanding that government do more to increase the accessibility of the Internet and broadband devices, especially mobile phones.
And their pleas haven't fallen on deaf ears.

Congressman Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and former chairman of the House's Internet subcommittee, introduced a bill in Congress last year
that would require providers of Internet services and devices -- from desktop computers to smart phones -- to make user interfaces accessible to people
with disabilities. The bill, still in committee, has more than two dozen sponsors.

Govt websites yet to ease access for disabled

Tom — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

New Delhi: Despite India’s various e-governance initiatives, government websites are still inaccessible to citizens with disabilities, barring one recent
example.
http://blip.tv/file/get/Sidin-GovtWebsitesYetToEaseAccessForDisabled836.flv

The ministry of social justice and empowerment last month revamped its website by following global norms of universal accessibility set down by the World
Wide Web Consortium.

Braille Music Becomes Universal

Tom — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

By the first quarter of the 19th century, there was no way for would-be, blind musicians to learn the trade except by ear. This is not a problem for people
who are not tone-deaf, but figuring out the notes of a classical piece by Chopin was, and is to this day, fairly difficult. Louis Braille changed all that
when he created what is now the universally accepted language of blind and visually impaired people. In addition to providing a method for these individuals
to read and write, the Braille language was also adapted to music, offering sighted musicians a way of translating their music sheets for their blind peers
as well.

It is the stated goal of the CONTRAPUNCTUS Project to produce a rich, standardized digital format, to be used for the transcription of any music piece
into Braille musical language. This would have the double effect of making the music sheets more complex and easy to read, and also more widely available
to regions of the world where people don't enjoy this privilege today. The library can be accessed, browsed, and then musicians can download their favorite
musical score. The database is continuously expanding, and the musicians themselves can add their own music sheets to it.

Library access in braille jeopardized

Tom — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The CNIB says it can no longer afford to run Canada's largest library of braille and accessible audio materials.

CNIB has used donated money to run the library for more than 90 years. But the charity said Tuesday that it can no longer sustain the $10-million annual
operating cost of the service.

Web accessibility a pressing issue in Ontario

Tom — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

For most people accessibility brings to mind images of convenient parking spaces, ramp entrances and elevators.

Awareness about the disabled and their ability or inability to access buildings has grown considerably over the past couple of decades and this is directly
reflected in architectural design.

But there's still something most people don't think about --
online accessibility .

The importance of having an accessible website

Tom — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

As we embark on another decade most of us take surfing the web for granted. But for the nearly eight million people* in the UK who have health conditions
such as blindness or visual impairment, colour blindness, hearing impairment, dyslexia or mobility impairment, this simple everyday task can be an extremely
frustrating experience.

The reason behind this exasperation is almost certainly the fact that many websites have not been built to make them easily accessible to disabled people,
many of whom are increasingly using assistive technology to help them glean information from the internet. This software can provide users with a speech
or Braille output via a screen reader, text magnification to make reading online content easier and allow them to move around websites using their voices
instead of a keyboard or mouse.

Graduate Student’s iPhone App Gives Voice to Disabled Users

Tom — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Not many iPhone applications get reviews that call them life-changing.

Samuel Sennott, a doctoral student in special educaton at Pennsylvania State University’s main campus, created an iPhone application that helps people with
communication disabilities speak. He worked with David Niemeijer, an Amsterdam-based developer, to build the software, called Proloquo2Go.

Users tap words, symbols, phrases, or sentences on the screen to create messages that are read aloud by the software. There are four different voice options,
including both child and adult voices.

Universities Avoid Kindle Over Accessibility Barriers

Tom — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Three US universities have agreed not to use Amazon’s e-book reader the Kindle until it is easily usable by blind people. A fourth settled a complaint from
blind people’s advocacy groups by saying that it will strive to use accessible devices in future.

Though the Kindle DX reader can read out text, making it potentially useful to blind people or those with low vision, it offers no way to navigate its controls
and menus that is accessible to blind users.

Braille without borders

Tom — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

For Gidi Ahronovich, his visual impairment is not the only thing he has to battle. From social discrimination to dealing with curious queries on how his
‘love life’ would end up, to drawing swords up against the telephone giant Orange in his country, for only having a “drawing of an envelope on the phone
screen” to announce the arrival of a new message instead of the usual voice alerts, Ahronovich’s story is not a blind man’s sob story but that of a winner
in life.

His tone is cynical and touches a strong chord that is both raw and real, making him a perfect voice to be featured in the day’s choice of blog posts under
the heading ‘What you see is what you get’ on inclusiveplanet.com.

It is voices such as these that the founders of inclusiveplanet.com hope will resonate globally, strong enough to send the message across: the visually
impaired can neither be ignored nor their prowess undermined.

W3C Provides Guidance for Brow Beating Inaccessible Websites

Tom — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

We know it’s frustrating when you come across a website that’s less than functional, full of accessibility barriers. How often do any of us take action?
Those days are over.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) wants you to take action when you come across an inaccessible website. They are encouraging users to tell organizations how important it is that their websites are accessible.

California Law Encourages Digital Textbooks by 2020

Tom — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

While it seems increasingly likely that e-books will one day become the standard in education, California has passed a law to virtually guarantee it --
and to set a deadline.

A new state law, effective January 1, 2020, will require that all textbooks used in public and private postsecondary institutions be made available in electronic
form "to the extent practicable" either "in whole or in part." Senate Bill 48 states that "the electronic version of any textbook shall contain the same
content as the printed version and may be copy-protected."

NC Arts Council and Arts Access Inc. to offer ADA Compliance Workshops for Organizations

Tom — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The North Carolina Arts Council and Arts Access Inc. are offering workshops to arts organizations across North Carolina to strengthen understanding of the
Americans with Disabilities Act and to learn strategies for compliance.

North Carolina arts employees including executive directors, program managers, box office staff and facility managers are invited to attend one or both
days of the Arts Accessibility and Inclusion workshops. Join us in Hickory March 9 and 10, 2010, at the United Arts Council of Catawba County or in Raleigh
March 16 and 17, 2010, at the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County.

Google - On2 Merger Could Advance Online Video Marketing – and Accessibility

Tom — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Google, Inc. has raised its offer to On2 Technologies in hopes to close the deal on a merger with the video compression technology company. This could mean
big things for On2 shareholders, as well as savvy small businesses. SEO Consultant, Eric McGehearty, is now encouraging clients to include properly formatted
videos into their websites because of the impact this merger will have on video search results.

Speakers Conference report outlines disability recommendations

Tom — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

A number of recommendations have been made in a recent report by the Speakers Conference - a cross-parliamentary committee launched to examine equality
in government.

Released yesterday (January 11th), the review called on political parties to publish their targets for disabled representation for their organisation in
December 2015 and December 2020.

Blindness Organizations and Arizona State University Resolve Litigation Over Kindle

Tom — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

PHOENIX, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the American Council of the Blind (ACB), and Arizona State University
(ASU), today announced a settlement agreement resolving litigation filed by NFB and ACB against the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) and ASU. The lawsuit
arose from the university's participation in a pilot program using the Kindle DX, a dedicated device for reading electronic books, or e-books, developed
by Amazon.com, Inc. The NFB and ACB alleged that the Kindle DX was inaccessible to blind students and thus violated federal law. ABOR and ASU denied and
continue to deny any violations of the law.

The settlement agreement among the parties was reached in light of several factors, including: (1) ASU's commitment to providing access to all programs
and facilities for students with disabilities, including students who are blind or have low vision; (2) the fact that the pilot program will end in the
Spring of 2010; (3) Amazon and others are making improvements to and progress in the accessibility of e-book readers; and (4) the university's agreement
that should ASU deploy e-book readers in future classes over the next two years, it will strive to use devices that are accessible to the blind.

Barriers remain on path to web access for disabled

Tom — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The Internet has no boundaries. At least that’s the conventional wisdom. Nonetheless, hurdles remain for many who would like access to the worldwide web,
especially those with disabilities. At issue are details seldom considered by web designers, programmers and non-disabled users.

But there are solutions, for example for blind people who want to surf the web. Screenreaders dictate website contents or print pages in Braille format.

CBC Radio1 Ottawa Interviews Minister Meilleur on the Customer Care Standard

Tom — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

On December 31, 2009 CBC Radio1 Ottawa interviewed Minister Meilleur regarding the then soon to become Law Customer Care Standard. I was also interviewd after she spoke, you can listen to the interview or download it.

What I found interesting after listening to it afterwards was Minister Meilleurs’ response when the Host asked about enforcement. It appeared to me that
she was using the Disability Communityes spending power as a reason for Business to implement accessibility and enforcement was secondary.

Is ADHD Protected Under the Americans with Disabilities Act?

Tom — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The answer to the question is somewhat long and complicated. So we will begin with writing that while someone with ADHD may qualify for protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act, not everyone with the diagnosis of ADHD will qualify. And that may include you or your child.

The Americans with Disabilities Act was established by Congress in 1990. The purpose of the Act is to end discrimination against persons with disabilities when it comes to housing, education, public transportation, recreation, health services, voting, and access to public services. It also aims to provide equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Accessibility standard now in effect for public sector

Tom — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Removing service barriers for people with disabilities means much more than simply making sure buildings are accessible, said a member of the Mayor's disability advisory committee.

"Yes, ramps are important but it really goes way beyond ramps," said Ian Greaves, of Niagara Falls.

Cairo museum offers blind tours

Tom — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

For the average visitor to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, a stroll through the museums halls, crowded with ancient statues, papyrus, mummies, and gilded
relics, offers an unparalleled journey into the visual splendour of Ancient Egypt.

It is a journey that has been, until recently, off limits to the sight-impaired or blind.

Greater accessibility promised

Tom — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

For Jan Huebert, the new year will hopefully bring a new appreciation for guide dogs like her beloved Trillium.

Bad experiences, mostly involving store clerks or cab drivers, have been few, said the elementary school teacher. But those instances where her guide dog has been shunned have made it clear that more education and training is needed when it comes to serving people with disabilities.

The Ontario government ushered in new guidelines for customer service Friday under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. The guidelines
affect the public sector. The private sector -- retail outlets, restaurants and such -- have until 2012 to comply.

Disabled get new accessibility standard

Tom — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

WATERLOO REGION — New provincial standards to improve customer service for people with disabilities is a good change, but just a start to making Ontario accessible to all residents, says the head of a local disability support group.

“It’s great. It’s the first step,” said Bil Smith, executive director of the Independent Living Centre of Waterloo Region, which helps people with disabilities gain greater independence, opportunities and acceptance.

City ready for new accessibility standard

Tom — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

The City of Belleville is fully prepared for Ontario's first accessibility standard when it comes into force Friday, says the chairman of the accessibility committee.

Coun. Garnet Thompson said municipal employees have been properly trained to accommodate the implementation of the standard -- for customer service -- which all public sector organization's must be in compliance with.

Internet Captions Mean Better Access for WA Deaf Community

Tom — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

SEATTLE - Most web sites that feature videos do not offer closed captioning, although a bill in Congress would require it. In Seattle, Thomas Verdos, who has had a hearing impairment since birth, says captions make all the difference in understanding the content of the site or program.

"You might compare it to watching television with the sound off. You don't get the story line, nothing's humorous, if you don't have the volume high enough to hear what's being said. Most people don't think about it - they don't have to think about it."

Accessibility Standard Coming Into Force For Public Sector

Tom — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Ontario is reminding public sector organizations that the province's first accessibility standard — for customer service — is coming into force January 1, 2010.

The province's ministries, hospitals, schools, municipalities and other public sector organizations must make sure their services are accessible by meeting requirements such as:

training staff about meeting the needs of customers with a variety of disabilities
communicating with a person in a manner that takes into account their disability
permitting customers to bring their service animals, such as guide dogs, onto their premises.

AODA - Accessibility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act Alliance Chair's 2009 Year-end Report

Tom — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

It is my honour to provide you with my first Year-End Report since I took on the role of Chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
Alliance last February. We have accomplished a great deal in 2009 in our ongoing campaign for a barrier-free Ontario.

There has been progress over the past year. Yet Ontario clearly remains behind schedule to meet the goal, required under the AODA, to become fully accessible
by 2025.

Social media - barrier or tool for inclusion?

Tom — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Social media is revolutionising Internet communications and for people with disabilities this new phenomenon has the potential to remove many of the barriers faced when socialising and networking. However, there are still many access issues facing disabled users. So, is social media becoming a tool for social inclusion, or simply creating new barriers?

Social media like Twitter and Skye can be said to be the consumer phenomenon of 2009. This new form of communication has taken a foothold in every major
market around the world, and Australia is no exception. The March 2009 Nielsen report
Global Faces and Networked Places (PDF 2.8M) reveals more than one in every two Australians uses social networking sites.

INTERNET: Efforts under way to make Web more accessible

Tom — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

SUNNYVALE ---- Imagine not being able to use a mouse to open a Web browser or a keyboard to type an e-mail. What if you couldn't distinguish colors on a
computer screen, or type the distorted letters in order to buy concert tickets or enroll in a class?

Despite technological advances aimed at making the Internet easy to use, the World Wide Web is not wide open for many people.

Global pact on Braille books nears

Tom — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

An international accord that would vastly expand the range of books and other copyright materials accessible to millions of blind people around the world came a step closer this week after a
surprise shift in approach by Washington.

Organisations representing blind and visually impaired people have been pressing for years for a global pact that would allow books produced in Braille and other special formats, including digitised audio texts, to be shared across national borders.

Web accessibility no longer an afterthought

Tom — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

(CNET ) -- Yahoo's Victor Tsaran knows how much time Web designers spend agonizing over color and font-width choices when laying out an application. So when he started Yahoo's accessibility push two years ago, he had a tough time arousing sympathy for engineers grousing about how much extra time was needed to create accessibility features.

Fortunately for Tsaran, Yahoo's accessibility manager, he's running into that problem less and less.

Web designers are starting to take accessibility as seriously as button placement or heading layout when they develop their products, improving the Web experience not only for people like Tsaran -- who lost his sight at the age of five -- but for Web users in general.

Obama Sides With Blind in Copyright-Treaty Debate

Tom — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

The Obama administration announced Tuesday it supports loosening international copyright protections to enable cross-border distribution of special-format reading materials for the blind, a move that puts it at odds with nearly all of U.S. industry.

The government announced its support for the underlying principle of the WIPO Treaty for Sharing Accessible Formats of Copyrighted Works for Persons Who are Blind or Have other Reading Disabilities.

Flat World Knowledge Partners with Bookshare to Make Free College Textbooks Accessible to People with Print Disabilities

Tom — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Flat World Knowledge, the leading publisher of expert-authored, open content college textbooks, today became the first dedicated college textbook publisher to supply its digital textbooks to Bookshare, the world’s largest online accessible library for people with print disabilities.

Approximately one to two percent of the U.S. population has print disabilities that qualify for Bookshare. This agreement will benefit more than 75,000 Bookshare members who are blind or who have low vision, a physical disability or a severe learning disability that affects reading. In addition, the open content license will allow other users to benefit from accessible content: students who are English language learners, those who have mild or undiagnosed
disabilities and those who benefit from multi-modal reading with a combination of simultaneous highlighted text and computer-generated speech.

Amazon to Make Kindle Blind-Accessible

Tom — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Last month, Syracuse University and the University of Wisconsin expressed concern
that Amazon's Kindles weren't accessible for blind students. Amazon responded this week.

Amazon announced plans to create a blind-accessible Kindle, the Daily Orange reports. The new gadget will have an audible menu and an extra large font for visually impaired users. The product should be ready by summer, Amazon says.

Library Copyright Alliance Calls for Treaty to Ensure Access for Reading Disabled

Tom — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

The American Library Association, as a member of the Library Copyright Right Alliance, filed comments
to the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office Friday regarding facilitating access to copyrighted works for the blind or other persons with disabilities.

The comments, which were filed jointly by the Library Copyright Alliance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive, and the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, called for a multilateral treaty to resolve issues of accessibility for the blind and visually impaired.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA RECOGNIZES IBM WITH NATIONAL AWARD FOR TECHNOLOGY THAT ASSISTS PEOPLE WITH DISAB

Tom — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

DELHI, India - IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it received several prestigious awards in India on World Disability Day, recognizing the company’s work to improve the lives of those
with disabilities.

The first was India’s National Award 2009 in the category of "Technological Innovation" for best applied research aimed at improving the life of persons with disabilities - India’s highest such award. It was awarded personally by India’s Honorable President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil on behalf of India’s Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and it recognizes the work of IBM Researchers in creating technology for what IBM calls the "Spoken Web" This
voice-enabled technology, developed by IBM Research - India, complements the Internet, and enables people with little or no literacy, or those with visual impairment, to access and share information, perform business transactions, and create social networks using mobile or landline phones.

EUROPEAN UNION: Study Report: Web Accessibility in European Countries

Tom — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

This report presents the results of a study to provide data and analysis to support the European Commission in the identification of EU-level measures that can help to progress the achievement of greater levels of web accessibility across the Member States. The aim was to provide evidence and analysis to help understand and compare the approaches followed by the European countries, with a view to identifying issues and challenges, good practices and future priorities in the web accessibility field.

A core focus of the report is on the issue of transitioning to WCAG 2.0 guidelines against the current background where Member States have, in the main, being targeting their efforts towards the earlier WCAG 1.0 guidelines.

Cinemas should not be exempt from disability access

Tom — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

In a move that has outraged the arts accessibility lobby, a consortium of cinema giants have applied to the Human Rights Commission for a two year exemption from the federal Disability Discrimination Act.

If successful - the Village Roadshow, Greater Union, Hoyts and Reading Cinemas will not be legally required to provide a regular service for customers with hearing or visual impairments.

S'pore's disabled need better Web site access

Tom — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Making the Internet and Web sites accessible for use by people with disabilities is vital, particularly in Singapore where there is high broadband penetration and computer literacy, according to a Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD) executive.

Royson Poh, assistant director of SPD's vocational training program, said that as the Internet becomes "more integrated into the efficiency and enjoyment of our daily lives", it is crucial to bring the Internet to this group of people.

Canada fails to meet commitment to UN Convention on Disabilities

Tom — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Despite signing the UN Convention on Disabilities, Canada does not meet international standards for the human rights of people living with disabilities.

“Canadians with disabilities make up the poorest people in our country, are excluded from Canadian society and have limited recourse to redress human rights abuse,” said Stephen Pate, Director of PEI Disability Alert Inc.

Accessibility: How Many Disabled Web Users Are There?

Tom — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Ecommerce merchants spend a lot of time thinking about statistics. They try to gauge who is visiting their website, what products consumers are most interested in, and how consumers are finding those products. Without knowing about their audience, merchants have a difficult time marketing their site and products.

The physical disabilities of a merchant’s visitors are a factor that he or she should consider.

First braille election document launched by Edmonton candidate

Tom — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

THE Edmonton Tory parliamentary candidate claims to have launched the first British electoral publication in Braille.

Andrew Charalambous has created the document in partnership with the Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB) to promote his commitment to "campaign themes of equality and accessibility for all".

Japanese city leads the way in accessibility

Tom — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

The Japanese city of Takayama in Gifu Prefecture, which has reinvented itself as a model city for people with disabilities, was the venue of a recent conference designed to showcase how Asia-Pacific cities can promote tourism, mobility and employment for a rapidly growing part of the world's population.

The event from Nov 24-26 was organised by the city and the Social Development Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap). It drew about 200 government officials, technical experts, academics, advocates and professionals on disability, accessibility, tourism, urban planning and rural development from 15 countries.

Google technology enhances YouTube captions

Tom — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

On the computer screen, young David sways drunkenly, his one remaining front tooth poking his bottom lip as he talks. "I feel funny," he moans. "Is this
real life?"

The YouTube video of a disoriented child feeling the drugs from his dental surgery got a lot of attention earlier this year, but plenty of people didn't get the joke - captions for David's existential ramblings were not available to deaf and hearing-impaired users.

That's about to change, and it's a development that goes beyond access to videos of drugged children, Kanye West behaving badly, or pirated episodes of Top Model. Google
announced yesterday that it will incorporate automatic, machine-generated captions into all English-language YouTube videos. Although captions have been available on the site since 2006, they had to be provided by the video's owner. Now voice recognition technology can insert captions.

IGF Discusses Diversity and Disability, GAID Offers Program for MDGs Achievement

Tom — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

SHARM EL SHEIKH - On the third day of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting, November 17, 2009, in Sharm el-Sheikh, participants from government, the private sector, civil society and the Internet community tackled the key issues of access and diversity as well as Internet governance in the light of WSIS principles. Parallel meetings held on Tuesday included 20 workshops, as well as "best practices forums", "dynamic coalitions", and other meetings.

YouTube Launches Automatic Captions; Great for Accessibility and Search

Tom — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

YouTube is introducing
machine-generated automatic captioning to YouTube
. The captions can also be translated. This obviously has incredible implications for the hearing-impaired and language translation. But it also has great implications for search.

Automatic captions will be generated using Google's automated speech recognition (ASR) technology and the same voice recognition algorithms used in Google Voice.

Gov 2.0: Transparency without accessibility?

Tom — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

When a redesigned Recovery.gov Web site was unveiled last month to track the distribution of stimulus dollars, it was touted as another example of the Obama administration’s push for greater transparency. But the technology and design of the site left one segment of the population less than satisfied.

Advocates for people with disabilities found a number of accessibility flaws on the site that jumbled the spending data or otherwise put it beyond the reach of people using screen readers and other assistive devices.

EVMs to sport braille features

Tom — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

There seems to be a ray of light at the end of the dark tunnel for the visually-challenged people. Their long pending demand for an accessible Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) would be fulfilled in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections.

Are government websites fully accessible to the disabled?

Tom — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

There's a federal law--the Rehabilitation Act--requiring that federal agencies' electronic and information technology be accessible to people with disabilities. It's a law that every agency must take seriously, but many are falling short of the requirements to make web access fully available for 54 million Americans with disabilities.

We report this week on the
continuing struggles of the government to comply with the law . While most agencies are in general compliance, there are gaps with the rapid changes in technology and wider use of new online tools.

Universities reject Kindle over inaccessibility for the blind

Tom — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

The National Federation of the Blind is applauding the decisions of Syracuse University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison not to Amazon.com's Kindle DX as a textbook replacement.

The universities cited the Kindle's inaccessibility to the blind as the problem.

A look at cloud computing and Section 508 compliance

Tom — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Bruce Bailey is an Accessibility Specialist with the United States Access Board . Today, he talks with FCB about Section 508 compliance — and how cloud computing might help agencies and businesses when it comes to meeting government standards for those with disabilities.

He says part of the problem is that the current provisions were written in 2001 — when the Internet was a different animal.

Regulations to provide special ICT tools for physically challenged, underway

Tom — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

WITH the number of physically challenged groups of persons constituting 25% of the total Nigerian populace, the Senate Committee Chairman on Communications, Senator Sylvester Anyanwu has said that the Senate and other arms of government would ensure that relevant policies and regulations are put in place to provide specially designed ICT needs of these groups.

Blind gamer sues Sony Online for not making MMORPGs more accessible

Tom — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

It’s easy to think that a blind gamer is a flat contradiction of terms, but then again, the same thing was once said of blind readers and blind film goers. It’s true in all three cases that games, books and film are visual mediums, but the blind enjoy films with closed captioning all the time, and books are read both on-tape and in braille for the enjoyment of the visually impaired. Translating games in a manner in which the blind can enjoy them is a difficult prospect, but it is not necessarily impossible.

Still, it’s hard to see a lot of merit in a recent lawsuit filed against Sony Online by a blind gamer for not making their games more accessible to the visually impaired. The suit, filed by disabled gamer Alexander Stern in California, alleges that Sony violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing
to implement features to make its games accessible to visually impaired gamers… specifically in regards to massively multiplayer games.