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Website Audits: Is the CNIB Robbing You Blind?

By Geof Collis
May 25, 2012

How can they perform expensive Audits if their own website isn’t compliant?

Remember, just because it’s the CNIB, doesn’t make them an Authority or experts on web Accessibility and you’d be well advised to get other proposals if you want to go the Audit route.

Read more at
http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/?p=2505

MANITOBAN VOTERS WITH DISABILITIES NEED GABRIEL DUMONT, INSTEAD THEY HAVE ED GRIMLEY

By Paul Caune and Victor Schwartzman

[Disclosure: Victor was a Human Rights Officer who worked over twenty years for The Manitoba Human Rights Commission. He retired two years ago.]

For the past decade, about one third of all complaints registered by the Manitoba Human Rights Commission have been based on disability, with the Cowardly Lion’s share based on physical disability. There are thirteen “group factors” on which to base a human rights complaint—it is remarkable that one third of all complaints are based on only one “group factor”. This is part of the ongoing international scandal of how Canada abuses its citizens who have disabilities. See Barrier Free Manitoba’s Feature Issue here:  http://www.barrierfreemb.com/feature

MANITOBAN VOTERS WITH DISABILITIES NEED GABRIEL DUMONT, INSTEAD THEY HAVE ED GRIMLEY full article

The Blind Have Rights, the Right to Unemployment, Unequal Access and Poverty

By Geof Collis
January 25, 2011

Donna Jodhan how dare you Sue Us the Federal Government to give Equal Access to the Blind by way of our websites!

You want to get a Job with Us? You have the Right to be Unemployed.

The Blind Have Rights, the Right to Unemployment, Unequal Access and Poverty full article

Guest Commentary: A Moral Dilemma: “Scentual” Pleasure at the Expense of the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of Others

By Carol Lewis
March 8, 2010

Hundreds of Canadians have contacted the Canadian Human Rights Commission to find out whether their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are being violated because they are unable to access basic services, social and cultural events in their community without becoming ill from fragrance exposure.

Guest Commentary: A Moral Dilemma: “Scentual” Pleasure at the Expense of the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of Others full article

Guest Commentary: Stigma & Sensitivities: Must They Coexist?

By Carol Lewis
Posted Mar 3, 2010

Those with environmental sensitivities look just like anyone else, yet their bodies react very differently to such things as automobile exhaust, moulds, fragrances, tobacco smoke and pesticides. While reactions often effect the respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive and/or muscular systems, most everyone with environmental sensitivities experiences neurological symptoms such as headaches, depression, insomnia, anxiety, coordination problems, difficulties with memory and concentration, feeling spaced out, etc. These types of symptoms can have a strong impact on employability.

Guest Commentary: Stigma & Sensitivities: Must They Coexist? full article

Guest Commentary: Victor’s New Year’s Resolutions regarding the Ontario Government and people with disabilities:

December 29, 2009

Victor Schwartzman is a former human rights officer with The Manitoba Human Rights Commission. His human rights complaint against the MHRC for failing to accommodate him has been supported by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which in December, 2009 voted to reaffirm its decision of a year earlier to direct mediation on the complaint.
(Please note: unfortunately, all recommendations for Ontario also appear to apply to other Provinces).

Guest Commentary: Victor’s New Year’s Resolutions regarding the Ontario Government and people with disabilities: full article

The Pandemic and the Poor: Contrasting Government Responses

By: John Rae
October 29, 2009

The following is based on introductory remarks given at the Standing Committee on Finance’s Pre Budget consultation, Toronto, October 22, 2009

Government responses to the possible H1N1 pandemic and the poor provide a stark contrast in approaches.

The Pandemic and the Poor: Contrasting Government Responses full article

Guest Commentary: Getting a Job

By Anna Taylor
October 8, 2009

Getting a job while being disabled is more challenging than one might imagine. I was lucky to get an on-call job that gave me something to be proud of. I am thankful for the opportunity. Now, I am looking for a second job to fill the time I am not using for my other job, and am finding it to be difficult, not because of the economic times we are in, but because “hiring the handicapped” is no longer something that employers think is important.

Guest Commentary: Getting a Job full article

Guest Commentary: Accessibility, a Short Definition

By Anna Taylor
A Person in a Wheelchair

Since the advent of the Americans with Disabilities Act, commercial establishments have been trying to comply with the laws with varying success. As for what is accessible and what is not, a simple rule to follow is that if some arrangement is accessible for the less ambulatory, it will be accessible for anyone. Lowering a light switch to a height that can be used by a person in a wheelchair does not make it difficult for an ambulatory person. And in fact,
it might be easier to turn on light switches that are belt level than one that is 5 feet up the wall! The ADA actually makes the world easier to operate
for all people. (Sometime watch how many ambulatory people use the ramps at a ball park as opposed to those using the stairs.)

Guest Commentary: Accessibility, a Short Definition full article

Guest Commentary: What Would You Want?

By Ana Taylor

September 21, 2009

Have you ever wondered what it is like for someone else to go about their living? I’m sure at some point in all of our lives someone has said, “Try to think what it’s like in my shoes.” People today are caught up in their own lives, problems, and health concerns. It appears to me as if they think they’re the only ones who should be accommodated. Whether you are disabled or just experiencing old age, everyone should have equal access to commercial business,
even if it’s a little more “leg work” for the owner.

Guest Commentary: What Would You Want? full article