The MAN Bus Modification Center has achieved a first, equipping an MAN Lion’s Coach with a ceiling lift for Voyages Emile Weber. This will make trips safer and more comfortable for passengers with physical disabilities. People with reduced mobility can use a lifting platform to board the MAN Lion’s Coach. New track-guided mobility system ensuresContinueContinue reading “New ceiling lift raises the bar for universally accessible coach travel | MAN Bus Germany”
Category Archives: environment
How to write helpful reviews for people with acces…
More than 65 million people worldwide need wheelchairs to get around. Yet, information about accessibility isn’t always easy to find. From sharing photos of wheelchair-friendly entrances to answering questions about accessibility, Local Guides like you can help make life easier for many people by adding this important info on Google Maps. This doesn’t just help peopleContinueContinue reading “How to write helpful reviews for people with acces…”
Remote Work to Accommodate Workers with a Disability
… Remote Work is about Accessibility, Not Exclusion Remote work may be seen as exclusion. However, it is really meant to do the opposite. Remote work allows businesses to take advantage of a larger talent pool. Also, it allows more people with disabilities to enter the workforce. Hiring workers with disabilities ensures that your business gets the benefits,ContinueContinue reading “Remote Work to Accommodate Workers with a Disability”
Here are the ways AI is helping to improve accessibility
Smart home speakers and voice assistants Smart home speakers like Google Home, Amazon’s Echo series, and Apple’s HomePod have given digital voice assistants a new lease on life — and they aren’t just a lazy way to queue up your favorite podcasts. For people with certain disabilities, they’re a godsend. … Speech-to-text and text-to-speech SmartContinueContinue reading “Here are the ways AI is helping to improve accessibility”
Microsoft, others spearheading a ‘smart cities’ initiative for everyone
Microsoft has teamed up with two organizations to make smart cities more accessible for everyone, including the disabled and elderly. The collaboration, announced in May, includes Microsoft, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict) and World Enabled, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the disabled. Its mission is simple: define the stateContinueContinue reading “Microsoft, others spearheading a ‘smart cities’ initiative for everyone”
Can Google Assistant and Voice Search Really Help Those Who Need it the Most ? – State of Digital
There are many voice activated devices to help us in the home and at work, including Google Assistant, Alexa from Amazon, Siri from Apple and Cortana from Microsoft. … Strategy Analytics predicted that in Q4 2017 that smart speakers would reach 12 million units world wide and so 24 million for all of 2017. Google unveiledContinueContinue reading “Can Google Assistant and Voice Search Really Help Those Who Need it the Most ? – State of Digital”
RFID Enables Hands-Free Transit Entrance for Vancouver Disabled
… The hands-free solution, known as the Universal Fare Gate Access Program, represents the world’s first transit authority system that offers hands-free automated access to disabled passengers, according to Erin Windross, TransLink’s planner for access transit planning. The RFID technology, which consists of UHF access-control cards and readers above fare gates, is provided by British Columbia RFID and Internet of ThingsContinueContinue reading “RFID Enables Hands-Free Transit Entrance for Vancouver Disabled”
What Does Inclusive Design Mean?
Why is accessibilty seen as an after-thought, or at worst an expense to help a handful of disadvantaged people? Have you ever tried using a website or app on your smartphone whilst riding a bus when the sun is streaming through the window? You probably have. How did that work out for you? … …theContinueContinue reading “What Does Inclusive Design Mean?”
Designing inclusively: Some examples
The video below has lots of examples of designing inclusively in the built environment. There are two key messages: get a diverse group of people together before you start designing, and think about all the extra people you can serve or sell to when you design with everyone in mind. While there are several videos around withContinueContinue reading “Designing inclusively: Some examples”
Does fashion care about disabled people and the purple pound?
Britain’s disabled population has a spending power of £80bn, yet, as a frustrating shopping trip to Mayfair proved, many clothes shops are completely inaccessible Catherine Teatum and Rob Jones have a positive understanding of practical issues affecting disabled shoppers. Britain’s disabled population has a spending power of £80bn, yet, as a frustrating shopping trip toContinueContinue reading “Does fashion care about disabled people and the purple pound?”
A better world for wheels on Google Maps
Starting today, we’re calling on Local Guides, a community of people who contribute their expertise about places on Google Maps, to add more wheelchair accessibility attributes to the map. If each of our tens of millions of Local Guides answers three of these questions every day for two weeks, we can gather nearly two billion answersContinueContinue reading “A better world for wheels on Google Maps”
There’s Always Something to be Done: Liz Henry on Being Disabled in Tech
… Liz is currently the release manager for Mozilla, and has worked in two eras of tech: the 1990s and the mid-2000s to the present. She learned her computer skills from tinkering with computers from a young age, and having the freedom to experiment. In addition to her work in open source software, Liz isContinueContinue reading “There’s Always Something to be Done: Liz Henry on Being Disabled in Tech”
The Potential of IoT Technologies for People with Disabilities
While being able to dim your lights, lock your doors, and adjust the thermostat using voice commands or a simple interface on your smartphone may seem like convenient novelties to some, for disabled individuals these can be essential to maintaining a safe, healthy, enjoyable home life. For example, a quadriplegic who cannot physically open theirContinueContinue reading “The Potential of IoT Technologies for People with Disabilities”
Canada’s new accessibility laws should focus on employment, inclusive buildings, transport
The priorities, which were laid out in a report and released by the federal government Monday, summarize eight months of consultations held with Canadians from coast to coast. Carla Qualtrough Qualtrough, the minister tasked with crafting laws to make Canada more accessible to people with disabilities, says employment will be a key focus of herContinueContinue reading “Canada’s new accessibility laws should focus on employment, inclusive buildings, transport “
Google Maps now lets users add wheelchair accessibility details for locations
Back in December, Google finally added accessibility details to Maps. It was a long awaited addition, but an extremely welcome one for the more than three million people in the U.S. who require wheelchair accessibility. As we noted at the time, however, the available information still left a lot to be desired. Maps has currentlyContinueContinue reading “Google Maps now lets users add wheelchair accessibility details for locations “
New Vision-Impaired User Interface – Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia has become the first airline in the Asia Pacific region, and the second airline in the world, to introduce an in-flight entertainment (IFE) user interface for passengers who are blind or have low vision. … The new interface increases accessibility to IFE content through simplified screen layouts, larger icons and voice prompts.ContinueContinue reading “New Vision-Impaired User Interface – Virgin Australia”
How a Smart Home Empowers People with Disabilities
… While advances in personal technology continue at a rapid pace, at times their designers seem to forget about the population that could perhaps benefit from it the most. Stabelfeldt says just the ability to charge a phone with a wheelchair didn’t even exist until a few years ago. But features like Apple’s “Home” appContinueContinue reading “How a Smart Home Empowers People with Disabilities”
Changing Places > Home
The Changing Places Consortium launched its campaign in 2006 on behalf of the over 1/4 of a million people who cannot use standard accessible toilets.This includes people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, as well as older people. To use the toilet in safety and comfort, many people need toContinueContinue reading “Changing Places > Home”
Accessibility in the classroom—tools that impact my students – Office Blogs
Creating a collaborative, inclusive classroom has many moving parts and pieces—and finding the right balance can be challenging. As a special education teacher, I am constantly on the hunt for technology and tools that give students with disabilities an environment that is personalized, differentiated and yet as close to their peers’ experience as possible. IContinueContinue reading “Accessibility in the classroom—tools that impact my students – Office Blogs”
Emerging tech aims to improve life for handicapped
Emerging technology is giving new hope for the handicapped, and harnessing brainwaves for the physically disabled and helping the visually impaired with “artificial vision” are just the start. … Many systems showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas are aimed at improving quality of life for people with disabilities. BrainRobotics, a Massachusetts-based startup,ContinueContinue reading “Emerging tech aims to improve life for handicapped”
New cards extend banking options for vision-impaired customers
For NSW teenager Connor McLeod, who is blind, using an automated teller machine on his own has not been possible until now. … curated by (Lifekludger) Read full article at Source: New cards extend banking options for vision-impaired customers
A group of Google employees spent their ‘20% time’ making Google Maps wheelchair-friendly
Google Maps is now wheelchair-friendly. The wildly popular map app will now tell you whether locations are suitable for people with access needs — and it’s thanks to a group of Googlers who worked on the feature in their “20% time.” It’s a famous policy of the Californian search giant: Employees can spend 20%ContinueContinue reading “A group of Google employees spent their ‘20% time’ making Google Maps wheelchair-friendly”
Architecture students’ attitudes to UD
The attitudes of architecture students to universal design is the focus of a Deakin University study. It builds on previous work (Design 4 Diversity) in 2010 on inter-professional learning for arch… Curated by (Lifekludger) Read full article at Source: Architecture students’ attitudes to UD
Brilliant design: stairs that incorporate a wheelchair access ramp – The Meta Picture
YES! Source: Brilliant design: stairs that incorporate a wheelchair access ramp – The Meta Picture
Meet the Blind Man Who Convinced Google Its Self-Driving Car Is Finally Ready
Steve Mahan’s solo ride showed it’s time to take the car to market. Now 63 and having lost his sight, Mahan has become one of those capsule-bound explorers. In October 2015, he became the first member of the public to ride in Google’s self-driving pod-like prototype, alone and on public roads. No steering wheel, noContinueContinue reading “Meet the Blind Man Who Convinced Google Its Self-Driving Car Is Finally Ready”
