Ghana: Government Okays ICT Training for the Physically Challenged
Cabinet has approved a training programme under which 5,000 challenged persons are to be equipped with employable skills in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), mobile phone and computer assembling and repairs. The government/private sector collaboration, which will commence next month, is expected to cost GH¢21,741,410, with rLG Communications Limited, a communications company, absorbing GH¢1,983,000 of the total cost.
From www.modernghana.com, October 19, 2011
USA: Taxis Must Accommodate Wheelchairs
The United States attorney’s office in Manhattan said on Thursday that the lack of wheelchair-accessible taxicabs in New York City violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and it urged a federal judge to force the city to quickly address the problem.
From www.nytimes.com, October 17, 2011
USA: Nuance Aims to Advance Equal Learning Access for Students of All Abilities
Nuance Communications has joined the Liberated Learning Consortium, (LLC), an international group of technology providers, colleges and universities working to advance information accessibility in higher education through the use of speech recognition technology. Nuance Communications, the maker of Dragon NaturallySpeaking software, joins IBM as the second technology company to contribute expertise in support of the Consortium’s mission.
From www.nuance.com, October 17, 2011
Dubai to Host 5th GCC Learning Disability Conference
Dubai will host the 5th GCC Learning Disability Conference during 26-27 October 2011 under the banner "Social and emotional impact of learning disability across the lifespan." The conference, organized by Dubai-based Ishara Consultants, is being held at JW Marriott Hotel under the patronage of Mr. Humaid Al Quttami, UAE Minister of Education.
From www.ameinfo.com, October 17, 2011
M-Enabling: First Global Summit Dedicated to Mobile Applications and Services for Senior Citizens and Persons with Disabilities
The M-Enabling Summit, first mobile industry conference and showcase exclusively dedicated to accessible and assistive applications and services for seniors and persons with disabilities, will be held in Washington, D.C. on December 5-6, 2011
From m-enabling.com, October 17, 2011
TechNews: New IBM Mobile Pilot Application for Accessible City Navigation
In conjunction with IBM's Centennial anniversary THINK exhibit at Lincoln Center in New York City (N.Y.C.), IBM has launched the pilot of a first-of-a-kind mobile travel application called Access My N.Y.C. Designed to help IBM and municipal leaders better define requirements for more inclusive Smarter Travel and Transportation, Access My N.Y.C. brings together geo-location and mapping technologies, transportation data, and publicly available accessibility information to help N.Y.C. residents and visitors.
From www-949.ibm.com, October 14, 2011
UK TV Services Continue to Exceed Access Requirements
Ofcom, the UK media and communications regulator, has published data on access services provided on television in the first half of 2011, revealing the vast majority of services have exceeded their legal obligations, particularly for captioning and audio description. The Television Access Services: Report of the first six months of 2011 revealed that 11 channels provided captions on more than 99% of programming and 35 channels at least doubled the minimum requirement of providing audio description on 10% of programming. All channels with sign language obligations met the minimum requirements.
From www.mediaaccess.org.au, October 06, 2011
TechNews: Can Apple Products Pave the Way to Personalized Learning?
Apple held a press event today at its Cupertino headquarters, unveiling a variety of improvements to its line of iPods and iPhones, including an update to its mobile operating system and a brand new version of its wildly popular iPhone. Apple has had a long history of pushing its computers into the classrooms. For many years, a child’s first exposure to a computer had been at school, and often that computer was an Apple.
From mindshift.kqed.org, October 05, 2011
India: IGNOU Gets India’s First Sign Language Training
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday inaugurated the country’s first sign language training and research centre on the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) campus. The Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), devoted to the hearing impaired, is supported by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
From expressbuzz.com, October 05, 2011
New iPhone Release: A Summary of Accessibility Improvements
The new iPhone 4S is essentially a hardware upgrade. It is more powerful and includes a better camera for increased image and video quality. Most of the accessibility features for iPhone come from the mobile operating system iOS rather than the device itself. However, there were a number of announcements today that impact on the accessibility world, including the new voice recognition system Siri that allows iPhone 4S users to perform a wide variety of tasks by simply ‘talking’ to their iPhone.
From www.mediaaccess.org.au, October 05, 2011
