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Accessible News #24 — Summer 2005
Should you be using these old newsletters, please bear in mind that the web addresses were correct when the newsletter was created but that they may not be accurate now. We do not plan to change the back issues of the newsletters.
Contents:
- The ADIO Web site has
moved
- Dis-IT to Offer Workshops on Business
Benefits of Accessible ICT Design
- Toronto to Host Festival of
Conferences
- The Canada Revenue Agency creates the
Disability Advisory Committee
- TRANSED 2007
- News Bits
- Our Web Site
- Communications From
ADIO
- Where To Find Us
The ADIO Web site has moved
If you have visited the ADIO Web site recently, you have no doubt been informed that we have a new address. Instead of accessing us through Strategis, you will now link to us through our AT-Links site at (www.at-links.gc.ca). Both the AT-Links and ADIO home pages have seen some changes to make navigation easier as well.
Contents.Dis-IT to Offer Workshops on Business Benefits of Accessible ICT Design
The Disability and Information Technologies (Dis-IT) Research Alliance (www.dis-it.ca) will present a series of workshops from September to December to show businesses why ensuring their products and services are accessible and usable by as many individual consumers as technically possible and economically feasible is good business practice.
The Dis-IT Research Alliance's Business Benefits of Accessible ICT Design workshops will present information, exercises and examples about the access needs of consumer groups living in emerging markets; the mainstream market forces driving accessibly designed ICT; and how to use Industry Canada's Strategis website (strategis.ic.gc.ca) to conduct research to enhance competitive advantages in manufacturing and exporting ICT products and services. There will be separate workshops for ICT Developers and Product Managers, ICT Marketing Managers and ICT Senior Management.
The workshops, which are offered free of charge, will be repeated a number of times, to accommodate participants' busy schedules. They will be delivered on-line, so anyone with a computer, Internet connection and speakers anywhere in the world can participate. A headset microphone is recommended for participating in audio discussions. Detailed information will be provided to registrants.
To register for the workshops, visit (http://onlineconferencingsystems.com/disit1/workshop1.htm). Questions about the workshops can be e-mailed to: ine@ccdonline.ca .
Contents.Toronto to Host Festival of Conferences
Two years from now, June 16-19 2007, will be a busy time in Toronto. That's when the Festival of International Conferences on Disability, Aging and Technology (FICDAT) is set to run. FICDAT will include four important conferences running concurrently as well as many joint events. Conference organizers are offering opportunities to sponsor a single conference, multiple conferences or events within the Festival.
The four conferences are:
Growing Older with a Disability, which will explore such questions as how do those who are already disabled cope with increased impairment as they grow older. This conference will explore the spectrum of an aging population with disabilities. Consumers will be invited to speak of their experience and practitioners will be invited to present their data and best practices. The conference will seek new models of service, new policies and solutions from the field. The focus will not be on a population with problems, but on our creative spirit of cooperation, societal support and consumer-directed empowerment.
The International Conference on Technology and Aging will explore how the technological revolution can contribute to a positive quality of life as we age. The conference will provide researchers, designers, policy makers and consumers the opportunity to present and learn about new and innovative technologies being developed to help older adults participate fully in their daily lives. Topics of interest will include the design and use of assistive technology, smart homes and intelligent systems, technology for caregiving, impact and outcomes of technology on quality of life, policy and legislative issues, as well as topics related to safety and performance standards for new technologies.
The Advances in Neurorehabilitation Conference will explore the physiologic principles that underpin the understanding of the impact of brain injury and neurodegeneration and the technological advances that are leading to a revolution in therapeutic approaches to repair and/or minimize disability and maximize function and well-being. Researchers and clinicians will highlight state-of-the-art rehabilitation techniques and novel therapies focused on optimizing physical and cognitive abilities. The conference will also focus on new technologies to better assess changes in brain function and human behaviour. Many presentations will emphasize the translation of new understanding into clinical practice.
The fourth conference is Caregivers, Essential Partners in Care. Growing numbers of people are providing care, without pay, for family or friends who are frail and elderly, chronically or terminally ill, and/or disabled. There are at least 2.9 million family caregivers in Canada. They include women, men, daughters, brothers, in-laws, parents, spouses and neighbours, living in the same house, across town or across the country from those for whom they provide care and support. While caregiving is often personally rewarding, many caregivers experience isolation, fear, job loss, illness and/or anxiety about the future. There are still large gaps in public policy and inadequate supports and services for caregivers. This conference will examine caregiver issues in areas such as respite, access to community care services, supportive employment options and income security, with the focus on research that examines economic and social trends, the role of caregiving in health and social systems and the economy. The conference will compare public policy approaches in countries around the world that are recognizing and supporting family caregivers.
To find out more, visit the FICDAT Web site at (www.ficdat.ca/).
Contents.The Canada Revenue Agency creates the Disability Advisory Committee
On July 19, Minister of National Revenue John McCallum announced the creation of the Disability Advisory Committee to deal with the administrative aspects of the Disability Tax Credit and with implementing recommendations made by the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons with Disabilities.
"I am pleased to announce that the CRA has created the Disability Advisory Committee. This committee will provide a forum to identify the needs and expectations of the disability community," stated Minister McCallum. "The Disability Advisory Committee is an important consultative forum through which members can provide helpful advice, comments, and suggestions on tax measures for persons with disabilities. It is crucial that persons with disabilities be treated equally and fairly, and I am confident that the members of the committee will help us achieve this."
The Disability Advisory Committee will report directly to the Minister of National Revenue on all administrative aspects of the tax system related to persons with disabilities. Minister McCallum and the committee held their inaugural meeting in Ottawa on July 18.
The federal government established the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons with Disabilities in February 2003 to recommend ways of improving the fairness of treatment under the income tax system for persons with disabilities, taking into account available fiscal resources. It specifically recommended that the CRA form a consultative committee composed of consumer and professional representatives.
The 12 committee members, appointed by Minister McCallum, come from different areas of the country and include professionals, such as medical practitioners and tax lawyers, advocates for the disability community, and persons with disabilities. They are, in alphabetical order: George Archibald, Harry Beatty, Dr. Pierre Beauséjour, Dr. Gary Birch (Chair of the Minister of Industry's Advisory Committee on Assistive Devices and Persons with Disabilities), Lembi Buchanan, Dr. Karen Cohen, Hubert Drouin, Deanna Groetzinger, Dr. Ashok Muzumdar, Eileen Reppenhagen, Dr. Raffath Sayeed, and Peter Weissman.
For more information on the Disability Advisory Committee and its members, visit the Disability Advisory Committee Web site at: (www.cra.gc.ca/disability).
Contents.TRANSED 2007
The 11th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons (TRANSED) will take place in Montreal, June 18-21, 2007. The theme will be "Benchmarking, Evaluation and Vision for the Future"
Held every three years, the TRANSED conferences are milestone events in the field of accessible transportation, attracting researchers, policy-makers, transport operators, consumers and other specialists worldwide to share innovations and best practices. Delegates from around the world will be meeting in Montreal to exchange strategic and technical experience, including an exhibition showcasing the latest technological developments on accessible transportation and universal design.
This event is hosted by Transport Canada under the auspices of the U.S. Transportation Research Board.
Visit the TRANSED 2007 web site at (www.tc.gc.ca/transed2007).
For more information contact: TRANSED 2007 Secretariat, Transport Canada, Intergovernmental Affairs and Accessibility, TRANSED, Place de Ville, Tower C , 330 Sparks St, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5, Email TRANSED: transed@tc.gc.ca , tel.: 1-800-665-6478 (Canada only) or (613) 941-0980 TTY: 1-800-823-3823 (Canada only) or (613) 998-5368 Fax: (613) 991-6422.
Contents.News Bits
- In June, the Neil Squire Society (www.neilsquire.ca) received a $20,000 grant in support of the Employ-Ability program, which provides employment skills development to people with disabilities. The grant, presented as part of The Co-operators Community Economic Development Fund, will be used to expand the program to rural New Brunswick. The Employ-Ability program assists physically disabled adults in New Brunswick who are seeking employable skills, education and confidence, to prepare them for long-term employment. The Co-operators Economic Development Fund is a registered charity that was established in 1995. It supports grassroots, community-based programs that target disadvantaged individuals, helping them to build the necessary skills and confidence to find meaningful work and, in many cases, freedom from social assistance.
- In July, ADIO had the great pleasure of meeting with a delegation from the Korea Employment Promotion Agency for the Disabled (KEPAD — www.kepad.org.kr/english). This extremely dynamic organization works to create jobs suited to the abilities of Koreans with disabilities, provides supports to employers who wish to hire people with disabilities and provides accommodation help and the assistive technology needed to ensure workplaces are accessible. While in the National Capital Region, the KEPAD delegation toured the Adaptive Computing Centre at Social Development Canada and exchanged information with ADIO and the Public Health Agency of Canada. We were fascinated to learn that KEPAD, which has been in operation since 1990, conducts R&D in such areas as vocational rehabilitation, vocational competency and skills development. KEPAD also opened an Assistive Technology Centre last December which, thanks to financial support from Korea's National Lottery, provides assistive devices and accommodations to employers and their employees with disabilities, free of charge.
- Alan Cantor has released a new version of "Keyboard Access Tips." This
resource is for people who want to operate Windows more efficiently by using
the keyboard more effectively. This is not a list of hotkeys. Instead, learn
techniques that allow you to operate Windows-based software without a mouse,
and to discover specific hotkeys as you need them. Most of these techniques
are poorly-documented; many are undocumented. Available as a saddle-stitched booklet, in PDF, or as a Word document, you can find out more or order it from: Alan Cantor,
Cantor Access Inc., e-mail: acantor@cantoraccess.com , Cantor Access Inc. Web site: (www.cantoraccess.com). - Beginning this fall, visitors to the Canada Science and Technology Museum (www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/) will have a chance to see the world's first electric wheelchair, a piece of Canadian history that has had a significant impact on people with severe mobility disabilities. The Klein Chair was developed 50 years ago by an engineer from the National Research Council, George Klein. Mr. Klein's prototype had features that are still found on power wheelchairs today. The Klein Chair will be on loan from the US' Smithsonian Institution and will be on display in Ottawa after October 2 for an unspecified period.
- At the end of March, the National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS — www.neads.ca) completed a project called "Inclusion of Students With Disabilities in College and University Sponsored Activities". This one-year initiative was supported by the Government of Canada's, Social Development Partnerships Program (SDPP). The project looked at the accessibility of extra-curricular activities for students with disabilities in Canadian colleges and universities. Focus groups with campus activity programmers and students in different regions of the country, questionnaires and a training session and workshop yielded findings that led to the publication of "Making Extra-Curricular Activities Inclusive — An Accessibility Guide for Campus Programmers". This Guide is now available online on the NEADS Web site in HTML, Word and PDF formats along with a project activity report.
- Soaring Eagle Communications is now a reseller of Browsealoud, the subscription-based application developed by TextHelp Systems that reads website content aloud for visitors. For further information, contact Glenda Watson Hyatt, Principal, Soaring Eagle Communications, e-mail: Glenda@webaccessibility.biz , Soaring Eagle Communications Web site: (www.webaccessibility.biz).
- Anne MacRae has left her position as Senior Advisor in Social Development Canada's Office of Disability Issues to take over as Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Disabled Persons Commission (www.gov.ns.ca/disa/). Her new job starts in September.
- The makers of the Martin 16 sailboat for people with disabilities is now marketing hardware and microprocessor firmware that will allow remote control of their sailboats. The remote control was tested earlier this summer by Hans Van Leening, Executive Director of the Disabled Sailing Association of BC — Kelowna Branch, when he participated in the Kelowna Yacht Club's annual 50km overnight sailing race. Mr. Van Leening, who is a quadriplegic sailor, regularly sails a Martin 16, but is unable to remain in the boat for the 11-15 hours needed to complete the race. This year, he was able to control his Martin 16 from his pontoon boat. The same hardware and firmware could also work with other devices that can be run using a rate controller, for example, an all-terrain vehicle. To find out more about the Martin 16 and its Power-Assist System, visit the Martin 16 Web site (www.martin16.com).
- The Standards Council of Canada has established a Canadian Advisory Committee to provide input to a working group established under the Joint Technical Committee of the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Committee. The ISO/IEC JTC 1 Special Working Group on Accessibility (JTC1 SWG-A) is in the process of developing a set of user needs that relate to accessibility of information and communication and related technologies' standards, as well as an identification of the national and international accessibility standards that already exist in this field and the development of a gap analysis methodology. Mary Frances Laughton is a member of SWG-A and Deb Finn represented her in July at a meeting of the Task Group struck to develop the standards inventory and gap analysis. To read the Canadian position paper and to follow the work of SWG-A, visit (www.incits.org/tc_home/ia/iadocreg.htm) .
- On August 16, Gilles Pepin was named Acting Chief Executive Officer of HumanWare. The acting appointment came a week after the death of Humanware founder and CEO Dr. Russell Smith in an air crash in his native New Zealand. Gilles was president of VisuAide at the time of its merger with Pulse Data International and is now president of HumanWare Canada. His appointment as Acting CEO is expected to last up six months, during which time the Humanware Group Board hopes to identify and appoint a new CEO. Gilles, an existing member of the group board, will continue to be based in Montreal, but will travel to New Zealand as required to meet and work with senior management. In a statement released by the company, Gilles said, "Every member of our company, worldwide, is determined to carry on Russell's great work, and make him proud of us. HumanWare is an amazing company with a wealth of very talented staff, and we will continue to be the most successful and most innovative company in our industry."
- The Adaptech Research Network (www.adaptech.org) recently completed a study whose goal was to explore obstacles and facilitators to college studies. Part of this research involved asking both students with and without disabilities about what made their college studies easier and harder. While students with disabilities indicated that disability-related accommodations were important facilitators, for the most part these students mentioned the same facilitators as their non-disabled peers. Similarly, students with and without disabilities shared most of the same obstacles. The main difference here was that students with disabilities cited disability-related issues, such as health, as a major obstacle. You can download and read the final report's Executive Summary.
English versions are available in:
PDF — Final Report (http://adaptech.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/pubs/PAREA05FinalReportExE.pdf)
and in Word — Final Report (http://adaptech.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/pubs/PAREA05FinalReportExE.doc).
French versions are available in:
Word — Final Report French version (http://adaptech.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/pubs/PAREA05FinalReportExF.doc)
PDF- Fianl Report French version (http://adaptech.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/pubs/PAREA05FinalReportExF.pdf) - Karen McCall of Karlen Communications — email: karlen.communications@primus.ca has authored a book to help anyone working with PDF documents to ensure the accessibility and usability of their documents. "Accessible and Usable PDF Documents: Techniques for Document Authors" (ISBN 0-9738246-1-1) provides readers with many of the solutions they need to move from beginner to intermediate levels of PDF document creation and repair. It also gives a foundation for repurposing your documents for PDF, DAISY or Braille formats. The book is only available through IRTI, Innovative Rehabilitation Technology, Inc. Visit the IRTI Catalogue web site
(www.irti-cat.peachhost.com/ct_CGdaisytalkingbookproducts.htm)
and the IRTI email address is: info@irti.net .
Our Web Site
The ADIO Web site can be found at (www.at-links.gc.ca). At this site are all our old newsletters as well as different listings and links to other sites of interest. Should you be using these old newsletters, please bear in mind that the web addresses were correct when the newsletter was created but that they may not be accurate now. We do not plan to change the back issues of the newsletters.
Communications From ADIO
If you would prefer to receive our newsletter on disk or by
e-mail, please contact us at the address below.
Where To Find Us
For more information or to get on our mailing list, please
contact:
Mary Frances Laughton or Deb Finn
Assistive Devices Industry Office
Industry Canada
P.O. Box 11490 Station H
Ottawa, Ontario
K2H 8S2
Tel: 613-990-4316 or 613-990-4297
fax: 613-998-5923
TTY: 613-998-3288
email: adio@crc.ca
Return to the ADIO home page
