US DOL's Office of Disability Employment Policy Announces $950,000 Grant to Establish Accessible Technology Action Centre

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy today announced the availability of approximately $950,000 to fund a cooperative agreement to establish and operate the Accessible Technology Action Center, a new national resource that will facilitate and promote the use of accessible technology in the hiring, employment, retention and career advancement of persons with disabilities.

“Accessible technology can have a significant impact on persons with disabilities when it comes to succeeding in the workplace,” said Kathy Martinez, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy. “This new center will build on previous partnerships and focus on specific issues facing employees with disabilities and the technology industry.”

The ATAC will expand access to information and communication technologies in the workplace for persons with disabilities. The center will promote the knowledge, technical skills, tools and leadership strategies needed to address accessibility issues, and will seek to raise awareness of the impact critical accessible workplace technologies have on competitive employment opportunities.

The initial award will be for 12 months with the possibility of up to four optional years of funding, depending on the availability of funds and satisfactory performance. The full announcement for this grant opportunity can be found at http://www.grants.gov. Applications will be accepted until Aug. 31, 2012.

Source: GAATES

US Scientists Aim to Deliver Visual Images to People with Vision Disabilities

Humans possess the unique ability to form mental images of things that exist only in their minds, and U.S. scientists now believe there may be a way to harness this ability someday to give sight to people who are blind.

Neuroscientists at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical School at Houston have recently advanced their understanding of how the brain conjures up images, and hoped to someday bypass the eyes to directly deliver visual images into blind people’s brains, according to the latest online edition of the Texas Medical Center News on Monday.

In studying three individuals and creating an illusion of the flash of light to stimulate the brain, the scientists discovered two regions of all the three people’s brains required stimulation before the individuals could generate mental images in their mind.

The occipital lobe, a part of the brain at the back of the head, is responsible for vision and mental images, but the scientists discovered the brain’s temporoparietal junction must be active and work in conjunction with the occipital lobe for individuals to “see” an image in their mind, at least in the three people studied.

“This new study is a step toward our goal of better understanding visual perception, which will help us make a useful visual prosthetic,” said Daniel Yoshor, the study’s senior author.

A visual prosthetic, Yoshor said, could work like this: People who is blind might wear a prosthetic consisting of eyeglasses containing a webcam. The tiny camera would film the scene before blind person’s eyes, then relay information to a computer chip implanted in the person’s brain, which would stimulate the brain to generate mental images.

“If successful, we would in essence bypass eyes that no longer work and stimulate the brain to generate mental images,” said Michael Beauchamp, the study’s lead author and an associate professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the UT Medical School.

However, Yoshor, also chief of neurosurgery at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, noted that a key obstacle to progress right now “is our limited understanding of how brain activity leads to visual perception.”

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com, GAATES

CRTC Approves Proposal to Establish Broadcasting Accessibility Fund

On August 7, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved BCE’s proposal to establish a Broadcasting Accessibility Fund. This independent fund will support initiatives to improve access to the Canadian broadcasting system by persons with disabilities.

“Canadians with disabilities should be able to access broadcasting content using the latest technologies, applications and services,” said Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the CRTC. “The new fund will serve as a catalyst for the development of innovative solutions and help ensure the needs of persons with disabilities are taken into consideration at the design stage.”

When BCE purchased CTVglobemedia in 2011, it committed $5.7 million to create an independent Broadcasting Accessibility Fund. The company subsequently presented a proposal to the CRTC.  Different groups representing persons with disabilities were consulted and provided their comments through an open consultation process.

The fund will support accessibility projects that are supplementary to the CRTC’s existing regulatory obligations for the broadcasting industry.  This could include accessibility initiatives for online and mobile programming services. The CRTC is requiring that the fund provide services and publish documents (such as application forms, policies, and annual reports) in both official languages.

The Broadcasting Accessibility Fund will begin accepting applications by December 5, 2012.

For more information, visit http://crtc.gc.ca

Source: GAATES

New Website Launches for People with Vision Disabilities

At Discovery World on Thursday, a consortium of Milwaukee-based organizations announced a new web portal for people with vision disabilities, and unveiled an accompanying weekend-long art exhibit.

The new site, Connections in Sight, offers resources and information on eye research for people with vision disabilities and their families.

The consortium hopes the new site will help people with vision disabilities maintain quality of life and find employment opportunities. Braille and recorded library materials, vision rehabilitation, communications training, orientation and mobility training, adaptive computer training, and support groups are available through the website. It is estimated that 60,000 residents of southeastern Wisconsin need vision support services.

The “Through the Lens of Others” art exhibit showcases the work of nine artists with vision disabilities, and opens at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Eye Institute, 925 N. 87th St.

“Our art exhibition debunks the myth that people who are blind or low vision can’t see or lead productive lives. Most people with vision disabilities can in fact perceive some level of light and form,” said exhibit organizer Dena Fellows, director of marketing at Vision Forward Association. “People who are blind or low vision are able to produce not only intelligible art, but art that truly is inspired.”

The consortium includes Audio & Braille Literacy Enhancement (ABLE), Vision Forward Association, Beyond Vision, Center for Deaf-Blind Persons Inc., the Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library, and the Milwaukee County Office for Persons with Disabilities.

Source: http://www.jsonline.com, GAATES

CHRC Report Shows Significant Gaps in Equality of Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities in Canada

Canadians have a better picture of how disability affects equality of opportunity, thanks to a new benchmarking study released by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) on July 9.

The Report on Equality Rights of People with Disabilities compares Canadians with disabilities to those without disabilities across a spectrum of indicators, such as education, employment, economic well-being, health, and housing. The report consolidates data from seven Statistics Canada surveys.

“This is the first comprehensive examination of how disability affects equality of opportunity in daily life,” Acting Chief Commissioner David Langtry said. “It provides a benchmark that will enable Canadians to track progress and identify barriers that deny people with disabilities the full opportunity to make for themselves the lives they wish to have.”

The report released today provides insight for academics, NGOs, community groups and all levels of government involved in developing policies and programs aimed at improving life for Canadians with disabilities. It provides a baseline for future studies that the Commission intends to undertake to measure change.

The report shows a different reality for persons with disabilities in areas such as education, employment and economic well-being.

When compared to other adults, adults with disabilities:

• are half as likely to complete a university degree,
• are more likely to settle for part-time instead of full time employment, and
• have lower annual incomes.

Source: CHRC, GAATES

BlackBerry Screenreader App Updated

A few months ago, Research In Motion (RIM) released a free accessibility app called the BlackBerry Screen Reader. The app makes BlackBerrys more accessible to users with vision disabilities. The app also now supports two new BlackBerry smartphone models in the latest update. In addition to the BlackBerry Curve 9350, 9360 and 9370 smartphone models, the application is now available for the new BlackBerry Curve 9320 and 9220 smartphones.

RIM updates the Screen Reader app in the latest release:

Basic Browser Support

BlackBerry Screen Reader is now revised adding the ability to have a loaded webpage read to you.

Help Menu
Through BlackBerry Screen Reader settings, you can now access an English help menu to provide you with additional assistance.

Additional Shortcut Features

Previously, the application shortcut (Right Convenience Key + Send) only supported email messaging. The updated shortcut is now designed to allow you to re-read a loaded webpage without refreshing your browser; it also allows you to easily read SMS and BBM messages, from the most recent to least recent message.

Additional Caller ID Screen Support

The first version of the BlackBerry Screen Reader would only read the number that was calling. The functionality has now been extended to the caller ID screen to also identify the contact’s name (if available).

Unified Inbox improvements

The unified inbox feature has been updated and now identifies Facebook® and Twitter® messages. You can now differentiate between your e-mail and social media messages.

BlackBerry Screen Reader Demo

If you’ve been wondering what the application is all about before giving it a try yourself, check out the video below, which includes a walkthrough and some tips to help get you started:

Watch the demo video of the app below:

The latest version of BlackBerry Screen Reader at: www.blackberry.com/screenreader

For more information, visit www.blackberry.com/accessibility

Source: GAATES

FCC's "Developing with Accessibility" Event - September 6-7

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s Accessibility and Innovation Initiative (A&I) has planned an event called “Developing with Accessibility,” at the FCC’s headquarters on September 6 and 7, 2012.  The event is designed to spur increased collaboration on accessibility solutions among developers from industry, consumer, and government sectors.  The event will encourage the use of accessibility APIs (application programming interfaces), as well as publicly available data sets, in order to build accessible apps for mobile phones and websites.  A key objective is to promote the concept and practice of developing applications with regard for generally-accepted accessibility guidelines, thereby maximizing their usability for everyone, including persons with disabilities.

The event will offer training on development topics, in-person collaboration on programming projects, and professional networking among developers.  As important as the actual event itself will be collaborative activity in electronic spaces before, during, and after the event.  Rather than limit this to accomplishments that can be achieved during a single, in-person event, this Developer event is not intended to be an end in itself, but will instead serve as an organizing opportunity to create mechanisms for ongoing collaboration among developers who are interested in building accessible technology solutions.

It is also a goal of the A&I to make smart use of new media tools to create electronic spaces for such collaboration.  We encourage others to also activate online collaboration spaces associated with this effort.  To this end, we suggest use of a particular abbreviation, “DevAcc,” as an electronic tag that facilitates searching and coordination toward these objectives.

Please pre-register for the event by sending your name, affiliation, and contact information to devacc@fcc.gov by August 31, 2012. Also send disability accommodation requests to FCC504@fcc.gov.

If there are particular ways that you’d like to participate, or related activities that you’d like to inform us about, also feel free to write to devacc@fcc.gov.

The meeting site is fully accessible to people using wheelchairs or other mobility aids. Open captioning and assistive listening devices will be provided on site. Other reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities are available upon request. Include a description of the accommodation you will need and tell us how to contact you if we need more information. Make your request as early as possible. Last minute requests will be accepted, but may be impossible to fill. Send an e-mail to: fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY).

The general session of the event will be webcast with open captioning at http://fcc.gov/live

IMPORTANT ACCESSIBILTY LINKS:

Accessibility and Innovation Initiative: http://www.broadband.gov/accessibilityandinnovation

Accessibility Clearinghouse: http://apps.fcc.gov/accessibilityclearinghouse/

Implementation of the Communications and Video Accessibility Act: http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/cvaa.html

For more information, visit http://fcc.gov/disability

Source: GAATES