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President Obama Signs Twenty-First Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act

October 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

reprint from the http://www.disability.gov/ blog, October 8

Today President Obama signed into law the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. This law will ensure that Americans with disabilities can more fully participate in society and enjoy all that new technologies have to offer–especially Internet-based and mobile services.

The new law will make it easier for people who are deaf, blind or have low vision to access the Internet, smart phones, television programming and other communications and video technologies. The law will also make sure that emergency information is accessible to individuals who are blind or have low vision. In addition, $10 million per year will be allocated from the Interstate Relay Service Fund for equipment used by individuals who are deaf-blind. For more information read What S.3304 Does For Us from the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology.

Visit Disability.gov for more information about accessible technology.

Filed Under: access travel, accessibility, ADA, airlines, communication, disability rights

President Obama Signs Twenty-First Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act

October 15, 2010 By

reprint from the http://www.disability.gov/ blog, October 8

Today President Obama signed into law the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. This law will ensure that Americans with disabilities can more fully participate in society and enjoy all that new technologies have to offer–especially Internet-based and mobile services.

The new law will make it easier for people who are deaf, blind or have low vision to access the Internet, smart phones, television programming and other communications and video technologies. The law will also make sure that emergency information is accessible to individuals who are blind or have low vision. In addition, $10 million per year will be allocated from the Interstate Relay Service Fund for equipment used by individuals who are deaf-blind. For more information read What S.3304 Does For Us from the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology.

Visit Disability.gov for more information about accessible technology.

Filed Under: access travel, accessibility, ADA, airlines, communication, disability rights

Access is Mile High at Invesco Field in Denver, CO

November 27, 2009 By

Although we checked out the NFL stadium Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado soon after it opened, we hadn’t been back for a game or an access report in years, until last night.

For this year’s Thanksgiving celebration, eight of us visited Invesco Field for the Broncos-NY Giants game (5 NYG fans and 3 Broncos fans among us). As always with most new, public facilities – especially those with fat wallets funding them – we were impressed with last night’s access in general, but have a minor complaint about guidance and way-finding.

Let’s get this out of the way first (before we boast about the access here- which really is excellent), we’re used to being pointed out the access, and when we aren’t and have to go out of our way to look for it, we have to report that. The ticket office gave us a head start when we purchased the tickets (excellent), by telling us where we’d be seated, and giving us a parking pass that got us closest to our seats. When we arrived, finding the G lot was easy, as was the stroll from lot to entrance. Look for the big wheelchair sign, and enter at the gate nearest your seats- again, easy enough. But from there no one showed us the elevator and before we knew it, we were rolling uphill to the 3rd deck. Craig is strong and fit, and we’re all young and able – and perhaps he wasn’t offered help because he was coated in Giants gear – but either way, we weren’t lead to the easiest route for a wheelchair, but then we didn’t sign up for the tour like we did at Yankee Stadium! The flow of a mob is forceful, so this is the only reason I point this out, and at least one of the SIX individuals taking our tickets, checking our bags, and sorting our group could have pointed the elevator or access route out to Craig.

Being that is our only complaint, once inside, the accessible seating is endless. We were on the upper deck which is level with the ramp entrance to it; the accessible seats right there at the bottom, with the rest of the upper-deck seating stretching above it, and the entire circumfrance of the field. The views from here were excellent, and its location to the restrooms perfect.

In the lower decks, the seating is more covered and protected, also right up against the bannister in clustered sections stretching the length of the field. All disabled sections offer power outlets, cup holders, vacant spots for visitors with their own chairs and scooters, and permanent accompanying seating for their companions.

Get there between 10am and 2pm and get a full tour of the stadium that includes the museum, store, media center, TV area, champions club, visitor’s locker room, field and club levels.

Visit their website’s ADA Access page for more information on ordering tickets, parking, power, closed captioning, and shuttle service. Seating isn’t mentioned here, as tickets are sold through brokers, so make sure you are looking at a map of the arena when booking online or with an agent to know the best option for you.

Filed Under: accessibility, team sports

"Webby Talents," a New Place to Post Your Videos

March 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Webbytalents (WT) is a relatively new video-hosting site for people with disabilities. They’ve been open since February of 2008 and have gathered thousands of videos since then. We posted our first video to this site in January and it’s already up to nearly 300 views.

In this day and age, we network with whoever we can to help spread the word of disability travel, so WT was a no brainer for us to join. The more places we’re visual at, the more we help expand the awareness and share our experiences.

WT is a networking site as well as a posting site. You can accrue a long list of friends like you would on Facebook, vote on their videos like you can on You Tube, and even start your own groups like you can with NING. The site is open to any types of (appropriate) videos, and you are requested to share your type of disability (mobility, cognitive, seeing, hearing, etc). Despite whether you think this is “right” or not, we advise you to share if you’re open to it so that others can network with you based on disability. As we all know, knowing a lot about one disability doesn’t necessarily mean you know them all.

Like with YouTube and Facebook, you are not allowed to post videos that infringe on copyrights, such as using someone else’s music for your background, or someone else’s videos (a video of a TV show perhaps) or photos.

The site also features a search engine. Research done by typing tags, keywords.

Webbytalents is a space for exchange and sharing which allows:

  • To watch videos
  • Send and share your videos worldwide or with your family and friends
  • To publish your videos, your creations on your blogs, sites and your favorite social networks.
  • To discover new videos and meet people who share your sensibilities
  • Receive feedback from the community on your videos.

We can all become an agent of change and contribute to a better integration of disability in society. Webbytalents is a place that is made so that everyone can express themselves, learn, share experiences, present his association and raise awareness of disability worldwide.

We hope that you’ll check out this growing forum for disability videos as we’ve done; we always felt ours got a little lost in the ginormous community of YouTube and are thrilled that someone has made a new home for ours!

Filed Under: accessibility, community, disabilities, network, video

The New Color Coding in Faucets

March 16, 2009 By

This came to us from Mountain Living Magazine’s Blog:

“If you’ve ever burned your hand by putting it under the faucet to test the water temperature, then you’ll appreciate this kitchen faucet from Blanco. As stylish as it is functional, the faucet includes light-emitting diodes that colors the water jet to indicate the water temperature: red for hot water, blue for cold. Available in polished chrome and stainless, the faucet’s contemporary design makes it a stylish addition to any kitchen.”

But what isn’t mentioned is that this is a great idea for people with disabilities who have sensory, touch, or temperature loss as well!

For more information visit blancoamerica.com.

Filed Under: accessibility, home ideas, universal design

Two Online Communities Worth Checking Out

February 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Today’s internet is a social networking BOOM. Everywhere you look there’s something new to join, add your profile and photos and information to, and begin networking. It’s not all as easy as it sounds, it can be time consuming finding just the right one for you and your business or your tastes.

Here’s where we come in with our suggestions… we belong to more communities than we can count, and the two very best ones we’ve found for travelers with disabilities are in the Ning network, a home base for social networking where you can create your very own group for like-minded people like you!

FOR THE TRAVELER
The newest one is called the Accessible.Travel Community, created by one of our peers Craig Grimes, based out of Nicaragua and with extensive experience in travel and adventure travel for people with disabilities in not only South and Central America but in the European Union as well. Craig’s dedication to bettering the online information for PWD shows in this community, a hub created for the traveler to share tips on accessible places he or she has been.

Accessible.Travel is for the traveler, the researcher, those thirsting for accessible information at their fingertips. In order for the information to grow, the network must grow, so we are sharing this new community so that it can do so. We hope you pay a visit and join. With already 105 members and growing, this is soon to be a vast resource and a great meeting location for like minded travelers with similar needs who seek travel locations without barriers.

FOR THE TRAVEL PROVIDER
The second social networking online community that we’ve been members of for over a year now is the TourWatch network of travel providers. This is a network of people and businesses who provide accessible travel to PWD as well as want to learn more about this market and how to better accommodate PWD and reap the rewards for doing so!

TourWatch has been a great place for us to meet and introduce new tour operators and service providers, and a nexus for informative forums, blogs, and communication on all levels of improving and further expanding this growing niche. We’re excited to be a part of both now, and hope you take a look at TourWatch if you’re a travel provider.

Filed Under: accessibility, barrier free travels, tourism, travel

Steamboat Gets Lift Operator Training on PWD

January 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

This afternoon we spent some time at the Christy Sixpack under still-snowing skies with eight Lift Operations and Maintenance Supervisors in an adaptive equipment training session. After a twenty minute discussion on equipment types, disability awareness, maze and loading preferences, and legalities for adaptive riders, the crew took turns back-loading (pull-back) Craig and his Revolution Pro Comp onto the sixpack, giving Craig several turns down Preview after two weeks off the slopes.

This training is the final stage of an all-department awareness and update training on handling customers with disabilities. We are very proud of to have this opportunity with Steamboat’s employees to make our ski area the best it can be for all our visitors and their special needs. Other ski areas go through similar training for their lift operators, and our goal as always is to make Steamboat #1.

Future plans are to have a repeat training session with more staff as well as today’s staff who was eager to try the equipment themselves. Due to lack of outriggers, we were not able to put today’s participants in the monoski and biski, but many expressed interest to do so, and we’ll keep you posted on that when it happens!


Filed Under: accessibility, lift operator, monoski, steamboat ski area

Steamboat Gets Lift Operator Training on PWD

January 6, 2009 By

This afternoon we spent some time at the Christy Sixpack under still-snowing skies with eight Lift Operations and Maintenance Supervisors in an adaptive equipment training session. After a twenty minute discussion on equipment types, disability awareness, maze and loading preferences, and legalities for adaptive riders, the crew took turns back-loading (pull-back) Craig and his Revolution Pro Comp onto the sixpack, giving Craig several turns down Preview after two weeks off the slopes.

This training is the final stage of an all-department awareness and update training on handling customers with disabilities. We are very proud of to have this opportunity with Steamboat’s employees to make our ski area the best it can be for all our visitors and their special needs. Other ski areas go through similar training for their lift operators, and our goal as always is to make Steamboat #1.

Future plans are to have a repeat training session with more staff as well as today’s staff who was eager to try the equipment themselves. Due to lack of outriggers, we were not able to put today’s participants in the monoski and biski, but many expressed interest to do so, and we’ll keep you posted on that when it happens!


Filed Under: accessibility, lift operator, monoski, steamboat ski area

New Government, New Ideas

November 11, 2008 By

We find this highly inspiring and had to share… now he just needs to put a #5 in there, Adventure Travel for Everyone!

Obama’s Commitment to Accessibility:

“The Obama Administration has a comprehensive agenda to empower individuals with disabilities in order to equalize opportunities for all Americans.

In addition to reclaiming America’s global leadership on this issue by becoming a signatory to — and having the Senate ratify — the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the plan has four parts, designed to provide lifelong supports and resources to Americans with disabilities. They are as follows:

First, provide Americans with disabilities with the educational opportunities they need to succeed.

Second, end discrimination and promote equal opportunity.

Third, increase the employment rate of workers with disabilities.

And fourth, support independent, community-based living for Americans with disabilities.

This commitment to accessibility for all begins with this site and our efforts to ensure all functionality and all content is accessible to all Americans.”

Filed Under: accessibility, disability, disability rights, obama

Pittsburgh’s Impressive Persona

June 24, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I must admit we had our doubts about Pittsburgh, the last time I was there was 1996, and Craig had never been. Visit Pittsburgh hired us to speak at the PRSA Conference and had of course been talking it up since they scheduled us in February. Apparently cleaned up, revitalized, and renovated for access, Pittsburgh is building a new name for the Steel City.

We had pleasant surprises all five days we were there, starting with the flight in last Wednesday. Rolling greens and endless trees came into view as we approached Pittsburgh Airport; and although we’re both from the east coast, the greenery never fails to impress itself upon us when we arrive.
From there, we found our way to our hotel, the Westin Conference Center; nestled in the heart of downtown, just a minute’s roll from the river, the art district, the new ball park, and to our joy that evening, a live free concert. Pointed in the right direction, we spent the evening strolling around the area, tasting the local pizza, shooting shots of the riverwalk, and ending up at the Lotus show, where the young Pittsburgh was out twirling to the music and recycling their trash. Thorough recycling centers surrounded the small outdoor stage, complete with assistants who made sure your trash went into the appropriate container. (Left)

Thursday was no less impressive; starting bright and early with an overslept breakfast because our Westin “Heavenly Bed” was so dreamy. After conference speakers and breakout sessions on Green Travel, we met up with the rest for a touring cruise down the three rivers.

The three-floor river boat was accessible on the ground level with bathrooms, a bar, and a nice dance floor, even viewable from the upper floors, but since the food tables were on the second level, we begged the crew for a manual lift up the steps, and with smiles and a few grunts, they obliged. After snacks and a personal and impressive history lesson from the captain, we begged the crew again, and spent the last portion of the tour on the top deck.

Groups departed the boat in 10s and made their way to various restaurants for a dine-around. We meandered back to the hotel area to check out the Fish Market and tasted our share of the ocean’s pleasures.

Friday began with a keynote breakfast including Lynn Swann, signing autographs, sharing laughs, and inspiring us to explore Pittsburgh, and Richard Bangs, the “father of modern adventure travel,” inspiring us to continue to do what we do and share the world to people with disabilities. Our talk on marketing to this niche followed, and the day panned out a success with many contacts in the industry that we’re excited to pursue.

Following the conference this day we made our way across the river to the Andy Warhol Museum, and dowsed ourselves in artistic wonder. Warhol’s from Pittsburgh? Who knew. The museum’s access was impeccable.

After downing a few rounds at the nearby Irish Pub, we spent the evening enjoying America’s favorite passtime. The park’s access was excellent; escorting us personally through the maze to the right pathways, and ending up with some primo seats behind home plate. Even though the Pirates couldn’t get-er-done in 9 innings, and the park stops serving alcohol in the 7th, they scored in the 12th, and Canada Day’s celebrations against the Toronto Blue Jays included an amazing fireworks show. Hey, what a pleasant surprise!

Sad to leave on Saturday, we strolled around downtown one last time, winding up at the Steel City Diner for some greasy eats and happy service. This morning clinched something for us that we hadn’t solidified in our minds until now. Pittsburgh is a friendly town. Everyone we’d met was happy and excited to share their town with us. Smiles from strangers on the street, great conversation at the bar, and friendly locals everywhere we turned, Craig dubbed it the Big City Steamboat.
We didn’t get to see everything we would have liked to- explore the restaurants fully, visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water, or do the NY rivaling theaters, so Pittsburgh, we’ll be back! Count on it.
Filed Under: access, access travel, accessibility, disability, pittsburgh, PRSA, travel