Headline News

California State University (CSU) has automated accessibility monitoring to ensure that its thousands of websites and millions of Web pages are ready for use by faculty, students, and staff who are visually and hearing impaired. Before being published, each of CSU’s Web sites, intranets, Web applications, and e-learning systems must… Continue Reading »

JERUSALEM: A cane that works as a “virtual flashlight” to help blind people with spatial navigation was displayed at the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem. Developed by Amir Amedi of Medical Research Israel-Canada, and the Department of Medicine of Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) , the device uses sensors to… Continue Reading »

Australia: New South Wales (NSW) Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian is asking residents to keep their eyes open for thoughtlessly parked cars on behalf of those who can’t. And about time too, thinks Beth White, who banged her head so hard her neck was sore for weeks after trying to walk… Continue Reading »

St. Petersburg, Russia: Wheelchair users have been banned from the St. Petersburg metro – and the scandal is throwing more attention on to the state of Moscow’s accessibility. In the northern capital there was fury when a young woman was stopped at the turnstiles and the network’s managers praised staff… Continue Reading »

Netflix has been sued by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) for failing to offer closed-captioning on enough of its streaming content. In a lawsuit (PDF) filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the district of Massachusetts, the NAD alleges that Netflix is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities… Continue Reading »

Seoul, South Korea: Asiana Airlines opened the first airport lounge specifically for disabled passengers at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday. The company also donated wheelchairs to a support center for disabled people at the ceremony marking the opening of the lounge. The event was attended by officials from Asiana Airlines,… Continue Reading »

A Berkeley-based nonprofit sued global media and entertainment giant Time Warner on Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court, claiming CNN.com discriminates against deaf people by not providing any captioning of its online videos. Disability Rights Advocates is representing the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness and three individual plaintiffs in what… Continue Reading »

Empowering people with disabilities and changing society’s attitudes towards them will be the key to a new government campaign, the disabilities minister says. The Be Accessible campaign aims to enable businesses and communities to improve accessibility, particularly leading up to the Rugby World Cup. Disabilities Minister Tariana Turia said there… Continue Reading »

French telecom regulator Arcep signed an industry charter for providing disabled people with access to electronic communication services. In 2005 mobile operators Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR, under the aegis of French mobile operators’ association Afom, Arcep and the inter-ministerial delegation for disabled people and industry charter to facilitate the… Continue Reading »

Bangkok, Thailand: In 2011, i-CREATe (21 – 23 July) will be focusing on using Assistive Technology (AT) for children with disabilities. We believed that AT for early intervention will make it possible for children with disabilities to be more independent at home, schools and in the community. A child with… Continue Reading »

ISTANBUL: The Supreme Election Board (YSK) did not apply a decision it had already passed to place ballot boxes on the ground floors of buildings so as to enable easy access for disabled voters and those over 75 in all schools, where voting for the national elections took place on… Continue Reading »

Vodafone Foundation is launching a competition to promote IT applications designed to improve the lives of people with disabilities and elderly people. The programme, called the Smart Accessibility Awards, is supported and co-organised by AGE Platform Europe, the European network of around 160 organisations of and for people aged 50+, and the European… Continue Reading »

With greater emphasis on keeping seniors in their own homes as long as possible, Assistive Technology (AT) can make home a safer place. Many seniors may need grab bars in the bathroom, wheelchair ramps or pill organizers as they age. But people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are… Continue Reading »

Sudbury, Canada: Citizens in Greater Sudbury are invited to attend a public consultation session June 16 to provide input into the city’s 2011-2012 Accessibility Plan. Under the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001, the city is “required to prepare an annual accessibility plan to make it available to the public,” according… Continue Reading »

The New York Transit Museum in Downtown Brooklyn unveiled a new entrance that provides access for visitors who cannot use stairs. Funding came from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, and Friends of the New York Transit Museum. “This addition will bring more visitors both… Continue Reading »

At the University of Southern California (USC) James Weiland, a vision researcher and biomedical engineer may have created robot vision for the blind. He and his colleague Gérard Medioni, a robotics professor at the university have come up with a tool that would help blind people negotiate potential obstacles much… Continue Reading »

Dubai: People with certain disabilities may now be able to become fully functional on a personal computer or laptop due to an invention by computer engineering student Sultan Ahmad Sultan Al Sharif. Al Sharif has developed software called the Virtual Mouse: Human Eye based Mouse Control as part of his… Continue Reading »

In anticipation of the all-Russian celebration marking 1,000 days to go until the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee has announced the launch of an innovative “Accessibility Map” project. The main objective is to help people with a disability to find easily accessible locations where they… Continue Reading »

New regulations governing the use of disabled parking spaces come into force today. Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar signed new regulations to tackle fraudulent use of such spaces in April. The changes include altering the medical eligibility criteria required for a disabled person’s parking permit as well as new powers… Continue Reading »

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. : SpeechTrans, a leader in app-based multi-language translation, announced today the launch of SpeechTrans Ultimate for Hearing Impaired People. The new app enables the hearing impaired to conduct real-time two-way conversations in English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian and German and Mandarin Chinese without the need for… Continue Reading »