Barrier Free Architecturals
September 24, 2010

International Copyright Laws

Image: Stevie Wonder Official Press Photo

Image: Stevie Wonder Official Press Photo

Last week, Motown legend Stevie Wonder did something wonderful for anyone who has disabilities. Speaking at the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) assembly in Geneva, he cajoled the delegates into a sing-along to some classics (such as “I Just Called to Say I Love You” and “My Cherie Amour”) to illustrate just how important access to arts and culture is, arguing that so many people with disabilities are unfairly restricted in their access.

In Wonder’s words: “It’s a call to action, a plan that will empower the independence of people with disabilities by providing them with the tools to learn and grow”. In an ideal world, every book or resource would be available in a diverse range of formats (including Braille and audio) to allow the maximum possible access to anyone. However, in reality, only about 5% of reading materials in the States are accessible in other forms (and only 1% in developing nations). One of the main reasons for this deplorable lapse in coverage is to do with domestic and international disputes over copyright issues; institutes for accessibility in different countries will often have to make identical duplicates of Braille or audio versions of texts because of legal copyright reasons.

The World Blind Union describes the situation as a ‘book famine’ and supported Wonder’s stirring call to action. Right now, he said, over 300 million people are adversely affected by the existing copyright laws.

Of course, the concept of accessibility comes in many different shapes and sizes. Intellectual accessibility runs the risk of being overlooked in the face of more obvious needs such as accessibility to transport, public spaces or employment. Whilst it is vital that people with disabilities are able to safely and comfortably access, for example, a shared kitchen or bathroom, creating opportunities for universal access to music, books and film is just as important. As Wonder states at the conference: “There are people who have probably even far more to offer than myself who are locked into this kind of prison because information is not available to them”.

Filed under Mobility Issues and News
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September 16, 2010

Introduction To Web Accessibility

Millions of people worldwide are restricted in their use of the Internet because of poor accessibility. There is a huge movement to redress this problem and to create standards that will prevent any new content or services being created that aren’t as accessible as possible to the widest cross-section of the world.

Because the web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life, from employment, health and education to leisure, travel, research and, of course, commerce, it actually has the potential to help people with disabilities participate more actively in society.

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has a massive (and ever growing) online presence. It’s part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and, right now, is working with dozens of partner organisations around the world on various projects. These include sharing guidelines to ensure the widest possible awareness about the importance of accessibility, and strategies to improve and implement current standards even further.

The WAI website is extremely thorough and gives many different examples of how improved accessibility standards can make the web easier to use for a range of different people with different disabilities. For example, they explain how a few simple changes, such as removing time-limited responses or forms that can’t be ‘tabbed-through’ logically, can vastly improve the online experience for a person with mobility issues.

One of the ways a disabled person’s experience with the web can be improved is, depending on their disability of course, by using specialised kit. For example, for a person with mobility issues, alternative pointing devices or voice recognition software could be a great help. An accessible workstation that is flexible enough to accommodate this kind of equipment is therefore immensely important.

If you have a website and are concerned about its accessibility to people with disabilities, there are lots of steps you can take. First of all, if you use a web developer, talk to them about their awareness of WAI standards and ask them to implement the recommendations on your site. If you’re more interested in making the changes yourself, there are lots of resources available on the WAI website that will help you on your way.

Filed under Barrier Free News
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September 9, 2010

Lodging Complaints to Dislodge Inaccessibility

Even if the country you live in has robust legislation about discrimination against people with disabilities, chances are, either those laws aren’t enforced quite as thoroughly as they could be, or there are (yet undiscovered) loopholes that need sorting out. If you feel you or someone you know has been treated unfairly because of a disability, you have a right to lodge a complaint and receive a response. 

Many people, however, find the process of formally complaining to be difficult, or think that it’s not worth the effort. However, a recent story about AirTran suggests otherwise… 

AirTran Airways, an American low-cost airline, is to be fined $500k for violating rules about the accommodation of passengers with disabilities on its flights. Although this might not seem like much for a company that made $134.7 million in profit last year (a record, despite the recession), the fine will surely raise awareness and ensure that AirTran improves its service. 

As for the actual charges levelled against the airline, three main criticisms have been made: 

  • they failed to provide adequate assistance to people with disabilities when boarding the flights; 
  • they failed to respond to customer complaints on this matter; 
  • they failed to correctly categorize these complaints when reporting to the government. 

 

The combined affect of these three oversights meant that the chances of the problem being brought to light were slim. However, if no-one had complained, nothing would ever have changed. The Transportation Department’s intervention is already bringing about improvements to the treatment of passengers with disabilities because of the way the fine is being implemented. 

Of the $500k, $60k can be used by the airline to make sure they keep up-to-date with accessibility rules and best practice, while a further $140k will be used to improve the provision of wheelchairs by the introduction of an automated wheelchair tracking system at AirTran’s major hubs (currently listed as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and General Mitchell International Airport). 

These changes, particularly the $60k spent on future compliance, will have a very real and very lasting positive effect on the experience of air travel for people with disabilities in the US. This change is due, in no small part, to those passengers that lodged initial complaints, even if they were ignored to begin with!

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September 3, 2010

Welcoming Seniors into Friend & Family Games Nights

Family game nights are not a new concept. Americans have been enjoying family game night for decades, and for good reason. Welcoming seniors into friend and family games nights may seem like a no brainer at first. Of course you want your senior relatives and family friends to join in the fun so all you have to do is invite them, right? Well, it may not be that easy.

Playing along with the family may be a frustrating experience for senior citizens if proper considerations have not been made beforehand.  For example, consider how small the print is on some game cards and game boards. For the visually impaired, small print can be a nightmare.  Also consider how difficult it can be for some mobility impaired guests to grasp annoyingly undersized game markers and pieces. This frustration can be doubled if the topic of the game is, say, Hannah Montana or Justin Bieber.

If you want Grandma Mayor and Great-uncle Maxwell to not only join in family game nights, but also have a good time and feel completely welcome while playing along, it is important to do a little bit of planning beforehand.  You can purchase low vision card decks or easy to grasp bingo markers, for example, that are catered towards the visually impaired or seniors.

A Barrier Free family games-night is a wonderful idea that will help create fun memories and bring everyone closer together. Do you have any ideas to make your family games night barrier free? If so, please leave your suggestions and stories in the comments box below.

Filed under Uncategorized
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September 2, 2010

Planning Your Dream Home? Think Accessibility.

Whether you’re fortunate enough to be building a new home for yourself, or you’re providing an extension or alteration to your existing home, it really pays to think through accessibility and, ideally, to talk diligently discuss the matter with your architect. Make accessibility a part of your dream home; we promise you’ll thank yourself for it.

If you’re investing in your home, chances are you want to stay there for some time longer. As you get older, the demand for increased accessibility will grow amongst your family and friends, so why not make the extra effort to plan long term? As we discussed in last week’s post, a living space will always benefit from universal design in its initial stages, rather than a more expensive retrofit.

First things first, talk to an expert. If you’re building a whole new home, your architect is the best point to start at because he or she is aware of the latest requirements: these will offer inspiration for what comes next… for example, the kitchen is often overlooked as a shared living space. In fact, it’s the most important shared space in a house (Kitchen Is King).  Accessible shelves, worktops and equipment are simple features you can seamlessly integrate into your new space to make it a place for anyone to comfortably contribute to the longevity of the household.

If you’re pursuing a DIY project and, for example, find yourself re-tiling the bathroom, take a moment to consider how easy it would be to increase the accessibility of the space a hundredfold. Grab bars are a terrific, and increasingly appreciated option for those on a low budget, and, if you’re feeling more adventurous, why not invest in an accessible shower?  Again, we guarantee that you’ll thank yourself down the road, if not also immediately.

[If this post has caught your imagination, here are a few places you can do some more research online:

Creating Accessible Homes - Cooperative Extension Service, Kansas State University (PDF File).

Fair Housing Act Design Module - provides clear guidance about ways to design and construct housing that complies with the Fair Housing Act.

Centre for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access - The IDeA Center practices human-centered design through research, development, service, dissemination and educational activities.]

Filed under Home Safety Tips, Home safety tips for the elderly
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September 1, 2010

Shaw Communications Confronted by Accessibility Needs

An article was recently published that accused Shaw Communications Inc., a huge communications company in Canada, of neglecting accessibility in its takeover plans for Canwest Global, one of the main TV broadcasters in the country. This follows Canwest’s move to protected bankruptcy in late 2009 and the selling off of various parts of the company.

A collection of groups and individuals in support of Canadians with disabilities expressed their concern with Shaw’s plans, drawing attention to the lack of coverage of accessibility issues in their bid of approximately $2 billion. Beverley Milligan, President and CEO of a group that advocates on behalf of Canadians with disabilities, Media Access Canada, had this to say: “Frankly, we were shocked that in applying for control of so many TV stations and specialty services Shaw didn’t even mention issues like closed captioning and descriptive video.”

The group has entered an intervention to the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission), in which it lists ten features that would improve Shaw’s bid in terms of accessibility.

As it stands, closed caption television (i.e., where text is displayed on a television screen to provide information to viewers who wish to access it) is now required across the whole TV schedule, but as Milligan points out, this has taken 20 years to establish. Concern for a similarly slow introduction of descriptive video is at the top of Milligan’s agenda: “how long [are] Canadians who rely on descriptive video… supposed to wait before they can access television like everyone else? The year 2030?”

In 2008 and 2009, the CRTC undertook a large overview of accessibility policy (in which, by the way, Shaw acknowledged the importance of accessibility in communications). This extended across a huge range of accessibility issues, including for example, the necessity for cell phone companies to provide at least one model that caters to the requirements of people with disabilities (not excluding mobility problems).

At Barrier Free Living, we recognise the rights of everyone to live an accessible lifestyle, and so we proudly promote universal design through our provision of innovative architectural products, such as handicap showers and accessible education furnishings.

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