Accessibility News October E-Newsletter Editors Note: As you may be aware, Susan Brunet can no longer fill her position as Editor, so I am now taking over the role. This is something new to me but I will try to make the Newsletter as relevant as possible to our accessibility needs. If you have any suggestions or information you feel you'd like to see in the newsletter or on our site, please send it to info@accessibilitynews.ca and I'll do my best to post it. Don't forget to visit us at http://www.accessibilitynews.ca In this Issue: 1)Food For Thought. 2)Commentary - Where do we end exclusion? 3)Announcement From The Accessibility Directorate of Ontario 4)Citizens With Disabilities - Ontario Launches New Website 5)Right This Way Access Consultants launches New Accessible Website 6)Federal government accepts court decision for Deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing Canadians 7)Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) Podcasts Help Hearing Impaired 8)Questions on AODA standards and process 9)Designing a more accessible web 10)Accessibility Items 4 Sale ----- 1)Food For Thought A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups. And set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy. "Mister," he said, "I want to buy "one of your puppies." "Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money." The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?" "Sure," said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a some what awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up.... "I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would." With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands." With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy. "How much?" asked the little boy. "No charge," answered the farmer, "There's no charge for love." The world is full of people who need someone who understands. ----------------- 2)Commentary Where Do We EndExclusion? Recently an initiative has been started by the Council for Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) and backed with partners such as the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC). This short term initiative is named "End Exclusion" and their website is www.endexclusion.ca. On the website it states: cited from: http://www.endexclusion.ca Building an Inclusive and Accessible Canada and Supporting People With Disabilities (PWD's). All excellent statements and upon your first visit using a screen reader the Website appears to be reasonably accessible, however web accessibility is for more than just screen readers, so when you do a little checking you find that things aren't so accessible after all. When checked against the World Wide Web Consortiums (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG) at http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ you'll find that the site barely meets the minimum standards for web accessibility and therefore will create Accessibility problems for many disabilities. . These guidelines have been around since 1999 and when implemented properly will make websites accessible to the widest range of internet user. There are a few extra bells and whistles, but this site is hardly inclusive. When 2 AEBC Board members were asked why they had put their name to this site when it is not accessible to all PWD's, their initial response Was, "there is nothing wrong with the site". When told that the site deserves arguably 2 leafs under their own Web Accessibility Ratings Initiative, their response was, "I'll just sit back and relax, until someone does send us an actual user experience". Pardon me? The AEBC Rating initiative states: cited from: http://www.blindcanadians.ca/resources/rating.php It is our intention, by implementing such a rating system, that we will bring attention to accessible web design by encouraging other site owners and webmasters of the importance of making their sites accessible" and" A 2 leaf Signifies that the site passes Priority 1 and meets the minimum requirements for web accessibility as set out by WC3. Visitors to this site may experience difficulties navigating certain features of the site. . If the AEBC is aware of accessible web design and knows the consequences of not being W3C compliant, then why should we have to complain first before it is made fully accessible? Isn't it one of the reasons we have Bill 118, so PWD's don't' have to find fault all of the time to have the same "access to information" as others? Let's be honest here, very few people have the time or inclination to give feedback, they expect the "So called experts" to do the job properly from the beginning. If the standards are already there and very well known, then why aren't they implemented to their fullest from the start? When groups promote such ideals as "Ending Exclusion" or "Building an Inclusive and Accessible Canada Supporting People with Disabilities" it is very upsetting to find their sites are not fully accessible. An accessible website is like an "electronic ramp" to many PWD's and by not meeting the highest standards possible when they are achievable, groups promoting accessibility and change are excluding the very people they are representing. While this site has a good beginning, we as a community should, by example demand higher standards from ourselves, especially when you consider that the theme of this years International Day of the Disabled pertains to web accessibility for all. So where should the "Exclusion" end? For this observer it should start in our own backyard. Recommended reading o International Day of Disabled Persons 2006 at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/iddp2006.htm. ---- 3)Announcement From The Accessibility Directorate of Ontario On October 23, Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur made an announcement in the House that: o The first proposed standard developed under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, for customer service, is now available for public review and feedback. o Recruitment has also begun for a new Standards Development Committee, which will work to draft a proposed standard on accessible information and communications. Dear Friends, In June 2005, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act was made law. The purpose of the legislation is to develop, implement, and enforce accessibility standards in order to achieve accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities with respect to goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures and premises on or before January 1, 2025. In January 2006, two standards development committees were established one committee to develop a proposed standard for Customer Service, and one committee to develop a proposed standard for Transportation. On June, 2006, the Minister of Community and Social Services announced plans for the development of three additional standards in the areas of information and communications, the built environment, and employment. I am writing at this time to let you know about next steps in the process. 1. The Customer Service Standards Development Committee has developed an initial proposed standard that is available as of October 23, 2006 for public review and comment. The public will have 60 days to review the proposed standard and submit feedback. Once the public review period is complete, the standards development committee will reconvene to consider the feedback prior to submitting the proposed standard to the Minister. To review the proposed standard and to provide feedback, visit the Ministry of Community and Social Services website at: www.mcss.gov.on.ca/accessibility/index.html For additional information, or to find out about alternate methods of providing feedback, please call 1-888-789-4199 or toll-free TTY 1-888-335-6611. I encourage you to take the time to visit the website, review the Committee’s proposed standard and provide your comments, using the discussion guide provided. 2. A process for recruiting members for a new Standards Development Committee to develop a proposed information and communications standard is being launched. Application forms and committee terms of reference are available on the Ministry of Community and Social Services website as of October 23, 2006 at www.mcss.gov.on.ca/accessibility/index.html For additional information, or for application packages in alternate formats, such as large print, audio formats (cassettes or cd’s), or Braille please call 1-888-520-5828 or toll-free TTY 1-888-335-6611. The final deadline for applications is November 30, 2006. Consistent with the AODA, members of this, Standards Development Committee must include people with disabilities or their representatives, representatives from industries, sectors of the economy or organizations that will be affected by an Information and Communications standard and representatives from government ministries. Information and communications refers to information and communications provided to the consumer or end-users through print, telephone, electronically and in person. The identification, removal and prevention of barriers with respect to information and communications for persons with disabilities can include organizational policies, processes and practices related to information and communications, including staff training. If you require any assistance to participate in these two important activities, please do not hesitate to let us know. For ongoing information on the public review of the Customer Service proposed standard and the establishment of the information and communications Standards Development Committee please visit www.mcss.gov.on.ca/accessibility/index.html For the application Form - Accessible Information and Communications Standards Development Committee go to http://209.167.40.13/sdc_public/appform_eng/ or call us at the phone numbers listed above. Sincerely, Original signed by the Assistant Deputy Minister Andrea Maurice Assistant Deputy Minister Accessibility Directorate of Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services ----------------- 4)Citizens With Disabilities - Ontario Launches New Website I am pleased to announce the new and fully accessible Citizens With Disabilities - Ontario website. Citizens With Disabilities - Ontario (CWD-O), has been established by Ontarians with disabilities to create a strong, consumer-driven, cross-disability organization to represent the needs and interests of the community of people with disabilities in Ontario. Citizens With Disabilities - Ontario is dedicated to the full participation of persons with disabilities in the social, economic and political life of their communities. It actively supports and promotes the rights, freedoms and responsibilities of persons with disabilities to determine their own destinies. Key areas of activities for CWD-O are community development, social action, social development, education and awareness training. Its primary activity is to advocate on behalf of persons with disabilities and promote their personal participation in eliminating social and physical barriers to allow full participation of all Ontarians in the mainstream of society. CWD-O will address the broader needs of persons with multiple disabilities that cannot be adequately served by disability organizations structured around a particular disability. CWD-O will emphasize the person, not the disability, looking to resolve systemic problems that affect people with disabilities regardless of the nature or source of the disability. Please take a look at the website and send us your comments using the online reply form. Complete the online membership application and be part of this new and important Ontario initiative! Go now to our www.cwd-o.org website. Together we are stronger! Jerry Jerry Ford jerry.ford@rogers.com ----------------- 5)Right This Way Access Consultants launches New Accessible Website Right This Way Access Consulting throws open its doors today and launches its fully accessible website. Setting new standards in excellence, Right This Way specializes in event planning for access by guiding hosts of public and private events towards higher levels of accessibility. While recognizing how advances in technology can give greater access to people who are deaf or have disabilities, Right This Way focuses on the human factor. Barriers exist when attitudes, practices and processes exclude some people from full participation. Right This Way provides training and education that leads to positive, lasting change. Please visit our website at www.rightthisway.org. Feel free to use the feedback form to comment on the site or ask questions about our services. ----------------- 6)Federal government accepts court decision for Deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing Canadians The Canadian Association of the Deaf / L’Association des Sourds du Canada FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 5, 2006 Federal government accepts court decision for Deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing Canadians Ottawa, ON - The federal government has announced that it will not appeal a landmark court decision that guarantees deaf and hard of hearing Canadians equal access to federal programs and services. To read the full press release go to http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/archive/files/landmark_ruling_deaf.txt Citizens With Disabilities - Ontario ----------------- 7)Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) Podcasts Help Hearing Impaired By NATALIE PONA, TORONTO SUN Liliane Lortie is not only a Royal Ontario Museum employee, she has become a video star there, too. The ROM launched free video and audio podcasts yesterday describing exhibits in sound or American Sign Language -- one of several programs designed to increase accessibility at the museum. Lortie, 61, who works in the mammalogy section, is deaf. She volunteered to use ASL on the video podcasts. The program will give deaf people new access to exhibits, Lortie said. The podcasts -- available at www.rom.on.ca -- will be frequently updated, said Cheryl Blackburn, director of visitor experience. The podcasts can be downloaded onto iPods and brought to the museum. iPods are available at the museum for rent by disabled visitors. The program keeps the museum ahead of the tide of technology, she said, and it helps reach more people. Christine Karcza, a board member and inclusive environments consultant, said the program is part of a 10-year plan that puts the ROM ahead for accessibility. ----------------- 8)Questions on AODA standards and process Will Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committees have a formal role in the public review? Can they provide direct feedback on standards development? The Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committees have played an important role under the ODA by offering advice on annual municipal accessibility plans. They continue to play an important role under AODA by providing advice on accessibility standards. The knowledge, expertise and perspective that committee members can bring to the public review process will be critical to ensure that standards development committees receive informed input. We encourage Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committees to submit comments when each of the proposed standards is posted on the Ministry of Community and Social Services website for public review. What are the different ways the public can provide feedback on the proposed standards? Proposed standards will be posted on the Ministry of Community and Social Services' website. Additional materials will also be posted to provide background information, answers to key questions, and information on how to make submissions about the proposed standards. All materials posted will be accessible in multiple formats such as CD, Braille, audio, standard print copies and large-print formats. Feedback can be provided directly on line, by mail, by fax and by email. How will changes to Ontario Human Rights enforcement mechanisms impact on the AODA? The AODA does not diminish the rights of an individual under Ontario's Human Rights Code. The act is consistent with the provisions of Ontario's Human Rights Code and adopts the definition of "disability" provided in the code. The AODA does not provide for an individual complaint mechanism for persons who believe organizations are in non-compliance with standards under the AODA. The enforcement mechanism under the AODA includes: o Requirement for obligated organizations to file reports, certifying compliance with standards. o Appointment of inspectors who may inspect records and issue orders. o Provisions for administrative penalties and fines for non-compliance with the Act. Individuals continue to have the right to file a complaint under Ontario's Human Rights Code if they believe they have been discriminated against under the Code. Will there be strong consideration for the unique situation of different municipalities regarding Federal/Provincial/municipal public transportation services? The mandate of the Transportation Standards Development Committee is focused on public transportation services under the jurisdiction of the Ontario government and Ontario municipalities, and does not extend to services under federal jurisdiction. At the same time, the Standards Development Committee is taking inter-jurisdictional issues, regulations and practices into consideration in their discussions in drafting the proposed standard. ---- 9)Designing a more accessible web By Katie Ledger, Click Reporter People who find it difficult to use a computer keyboard and mouse, can turn to other devices to navigate the internet, but if the site has not been designed with accessibility in mind, using the web can prove to be a frustrating experience. Caption: Accessible sites can benefit everyone using the internet What does web accessibility mean to you? Probably not a lot. But to some it is the key to actually being able to use the internet. For a lot more of us though, it might mean a quicker, simpler and easier web experience. In 2004, the UK's Disability Rights Commission investigated 1,000 websites. It found that 800 of those sites failed to meet minimum accessibility standards set by the web's regulatory body, the World Wide Web Consortium. It also discovered that if a site is accessible by a disabled user it is also a third quicker for an able-bodied person to complete tasks too. Test case Emma Tracey is blind, and she is a journalist from the BBC's Ouch magazine. We set her the task of buying a book from the Amazon online shop, and she found it extremely difficult. Emma says: "I was at my computer for 20 minutes. "To find the book I wanted I had to go through an absolute sea of links, and then when I did find what I needed to buy, and added it to my shopping basket, I couldn't move forward from there because the 'continue' button wasn't marked in such a way that I could find it." Amazon would not comment directly, but referred us to IMRG, a lobby group of online retailers. It told us its members take accessibility very seriously, but, it added, changes cannot happen overnight. Colour coding Harry Potter author JK Rowling recently launched the first site to use a new form of Flash, which is often used to add interactivity and animation to a site Web browsing can be a tricky business for many of us: for the elderly, hard of hearing and those with dyslexia. Changing settings like the font size and colour, or increasing the contrast of the background, can provide a better experience. Website designer, Leonie Watson says: "There's a technology called Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) that allows you to control the way a page is displayed, such as the colour of the text and background. "So if that's the way a page has been built, then you can control that from within the browser or OS. "However, that's quite a new technology, it's only been around a couple of years, and a lot of designers are still very wary of using it. They actually hard code the colours into the web page itself, which means that they can't be overridden by your browser, or OS." Accessible design "It [Flash] has a lot of very easy ways to build in accessibility, providing the developer sets out to do that from the beginning" Leonie Watson, website designer There is hope, however. Harry Potter author JK Rowling recently launched the first site to use a new form of Flash, which is often used to add interactivity and animation to a website. Two years ago, Adobe updated this technology so designers using Flash could build in accessibility features. Leonie Watson says: "Flash is a very interesting topic in terms of web accessibility. It's actually capable of being very accessible indeed. "It has means for building in captioning for people who are hearing impaired; it allows soundtracks to be imported very easily so that audio description can be provided for people with visual impairments; it has a lot of very easy ways to build in accessibility, providing the developer sets out to do that from the beginning." Legal standards There are numerous ways of making the web easier to use for everyone, but will companies see the benefits to building a fully accessible site and actually go about implementing it? If not, in the future they might be forced to. Target, America's giant DIY chain, brings low prices to millions of people. But one blind student thinks its online service is very wide of the mark. Backed by the National Federation of the Blind in what could be a landmark trial, he is taking the company to court on the grounds of discrimination. In the UK, recent developments give web designers pause for thought. Some basic legislation exists to try to ensure websites which provide services, education or employment opportunities meet minimum requirements. And The British Standards Institution recently published new guidelines called Publicly Available Specification 78, which recommends ways of making all websites accessible. It is hoped it will become a legal requirement in the future. Those calling for easier access say it should not take the heavy hand of the law to make it better, it should be plain common sense. RELATED BBC LINKS BBC: Ouch http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch My Web My Way http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/ RELATED INTERNET LINKS The Disability Rights Commission http://www.drc-gb.org/ AbilityNet http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/ National Federation of the Blind http://www.nfb.org/ British Standards Institution http://www.bsi-global.com/index.xalter JK Rowling http://www.jkrowling.com/ Flash http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/flashpro/ World Wide Web Consortium http://www.w3.org/ The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/6090418.stm ---- 10)Accessibility Items 4 Sale We have added a new section on our site, if you have anything you want advertised go to www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/sale/ for more details. 1996 Wheelchair Accessible Plymouth Caravan 93,000 km. Fully loaded with Captain chairs. Recently upgraded strapping system to easy clip system. $15,000.00 or Best offer. Send all inquiries to Joe Plutino at jplutino@sympatico.ca