Accessibility News (AcNews) The Premier Online Magazine for Disability Accessibility

Accessibility News has been recognized by Backbone Magazine: Who's Who in Canadian Digital Media and Technology

Many issues of Disability and Accessibility are Universal throughout the World and AcNews will endeavour to bring them all together in this "Online Magazine" for easy referencing.

Manitoba Human Rights Commission Speaks Up! So Do We! How About You?

Posted to Site: May 17th, 2012

By Victor Schwartzman and Paul Caune

The article expressed concern that human rights organizations, including the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, did not have a systemic approach to human rights issues, with the result that the same problems have continued for a decade. Examples of how things work at the Commission were included in the article to illustrate the point.

Ontario Students Face Long Waits for Mental Health help, Warns New Report

Posted to Site: May 17th, 2012

Louise Brown
EDUCATION REPORTER

Ontario students with mental and emotional troubles wait an average of seven days to see a campus counselor – and some wait months, warns a new report that calls for more front-line help to tackle what has been hailed as a mental health crisis across Canada’s ivory tower.

Read more at
http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/?p=2480

Woman Says She Was Humiliated at Centre in the Square

Posted to Site: May 16th, 2012

Pettit questioned the customer service training the staff receives, which Nuhn confirmed is compliant to the guidelines set by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act to provide improved services to people with disabilities.

“We’ve Been Betrayed”

Posted to Site: May 16th, 2012

WOUNDED – Major Mark Campbell, formerly of St. Albert, lost both his legs in Afghanistan. He is now part of an upcoming class-action lawsuit against the federal government that alleges that the New Veterans Charter illegally discriminates against veterans by giving them less compensation for their injuries than they would get if they were not soldiers.

AODA Alliance Calls on Elections Ontario to Provide Telephone and Internet Voting in Upcoming Kitchener-Waterloo By-Election

Posted to Site: May 15th, 2012

An organized campaign has been waged since 1999 to make Ontario elections fully accessible to voters with disabilities. As part of this effort, we have advocated for several years for Ontario to provide the option of telephone and internet voting in Ontario elections. These technologies could be very helpful at overcoming serious barriers that voters with disabilities confront when they try to exercise their fundamental right to independently and privately vote.

Writing Good Link Text

Posted to Site: May 14th, 2012

Links are like sign posts. They should tell you what you’ll find when you follow them. Writing good link text isn’t difficult, but there are a few things to be aware of when you do.

New Toronto Star On-line Guest Column Co-Written by AODA Alliance Chair Identifies Barriers to Enforcing Human Rights in Ontario

Posted to Site: May 10th, 2012

TODAY IS TTC ANNUAL ACCESSIBILITY PUBLIC FORUM

The May 10, 2012 on-line edition of the Toronto Star includes a guest column on barriers that face people who try to enforce their human rights in Ontario. We set out that guest column below. It is co-written by AODA Alliance chair David Lepofsky and the director of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, Avvy Go. Our position on the need to reform Ontario’s human rights system, set out in this guest column, is fortified when we team up with respected community leaders like Ms. Go. She advocates for human rights from the perspective of racialized communities.

Mentally Ill Female Prisoners Treated Cruelly, Inhumanly, Report Finds

Posted to Site: May 9th, 2012

Ashley Smith died at the age of 19 at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont. Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers says a host of “serious failures” at the institution set the stage for the troubled teen’s death.

Canada’s treatment of mentally ill female prisoners amounts to “cruel and inhuman” punishment, a new report finds.

New Event Promotes Accessibility: For People With Disabilities, the Internet Offers a World of Challenges

Posted to Site: May 9th, 2012

Many online difficulties happen simply because designers aren’t aware of the needs of the impaired, says Jennison Asuncion, the Toronto organizer of Global Accessibility Awareness Day.

For many, the Internet is the fastest and easiest way to access information. But for the visually impaired and those with hearing, mobility, or cognitive issues, navigating the online world can present its own set of challenges.

Changes to Delivery of Services for Developmentally Disabled Have Advocates Vexed

Posted to Site: May 9th, 2012

“I’m a single mom, so it’s a hard haul,” she said. “When he was two I could restrain him, but I can’t do it by myself anymore. I can’t work because he needs constant supervision. The government has swept us under the rug and forced us to live in poverty. I just don’t get their thinking.”

GUELPH — The McGuinty Liberals are in the midst of transforming services for people with developmental disabilities, but the changes are causing more headaches than benefits, local advocates say, and they worry the new system will amount to cuts to services for this marginalized population.

Read more at
http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/?p=2457

App gives voice to people with disabilities

Posted to Site: May 8th, 2012

MyVoice offers independence and reduces stigma

Tyler Austin uses the MyVoice app on his iPad to help him converse. The state-of-the art communication technology assists people with disabilities like cerebral palsy, autism and muscular dystrophy to express themselves.

Canadian Gov’t Inaction on Mental Health Hurts Economy, Families: Report

Posted to Site: May 8th, 2012

“Most experts agree that the largest barrier to exist when it comes to mental health issues in general is stigma—the dirty word of mental health.

Often times the media portrayal of mental illness does not depict the truth and builds on the stigma,” says Cannon. “In regular news reports, we always hear over and over again about people with mental illnesses who have committed heinous crimes. There is no balance in reporting the people who have done amazing things who also have a diagnosis of mental illness—it is a completely imbalanced picture that we send to people every day.”

The Catch-22 of Group ome Bylaws

Posted to Site: May 8th, 2012

Bert Gockel wants nothing more than to live quietly in the tranquil rural community of Springfield, Man. But the community won’t let him. He’s not an axe-murderer or a pedophile, though some would say he’s being treated like one. He is being excluded from Springfield because he is an intellectually disabled person who needs special care.

RIM Launches BlackBerry Screen Reader for Customers with Visual Impairments

Posted to Site: May 7th, 2012

Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today launched BlackBerry® Screen Reader, a free software application that helps customers who are blind or visually impaired operate their BlackBerry® smartphone.

This is No Job for Police, Deputy Chief Says

Posted to Site: May 7th, 2012

THE CITY: As psychiatric beds close, calls to law enforcement rise
By IAN GILLESPIE, The London Free Press
Last Updated: May 6, 2012 5:05pm

Nothing about mental illness is simple. But when it comes to the role of police, London police Deputy Chief John Pare holds an uncomplicated view.

“It’s a health issue,” he says. “It’s not a police issue.”

And it’s about time we understood that — particularly as we start National Mental Health Week.

Read more at
http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/?p=2447

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