Accessibility News International

Accessibility News International will strive to bring you as much information as possible from around the Globe regarding issues of accessibility for the Disability Community.

Obama Marks 20th Anniversary of Disabilities Act

Posted under: Community

Mon Jul 26, 8:39 PM
By Darlene Superville, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama marked Monday’s 20th anniversary of a landmark law barring discrimination against people with disabilities by promising to boost government efforts at recruiting, hiring and retaining people with physical and mental limitations.

Obama Marks 20th Anniversary of Disabilities Act- Full Article

Infant is Returned to Blind Couple After State Places Her in Protective Custody

Posted under: Community

Posted on Wed, Jul. 21, 2010 12:15 AM
By LEE HILL KAVANAUGH
The Kansas City Star,

Fifty-seven days after she was born, Mikaela Sinnett was home for the first time Tuesday with her parents, Erika Johnson and Blake Sinnett of
Independence.

State officials had worried they were unable to care for her.

Infant is Returned to Blind Couple After State Places Her in Protective Custody- Full Article

Celebrating Us!

Posted under: Community

By John Rae
Notes for an address at the 7th Annual Simply People celebration at Nathan Phillips
Square, Toronto,Tuesday, July 20, 2010.

Tonight is for us, and about us! Tonight is a time for us to celebrate our accomplishments
and to redouble our efforts to bring about true equality for all persons with
disabilities in Canada and around the world.

Read more at
http://www.aoda.ca/?p=535

£30 Million Fund to Support Young Carers Launched

Posted under: Community,Employment,Health

By Emma Foster, Community Newswire
LOTTERY Carers, 20 Jul 2010 – 10:09

A £30 million fund to support young people who care for a disabled or sick relative has been launched today.

Youth in Focus, a funding programme from the Big Lottery Fund, aims to provide support young carers and other vulnerable youngsters, such as those leaving youth offending institutions and young people leaving care.

£30 Million Fund to Support Young Carers Launched- Full Article

All America city discriminates against disabled

Posted under: Built Environment

By Eileen Feldman
Wicked Local Somerville
Posted Jul 02, 2010 @ 12:49 PM

Somerville — This past May, the Community Access and Inclusion Project took advantage of the Housing and Urban Development Annual Plan(HUD) citizen comment period to send in a complaint regarding Somerville’s continuing use of federal funds to roll out programs that treat residents with disabilities like second-class citizens.

All America city discriminates against disabled- Full Article

Wrong Attitudes: Need for Changes in Culture Seen

Posted under: ADHD,Community

By Sarah Morayati
JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: July 18, 2010

Americans with Disabilities Act turns 20

The Americans with Disabilities Act became law 20 years ago this month. Its rules prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal opportunity for people with disabilities focus on four key areas.

Wrong Attitudes: Need for Changes in Culture Seen- Full Article

The Martin Luther King for the Disabled

Posted under: Community

For curb cuts and wheelchair ramps to the U.S. law that’s helping disabled everywhere, a debt is owed to a determined California quadriplegic

Published On Fri Jul 16 2010

Ed Roberts in 1979 at the California State Capitol, where Gov. Edmund G. Brown, to his right, is signing a bill to assist the disabled to live independently.
Bill Edmundson/Associated Press

Kathleen Kenna Special to the Star

BERKELEY, CALIF.—A man in an iron lung, who fought to be educated and live independently here, was one of the early activists for disability rights.

This month, the late Ed Roberts is being honoured for work that helped lead to the Americans With Disabilities Act, one U.S. law which has helped change
the world for the better.

The Martin Luther King for the Disabled- Full Article

PharmaPrix to Make Debit-Card Readers Accessible to Handicapped Customers

Posted under: Community

By Allison Lampert, Montreal Gazette July 14, 2010   

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 to Make Debit-Card Readers Accessible to Handicapped Customers- Full Article

With New Technology, Few Blind Canadians Read Braille

Posted under: Communications

It was once the most relied upon method of communication for the blind, but now Braille is the latest victim to technology.
Fewer than 10 per cent of the visually impaired use it, and many wonder if the dying language can be revived.

With New Technology, Few Blind Canadians Read Braille- Full Article

Integrating People With Disabilities (PWD) Into the Workplace

Posted under: Employment

Making diversity a priority in Canadian organizations is imperative – not just
because it is the right thing to do, but because it is critical to the future success of our businesses and our economy.

Read more at
http://www.aoda.ca/?p=517

Local Families Challenged by Lack of Autism Therapists

Posted under: Autism

SARAH BURTON
The Packet
Last updated at 10:37 AM on 08/07/10

Parents of autistic children in this area are having trouble finding the home therapists they need to help their children find ways to communicate and
learn effectively.

Local Families Challenged by Lack of Autism Therapists- Full Article

Disability and Professional Identity: Negotiated Change for Fitness to Practice

Posted under: Employment

July 5th, 2010

 Introduction

Policy makers recognize that the employment challenges encountered by disabled people are due to a complex matrix of attitudes, hostile environments and disabling barriers (Barnes, 1992: Burchardt, 2005). Hence, established explanations for the challenges disabled people seem to experience in the labour market are no longer viewed as fitting by the same people and their organizations.    

Disability and Professional Identity: Negotiated Change for Fitness to Practice- Full Article

Quiet Hybrids: An End to Their Sounds of Silence?

Posted under: Transportation

By KEN THOMAS
July 4, 2010 – 9:18am

WASHINGTON (AP) – The age of the silent hybrid may be coming to an end.

Gas-electric hybrids, propelled by electric motors at low speeds, are well-known for their quiet ride and great mileage. But their silence isn’t
always golden.

Quiet Hybrids: An End to Their Sounds of Silence?- Full Article

Call for Papers: Implementing eAccessibility as a Service Quality Factor

Posted under: Communications

The ePractice Journal has embarked on its next issue “Implementing eAccessibility as a service quality factor”.

The forthcoming issue (volume 10) of the Journal has released a Call for Papers and encourages prospective article contributions. This Journal will consist of 8 papers, 4 of which have already been filled. There are 4 remaining slots open.

Call for Papers: Implementing eAccessibility as a Service Quality Factor- Full Article

New Helping Hand for Those With Disabilities

Posted under: Community,Education,Employment

ADELE HORIN
July 5, 2010

Artist Clare Hooper has an intellectual disability and is schizophrenic.

WHEN Clare Hooper left high school, she attended a special community centre to learn life skills and go on group excursions. As a person with intellectual disabilities and schizophrenia, she was given little choice. The government-funded centre offered her two days of activities with 30 others. And as her mother, Helen, remembers, Ms Hooper was ”bored and unfulfilled”.

New Helping Hand for Those With Disabilities- Full Article

President’s Message: Looking at the ADA on Its 20th Anniversary

Posted under: Community

by Mitch Pomerantz
THE BRAILLE FORUM, Volume XLIX July 2010 No. 1
Posted to site July 5, 2010

In my May 2008 President’s Message, “ACB and the ADA Restoration Act,” I
discussed the Americans with Disabilities Act in the context of the
then-proposed ADA Amendments Act. At the time I expressed serious concern
over opening up the ADA to amendments, either positive or negative, given
the existing political climate. Fortunately, it turned out that my concern
was unfounded since the legislation passed without any narrowing of its
scope.

President’s Message: Looking at the ADA on Its 20th Anniversary- Full Article

Blind driver to take wheel in demonstration

Posted under: Transportation

Friday, July 2, 2010
The Associated Press

Addison Hugen, a blind student, is shown participating in the 2009 YouthSlam, a science camp for blind students, in College Park, Md. (National Federation of the Blind/Associated Press)

Getting behind the wheel has long been considered impossible for the blind, but that could soon change.

Blind driver to take wheel in demonstration- Full Article

Accept No Substitutes!

Posted under: Communications

By Geof Collis
Bad Eyes Design & Consulting

For the longest time I’ve was advocating against the Portable Document Format
(PDF), none of them were accessible to my screen reader so I”Settled”
for plain text, to me it was the lesser of evils. At no time did I ever care
for the Microsoft Word format, next to an inaccessible PDF it was just as bad.

Read more at
http://www.aoda.ca/?p=507

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

Posted under: Communications

By Peter Alexander – AGIMO on 30 Jun 2010 2:06pm,

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.

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

Deaf protester expected in court today

Posted under: Communications,Community

Published On Sat Jun 26 2010
Brendan Kennedy Staff Reporter

Family and friends of Emomotimi Azorbo, a deaf protestor who was arrested Friday, waited at the west-end courthouse where all G20 bail hearings take place this morning in the rain.

Azorbo, 30, was arrested at the intersection of College and Yonge after when he did not heed police commands to stay off the road, his friends say.

Deaf protester expected in court today- Full Article