Archives for May, 2008
VIA Rail in Canada and Amtrak in the U.S. have excellent services for special needs. To be sure you receive the service you need, purchase your tickets over the telephone and let them know what you need. Services vary from train to train and station to station but if they know in advance what you [...]
Each year at the STC conferences, the AccessAbility SIG publishes a roadmap to sessions that are related to accessibility or usability. 2008 is no different. Download the AccessAbility SIG conference roadmap 2008 today. Highlights The SIG luncheon and SIG business meeting are two obvious highlights. The SIG luncheon is on Monday, June 2 at 12 [...]
The following information was provided by Allen Rotz. While at the conference in Philadelphia, check out the interesting adaptive use of the Reading Railroad Terminal: http://www.paconvention.com/art/history.asp. It also includes the Reading Terminal Market which has several interesting eateries for lunch. Some serve breakfast. http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/about/ http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/merchants/category/pennsylvaniadutch Unfortunately, the Pennsylvania Dutch businesses are only open Wed-Sat. http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/merchants/category/restaurants [...]
“DOT Gets It Together For Air Travelers With Disabilities” People with disabilities will have additional protections against discrimination when they travel by air, as the result of a new rule issued today [8 May 2008] by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) that strengthens the existing regulation implementing the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and [...]
Whirlwind Wheelchair International at San Francisco State University serves as the hub of a network of wheelchair manufacturing shops and related disability organizations around the world. Whirlwind is a nonprofit organization that designs wheelchairs for production and use in developing countries and by homeless people in the Bay area with accessibility problems such as stairs, [...]
A spam attack on one of the Epilepsy Foundation’s online forums appears to have been designed to trigger seizures in persons with epilepsy. On Easter weekend, the Epilepsy Foundation—and those who use its online forums for help, support, suggestions and camaraderie—came under attack by people who posted rapidly flashing images to cause serious injury and [...]
From the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), February 2008. "Antirheumatic, Antimalarial Treatment Reduces Diabetes Risk in People With Rheumatoid Arthritis": Researchers partly funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) recently found that hydroxychloroquine, a medication used to treat rheumatic diseases and malaria, reduced the [...]
There is an excellent blog by the owner of a woman-owned car dealership in California at AskPatty.com "Automotive Advice for Women". She supports and is the president of the United Spinal Association and her blog posts include many that relate to disabled drivers. "Transportation From a Different View Part II – Hand Controls Spell Freedom [...]
Press Release from the United Spinal Association, Release: Monday, June 18, 2007 Example of a disabled access minivan with left side ramp access that is blocked by a sedan parked illegally in the required access aisle. If you have wondered about the purpose of those blue diagonal-lined areas adjacent to, or between, accessible parking spaces [...]
Performed by Ma Li (馬麗) and Zhai Xiaowei (翟孝偉). The music is composed by San Bao whose work includes the music from the film, “The Road Home”, directed by Zhang Yimou. This music is originally from a very popular TV show in China, named Qian Shou (牵手 Hand in Hand). Note: This film clip is [...]
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) sent out a call for review of its First Public Working Draft of Web Accessibility for Older Users: A Literature Review, one of the WAI-AGE project deliverables. It was published 14 March 2008, and WAI encourages review and comments, all to be submitted by 4 June 2008, if possible. This [...]
Lori Gillen, incoming Co-Manager of the SIG, put together some useful tips for participants attending this year’s STC conference in Philadelphia. These tips can be used at any presentation, anywhere, of course! The tips are provided to help conference participants hear better and get much more out of their conference experience. Sit next to one [...]
Lori Gillen, incoming Co-Manager of the SIG, put together some useful tips for speakers at this year’s STC conference in Philadelphia. The tips are provided to help speakers ensure better hearing of presentation content. These tips can be used for any presentation, anywhere, of course. Your audience will thank you! Bring written content (slide presentation [...]
Looking for some “deaf blogs”? The Stone Deaf Pilots is a great place to start. It is a blog dedicated deaf technology, assistive technology, and tech-related accessibility issues faced by the deaf and hard of hearing. This blog is for anyone, deaf or hearing, who wants to learn more about deaf technology and non-deaf-specific technology [...]
We are proud to announce that several of the SIG members have been honored for their work in technical communication. STC Associate Fellows Two more members of the AccessAbility SIG can now call themselves STC Associate Fellows. These talented individuals are Gloria Reece and Chauncey Wilson. The stc.org site says To be considered for election [...]
Referendum Approves New Bylaws for STC The STC 2007 Bylaws Referendum ended at noon EST on November 1, 2007. In total 802 votes were cast. For 775 votes (96.63%); Against 27 votes (3.37%). The approved Bylaws were amended in March 2008. The March 2008 version of the Bylaws is now available: STC Bylaws, amended March [...]
29 January 2008 International Organization for Standardization press release A new ISO standard for spinal disc implants will help reduce suffering of back pain patients. The new standard will help ensure that spinal disc prostheses meet requirements for wear resistance, particularly important as once implanted these will need to absorb the impact from the body’s [...]
2008-02-12 Equipping pedestrian street crossings with acoustic and tactile signals to help disabled persons was a step forward. The problem is that they vary from one country to another. Now, a new ISO standard provides the basis for harmonizing such signals on a worldwide basis. The aim of ISO 23600:2007, Assistive products for persons with [...]
By DAVID S. JOACHIM Published: December 6, 2006; The New York Times As both the price and size of computer chips shrink, manufacturers are enhancing the abilities of things like phones, navigation systems and even home appliances. These so-called accessibility technologies are not only for those with disabilities. For people with chronic ailments, these products [...]
The following is from Whitney Quesenbery www.usabilityprofessionals.org I’ve started seeing unintended (editorial) humor about accessibility. Here’s a few…anyone have any more? From Usability News “…access for people with visibility problems” (Yes, people with disabilities often do have problems making themselves “visible”) From any hotel “…handicapped room…” (Mine had a broken phone, so it really was [...]
DAISY Consortium The DAISY Consortium was founded in 1996 and consists of organizations around the world who are committed to developing the Digital Accessible Information SYstem (DAISY). DAISY is a digital standard for producing accessible and navigable multimedia documents. These documents are Digital Talking Books, digital text books, or a combination of synchronised audio and [...]
The Blind Eye is a hybrid audio game, like The Curb Game and Terraformers at http://www.audiogames.net/db.php?action=view&id=theblindeye. The game was the result of The Blind Eye Research Project, developed in Denmark in 2000, where the participant has the opportunity to experience the virtual world in a manner similar to being visually blind. Conceptually, The Blind Eye [...]
A Universal Computer Braille Code For Literary And Scientific Texts by Durre, Karl P.; Tuttle, Dean W. and Durre, Ingeborg. About Braille by Liz Gray, Braille Transcriber, Certified by the Library of Congress in Literary Braille. The Braille Bug The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) created the Braille Bug web site to teach sighted [...]
How Does a Screen Reader Work? New Vision Technology: news about technology improvements to improve your vision such as mobile phones, screen readers, software for programmers, and more Screen Access For All (SAFA), Screen reader in Indian languages
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