India’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites to Offer Access to Tourists with Disabilities
Tourists with disabilities are to be given access to the world-famous Ajanta and Ellora rock-cut caves via battery-powered vehicles. As part of its 150th anniversary celebrations, the Archaeological Survey of India is to provide the vehicles which can transport up to five people per trip to the caves, in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The beautiful rock-hewn Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples of the Ellora caves, carved on the hillsides of the Sahyadri ranges, will be the first to be made accessible using existing ramps, Dr D. Dayalan, director of the Aurangabad Circle at the ASI, told Gulf News yesterday. The service will then be rolled out to the Ajanta caves, 100km away.
From http://globalaccessibilitynews.com/2012/03/23/indias-unesco-world-heritage-sites-to-offer-access-to-tourists-with-disabilities/, March 30, 2012
USA: Department of Justice Official Clarifies Effect of New ADA Rules on Vending Firms and Equipment
Vending operators now must comply with changes to the regulations mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, but many are not sure what this compliance requires. The new rules went into effect on March 15, and the National Automatic Merchandising Association organized a webinar with a U.S. Department of Justice expert to help clarify what the rules mean to the industry. Barbara Elkin, attorney-advisor for the DOJ, explained that many of the standards on which the new 2010 rules applicable to vending machines are unchanged from the original regulations drafted under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. There are some consequential changes in the final revisions to the regulations published by the DOJ on Sept. 15, 2010, which took effect on March 15, 2011, with compliance required 12 months thereafter.
From http://globalaccessibilitynews.com/2012/03/23/department-of-justice-official-clarifies-effect-of-new-ada-rules-on-vending-firms-and-equipment/, March 30, 2012
Indian Government sets up Committee on Rights of Air Passengers with Disabilities
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has constituted a committee on the “Rights of Passengers with Disabilities and Reduced Mobility” under the chairmanship of G. Asok Kumar, Joint Secretary in the Ministry, to look into the problems of persons with disabilities in undertaking air travel and give suggestions on how to improve the facilities to make their travel more convenient. The committee has been asked to give its report in eight weeks for consideration of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
From http://globalaccessibilitynews.com/2012/03/23/indian-government-sets-up-committee-on-rights-of-air-passengers-with-disabilities/, March 30, 2012
Qatar Telecom Qtel Supports Accessibility Forum
Qtel is one of the main sponsors of this week’s “First Forum for Integration and Enabling People with Disabilities,” held at the Abdul Rahman Jassim Preparatory School for Boys, Al Wakrah. The company is using its support for the event to raise awareness of the broad range of specialist services and innovative technology it makes available for people with disabilities in Qatar.
From http://globalaccessibilitynews.com/2012/03/22/qatar-telecom-qtel-supports-accessibility-forum/, March 30, 2012
South African Broadcasting Corporation dds subtitles to TV shows for deaf people
From http://globalaccessibilitynews.com/2012/03/20/south-african-broadcasting-corporation-adds-subtitles-to-tv-shows-for-deaf-people/, March 30, 2012
South African Broadcasting Corporation Adds Subtitles to TV Shows for Deaf People
As from March, SABC3 has ramped up its commitment to catering for deaf people by adding wall to wall subtitles on the channel’s flagship soapie, Isidingo. This reflects South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)’s strong support for fostering deaf pride. “SABC3 has supported people who are deaf in South Africa in a significant way over the past years through DTV, the popular programme made by and for people who are deaf. This community is very important to the SABC and to the channel in particular and so it gives us real pleasure in being able to provide wall to wall subtitling on Isidingo. Our hope is that this will enhance the viewing pleasure of the community and grant them full access to South Africa’s most popular soapie,” says SABC3 acting GM Ed Worster.
From http://globalaccessibilitynews.com/2012/03/20/south-african-broadcasting-corporation-adds-subtitles-to-tv-shows-for-deaf-people/, March 30, 2012
TechNews: Smarter Voice Capabilities Will Transform Medical Documentation
Natural language processing combined with voice recognition produces clinical language understanding, which has the potential to profoundly change how information gets into clinical systems.
From http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/clinical-systems/232602902?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_healthcare, March 30, 2012
USA: FCC Makes Changes to National Deaf-Blind Distribution Program
The FCC issued an Order “In the Matter of Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, Section 105, Relay Services for Deaf-Blind Individuals” [CG Docket No. 10-210] regarding the reimbursement schedules for entities participating in the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP). Under the original Order adopted on April 4, 2011, the FCC established a two-year NDBEDP Pilot Program utilizing up to $10 million from the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund for the distribution of equipment aiding in access to telecommunications services, internet, and advanced communications services for low-income deaf-blind individuals. The program allowed for qualifying government and nonprofit entities to seek reimbursement every six months from the TRS Fund for distributed equipment. After receiving comment from qualifying entities stating that reimbursement at six month intervals was too infrequent and would “severely and profoundly limit their ability to serve eligible low-income, deaf-blind individuals in a timely manner,” the FCC issued the Order allowing for more frequent reimbursement schedules of either every month or every three months. The new reimbursement schedules will last for the remainder of the two-year NDBEDP Pilot Program.
From http://wirelessrerc.org/news/fcc-makes-changes-to-national-deaf-blind-distribution-program, March 30, 2012
Blind Enjoying Better Social Media Access
How do you find friends on Facebook if you can't see their photo? That question and many others about accessibility of social media for people with disabilities have been answered in a new series of user guides launched on Monday. The guides are the result of research by blind internet expert Scott Hollier.
From http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8433851, March 29, 2012
Speech-Recognition Software now Faster, more Accurate than Ever
Two speech-recognitions applications can be used for controlling your computer as well as for dictating documents. And both can be trained to better recognize your voice.
From http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2017827402_ptspeech24.html, March 29, 2012
