John Brownlee, Modus, September 4, 2019 Designing solutions for people with disabilities offers a peephole into the future Very few people think that those of us who are blind should be exiled from the web altogether, or that people with hearing loss shouldn’t have iPhones. That’s as it should be. But all too often, the…
Shawn JeffordsThe, Canadian Press, The Star, August 30, 2019 A proposed five-year pilot program that would see e-scooters allowed onto Ontario’s roads poses significant safety risks that need more in-depth consideration than the government is allowing, advocates for disabled residents claim. The government initially offered the public 48 hours in which to weigh in on…
Star Editorial Board, The Star, August 6, 2019 As accessibility advocates constantly warn, we’re all just one illness or accident away from becoming disabled. And with 1,000 Ontario baby boomers turning 65 every day, more of us will be dealing with aging vision, hearing, hips and knees that will impact our quality of life and…
Greg Thomson, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, July 25, 2019 Two years ago, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario rendered a controversial and deeply troubling decision about the rights of students with disabilities in Ontario schools. An 8-year-old boy with autism wanted to bring his certified autism service dog to school with him….
Gilbert Ngabo, Staff Reporter, The Star, July 24, 2019 A group that advocates for better accessibility standards in Ontario is voicing concerns about the province’s new assessment plan. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Alliance says the plan to conduct accessibility assessments of public and private buildings will remove few barriers and is…
CTV News, Accessibility News International, July 23, 2019 A man who’s blind was told his guide dog wasn’t allowed inside a Kamloops gas station, and when RCMP arrived, he thought they would defend his rights, but instead, the officers put him in handcuffs. The Toronto man was on a road trip to celebrate after graduating…
Marielle Hossack, Press Secretary, Employment and Social Development Canada, July 11, 2019 The Government of Canada is pleased to announce the coming into force of the Accessible Canada Act. The coming into force of the Accessible Canada Act establishes a framework to create a barrier-free Canada through the proactive identification, removal and prevention of accessibility…
Kalev Leetaru, Contributor, Forbes, July 6, 2019 Silicon Valley has become obsessed with addressing AI bias. As deep learning algorithms have graduated from the academic research lab into the real world, there has become a growing awareness of the implications of their innate biases as their limited Western training data has collided spectacularly with a…
Carleton Newsroom, June 26, 2019 Building on its reputation as Canada’s most accessible university, Carleton University is launching the Canadian Accessibility Network, the first entity of its kind in the country. The announcement follows the historic passage of the federal government’s Bill C-81, the Accessible Canada Act. The bill sets groundbreaking accessibility standards for the…
Greg Thomson, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update, June 11, 2019 On May 30, 2019, the Ford Government used its majority to defeat a resolution in the Ontario Legislature about Ontario’s Disabilities Act, that was proposed by NDP MPP Joel Harden. Worded in measured terms that tracked Doug Ford’s 2018 election pledges on…
