Karin Hitselberger

When you apologize for my wheelchair, my disability, you apologize for the person I’ve become. When you apologize for my wheelchair, you make it seem like I’m the problem, like who I am is so bad that I deserve an apology for just having to live. My wheelchair is
part of who I am, as is my disability, and I am proud of them.

Read more at
http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com/to-the-people-who-react-to-my-disability-with-im-sorry/

A Memorial University student with a hearing disability is upset that one of his professors refused to wear a sound-transmitting device last week during a lecture, and he said she told him it was because of religious reasons.

Read more at
http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com/mun-prof-refuses-to-wear-device-for-hearing-disabled-student-cites-religious-reasons/

Friday, September 18, 2015
by Gisele Mesnage and Ted McCoskey

Our first editorial is not published with the intent of naming and shaming the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) or any other business. Our message is that the story of Albert highlights the need for national, compliance-based standards on digital accessibility.

Albert is a new touch-screen tablet EFTPOS payment device developed and promoted by CBA in partnership with global hardware and software specialist Wincor Nixdorf and design firm IDEO.

Read more at
http://digitalgap.org/2015/09/18/commbanks-new-eftpos-albert-accessibility-short-changed/

But disability rights activist David Lepofsky said the tools fall short, since users will still have to seek sighted help to see if the ballot is properly aligned within the template. Past elections, he said, have consistently been marred by half-baked solutions.

“The ability to mark the ballot has several components: independently marking your own ballot in private, and being able to verify that you marked it correctly,” he said.

Read more at
http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com/disabled-voters-still-face-accessibility-challenges-at-the-polls-advocates-say/