When Empire Theatre took over the 24 Cinema AMC facilities in Kanata, the whole theatre got a huge upgrade. The equipment is brand new and man does it shine. The level of accessibility for people with disabilities of the theatre offerings is truly impressive. I had the opportunity to give this system a run through [...]
I am a perfect example of someone who needs a high contrasting color scheme to be able to effectively use an interface. On the PC I use a combination of speech output, magnification and high contrasting colors. If I use a white background with black text I require 12x-14x magnification; however, if I use white [...]
Over the next few weeks I will be documenting some of the changes that every blind Samsung Galaxy S3 user should consider doing to improve their experience. These include changing the default input method, installing nova launcher and configuring a number of other settings on the phone. First out of the gate is to get [...]
Just new to android or looking for a few new apps for your phone? Below, I have put together a list of the 30 apps I use the most or find I miss when I'm on another device. How about you, what are your must have android apps? Please leave your favourite accessible android apps [...]
Google released a new feature called "Google Now" in their latest version of the Android OS called Jelly Bean. Google Now is a screen that contains "cards" of concise information that Google has guessed you might need, "now". You simply tap the "Google" icon from your desktop, the search icon or voice search icon and [...]
Many people want to have all emails come in using their choice of font, font size, foreground color and background color. By following these steps you will override the color and font settings with your desired presentation on all incoming and outgoing messages. This is especially useful for users with low vision who may [...]
_ #ljt1 2 Lake Joe Technology Training -2012 5 days of technology training, exploration & excitement at CNIB's beautiful and accessible Lake Joe facility Trending Words alt, @lordjeff, @mcourcel, up, slide, press, powerpoint, rt, now, use, enter, arrow, right, dropbox, list Event Participants _ RT @mcourcel: RT @mcourcel: A slightly edited tweet list of the [...]
Many of us work in a corporate environment and require access to the mail, calendar and contact information from mobile devices. In a corporate environment it is not unusual to have security requirements that limit options for the devices that can be connected to the corporate mail and PIM services. Most corporate environments have went [...]
In late May, RIM released The Blackberry Screen Reader As a veteran Blackberry user, I am going to give my initial impressions of RIM's latest foray into accessibility for blind users. I have been involved in the testing, development and evaluation of accessible mobile devices for well over 10 years. I have used some of [...]
The mobile space changes so dramatically on a daily basis. I had just started to write the 2nd half of my walkthrough for Android Ice Cream Sandwich when Jelly Bean comes on the scene. Jelly Bean is the name of the latest version of android’s popular mobile phone, tablet & device operating system. I am [...]
"JUN 1 1 2012 Mr. Jeffrey D. Stark Program Manager Accessibility, Accommodations and Adaptive Computer Technology Program Environment Canada Les Terrasses de la Chaudiere 2nd Floor, Room 226A 10 Wellington Street Gatineau, Quebec K1A0H3 Dear Mr. Stark: I am pleased and proud to inform you that you, along with the other members of the Accessibility, [...]
I travel a fair bit. Sometimes for work, sometimes to participate in a working group or non-profit's event and sometimes for my own entertainment. This is the first of what will hopefully become a regular travel posting. I'm going to use this blog to share with you some tips, suggestions and advice from a veteran [...]
There are a lot of conflicting opinions about the relative accessibility or inaccessibility to blind consumers of the Android platform from Google. I have been involved in the testing, development and evaluation of accessible mobile devices for well over 10 years. I have used some of the very early proprietary devices, the phones running Microsoft's [...]
This information is being shared because I was seeing so many posts on the various blindness related mailing lists and such a large number of my friends who are blind were expressing challenges they were having on the site but lacked the technical background to identify the programming and development issues that were causing inconsistencies [...]
I have seen a lot of requests for QWERTY or external keyboard recommendations for android phones. This post will share my experience while experimenting with QWERTY keyboards on android. I have a Samsung galaxy nexus running ice cream sandwich (ICS). I have gotten 3 separate keyboards to work with ICS. 1) RII 66-key Mini Bluetooth [...]
Today, I was reading a friend’s profile and had a little moment of reflection. It reminded me of just how important braille is for younger kids. The note in the profile read: So, get off your butt and above all else LEARN BRAILLE!!! If you can’t read then you are missing skills such as sentance [...]
I often get asked about what organizations should be doing to improve their service and the accessibility of their communications for people with disabilities. It can often be difficult to figure out what tangible activities should be looked at and where to focus one’s initial energy. I’ve written this article to try and provide a [...]
I often get asked about what organizations should be doing to improve their service and the accessibility of their communications for people with disabilities. It can often be difficult to figure out what tangible activities should be looked at and where to focus one’s initial energy. I’ve written this article to try and provide a [...]
I ask why Blind Canadians are not afforded the same right to vote independently? The recent Ontario provincial Elections showed that it can be done. For the first time this year, during the provincial elections, I had the opportunity to cast my vote without anyone else knowing who I voted for. This is a simple [...]
There are 1,000s of keyboard shortcuts that can be used when using Windows to do a lot of very cool things. Lots of people use keyboard keystrokes for a variety of reasons. People who are blind use these keystrokes to use the computer completely without a mouse. People with repetitive strain injuries use keyboard keystrokes [...]
What provider are youlooking to use ? That dictates the options. Telus and Rogers have the most options for accessible phones The next question is: how much are you willing to pay? The least expensive & easiest option is from Rogers who offer the E71-RVI; which is a symbian phone from nokia. It comes with [...]
Blind consumers may soon no longer be able to do many tasks and activities that they currently perform. Simple tasks like going shopping for groceries, clothing, paying for lodging or travelling may soon be a task that is more difficult or may times impossible unless they are willing to put themselves at a far greater [...]
As many screen reader users have found out the hard way; Microsoft’s SharePoint service is not very screen reader friendly. It can be navigated, but is clearly not understandable for your average user. Microsoft’s apparent lack of interest in adhering to w3c standards further complicates the situation. Despite this, many of us have to [...]
Sighted visitors are provided with maps in their conference booklet that allow them to plan their routes through the exhibit hall and figure out where each booth is located. This is information that is deemed so important that It is even posted on the conference website. When you call the conference information # and ask [...]
Updated: 2010-03-08: A call to action met: Proving their willingness to address issues brought forward, CSUN has shocked many (including this reader) by their responsiveness in addressing the accessibility issues identified on the page below. Having fixed up the link issues on the page itself, fixed heading issues, cleaned up some of the code, provided [...]
Every year, the California state university’s annual conference on technology & persons with disabilities brings thousands of people together who have an interest in disability. This conference is widely viewed as the premier event in North America in this field. Some are coming for a professional reason, some for a personal one, some to [...]
ZBA Bluetooth Media System This device scans its surroundings and finds Bluetooth enabled devices. When it discovers a device it offers it 1 or more files. It uses the standard Bluetooth file sending protocol to send the file and thus no additional software is required on the device. With the proliferation of mobile devices [...]
January 1st, 2010 marks the deadline that public sector service providers operating in Ontario . have to meet the Customer Service standard under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), January 1st, 2012 marks the deadline for all other service providers. If you operate a business within Ontario you should have already: Establish policies, [...]
As the newly appointed chair of the TEC committee, I want to first express that I am honored and encouraged by the large amount of excitement and interest I have been hearing within both the TEC committee & within CWDO as a whole. I am hoping that we can put together something extremely [...]
Executive Summary Moving to an open source content management system such as Drupal would allow more capability, quicker page updates, multiple authors, multiple revisions, better integration with social media such as twitter, and a more standard compliant site. Current Situation Currently the CWDO.org web pages are manually entered using a Microsoft [...]