By Elizabeth McSheffrey , Global News
Posted March 31, 2021

This week, Nova Scotia announced a new policy giving restaurant and bar owners the option to allow dogs on outdoor patios. Its a decision meant to include pet owners, but as Elizabeth McSheffrey reports, accessibility advocates are concerned it could end up excluding service dog users.

One day after the Nova Scotia government announced a new policy allowing dogs on outdoor patios, some accessibility advocates and guide dog users are raising concerns that the presence of pets could compromise their safety.

While service animals are well-trained, any barking or play from dogs at other tables may still distract them, interfering with their ability to keep their owner safe, said guide dog user Shelley Adams.

Accessibility Advocates Raise Serious Concerns With New Policy Allowing Dogs on Nova Scotia Patios full article

by Peter Slatin
Braille Monitor March 2021

Crowded sidewalks and roadways have a few benefits to the blind: motion provides clues to what is happening. Before the pandemic, when I approached a corner I could hear whether other pedestrians were walking in the same direction, stopping, slowing or hurrying. I could hear cars traveling in the same direction and zooming past me on a parallel track through the intersection. I could hear other cars idling perpendicular to me, waiting for a light to change, or driving directly in front of me. These were all signals that it was okay to crossor not.

Walking While Blind in Manhattan During the Pandemic full article

For Immediate Release, March 8, 2021

A number of long-time blind baseball fans are outraged over the recent announcement that Toronto Blue Jays games will be simulcast this season, a move they say represents nothing more than a “callous, cost-cutting move that will make both radio and TV fans very unsatisfied and that will have impact on their enjoyment of their favourite team’s games.”

While the Blue Jays have great announcers, the needs and expectations of radio listeners and TV viewers are very different.

Blind Fans Outraged By Decision to Simulcast Blue Jays Games This Season! full article

News provided by
Easter Seals Ontario
Mar 01, 2021

TORONTO, March 1, 2021 /CNW/ – Easter Seals Ontario, now in its 99th year of operation, kicks off its annual campaign, March is Easter Seals Month, with a goal of bringing heightened awareness of the increased challenges faced by children and youth with physical disabilities and their families particularly during the pandemic.

“It has been almost a year that children with physical disabilities and their families have been without services like therapy, personal care and respite support, and it’s taking its toll,” says Kevin Collins, President and CEO, Easter Seals Ontario. “The kids have been isolated at home with very little social interaction, and many parents have had to quit their jobs to provide around the clock care. They are emotionally and physically exhausted.”

Kids With Physical Disabilities Struggling Through the Pandemic full article

By KRISTY KIRKUP
Globe and Mail, Mar. 3, 2021

OTTAWA – An advocacy group for blind Canadians is accusing the federal government of negligence after the organization applied for a funding program to support people living with disabilities through an online process it says was not accessible to those with visual impairments.

The Alliance for Equality for Blind Canadians (AEBC), a national charitable organization that advocates for the inclusion of individuals who are blind, deaf-blind and partially sighted, tried to apply for funding to help build capacity for their organization, Ottawa-based lawyer Anne Levesque said.

Advocacy Group for Visually Impaired Canadians Says Ottawa’s Funding Application was Inaccessible full article

By Lauren Weber, Hannah Recht
Feb. 25, 2021

Many COVID vaccination registration and information websites at the federal, state and local levels violate disability rights laws, hindering the ability of blind people to sign up for a potentially lifesaving vaccine, a Kaiser Health News investigation has found.

Across the country, people who use special software to make the web accessible have been unable to sign up for the vaccines or obtain vital information about COVID”19 because many government websites lack required accessibility features. At least 7.6 million people in the U.S. over age 16 have a visual disability.

COVID-19 Vaccine Websites Violate Disability Laws, Create Inequity for the Blind full article