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How Technology Can Enable Restaurant Accessibility And Inclusiveness

As a restauranteur, you hope to provide a great experience for everyone who patronizes your establishment. But then the question arises, how does one accomplish this?
By Laura Boniello Miller, Corporate Business Development Manager, JAWS Kiosk program, Vispero – 10.11.2019

According to figures from the CDC, 26% of the United States population identifies with having a disability. That’s 61 million people who may need additional accommodations to enjoy a nice meal out. As a restauranteur, you hope to provide a great experience for everyone who patronizes your establishment. But then the question arises, how does one accomplish this?

How Technology Can Enable Restaurant Accessibility And Inclusiveness full article

Request for Qualifications: Social Inclusion and Employment Outcomes for Persons Living with Disabilities

LIFT Philanthropy Partners is pleased to announce our Request for Qualifications for a new initiative aimed at support for “creating communities, workplaces and services that enable everyone to participate fully in society without barriers.”1

This initiative supports organizations that are removing barriers for persons living with disabilities, scaling innovative programs and services, and demonstrating measureable results, specifically towards employment or self-employment outcomes.

Under this initiative, disabilities are defined broadly to include physical, developmental, mental, and cognitive disabilities.

Request for Qualifications: Social Inclusion and Employment Outcomes for Persons Living with Disabilities full article

‘We’re All in This Together’: A Push for Accessibility for All British Columbians

Accessibility benefits everyone because anyone can have an injury, advocate says Kathryn Marlow · CBC · Posted: Oct 04, 2019

Victoria’s Chris Marks says improved accessibility would make life better for everyone not just people with disabilities.

Chris Marks loves his hometown, Victoria, but he can only explore so much of it.

After a spinal injury over a decade ago, Marks gets around using an electric wheelchair. Every day he encounters design flaws that stop him from getting where he wants to go: things likes stairs, curbs, and even raised doorways get in his way.

‘We’re All in This Together’: A Push for Accessibility for All British Columbians full article

SCOTUS Rejects Pizza Delivery Company’s Appeal Over Web and Mobile App Accessibility

By Amanda Robert
October 7, 2019

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear Domino’s Pizza Inc.’s appeal over its website and mobile app and whether they are required to comply with federal disabilities law.

With its order, the high court let stand a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which held in January that Guillermo Robles, a blind man, could sue the national pizza chain under the Americans with Disabilities Act if its website and mobile app did not work with common screen-reading software.

SCOTUS Rejects Pizza Delivery Company’s Appeal Over Web and Mobile App Accessibility full article

Campbell: Hiring Qualified Disabled Workers is Good for Business – and Society

We’re making progress but statistics show still more opportunity to recruit diverse talent. Jeannette Campbell
Updated: October 7, 2019

Diversity and inclusion have to be part of the workplace philosophy if Canada is to take advantage of its educated and skilled disabled workers.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. It’s the official month every year for celebrating and recognizing workplace contributions of people who have a disability and the business successes they help create. But it is significantly more than that.

It represents a critical opportunity for all businesses to examine their recruitment strategies and make improvements. Statistics show many companies are still missing out on a vast untapped pool of employees: skilled people who have a disability.

Campbell: Hiring Qualified Disabled Workers is Good for Business – and Society full article

‘Give Us the Opportunity,’ Calgary Disability Advocate Tells Employers

Darby Young fights to make businesses more inclusive, aware and accessible Hannah Kost · CBC News · Posted: Oct 04, 2019

“When people see persons with disabilities, they think they scream ‘accommodation,’ and that’s not necessarily true,” says Darby Young, the founder of Level Playing Field.

October is Disability Employment Awareness Month, and one Calgary business owner is encouraging employers to be more inclusive through both her advocacy and her day job.

Darby Young was born with mild cerebral palsy (CP) and says it taught her early on about the obstacles people with disabilities face in the workforce.

‘Give Us the Opportunity,’ Calgary Disability Advocate Tells Employers full article

Transit Plus Rider Wants Changes to ‘Absolutely Ludicrous’ Rule on Stop Locations

Winnipeg’s public transit for people with disabilities limits drop-offs to within 500 metres of bus stops CBC News · Posted: Oct 02, 2019

Maureen Anderson, a 76-year-old Winnipegger with fibromyalgia, is calling for changes to the city’s Transit Plus system after being told last week the transportation service could only drop her off at the nearest bus stop to her destination and that she would have to call a cab to get the rest of the way there.

“Close enough” isn’t a good enough approach when it comes to Winnipeg’s public transportation system for people with physical disabilities, says a Transit Plus user.

Transit Plus Rider Wants Changes to ‘Absolutely Ludicrous’ Rule on Stop Locations full article

I Was Paralyzed 6 Years Ago and Now I Struggle with Suicide – But Not for the Reason You Think

Scott Jones · for CBC News · Posted: Sep 30, 2019

Scott Jones says that he struggles with suicide, but not because of his paralysis. Instead, he says the way in which others treat those with a disability can be the harder pill to swallow.
Editor’s note: Scott Jones was attacked outside a New Glasgow, N.S., bar in 2013, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. The musician and music teacher founded the Don’t Be Afraid campaign shortly afterward to encourage others to speak out against homophobia.

I struggle with suicide on a daily basis.

I Was Paralyzed 6 Years Ago and Now I Struggle with Suicide – But Not for the Reason You Think full article

3D Printed Wheelchairs Project Brings Assistive Tech to Developing Countries

September 13 2019

UNITED KINGDOM: Run by charity Motivation in partnership with 3D printer manufacturer Ultimaker, the project is called Motivation InnovATe. It designed to establish the technologies, infrastructure and skills within developing countries to enable custom 3D printed wheelchairs to produced where and when they are needed.

Initially starting in Kenya through local partner Bethany Kids, the project will see the establishment of a purpose-built assessment, fitting and 3D printing workshop, where wheelchair users will be measured using specialist tools, including a seating simulator, to determine the precise measurements of wheelchair they require.

3D Printed Wheelchairs Project Brings Assistive Tech to Developing Countries full article

What You Need to Know If You Have a Disability and Want to Vote

CBC News · Posted: Sep 22, 2019

If you’re one of the six million or so Canadians who identify as having at least one disability, there are new tools and services available to help you vote.

Many were developed with the input and experience of an advisory group struck in 2014 specifically to address some of the biggest obstacles people with different abilities face when they go to cast a ballot.

Some of the tools and measures are being used in an election for the first time.

What You Need to Know If You Have a Disability and Want to Vote full article

B.C. Communities Urged to Improve Access for Disabled People

One in four B.C. residents has disability, most want to work Tom Fletcher/
Sep. 16, 2019 1:20 p.m./

The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is close to 50 per cent, and B.C. needs them as much as they want to work, the president of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce says.

Val Litwin spoke Monday at an announcement by the B.C. government on its plan to help people with disabilities find jobs, in an economy with a million job openings ahead and a labour shortage already being felt.

B.C. Communities Urged to Improve Access for Disabled People full article

Residents at Calgary Apartment Building Frustrated Over Lack of Accessible Door

CTV Calgary
Kathy Le, Video Journalist
@CTVKathyLe
Published Friday, September 13, 2019

For a handful of wheelchair-dependent, southeast Calgary apartment residents, getting into and out of their building is proving to be a very difficult task.

Robin Cummings says she and at least five or six other residents rely on a wheelchair or scooter to get around, but there isn’t an automatic door opener at the two entrance doors to help facilitate the process.

“We have to use our hands. One hand to hold the door open and one hand to try and operate a scooter to get in two sets of doors,” said Cummings.

Residents at Calgary Apartment Building Frustrated Over Lack of Accessible Door full article

In a Tight Labor Market, a Disability May Not Be a Barrier

To expand the pool of workers, companies are recruiting stay-at-home parents, retirees and people with disabilities. Will they keep it up if the economy sours? By Ben Casselman
NY Times, Sept. 5, 2019

ROUND ROCK, Tex. When Kate Cosway completed her masters degree in 2014, her résumé drew plenty of interest, but she rarely advanced far in the hiring process. She was pretty sure she knew why: She is on the autism spectrum and struggles in traditional interviews.

Her luck finally turned this summer when she landed a 12-week internship at Dell Technologies, which this month will turn into a full-time job working on automation in the companys audit department.

In a Tight Labor Market, a Disability May Not Be a Barrier full article

Government of Canada Announces New Accessible Technology Program Funding Recipients

From: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
$7.78 million investment will help boost participation of Canadians with disabilities in the digital economy September 4, 2019 Ottawa, Ontario

Canadians with disabilities deserve the same opportunities to find good jobs, contribute to their communities, and build a better life for themselves and their families. Yet many Canadians with disabilities still face barriers to full participation in the digital economy.

Today, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, announced that 12 new projects from across the country will receive funding through the Accessible Technology Program. This is in addition to the three projects funded under the program that were announced earlier this year.

Government of Canada Announces New Accessible Technology Program Funding Recipients full article

Disabled Passengers Say New Canada Transportation Act Rules Increase Air Travel Barriers

By Christopher Reynolds The Canadian Press

Tracy Odell recalls with a mix of pride and pain the sunny spring day two years ago that her daughter got married in California.

Pride in the milestone. Pain at having to miss it.

Airlines, she said, effectively failed to accommodate her disability, a problem that thousands of Canadians continue to face despite new rules designed in theory to open the skies to disabled travellers.

As seating space shrank and cargo doors were often too small for customized wheelchairs, Odell cut back on the flights she once took routinely for her work with a non-profit.

Disabled Passengers Say New Canada Transportation Act Rules Increase Air Travel Barriers full article

Disenfranchised and Disillusioned: Little Progress Made for Voters With Disabilities

Despite suggestions to make voting more accessible, people with disabilities still face barriers. Megan Linton · for CBC News · Posted: Sep 01, 2019

A man arrives at a polling station on the first day of advance voting for a federal byelection in Burnaby South on Feb. 15, 2019. Despite recommendations from an advisory group on disability issues formed by Elections Canada in 2014, little has changed for voters with disabilities as Manitobans prepare to vote in both a provincial and federal election in the coming weeks, says Megan Linton.

Disenfranchised and Disillusioned: Little Progress Made for Voters With Disabilities full article

‘It’s a Basic Human Right:’ High School Should Prioritize Accessibility, Saanich Mother Says

Maya Bosdet, 14, uses a wheelchair and wants to attend the same high school her father did Adam van der Zwan · CBC News · Posted: Aug 29, 2019

Maya Bosdet and her mother Lisa say they were disappointed to find Claremont Secondary, the school near Maya’s home, is not accessible for the 14-year-old, who uses a wheelchair.

Maya Bosdet says she’s excited for the beginning of classes next week because it means continuing a family tradition of attending high school at Claremont Secondary, in Saanich, B.C.

But a tour of the school this week has her concerned the building won’t be accessible enough to meet her needs as a wheelchair user.

‘It’s a Basic Human Right:’ High School Should Prioritize Accessibility, Saanich Mother Says full article

Publishers, Universities Struggle to Provide Timely Access to Accessible Textbooks

For visually impaired students, a lack of accessible learning materials creates enormous barriers to success. By MATTHEW HALLIDAY | AUG 27 2019

When Alycia Pottie was a teenager, she lost most of her sight to a combination of glaucoma and uveitis, a form of ocular inflammation. Shes been legally blind ever since, and for the past four years, as a psychology student at Mount Saint Vincent University, shes relied on the accommodations that many visually impaired Canadian students use: large-print course materials, extra time on exams and, critically, accessible electronic textbooks.

Publishers, Universities Struggle to Provide Timely Access to Accessible Textbooks full article

The Robson Square Steps are Beautiful but are They Safe?

Accessibility advocates in Vancouver call for upgrades to wheelchair ramp and steps Jesse Johnston · CBC News · Posted: Aug 22, 2019

The path at Robson Square in Vancouver, which zigzags across the stairwell like a switchback trail on a mountainside, is a crown jewel in the late architect Arthur Erickson’s portfolio.

Arnold Cheng doesn’t like it.

“There are two competing camps people who think it’s beautiful and wonderful and people who don’t think it’s beautiful and wonderful,” Cheng said.

“Quite often, one [camp] is people without disabilities and the other is people with disabilities.”

Cheng, who works as an accessibility consultant, says it’s dangerous to travel down the steep ramp in his wheelchair.

The Robson Square Steps are Beautiful but are They Safe? full article

Accessible Playground in Cornwall, P.E.I., Getting Positive Reaction

‘The kids love it and it’s certainly a great feature to this facility’ Tom Steepe · CBC News · Posted: Aug 19, 2019

An accessible playground in Cornwall, P.E.I., has been getting positive feedback since it opened.

The playground, located at the Cornwall Civic Centre next to the curling club, includes a wide variety of structures designed to be fully accessible and inclusive through the use of stairs, climbers and slides.

“Everything has been positive, the kids love it and it’s certainly a great feature to this facility and to the programming that happens here,” said recreation manager Kim Meunier.

Meunier said the playground gets “upwards of 100 kids” visiting each day.

Accessible Playground in Cornwall, P.E.I., Getting Positive Reaction full article

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