Access For All

The objectives of the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy cannot be attained without the active involvement of disabled people, ie some 80 million individuals (16% of the population). Such is the European Parliament’s message in a non-legislative resolution on the mobility and inclusion of disabled persons and the 2010-2020 strategy in favour of disabled persons, adopted on 25 October.

According to the latest statistics, the drop-out rate in education and the unemployment rate of disabled persons is at least twice as high as the rate of able persons and the poverty rate among disabled persons is 70% higher than the average rate. To address this situation, MEPs call on member states and the European Commission to take concrete measures in terms of mobility and social inclusion. They state that a “welcome development” in terms of free movement of persons and barrier-free services would be the introduction of a unified European mobility card for reciprocal recognition of care for people with disabilities. This would allow disabled persons to study, work and travel more freely.

MEPs stress the enormous importance of employment on the ordinary labour market for disabled persons and call on the Commission and the governments of member states to adopt legal and financial measures which truly encourage the employment of disabled persons. Lastly, MEPs encourage the creation of special forms of leave so that parents can take care of their children with disabilities and urge that the commitment shown and the work performed by parents of children with disabilities should be recognised by being counted as professional experience and by being specifically taken into account when old-age pension entitlements are calculated.

This non-legislative resolution, drafted by the chamber’s only deaf MEP, Ádám Kósa (EPP, Hungary), follows from the EU’s 2010-2020 strategy on disability. Adopted in late 2010, this Commission communication provides a framework for European action and includes measures that can be taken at a national level in order to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. While MEPs welcome this initiative, they regret that the Commission’s communication does not include an integrated gender perspective or a separate chapter on gender-specific disability policies. MEPs recall that the Commission pledged to present a legislative proposal for a European Accessibility Act, and stress the need for strong, binding measures at EU level, with a clear road map. MEPs also call for the adoption of the necessary measures to help the visually impaired to carry out business transactions.
Source: Europolitics

RIM has launched the Clarity theme for BlackBerry theme for customers with vision loss, colourblindness, seniors and even those new to smartphones. The free theme is available for download from BlackBerry AppWorld in the US, UK and Canada and supports 10 devices running BlackBerry Device Software v5.0.
For more information, please visit this website.

While Windows Mobile 6.5 had been made accessible to the blind with the help of the Mobile Speak and Talks screen-reading programs, these programs no longer work with Windows Phone 7. Andy Lees, president of Microsoft’s Mobile Business, stated that he was personally committed to ensuring long-term nonvisual access to the Microsoft mobile platform. This commitment was reaffirmed by Rob Sinclair, Microsoft’s chief accessibility officer; Chuck Bilow, Microsoft’s senior program manager responsible for Windows Phone accessibility; and Richard Suplee, a senior product planner in Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business wing.
Wait and see …
Source

The Kessler Foundation and the National Organization on Disabilities commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct the 2010 Survey of Americans with Disabilities. Among the findings they identified that employment represents the largest gap between the two groups. Of all working-age people with disabilities, only 21% say that they are employed, compared to 59% of people without disabilities – a gap of 38 percentage points. People with disabilities are still much more likely to be living in poverty. People with disabilities are less likely than those without disabilities to socialize with friends, relatives or neighbors, once again suggesting that there are significant barriers to participation in leisure activities for this population. The second-largest gap between people with and without disabilities is regarding Internet access. 85% of adults without disabilities access the Internet, whereas only 54% of adults with disabilities report the same – a gap of 31 percentage points.
Source: Kessler Foundation

Almost one in five of the world’s population lives with some kind of recognized disability. Sooner or later, everyone will develop at least some limitations in vision, hearing, dexterity or learning. To improve usability for those of us with sensory or physical limitations, phones have features for accessibility, which are continually improving and becoming more prevalent as technologies advance. The Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative (GARI) project was developed to provide a central information source to learn about accessibility in mobile devices. On their website you can learn about the various features that a phone may have and link through to manufacturers websites for specific information on particular models.

This report explores Europe’s vision for a society where every individual can make a valuable contribution. Investments in pioneering and commercially focused research will produce information and communication technologies (ICTs) that should help everyone – including the elderly, disabled and marginalised – to fulfil their potential.
Source: e-Inclusion web site on Europa