Rolling Rains Report:

Tom Chun's Travels - Rolling Downunder

More from Tom Chun as he lives the life of leisure writing from Surfer's Paradise, Australia:

Hi Friends,

I left Brisbane and headed south to Surfer's Paradise. The waves are a surfer's dream, but the city is big, reminds me of Miami or other big Florida cities. There are lakefront homes with boats docked nearby the ocean. There's a huge party scene every night in Surfer's. During the week, Surfer's was the host for the Uni Games, where drunk college students from all over Australia come to party. I think I attended college in the wrong country.

One day, I spent the day at the DreamWorld amusement park. There were some crazy rides: Tower of Terror, shot me up a steep tower and then dropped right back, The Claw swooped up and down, like a giant see-saw, as my legs dangled everywhere, and the Giant Drop ascending me up 38 floors and then dropped my in free fall for 4 seconds (supposedly the tallest free fall in the world). Great way to increase the adrenaline! Sorry no pics at the theme park, forgot my camera. Around Surfer's Paradise, in the Gold Coast, there are "heaps" of little coastal towns to relax and enjoy yourself. The sand is soft and fine. The beaches stretch for miles!!!! Burleigh Heads is a small town and has a great beach and views of Surfer's. Coolongata is a little more busy. Byron Bay is a popular getaway for hippies and celebrities, with a lighthouse on a hill with amazing views. There are so many spots on the Gold Coast where you can get away from everyone and everything. Truly the Gold Coast is a mecca for beach bums! Sign me up for the surf contest! I am now in Sydney. I believe Nemo is just around the corner somewhere. I will find him! More pics to follow (I need to find a good internet connection): tompchun.shutterfly.com Old blog at tompchun.blogspot.com

Marketing Travel to the Boomer Generation: Anatomy is not Destiny!

How do we market to the Baby Boomer generation as it moves into its prime leisure travel years? The first step is to know the generation intimately enough to craft a message that speaks to them uniquely.

Even with my own participant-observer status from inside the generation I find myself drawn to writers exploring the topic.

Leonard Steinhorn writes a history of the cohort in The Greater Generation: In Defense of the Baby Boom Legacy. He writes about the distinguishing characteristics of Boomers and the preceding Greatest Generation:

Greatness can be measured not only by the decisions we must make, but by the decisions we choose to make… The Greatest generation deserves every bit of credit for protecting democracy when it was threatened; but baby Boomers deserve even more credit for enriching democracy and fulfilling its promise when neither war nor catastrophe nor necessity compelled them to do it.

Later, discussing the generational principles of asserting diversity as a moral value, he adds,

Perhaps the most noble example of diversity in action is the disability rights movement, which is based on the idea that even those with the most crippling handicap can contribute equally to society if given the chance, and that because of their disability they have a unique perspective from which we all can learn.

While from inside, as a person with a disability, the characterization of disability culture as “noble” rankles as observation from a patronizing distance uninformed by immersion in it or conviviality with its “natives.” Still, Steinhorn is correct to imply that people with disabilities enrich democratic society by inextricably – and literally – embodying a different perspective.

What Susan Wendell, author of The Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical Reflections on Disability, has said about insight into the body can just as easily be applied to insight about the collective body known as society:

Not only do physically disabled people have experiences which are not available to the able-bodied, they are in a better position to transcend cultural mythologies about the body, because they cannot do things the able-bodied feel they must do in order to be happy, 'normal,' and sane....If disabled people were truly heard, an explosion of knowledge of the human body and psyche would take place.

For the past two years I have had the privilege of working in Mary Furlong's first entrepreneurial venture, SeniorNet. There I directed curriculum development and assisted in the opening of new centers designed to allow seniors to master technology skills in a peer-educator environment. As we all watched firsthand the emerging cross-fertilization between Greatest and Boomer generations it was not until this year when she published her book on marketing to Boomers, Turning Silver into Gold, that I learned we had another common interest – the transformation of the travel industry and its unique meaning for Boomers:

Travel is the one business category that covers all the themes outlined in this book. It is a global business; it benefits from increases in longevity, health, and wellness; it caters to the boomer's hunger for family and community; it is being transformed by online services and other technology; it is a purchase that often accompanies life transitions; it offers learning and enhances creativity, and it feeds a hunger for spirituality and service.

You will need to read the book yourself to unpack her insights but I want to tie all these quotes together with an observation about Boomers and the Disability Rights Movement.

The modern Disability Rights Movement was born in the 1950’s. It came of age in the 1970’s. It exerted mature influence on society in the 1980’s, 1990’s, and continues to do so today.

The Disability Rights Movement is a Boomer phenomenon. Its founding leadership is Boomers. They fought for – and won – the social recognition, political influence, and consumer clout that are now taken for granted by an entire feisty generation now moving into the even feistier stage known as old age.

To market travel successfully to Boomers it is necessary to is to know Disability Rights Movement values, history, and culture intimately enough to craft a message that speaks to them uniquely. They are not two entities. We, with our disabilities earned earlier in life, have just been running beta tests on aging day in and day out for a generation while we waited for our Boomer peers to catch up.

Now we’re ready to travel in style!

Travelers with Disabilities: Responding to a Business Opportunity

The figures are almost unbelievable. That’s why I rarely quote them in print:

American adults with disabilities or reduced mobility currently spend an average of 13.6 billion U.S. dollars a year on tourism. In 2002, these individuals made 32 million trips and spent 4.2 billion dollars on hotels, 3.3 billion on airline tickets, 2.7 billion on food and beverages, and 3.4 billion on trade, transportation, and other activities. The most popular international destinations for this tourist segment are: (1) Canada; (2) Mexico; (3) Europe; and (4) the Caribbean, in that order.

More remarkable, from my perspective as someone who has traveled extensively in the 35 years since I began to use a wheelchair, is that the travel behavior of people with disabilities has entered into the thinking of mainstream industry professionals.

Responding to the business opportunity – because building codes and social custom often do not mandate the level of accommodation expected by senior or disabled travelers - sites and suppliers subscribe to the core value sets of Inclusive Tourism and Inclusive Destination Development as part of their business sustainability strategy. These inclusion practices arise from the application of the seven principles of Universal Design developed by the Disability Rights Movement. Inclusion itself is one of the principles of the tourism industry’s Integrated Quality Management (IQM) philosophy. Slowly a coherent industry perspective is evolving. Principles for managing the tourism experience of disabled and senior tourists have emerged from sustained observation of the travel behavior of this niche and from dialogue within the communities themselves.

At the same time the disposable income of this demographic is being recognized, the group is growing rapidly in size. In countries with population inversions seniors outnumber youth. There governments have become innovative. Paying for tourism infrastructure with an income stream generated by these visitors has become a new means of upgrading services for their own aging citizens. Attracting this underserved travel niche becomes a marketing imperative. Studies of the travel behavior of this niche are receiving increasing attention because crafting a persuasive story requires understanding the hospitality needs of these travelers with the range of sensory functions, stamina, or mobility options that come with aging and disability. Communicating that message then requires attention to the accessibility (usability) of the media selected.

Australia has long been a leader in Inclusive Tourism through the scholarship of academics like Dr. Simon Darcy and Dr. Tanya Packer as well as the market-creating work of Bruce Cameron. National tourism policy has been reviewed and amended to raise inclusion as a priority. With a whole government approach to this goal and aided by dialogue within the national tourism industry on its value the groundwork has been laid for the entire country to be marketed as a destination of choice for persons with disabilities.

Grasping the market potential the Convention Bureau of Perth, Western Australia initiated a rebate program for venues that actively pursue development of accessibility and agree to reinvest the rebate in further infrastructure development. Major tourist attraction in Sydney have collaborated in a co-marketing strategy to provide online stories of “quintessential experiences” of travelers with various disabilities visiting the cities’ most prominent destinations.

This human-centered design approach to tourism product development has begun to converge with an eco-sensitive ethic and a responsible tourism approach. The resulting sustainable Universal Design philosophy appears in consensus documents such as the Rio Charter: Universal Design for Sustainable and Inclusive Development. It surfaced as a theme in Australia’s NICAN conference on Inclusive Tourism in 2004 and in Taiwan’s first International Accessible Tourism Conference in 2005 and the International Conference on Accessible Tourism in Bangkok in 2007. It will be the focus of a similar conference in Singapore in 2009 and of the Turismo Para Todos Conference scheduled for May 2008 in Brazil.

Stories of systemic inclusion at this level travel through both the industry and the consumer market. They are triggering imitation and bringing out visitors. Destinations that adopt an integrated approach to the management of the experience of senior and disabled travelers stand to benefit from a market that studies report is underserved and eager to travel.

Current Issues in Disability Rights - Boston

For people with a disability resiliency in the day-to-day requires a bit of self-confidence that only comes with a degree of social awareness. As acceptance of the civil rights of people with disabilities broadens there is plenty to be aware of!

Human rights advocates and Disability Studies academics have placed themselves unflinchingly in the center of intellectual and political ferment of the day. Emboldened by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, regional, and national policies the disability community is making its presence felt beyond the realm of simple survival issues in the domain of government and has begun to address inclusion in market-based industries previously considered tangential such as leisure recreation and tourism. Inclusive Tourism has positioned itself at the intersection of two powerful forces -- civil rights advocacy for persons with disabilities and the imperatives of market-based economics.

If you are in the Boston area the Greater Boston Civil Rights Coalition is sponsoring an overview of the issues affecting the disability community. The program, Current Issues in Disability Rights, will be held at 14 Beacon Street on Friday, October 5, 2007 promptly at 9:30 a.m.

Current Issues in Disability Rights

Friday, October 5, 2007
9:30 a.m.
We have a full program -- Please arrive on time.

14 Beacon Street
1st floor conference room

Presenters:

Barbara Chandler
Director of Housing Projects, Adaptive Environments

Osvaldo Mondejar
Vice President of Human Resources, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Juanita Mincey
Program Disability Specialist, Boston Commission for Persons with Disabilities

Australia's NICAN Provides Resources on Recreation Access

NICAN has released a tool for developing inclusive recreation. Those developing Inclusive Tourism policy development will want to correlate these with Integrated Quality Management practice through IQM's principle # 7 Inclusivity. NICAN's guidelines are based on the following principles:

* Recreation and leisure are major contributors to quality of life.
* People with a disability are individuals and have the same rights as all citizens.
* People with a disability should have full community access.
* Participation in recreation is skill related.
* Participation in decision making is essential.
* Continuous improvement is required to obtain optimal outcomes for all.

Have you seen the new Nican National Recreation Guidelines?

Does your organisation or do you know an organisation that needs a helping hand in providing a good accessible service - the Nican National Recreation Guidelines might just be a great starting point.

The guidelines have been written to allow any organisation to use, personalise and adopt. An electronic template of this document is available from the Nican website, www.nican.com.au Nican appreciates the fact that many organisations are pushed for time and resources and as such encourages organisations to adopt the guidelines as are starting point for their own policies. The guidelines are designed not to take you away from the core business of serving people but to guide your interactions and compliment organisational practice.

The Nican National Recreation Guidelines can assist organisations commit to service user participation in planning, implementation and evaluation, and to continuously improve performance in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for participants.

Purpose of the Nican Recreation Guidelines

The purpose if these guidelines are to assist in the further development of consistent and meaningful, individualised recreation opportunities for people with a disability. It has been developed utilising the following principles:

* Recreation and leisure are major contributors to quality of life.
* People with a disability are individuals and have the same rights as all citizens.
* People with a disability should have full community access.
* Participation in recreation is skill related.
* Participation in decision making is essential.
* Continuous improvement is required to obtain optimal outcomes for all.

To go directly to the guidelines click here: http://www.nican.com.au/education/rec_guidelines.asp

Suzanne Bain-Donohue

Executive Director, Nican

Ph: 02 62411220

Email: ed@nican.com.au

PO Box 110, Mitchell, ACT 2911.

Phone: 02 6241 1220 Fax: 02 6241 1224

Access to Utah

If you live in Utah you are in luck. The Utah Adaptive Recreation Network (UARN) links inclusive leisure and recreational initiatives. From the web site of one of its member organizations Common Ground Outdoor Adventures:

Common Ground Outdoor Adventures' mission is to provide life-enhancing outdoor recreational opportunities for youth and adults with disabilities. We provide adaptive equipment and support, which enable people with disabilities to participate in outdoor recreation alongside their peers. These experiences reduce stereotypes, raise awareness, and empower people to realize their full potential. Our trips are not only accessible physically but also financially.

Guia IBDD do Rio Acessível

O nosso segredo ja não é segredo:

Estimativa da Febraban mostra que o mercado de pessoas com deficiência movimenta cerca de R$ 100 bilhões por ano.

A guia IBDD e bom para pesquisar onde gastar nosso dineiro:

A idéia de um guia de acessibilidade para o Rio de Janeiro não é nova no meio das pessoas com deficiência e muito menos no IBDD. O que torna esta iniciativa de agora diferente é que idealizamos uma publicação para prestar um serviço da maneira mais direta possível, sem academicismos. Além disso, atribuindo-lhe total objetividade e, ao mesmo tempo, valorizando o que esteja de acordo com as normas de acessibilidade, só entrou no guia o que é acessível. O que não é acessível, obviamente não interessa às pessoas com deficiência.

Outra obviedade que caracteriza este guia é que não procuramos “reinventar a roda” e assumimos os modelos de texto consagrados por guias de turismo e páginas de programação cultural e de lazer dos jornais e revistas. Acreditamos que isso facilitará a assimilação das informações da nossa publicação. A estes padrões acrescentamos apenas informações pertinentes às pessoas com deficiência e o uso do símbolo internacional de acessibilidade, à semelhança das estrelas usadas para categorizar hotéis.

Guia IBDD do Rio Acessível em PDF:

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Inclusive Destination Development: Getting the Design Right

The tourism industry can be a vehicle for disability rights.

This is the fundamental assertion of the Rolling Rains Report. The Report gleans evidence daily from around the world to fulfill its tag line, "Precipitating dialogue on travel, disability, and Universal Design." Universal Design, as applied to policy and services - as well as to place, publication, and product - is the primary strategy it promotes.

Universal Design is a design philosophy with its roots in the disability rights movement but its impact - and core constituency - is considerably broader than those with what are commonly recognized as specific disabilities.

The point of departure for the various national and regional dialogues on Universal Design differs. In Japan, for example, the aging of the population is of crucial concern while in Australia or Germany the emphasis is on disability. Language tends to vary also. Universal Design in one region may be "design for all," "human-centered design," "lifespan design," or "inclusive design" depending on the region.

There are seven principles that make up Universal Design. They will be discussed in the article, "Inclusive Travel: Some Definitions," that will appear here on May 1, 2005. The central unifying point is that this is an approach to accommodating users as they are - in all their variability of capacity.

A design approach differs from a "repair" approach in that it seeks to create something from the outset that will "work for the widest possible spectrum of users without adaptation or specialized design." * That is, because care is taken to insure ease of use by the young, the old, the tall, the wide, the short - and all the other authentic varieties of humans.

Stylishness, not stigmatization, becomes possible for all. Real choice becomes available allowing consumers-on-the-sidelines to jump into the game. Consider the fashion industry and how it has embraced ample sized customers or transported eyeglasses from prosthetics to an art form.

This movement from sterile to style is influencing the hospitality industry. Studies find that people want convenience, comfort, and service as they travel. Then they want a sense of home where they stay.

Hotels chains have begun to hire world-renowned designers to create their luxury rooms. At the same time, designers have begun to create their own hotel chains. "It took Michelangelo four years to complete the Sistine Chapel. Your room took five," proclaims Steve Wynn of Wynn Resort & Country Club in Las Vegas.

As long as Universal Design, and its near cousin, Visitability, are in the repertoire of the likes of Bulgari, Armani, Ferragamo, and Versace, the designer-hotel trend enriches life for all of us. But beds - designer beds included - with mattresses several inches higher than the tops of wheelchair armrests are equally problematic for the rambunctious young and the arthritic old. And even the best chefs produce something unpalatable if they fail to serve menus in Braille.

In the United States, "home" is being redefined. Universal design has moved squarely into the mainstream in new home construction. Visitability, the practice of building homes with at least one ground floor zero-step entry and a ground floor bathroom with a doorway wide enough for a wheelchair to pass through, is not only gaining popularity, it is the law in a growing number of communities. As home becomes synonymous with universally designed hotels, retreats, and resorts will follow the trend. Cherished traditions of shipbuilding that obstruct easy access will be cast aside to accommodate the aging Baby Boomer generation on cruise ships.

As Universal Design continues its path into the core values of the travel and hospitality industry it will carry its democratizing civil rights philosophy to the farthest corners of the world.

What multinationals in the industry model as ethical best practice - even as they demonstrate that Universal Design is also profitable practice - puts added pressure on local governments to build accessible infrastructure for citizens. In a self-enforcing cycle, the outside money brought in by tourists and invested in regional development that works "work for the widest possible spectrum of users without adaptation or specialized design" creates destinations of choice for travelers with disabilities.

We call that "Inclusive Destination Development."

**********************************************************

Related Reading:

Integrated Quality Management (principle # 7 is Inclusiveness)
http://www.irs.aber.ac.uk/rsw/integrated_quality_management.htm

This article first appeared at Suite101.

The Global Reach of InclusiveTourism: IATC 2005 Keynote Address

We will discuss Inclusive Tourism within a rights-based framework at Asia's second international conference promoting Inclusive Tourism in Bangkok November 21-24, 2007. The following was the Opening Keynote for the 2005 International Conference on Accessible Tourism in Taipei, Taiwan.

Below is the text of my opening keynote presentation at the 2005 International Conference on Accessible Tourism in Taipei, Taiwan.

In March of this year Steve Fossett made history when he took off from Salina, Kansas in the USA and flew his airplane, the GlobalFlyer, for 67 hours nonstop in a solo around-the-world flight. I have only one half hour to take you all the way around the world and tell you about accessible tourism. Fasten your seatbelts. This will be a very quick flight!

The story of accessible tourism as a growing part of the tourism industry could begin at many different points. Soon the first history of accessible tourism will be published in the Review of Disability Studies. The authors Laurel van Horn and Jose Isola explain how improvements in medicine have allowed disabled people to live longer; improvements in equipment such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, or computers that speak for us allow us to be more active; entrepreneurs and other risk-takers with disabilities have started travel agencies, sports leagues, and outdoor expeditions expanding our imaginations and challenging us to ever larger goals.

And always, there is the fact that year-by-year the Baby Boomers � who love to travel � become older and more become disabled. They will become the main characters in the next chapter of the history of accessible travel. Even before that, even now, this story about how we got to where we are today is full of enough heroes and villains for me to entertain you for a long time.

But we are taking the quick tour. I will let you read the article for yourselves when we publish it.

For today, let's start this tour of accessible tourism by looking a moment more at commercial aviation.

The airline industry now has mature airplane technology, well-tested airport design and a very large and growing customer base. It was not always that way.

Taiwan has two international airports served by numerous airlines and receiving thousands of passengers annually. Air links to the world are essential to Taiwan's economic health. For many people, air travel has become as common as travel by bus, subway, or taxi. This is because the transition from propeller to jet engine airplanes made it possible for these large numbers of people to move across great distances rapidly and in comfort. Comfort may include pressurized cabins with oxygenated air for someone with compromised lungs, attendants to assist with boarding for those unstable on their legs, and space for equipment like a wheelchair or a companion animal for someone who is blind. Unfortunately, sometimes, the airlines are tempted to define comfort so that it serves only the few.

How does an industry innovate to survive once it becomes as large and taken for granted as the airlines? It looks ways to increase income from its current customers and looks to attract new ones.

When businesses realized that they must compete for our business or lose us - that is when the story got interesting to me.

I believe that the travel industry, not governments or social entrepreneurial agencies will make the next revolutionary contribution to the rights of people with disabilities.

The travel industry will become promoters of our human rights because we have spent more than 30 years tirelessly forcing governments to treat us as real human beings and have created social and non-profit agencies to work for us. These laws and educational resources make it possible for something new to happen. The travel industry will find partners in government because tourism by people with disabilities can partially pay for the infrastructure changes needed to treat disabled citizens justly - and meet the coming challenge of our aging populations. The travel industry will do this - and is already doing this - because it can profit from us.

As air travel expanded in the last 15 - 20 years there were also strong movements for the rights of people with disabilities around the world. You probably have all heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA. It protects the civil rights of people with disabilities in the USA and allows them to participate freely in society. In the air however it is the Air Carrier Access Act, the ACAA, that regulates the industry and makes accessible tourism possible. In the airport and in hotels it is the ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities (ADAAG). These regulations are made concrete through the work of designers like Coco Raynes and researchers like Kate Hunter-Zaworski who evaluates airline seating or Harry Wolfe who advises airport managers on the needs of older travelers. These pioneers use a design philosophy called Universal Design that seeks to include people with the broadest range of capacities and abilities in everything that it built.

So, what history teaches us when we start the story of accessible tourism from the airline industry, is that at a certain point the industry needed new customers. It was pressured by law to allow people with disabilities to become customers and it found technically competent individuals who understood the physical needs of people with disabilities. These technically competent individuals used Universal Design to make human rights real in our day-to-day life. They opened up new parts of the world to travelers with disabilities. Finally, we became treated as customers not patients or obstacles.

Today excellent studies exist on the tourism potential of people with disabilities. Some studies were done by the United Nations UNESCAP, by Keroul of Canada, and by the European Union but it was pioneers like Simon Darcy in Australia and Eric Lipp in the USA who gave tourism professionals the business tools they could use to act - and to make money.

I encourage you to read "From Anxiety to Access" by Simon and the "Travel Behavior Surveys" by Eric. In fact, I would even suggest that someone here today take on the task of translating them into Chinese. I say this, not only because they are historic documents that launched the current phase of accessible tourism, but because we would all like to see similar studies on Taiwan shape the future of accessible travel in the Asia Pacific region.

Eric's study found that:

The 42 million disabled travelers in the USA take 31.7 million trips per year, and spend $13.6 billion annually. Major areas of spending include $3.3 billion on airfare, $4.2 billion on hotel accommodations, and $2.7 billion on food and beverage. In addition, adults with disabilities patronize restaurants about once a week, and they account for $35 billion in annual revenue for restaurants.

Simon's study found that:

On average 80-90% of all travel by people with a physical disability is with a partner/caregiver, family or friends who do not have a disability. Of those who undertook travel with other people with a disability most traveled with 1-2 other people with a disability.

That is a lot of people with a lot of money to spend - and those are only consumer numbers from the USA.

It was the ocean cruise ship industry, not the airlines, who first learned how to turn those words into profit. When they created their successful business models they made accessible tourism sustainable. Part of their success came from understanding a simple concept that people with mobility difficulties know as "the path of travel."

Cruise ships are compact universes. If you can conveniently locate a tourist's necessities - and guarantee that the tourist can get to them with minimal effort - then you have a formula for success. In other words, do not just make a table in a restaurant accessible. Make a destination, like a restaurant, accessible from every possible starting point in the ship, or resort, or city. Create an accessible "path of travel" to an accessible destination and then you have an accessible product not just one special accessible item. You have a reason for tourists not only to pass through but to stay.

Today, whole regions, states, and countries are learning these simple facts. I want to tell you about some on our quick trip around the world. I hope that you will tell me about many more while we are together here.

To the south of us, Australia takes accessible tourism quite seriously for both domestic and international tourists. The Convention Bureau there in Perth, Western Australia has a program called "Beyond Accessibility." It requires the hotels to use from 10% to 15% of the profit they make from the conventions brought to them by the Convention Bureau for upgrading the hotel's accerssibility.

In Australia's state of Tasmania, the Devil's Playground does something unique in the entire world with the concept of "paths of travel." Kerry & Jane Winberg have purchased several properties throughout the seven tourist regions of the island. Each location is fully wheelchair accessible. In addition, they have purchased their own bus with a lift. Thus, any place in the entire state can be visited in a comfortable day trip. As a result, the entire island is open to travelers with disabilities. I traveled around Tasmania as one of their first guests last September. We taught shopkeepers and tourist site managers about the potential of this market and what they could do to improve their appeal to travelers with disabilities. Now, my colleague Neil Robinson is doing an economic feasibility study to see if this model can be applied in Western Australia.

In the Atlantic Ocean, one of the Canary Islands known as Tenerife lies sixty miles off the coast of North Africa. There lives one of the pioneers of the European Tourism for All movement, Jose Ignacio Delgado. His work has strengthened the legal rights of Europeans with disabilities. He has promoted the civil rights and improved access to services for Canary Island residents with disabilities. He consults with the tourism industry and his accessibility directory for Tenerife is a model sophisticated online resource offering tourism information for travelers with disabilities.

Farther north in the Atlantic, the United Kingdom is developing accessible tourism very rapidly since their anti- discrimination act has come into force. One especially well-done project is the online travel agency and accessible destination datable known as the "Good Access Guide" by Richard Thompson. Richard is one of the 92 colleagues from around the world who I asked to help me research this talk and who have contributed to the online discussions we have going in Brazil, Canada, and the United States on the five themes we will discuss in our Breakout Sessions at this conference.

Also at this conference, we will learn about Japan's leadership in accessible travel. Takayama city is only one example of the way Japan is teaching the rest of the world how to live with a spirit of inclusion. Their unique contribution is to recognize that older citizens benefit from the accessibility that makes a place livable and attractive to tourists with disabilities.

Architects, and their students, from the Rhode Island School of Design take a different approach. They are linking environmentally sensitive -"green" - construction methods and building materials with accessibility. They are creating an accessible eco-lodge at St. John's in the US Virgin Islands This resort, known as Concordia Estates, allows people with disabilities close access to unspoiled nature.

The tourist hotels in Hawai'i have gone beyond simple compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. They can provide guests with comfortable accessible rooms, advise them on accessible places for food and entertainment, or arrange for things such as a specialized beach wheelchair to rent that will set mobility disabled visitors loose on the beach.

All these tourist destinations have learned the cruise ship secret of success. Disabled tourists will come when they find variety, value, service, and accessibility woven together seamlessly. They are learning to include people with disabilities as free and equal participants in leisure activities.

Now, notice something about these examples. Hawai'i, St. John's, Japan, te United Kingdom, Tenerife, and Tasmania are all islands. It seems that innovation in accessible tourism, at this point in history, is flourishing in places that are manageably small and administratively unified. Is it possible that an island like Taiwan will become a world-class example of accessible tourism? The fact that we are all gathered here for this conference makes me think that Taiwan plans to become just such a leader.

We have a name for the model that is developing in the areas that I just mentioned. We call it "Inclusive Destination Development." The phrase combines two other phrases "Inclusive Development" from economic development practice and "Destination Development" from the tourism industry.

The World Bank promotes "Inclusive Development" as economic and regional development that allows for full social participation of people with disabilities.

"Destination Development" is the phrase used by the tourism industry to describe the strategic application of planning, development, and marketing resources to enhance a location as a desired destination for travelers. Inclusive Destination Development uses the word "Inclusive", in the sense it is used by the World Bank, to mean "allowing for the full social participation of people with disabilities."

Thus, Inclusive Destination Development is "the systematic and strategic application of resources to make a location become a destination of choice for persons with disabilities."

The goal of Inclusive Tourism is to accommodate the broadest range of tourists possible without stigma or the need for special accommodation. Inclusive Destination Development is the primary means of establishing Inclusive, or as we will be calling it at this conference, "Accessible" Tourism.

Inclusive Tourism is one important means through which persons with disabilities participate in society at a distance from their homes. At the same time, the presence of these tourists provides a model - and source of funding - for the inclusive practices and infrastructure necessary for these human rights to be extended to local residents. Inclusive Tourism partially funds Inclusive Destination Development. Inclusive Tourism is an example of democratization and the dissemination of human rights through a market-driven mechanism.

Earlier I mentioned the concept "path of travel." When we design places so that people with disabilities can enter, participate in, and leave freely we also allow access for economic resources and the very concept of freedom.

At this conference we commit ourselves to building the Asian portion of this path. I look forward to building it with you. So do the millions of people around the world who will also come here to travel it.

This presentation also appeared as an article at Suiote 101.

Lula Lança Plan Social para PPD

Na cerimônia de lançamento de plano social para pessoas com deficiência, Lula falou também ser uma pessoa com deficiência por não ter o dedo mindinho da mão esquerda, que perdeu quando trabalhava em uma metalúrgica. “Eu tenho deficiência, mas que não é necessariamente impeditiva de exercer o mandato.”

http://politica.dgabc.com.br/materia.asp?materia=607973#41718#41718

Brasília - Ao lançar, hoje (26), um plano social para pessoas com deficiência, o presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva afirmou que um mandato não é suficiente para atender as necessidades dessa parcela da sociedade, que reúne cerca de 24,6 milhões de brasileiros.

"Eu sei que a gente não vai conseguir fazer tudo. Eu sei que não comecei
e sei que não vou terminar também. Mas quero ter a consciência tranqüila de
que no nosso mandato fizemos o que era possível, e até o quase impossível,
para que a gente pudesse aperfeiçoar as conquistas da sociedade brasileira",
disse Lula, em cerimônia no Palácio do Planalto.

"O Brasil é detentor de uma dívida social tão imensa, que toda vez que nos dispomos a fazer o pagamento dessa dívida, percebemos que não é possível pagar o que não foi feito durante séculos e décadas em apenas um mandato presidencial", acrescentou o presidente.

O programa prevê medidas para facilitar o acesso das pessoas com deficiência
à educação, saúde, habitação e transporte. Uma das ações é a criação
de oficinas de produção de próteses e órteses (cadeiras de rodas, muletas,
andadores) nas regiões Norte e Nordeste. No total, R$ 2,4 bilhões serão
investidos até 2010 no plano.

Plano prevê investimento de R$ 2,4 bilhões na inclusão de pessoas com
deficiência até 2010

Yara Aquino
Repórter da Agência Brasil
********************************

Presidência da República
Casa Civil
Subchefia para Assuntos Jurídicos

DECRETO Nº 6.215, DE 26 DE SETEMBRO DE 2007.

Estabelece o Compromisso pela Inclusão das Pessoas com Deficiência, com vistas à implementação de ações de inclusão das
pessoas com deficiência, por parte da União Federal, em regime de cooperação com Municípios, Estados e Distrito Federal,
institui o Comitê Gestor de Políticas de Inclusão das Pessoas com Deficiência - CGPD, e dá outras providências.

O PRESIDENTE DA REPÚBLICA, no uso da atribuição que lhe confere o art. 84, inciso VI, alínea "a",
da Constituição,

DECRETA:

Art. 1o Fica estabelecido o Compromisso pela Inclusão das Pessoas com Deficiência, com o objetivo
de conjugar esforços da União, Estados, Distrito Federal e Municípios em proveito da melhoria das condições para a inclusão
das pessoas com deficiência na sociedade brasileira.

Parágrafo único. Os entes participantes do Compromisso atuarão em colaboração com as organizações
dos movimentos sociais, com a comunidade e com as famílias, buscando potencializar os esforços da sociedade brasileira
na melhoria das condições para a inclusão das pessoas com deficiência.

Art. 2o O Governo Federal, atuando diretamente ou em regime de cooperação com os demais entes federados
e entidades que se vincularem ao Compromisso, observará, na formulação e implementação das ações para inclusão das pessoas
com deficiência, as seguintes diretrizes:

I - ampliar a participação das pessoas com deficiência no mercado de trabalho, mediante sua qualificação profissional;

II - ampliar o acesso das pessoas com deficiência à política de concessão de órteses e próteses;

III - garantir o acesso das pessoas com deficiência à habitação acessível;

IV - tornar as escolas e seu entorno acessíveis, de maneira a possibilitar a plena participação
das pessoas com deficiências;

V - garantir transporte e infra-estrutura acessíveis às pessoas com deficiência;

VI - garantir que as escolas tenham salas de recursos multifuncionais, de maneira a possibilitar
o acesso de alunos com deficiência.

Art. 3o A vinculação do Município, Estado ou Distrito Federal ao Compromisso pela Inclusão das
Pessoas com Deficiência far-se-á por meio de termo de adesão voluntária cujos objetivos retratarão as diretrizes estabelecidas
neste decreto.

Parágrafo único. A adesão voluntária de cada ente federativo ao Compromisso gera para si a responsabilidade
de priorizar medidas visando à melhoria das condições para a inclusão das pessoas com deficiência em sua esfera de competência.

Art. 4o Podem colaborar com o Compromisso, em caráter voluntário, outros entes, públicos e privados,
tais como organizações da sociedade civil, fundações, entidades de classe empresariais, igrejas e entidades confessionais,
famílias, pessoas físicas e jurídicas que se mobilizem para a melhoria das condições de inclusão das pessoas com deficiência.

Art. 5o Fica instituído o Comitê Gestor de Políticas de Inclusão das Pessoas com Deficiência -
CGPD, com o objetivo de promover a articulação dos órgãos e entidades envolvidos na implementação das ações relacionadas
à inclusão das pessoas com deficiência, resultantes do Compromisso de que trata o art. 1o, assim como de realizar o monitoramento
e avaliação dessas ações.

§ 1o O Comitê Gestor será composto pelos seguintes órgãos:

I - Secretaria Especial dos Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República, que o coordenará;

II - Ministério da Educação;

III - Ministério da Saúde;

IV - Ministério do Desenvolvimento Social e Combate à Fome;

V - Ministério das Cidades;

VI - Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego; e

VII - Ministério do Planejamento, Orçamento e Gestão.

§ 2o O Secretário Especial dos Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República, designará os representantes
indicados pelos titulares dos órgãos referidos no § 1o e estabelecerá a forma de atuação e de apresentação de resultados
pelo Comitê Gestor.

§ 3o O apoio administrativo e os meios necessários à execução dos trabalhos do Comitê Gestor serão
fornecidos pela Secretaria Especial dos Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República.

§ 4o A participação no Comitê Gestor é de relevante interesse público e não será remunerada.

Art. 6o Este Decreto entra em vigor na data de sua publicação.

Brasília, 26 de setembro de 2007; 186o da Independência e 189o da República.

LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA
Dilma Rousseff

Este texto não substitui o publicado no DOU de 28.9.2007

Call for Papers: A "Different" Experience: Persons with Disabilities and Urban/Regional Realities

From the design of housing units to regional regulations of land use, and everything in between from recreation to transport, the experiences of persons with disabilities are certainly different from those of the "abled." This session seeks to highlight such differences, where urban/regional planning and design follows "normative" rules at the cost of universal convenience, often flouting ADA and other federal and state regulations.

Studies/discussions on practices where the experiences of persons with
disabilities have not been taken into account, and also instances of best
practices are invited, as are theoretical discussions. The session is
envisioned as a panel session, but in case of sufficient interest in
presenting studies, might be held as a paper session.

Organizer: Vandana Wadhwa
Sponsors: Disabilities Specialty Group
Regional Development and Planning Specialty Group
Urban Geography Specialty Group

Contact by October 15:

Vandana Wadhwa, PhD
Vice-Chair, MGSG
Visiting Research Scholar
Department of Geography and Planning
University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325
Ph: (781) 269-5685 (home--Boston, MA)
Ph: (330) 701-1523 (cell)
vandanaw@comcast.net

Discrimination in the Air

Both Mahesh Chandrasekar in India and Daniel Nelson in the UK have picked up on a type of story that is increasingly common:

A double amputee bomb victim who heads an Angolan disability organisation was thrown off a flight to London, it was disclosed this week.

The Portuguese airline TAP pilot told Carla Luis that she needed a medical certificate or a companion. Several passengers offered to be her “companion” and the much-travelled activist pointed out that she was not sick.

Nevertheless, the pilot refused to take off and she was forced to take another flight.

David Morris, senior policy adviser on disability to London Mayor Ken Livingstone, described it as an “absolute obscenity in this century for anyone to be thrown off a plane for being different.”

Read Daniel's piece at OneWorld.net: http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/153360/1/

Santa Catalina Island

Santa Catalina is one of California's Channel islands. Originally, so say geologists, a resident of Mexico in the Baja California area, the Channel Islands make their way northward at a speed of about 2 inches per year.

We caught up with Santa Catalina Island off Newport Beach about 26 miles across the sea. The island is undergoing restoration to its unique native state and has strict limits on growth. It is a hilly terrain with tourist attractions in the main town Avalon centered around watersports - not all of which are accessible.

Santa Catalina

Position Announcement: Tourism Studies Specialization

Position Announcement
California University of Pennsylvania announces a position in Tourism Studies with a specialization in tourism geography and an emphasis on tourism planning and development. Here is an opportunity to further Inclusive Destination Development.

Rank and Salary

This is a tenure track faculty appointment. Salary is competitive and commensurate with academic preparation and experience. An excellent fringe benefits package is included.

Application

To be considered, applicants must submit in hard copy all of the following:

* Letter of application highlighting the applicants' qualifications in teaching, research, and service;
* A full curriculum vita;
* Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended (unofficial transcripts are acceptable for review purposes);
* Names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of three professional references that have current knowledge of the applicants' abilities in teaching, research, and service.

Please submit via regular mail (please no email or faxed applications). Veterans should forward a copy of form DD214 to the Office of Social Equity, 250 University Ave, Box 9, California, Pennsylvania 15419.

Application Deadline October 19, 2007. Electronic submissions are permitted.

Send complete application except DD214 (if veteran) to:

Dr. Susan Ryan, Chair, Search Committee
Department of Earth Sciences
250 University Avenue, Box 55
California University of Pennsylvania
California, PA
15419
Phone: 724-938-4531
Fax: 724-938-5780
Email: ryan@cup.edu
www.cup.edu/employment

Integrity, Civility, and Responsibility are the official core values of California University of Pennsylvania, an affirmative action/ equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities, veterans and the physically challenged are encouraged to apply.

_________________________________________________________________
Susan Ryan, Ph.D. is Program Director of the Bachelor of Arts in Geography: Travel and Tourism Concentration
A World Tourism Organisation TedQual (Tourism Education Quality) Certified Program
Program Director of the 100% Online Master of Arts: Tourism Planning and Development
California University of Pennsylvania
250 University Ave California, Pennsylvania 15419
724-938-4531; 724-938-5780 (fax) ryan@cup.edu
www.cup.edu/go/tourism

Call for Papers: “Building Comfortable and Liveable Environments for All”

The International Council for Building Research and Innovation (CIB) Working Commission 084 “Building Comfortable Environments for All” invites you to submit high quality research papers for the International Meeting in 2008 in USA.

“Building Comfortable and Liveable Environments for All”

May 15- 16, 2008, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA

Topic Areas:

The principal topics were decided during the Technical Meeting of the WC in Cape Town, South Africa, last May. After a long discussion there and a further revision with the WC Members not attendant in May these are the subjects:

Costs of accessibility

Harmonisation of legislation and standards

Sports, Recreation and Accessible Environments

Education and Training

Universal Design at the urban scale

Technological tools supporting the accessible environment

Challenges in developing countries

The timetable for processing abstracts and papers is as follows:

Submission of abstract

15th December 2007

Notification of acceptance of abstract

20th January 2008

Submission of first draft of paper

1st March 2008

Refereeing decision

31st March 2008

Submission of final paper

20th April 2008

Submission of abstracts

Abstracts (approximately 150-200 words) should be submitted, by email. Please include your correct email and postal address with the abstract. Submission for publication of papers should be submitted in the same way. They must not exceed 10 sides of A4 and must follow the standard template to be provided with further notice.

Abstracts must be sent by email to:

l.biocca@itc.cnr.it or

jon.sanford@coa.gatech.edu

Organizers

CIB International Council for Research and Innovation in Building, National Research Council, the Construction Technologies Institute and the Georgia Institute of Technology Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access/College of Architecture.

Background And Scope

The demand for comfortable, livable built environments for all is continuously creating new challenges in design. The need to accommodate the diversities of all cultures in personal requirements and lifestyles and to enable all individuals to participate in local and global society has opened the door for researchers and designers to meet the demand. The international goal is to meet the widest range of needs to the majority of our global population regardless of age, abilities and culture in both developed and developing countries.

This meeting will join people from different countries to discuss these issues and propose ways to address them. It will be an opportunity to exchange both unique and common experiences, knowledge and ideas, bringing to the table new perspectives and hopefully encourage research initiatives that would address the demand we are all experiencing.

Objectives

The objectives of the CIB WG084/2008 Meeting are as follows:

- To explore and discuss challenges, issues and priorities that concern creating a built environment for all.

- To explore and discuss how developing countries can address these challenges, what may be learned and adapted from developed countries, and how we can all join together to meet the international goal of creating a built environment for all.

- To present and demonstrate how research and innovation can be used to help all countries address current and future demands of building inclusive environments for all.

Who should attend the Meeting?

The CIB WG084/2008 Meeting is a major event for practitioners, public administrations and researchers from developing and developed countries in the areas of design, education, accessibility and usability of facilities, support of home technologies and daily life independence.

It is a significant event for accessing recent research results from different countries, to share knowledge and to network globally with experts around the world. The meeting will bring together an international audience mostly of academics, researchers, educators and policy-makers.

Language

The official language of the Meeting is English.

Organising Bodies

CIB is the world’s foremost organization for construction researchers and practitioners. With its headquarters in Rotterdam, CIB is an international body dedicated to the research and documentation of the building industry. It brings together professionals from a broad spectrum of building organizations worldwide. The unrivalled collection of expertise of the more than 600 members is organized through a network of working commissions whose subject matter extends over every area of building and construction. Web: www.cibworld.nl

CNR (National Research Council, Italy) was founded in 1923, while the Construction Technologies Institute started its building research activities in 1962, inclusive of most key-areas of the construction sector, from materials to components, to whole systems. The Unit of Rome is long involved in the topics of Design for All and Home technologies; it is also the Coordinator of this CIB Working Commission 084. Web: www.roma.itc.cnr.it

The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation's top research universities, distinguished by its commitment to improving the human condition through advanced science and technology. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the Institute offers many nationally recognized, top-ranked programs. Web: www.gatech.edu

*****************************

More information on Livable Communities:

National Council on Disabilities Report
http://www.smco-cod.org/vgn/images/portal/cit_609/5/33/610395300livablecommunities.pdf

Creating an Age-Free Environment

Amy Nutt writes for Ezine Articles. Here she explores Universal Design in the context of homes and "Age-Free Environments."

The Evolution of Kitchen Home Appliances in an Age-Free Environment
By Amy Nutt

The “new” retirement would wisely be referred to as “unretirement,” a decades-long, active, involved extension of life. Home will be headquarters during this exciting stage of life, and the kitchen will be command central. From untraditional housing styles to universal design, the kitchen will be the first true age-free space.

Kitchen-Centric Housing

Retirement age is dropping steadily and even people in their twenties and thirties eagerly contemplate their move into the phase of life that used to mean the end of all that mattered. Not so in the 21st century; unretirement can bring new freedoms, lucrative ventures, broader horizons, personal fulfillment and global connections - and all this as you sit at the kitchen table enjoying a morning coffee. Kitchens will continue to come in all shapes, sizes and price ranges. They will always be loved as much for their flaws as their charm and convenience. Housing styles and development patterns that isolate residents and create urban sprawl will be replaced by designs and plans that are both environmentally sound and people friendly. One trend will shift couples and single homeowners towards compact, green new homes and away from energy- hungry monster houses. These scaled-down residences will not just be smaller, they’ll be smarter. For instance, some homeowners may concentrate food production in the kitchen through hydroponic or soilless gardening in glassed-in extensions that double as dining rooms. Kitchen-centric, multi-unit housing will become more common with home-like variations that include:

• cluster homes constructed around central courtyards that function as common outdoor eating areas and kitchen gardens,
• co-housing communities which integrate separate family units with communal recreation and eating areas to strengthen community connections, and
• mingle-style high-rise units with private bed-sitting rooms radiating off central kitchens and living areas to offer affordable, elegant lifestyles.

Our First Age-Free Environments

Too often thoughts of the future focus on how technology will change our lives, ignoring an important fact: we’re going to change, too. Every aspect of life will be touched as the demographic revolution represented by almost 10 million Baby Boomers moves through life. Kitchens will be our first age-free spaces as they transform into multi-purpose, multigeneration work and entertainment spaces where safety and functionality are paramount for all sizes, shapes and abilities of users. Children and grandchildren, parents and grandparents, the able-bodied and those with disabilities must all be comfortable socializing, cooking and eating in these activity centres. Age-Free environments have flexibility designed in. Universal Design, an emerging concept that will soon become commonplace, stresses the elimination of all barriers to functionality and enjoyment for everyone. These Age-Free features range from wide hallways, levered door handles and adjustable-height counters to visually-cued ergonomic design applied to everything from control knobs to furniture. All of which furnish a kitchen that allows the joy of cooking to be the focal point.

Voice-activated appliances with robotic features for repetitive tasks like cleaning and equipment maintenance will be among future innovations that save time, effort and money. Comfort will be ensured by advances in computer-chip embedded products and materials like chameleon wall surfaces which change colour on demand to match mood and weather, and heated floors that recognize the walker and automatically adjust room temperature to suit that person’s preprogrammed preferences.

Room for Improvement

Home owners and tenants will continue to strive for a personal balance of affordability and luxury in their homes. Not every family or community will have access to the same levels of technology and sophistication of design—there will still be room for improvement. Here are a few improvements that may be available to you:

• Food shopping will shift from a time-consuming physical task to an automatic electronic undertaking. Home appliances that continuously monitor freshness and inventory levels will automatically place orders with grocery warehouses and food distributors to ensure you never run out of anything.
• Bulk ordering and cooperative arrangements for purchasing food and other goods will cut costs and support essential local infrastructures within subdivisions, condominium complexes and neighbourhoods.
• Systems and equipment will have back up capacity to protect food during power brown outs and failures. Some kitchens may be designed to double as a self-contained safe living environment in times of natural disaster, pandemic or interruption of municipal services.
• Your refrigerator, through its wireless connection to the health monitor you’ll wear, may keep track of calories, salt or other health issues for you and make suggestions or issue warnings when you open the door. Particularly outside urban areas, online medical services will reinforce the connection between nutrition and wellness using the kitchen as the health hub. No aspect of home and housing will see as many changes as the multi-purpose kitchen over the coming decades. Since the origins of the word “kitchen” relate only to cooking, these evolving spaces may eventually even earn themselves a new name.

Offers superior quality home appliances, kitchen appliances and accessories, including washers, dryers, refrigerators and includes product catalog and descriptions.
http://www.kitchenaid.ca/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amy_Nutt
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Evolution-of-Kitchen-Home-Appliances-in-an-Age-Free-Environment&id=718548

Consumer Reports Encouraged to Consider Access Features in Product Evaluations

In an open letter to Consumer Reports, Greg Trapp, President, National Council of State Agencies for the Blind. Inc. (NCSAB) urges the publication to note the access features in their product reviews.

Wireless devices such as cell phones and iPods were given as examples of technology that pose accessibility issues for people who are Blind/low vision, as well as any item with a touch screen, programmable features, menu or electronic display. Solutions like speech output or input, using tactile surfaces, and audible tones to indicate menu selections were given as examples of currently available accessibility features in consumer products. Trapp asserts that manufacturers will be encouraged to make appliances and electronic devices accessible if Consumer Reports begins to routinely report on product accessibility. He also states that this may improve usability and functionality for all people.

Source:

National Council of State Agencies for the Blind. Inc.
http://www.ncsab.org/alert/consumer_report.htm

Multi-Modal Transportation & The Weakest Link

Although it is unfortunate to be the weak link n the UK rail system users of Morpeth Station can take encouragement in the fact that the inaccessibility of their location has raised some official notice -- and not simply for disability access:

Tara Melton, of Transport 2000, said: "Rail passengers need real travel choices.

"All stations should have good bus links, decent footpaths and secure cycle parking and must be accessible to all.

"What our survey shows is that this clearly is not the case for many rural and urban stations. "With rail patronage growing in the north east it is now more important than ever not to disable or discriminate against rail users and to say 'goodbye' to inaccessible stations."

Source:
http://www.newspostleader.co.uk/latest-news/Railway-station-branded-the-weakest.3178594.jp

Universal Design in Homes Around the World: Trends for Hoteliers to Watch

In the US AARP has taken leadership in promoting Universal Design for homes through their Social Impact initiatives. Prince Williams County, Virgina in the US has a Universal Design demonstration home. A project is underway at the Universal Design Living Laboratory in Columbus, Ohio. In Brazil Sandra Perito has been doing so for several years at Universal Home.

In Australia Alex and Desiree have come at the field from the consumer standpoint and offer a unique voice as they disseminate Universal Design thinking by turning their home into a demonstration project at Universal Design Renovations.

From the web site:

Home renovations and home improvements can be stressful at the best of times, for those of us who want to consider the needs of the wheel chair bound or elderly, the stress levels can get even higher.

This is the place I found myself.

Early in April 2006 my partner Desireé suffered a significant stroke while we were on holidays interstate. Months on, she is still in full time rehabilitation and together we are facing a lengthy period of her being wheel chair bound.

We live and work in Sydney Australia and are fortunate enough to own a duplex house on the far south coast of New South Wales. We intend to renovate this duplex so that not only is it friendly to Desireé and I but will also provides a easy living holiday venue for those families that have similar accessibility issues. We hope to involve the private sector in this project. It will be an ideal vehicle to showcase products in a hands on environment.

We are going to use the seven principles of universal design to guide the project.

* Principle 1 : Equitable Use
The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.
* Principle 2 : Flexibility in Use
The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.
* Principle 3 : Simple and Intuitive Use
Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.
* Principle 4 : Perceptible Information
The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions of the user's sensory abilities.
* Principle 5 : Tolerance for Error
The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.
* Principle 6 : Low Physical Effort
The design can be used efficiently and comfortably, and with a minimum of fatigue.
* Principle 7 : Size and Space for Approach and Use
Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use, regardless of the user's body size, posture, or mobility.

I want to invite you to travel this journey with me via this website.

Source:

http://www.universaldesignrenovations.com/pages/Our-Story.html

Geocoding Travel Photos

After taking a vacation posting travel photos on a Google map helps with telling the story.

There seem to be several approaches to geocoding photos maturing on the market. As a RoboGeo is in version 5. Using GPS gadgets there are two ways of capturing geocoded location data. One approach collects data continuously. The other does so at preset intervals or on command. The former is probably more relevant to video or to trail plotting than to geo-tagging still photos

For matching photos to location it is necessary to enable timestamping in the camera and - very importantly for accurate placement - make sure that the GPS gadget and camera clocks are synchronized! Following a photo shoot the data collected by both gadget and camera are transferred to a computer and processed. They are written to a file readable by tools like Google Earth (Archane geekiness for extra points: EXIF, KML.)

Several online sources feature, but few critically review, Trackstick II. Here are a few reviews at

• New Davincis.com
• Spy Review Compares it to Trackstick III
• Simple Thoughts Compares it to Tracking Key GPS

Sony GPS CS-1 at

• Science Library Pad
  
• Elapin

• Science Library Pad Compares it to Sony GPS-CS1

• Rukapedia
• PD4U
• GPS Slim seems to have some compatability issues

Key product features to consider are:

• Signal reception capacity/Accuracy of data
• Battery life
• Ruggedization
• OS compatability (Windows, Mac)
• Ease of use of supplied data transfer & geocoding software
• Storage capacity

Of these data transfer & usability of supplied geocoding software seem to be the most salient product differentiators for non-urban use (i.e. this project where signals are not blocked by skyscrapers and most products on the market should have sufficient strength.) Unfortunately, no apples-to-apples comparisons of these features seem to exist online.

Given the incomplete information I am drawn to the Trackstick II or III or the Globalsat DG-100 GPS. With the latter two difficult to find, Trackstick II seems a safe purchase.

Don't You Wish Your Service Animal Could Do This?

That's one smart canine companion!

Here are some canine companion travel tips from the American Kennel Club.

Desde "El Fantastico Mundo de Metrovias"

Este video, "Siete años más tarde, andén inaccesible" bien conta de la vida cotidiana de quien usa transporte publica y silla de ruedas. En este caso estamos en Buenos Aires donde - despues de siete años -- todavia no hay accesso al Metrovias.

¿Puede ser mejor cambiar la prioridad del Programa de Acción Cultural El Subte Vive del Metrovias de murales, filmes, fotografia, y escultura inaccesibles para un programa que reconoce la cultura de nosotros? ¿Como el árbol que cae en el bosque y nadie lo oye, que vale arte en lugar inaccesible? ¿Que significa del nivel de conocimiento de nuestra cultura dentro del Metrovias cuando la infraestructura no refleje el genio de nuestros arquitectos como Ron Mace, Taide Buenfils, o Marcelo Pinto Guimarães porque no comprende sus Siete Principios del Diseño Universal?

¿Porque no levanta Fundación Rumbos su proprio Concurso de Fotografia Contemporanea Argentina exponiendo la vision de una convivencia en el subte con personas con discapacidad?

Este seria -- por fin -- un "Subte Vive!"

Analysis of India's Civil Aviation Requirements

C. Mahesh, Advocacy Coordinator for the CBR Forum has provided the following analysis of India's Civil Aviation regulations.

Sub: Issuance of Civil Aviation Requirements, Section 3, Series M, Part I on Carriage by Air of Disabled Passengers or Person with Reduced Mobility

With reference to your letter JDG/AT/2007, Dated: 30th Aug 2007

Firstly I would like to thank you and DGCA for considering our feedback and comments favorably for the above mentioned CAR and for your prompt actions.

As you have mentioned in the letter I noticed that there is substantial revision from the earlier CAR and we greatly regard and respect this action.

The following are my comments to the revised CAR.

1 Section 1.1 – It reads as if Persons with disabilities are now able to travel because of 'Low Cost and Low Frill' airlines. This is not true as persons with disabilities have been using air travel for a 'long long' time because it is convenient and one can avoid overnight journeys. The paragraph is 'Patronising' and reads like a favour is being done for 'Disabled Passengers or Person with Reduced Mobility'. Therefore I would suggest that section 1.1 stops at the line ending "….the common man with average income group to travel by air".

2 Section 1.1 - The line starting from "Whereas persons with disabilities…" should be a new paragraph and should be rewritten as "Whereas persons with disability or persons with reduced mobility like everyone else are increasingly given the possibility to travel by air….". In this way persons with disabilities are being considered as an equal to every other passenger.

3 Section 3.1 – Definitions – the issue that a disabled person is not able to travel independently is not only because of physical or any other limitation in the individual but it also to do with the physical structure of the airports and the imposed practices/ procedures. For example: Wheelchairs cannot enter the toilets designed for disabled passengers. There needs to be an additional line in the definition that acknowledges the barriers imposed by the facilities at the airport/ airline and the air plane that in fact disables a person. Therefore there need to be a change in the sentence to acknowledge this barrier "Disabled person or person with reduced mobility means any person whose mobility when using transport is reduced due to any physical disability……. or any other cause of disability, or age or due to the architectural barriers/ barriers caused by structural/ procedural requirements and whose situation needs appropriate attention…"

4 Section 3.2 – The use of the word 'abnormal' is inappropriate and dehumanizing. Who is considered 'normal?'. People for no apparent reason behave badly/ rudely do you consider them 'normal'? Therefore I suggest that the word abnormal should be deleted, the sentence "or from obvious abnormal physical or mental conditions" should be reframed as – "or from observations observed and reported by airline personnel"

5 Section 4.1, Sub Section b – The sentence starting from "Airlines should develop emergency evacuation procedures" should be a new paragraph and not clubbed with the previous line as they are two different points.

6 Section 4.4 is the most important welcome change that acknowledges that many persons with disabilities may not need an escort. Therefore the present Section 4.4 should re-ordered and should be 4.3.

7 Section 4.3 mentions about "No airlines should be refused to carry persons traveling…severe mobility impairments….if they are accompanied by an escort" should be re-ordered and should become 4.4

8 Section 4.5 mentions about "assistance booths/ counters" - this alone is not sufficient there should also be appropriate buses/ vehicles that must be available inside the airport for transfer from one terminal to another – For example in Mumbai airport they have a Volvo bus to transfer passengers from domestic to international terminal – however the buses has steep steps and one cannot lift the passenger with the wheelchair inside the bus – and the passenger with disability has to instead come out of the airport and take a private taxi cutting across traffic to reach the international terminal.

9 Section 6.3 – Other Assistive Devices – Passengers carrying 'spare calipers' or 'mobility aid' must be able to take the same as a hand baggage and the airline should not insist on checking-in this baggage as these devices could be prone to breakage. These assistive devices are essential for the mobility and independence of the disabled persons and in addition they are not ready-made products that can be replaced/ purchased to compensate the passenger.

10 Section 7.4 mentions about 'In Transit off loading' and Section 7.6 mentions about 'Transit Stations' – However there is no mention of appropriate bus/ transport service to ensure easy and safe transit of disabled passengers. This point needs to be added in the CAR.

11 There is no mention of handling baggage of checked in luggage of disabled passenger. As a rule practiced by all airlines - the passenger with disability or passenger with reduced mobility is the last to deplane. It takes 20-30 minutes for the assistance and wheelchair to arrive inside the airplane and passenger with disability is usually the last one to collect the checked-in baggage from the conveyor belt. Therefore I request DGCA to add a new section - that says - checked-in baggage of disabled passenger should be marked with a 'Priority Tag' and the ground staff at the baggage section should keep the baggage in a safe place till the passenger arrives.

Please do get back to me for any further information/ clarifications. In addition, I would be very happy if you could send me the copy of the finalized CAR.

With kind regards

Best wishes

C. Mahesh

Advocacy Coordinator

--
C. Mahesh
Advocacy Coordinator
CBR Forum
14, CK Garden
Wheeler Road Extension
Bangalore - 560 084
Tel - 080- 2549 7387 or 2549 7388
advocacy.cbrforum@gmail.com
cbrforum@blr.vsnl.net.in
cbrforum@gmail.com

Some Statistics on US Tourist Spending

Tourists from North America are the second largest group visiting Brazil after Argentinians. Spending an average of $89.70 per day the Brazilian government records their preferred destinations as:

• Rio de Janeiro (62%)
• São Paulo (21.3%)
• Foz do Iguaçu (13.6%)
• Salvador (12%)
• Manaus (6.5%)

With an estimated 30,000 people annually not disembarking from cruise ships in Rio de Janeiro alone for lack of accessible disembarkation, transportation, and even high value sites such as the Christ statue at Corcovado and the top of Sugar Loaf there are many opportunities to increase Brazil's appeal. Although Foz do Iguaçu are easily accessible by elevated walkway that walkway is on the Argentine side of the river.

Potential solutions may lie in the launch of Vai Brasil's Viaje Mais project and the extension of the World Health Organization's Senior-Friendly Cities program. Certainly the Turismo para Todos project of the Instituto Interamericano sobre Deficiência e Desenvolvimento Inclusivo – IIDI intends to address the issue in port cities.

Turistas norte-americanos em média U$ 89,70 por dia
06-09-2007

Os turistas norte-americanos são, depois dos argentinos, os que mais visitam o Brasil (foram 721.633 em 2006). Eles gastam em média U$ 89,70 por dia, mais do que os portugueses – também assíduos visitantes de nosso país. De acordo com o Estudo da Demanda Turística Internacional (2005), 34,9% dos turistas americanos visitaram o Brasil para fazer negócios ou participar de congressos e convenções; 32,5% vieram encontrar familiares e amigos e 28,1% vieram a lazer. O estudo mostra ainda que os destinos mais procurados pelos americanos são Rio de Janeiro (62%), São Paulo (21,3%), Foz do Iguaçu (13,6%), Salvador (12%) e Manaus (6,5%). A Embratur possui dois Escritórios Brasileiro de Turismo nos Estados Unidos: um em Nova York e outro em Los Angeles.

Por: Embratur atraves Turismo em Foco

Mrs. Charlton Goes to Town

Here is the tale of Mrs. Charlton -- someone who, quite fortunately, does not seem to bet suffering from self-seteem problems as a result of her temporary disability:

Mrs Charlton recently came out of hospital with mobility difficulties and she uses a scooter, wheelchair and walking sticks.

Mrs Charlton said: "On one occasion I was on a train and wanted to get off but I couldn't because the ramp was so rusty. The conductor then had to ask members of the public to manhandle me off the train and I just don't think that's on.

She added: "I went down to the Chiltern Railway offices in the end because I couldn't get through on the phones and I spoke to someone who said there are plans to do work on the station. As soon as I mentioned that I have contacted the newspaper he said there was no need for the papers to be involved – I think it helped." Chiltern Railways has agreed to pay for a taxi for Mrs Charlton to travel to her nearest accessible station.

Source:

http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/Disabled-traveller-felt-stranded-at.3200284.jp

SiSi: "Say It Sign It"

IBM has a new tool that increases digital accessibility -

Mary Furlong: Turning Silver into Gold

From Mary Furlong's book "Turning Silver into Gold":

Travel is the one business category that covers all the themes outlined in this book. It is a global business; it benefits from increases in longevity, health, and wellness; it caters to the boomer's hunger for family and community; it is being transformed by online services and other technology; it is a purchase that often accompanies life transitions; it offers learning and enhances creativity, and it feeds a hunger for spirituality and service.

Tom Chun is "Rolling Down Under"...Somewhere!

International traveler, scuba diver, photographer, and sometime correspondent Tom Chun has launched off on another jaunt. This time he is meandering around the Pacific. Below is from his newsletter:

Rolling Down Under - Part I

Dear Friends,

It's another crazy adventure in progress for me. My mission: to find Nemo for my two darling nieces. The title of my travelogue is not 100% correct. I just left Fiji, am now in Australia, and will be in New Zealand afterwards. Some of you may be wondering what happened to my human mule, my brother Paul, who traveled with me last summer. Well, I left the gate open and he got lost and wandered away. LOL! I am traveling solo this time. Seriously though, Paul just returned from Africa where he took some amazing photos: paulchun.shutterfly.com

"Bula, Bula!" from the Islands of Fiji. The Fijian people are some of the most hospitable and friendly that I have encountered on my travels. The guys are big, tall, and burly; and and crazy about rugby. I believe there's a 400lb. bench press that you have to achieve to become an honorary Fijian (j/k!). I'm working on it. LOL! I took some boat trips to see a couple of the 300 surrounding Islands (most uninhabitable). One trip was to Beachcomber Island, a party Island for the young, but there are resorts for honeymooners and relaxation as well. On a second Island trip, we "sailed" (the crew casted the sails up, but they used the engine on board for the duration) to "Snorkel Island". The crew carried me on/off/all over the boat and around the Island. The snorkeling was fantastic, but no Nemo! On our way back our ship's engine broke down and we had to call in for a smaller boat to save us before nightfall. I thought I had signed up for a day cruise, but it turned out that they upgraded me to a sunset cruise. Fiji time!!! I like it! I have met some great new friends and hope to visit them some day soon. I'm now in Cairns, near the Great Barrier Reef. I will be doing some scuba diving soon. So, the elusive Nemo will perhaps show up after all. Today I took the scenic train to Kuranda that winds around the rainforest north of Cairns. The train cabin they lifted me up on (literally, it was like a small forklift) was brand spanking new. From there, I took the Skyrail back down over the top of the rainforest. The scenery and smells were spectacular! It was a breath of fresh air. Photos at: tompchun.shutterfly.com under "Down Under - Part I" Old blogs at: tompchun.blogspot.com Ciao, Tom =) "International Man of Leisure"

Handcycling Portugal: Jose Lima's Protest

The September issue of Accessible Portugal is out. It features an interview with José Lima. Lima set his sights on a handcycle tour of the country.

See the Interview with José Lima

Collective Intelligence & Disability Movement Values

Helpdesk4Seniors.org is a startup dream being floated by Greg Tsutaoka from MiDocs Foundation. It is one of several un- or under-funded initiatives starting 20 years after Mary Furlong's pioneering work with SeniorNet to increase social capital for older adults using technology. Who knows, maybe they will be the first such group to champion binary economics and we will see a SeniorSite with Boomer sensibilities and deep pockets to accomplish their mission!

On the Helpdesk4Seniors blog yesterday was a post introducing collective intelligence and technology with specific reference to disability thus suggesting connections to Universal Design. Below is a response to that post, Collective Intelligence: Include The Everyone for Success

A response to Collective Intelligence: Include The Everyone for Success

Collective Intelligence is what you observed when you worked with SeniorNet Learning Centers like the one in Almaden -- the sense of purposefulness, shared by peers, around a defined task. One characteristic of mature learners is the ability to value the limits of their knowledge not as a cause of frustration but as the starting point for personally relevant learning. That self-knowledge becomes a meeting point for teacher and learner as Charles Curran taught in his Counsel-Learning methodology. Shared life experience (generational affinity/culture) among seniors creates the peer-community which is the engine for the Centers' pedagogical practice of classes with a 1/3 instructor/learner ratio. The "co-opetition" is energizing!

As you discuss Universal Design and Assistive Technology (i.e talk about disability) be cautious not to trigger the generational aversion to "coming out" about the disabilities. Let no one fool you. Disabilities are experienced by each and every senior. It takes self-knowledge and social resiliency skills to admit it however.

Your arguments on the value and power of disability are classic Social Model of Disability but your vocabulary is the conflicting Medical Model of Disability. You will need to make a fuller presentation of the Social Model to overcome seniors' aversion. Your advice to value diversity is a start. It is core Disability Rights Movement philosophy:

"Not only do physically disabled people have experiences which are not available to the able-bodied, they are in a better position to transcend cultural mythologies about the body, because they cannot do things the able-bodied feel they must do in order to be happy, 'normal,' and sane....If disabled people were truly heard, an explosion of knowledge of the human body and psyche would take place." -- Susan Wendell, author of The Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical Reflections on Disability

One of the characteristics of Boomers moving into the space you intend to serve with Helpdesk4Seniors is a different level of comfort with disability as well as a demand for usability as defined by the aged bodies of Boomers. That trend is being consciously strengthened as those of us in the leadership of the Disability Rights movement -- Boomers by birth -- intentionally redefine aging on every level.

Note the opposite of your diversity-aware approach to knowledge in David Weinberger's piece in this issue of KM World, "The Adversity of Knowledge":
http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=37313

Passenger or Pilot Disabled Travelers Take to the Sky

Mahesh Chandrasekar commented that generosity on the part of the worldwide disability community in sharing quality information contributed to his work negotiating breakthrough in Indian civil air regulations. While our friends in the Service Employees International Union expressed shock at the original regulation, and we applaud progress toward inclusion in air transportation, reader Marty Sweeney wrote to share this vision of a world beyond fear of people with disabilities as passengers.

Watch this video as one disabled pilot documents the modifications he made to keep him flying. Maybe he'll start a local Day in the Sky.

Indian Aviation Norms for Disabled Passengers Revised

Ananth Krishnan of the Hindu reports on positive developments for air travelers in and to India as theoretical distinctions made by disability scholars find their way into public and governmental discourse.

In the ongoing controversy over civil air regulations in India the definition of disability has been somewhat clarified. Distinguishing between permanent disability and illness, the regulations begin to extricate themselves from the Medical Model of Disability. In so doing they provide clarity for air transport providers while capturing distinctions in passenger functionality relevant to air travel.

Such campaigns for human rights as C. Mahesh, Rajiv Raman, the Community-Based Rehabilitation Forum and Vidyasagar are an ongoing necessity. Often they attract censure when they appear to raise the level of conflict beyond "polite" levels of acquiescence. Unjust regulations, inadequate infrastructure, preemptory expulsion from aircraft, or forced sedation will simply never be tolerated by the community of persons with disabilities.

However, the worldwide disability community now hopes that, with an inkling of the positive social benefit available in adopting the Social Model of Disability as a basis for policy, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will affirmatively pursue policy that enables the airline industry to profit from the untapped financial resources of travelers with disabilities to the mutual benefit of that community and the tourism industry.

CHENNAI: Following objections from disabled rights groups, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised the civil aviation requirements for disabled passengers that were put into effect on August 15.

Disabled rights organisations had voiced their protest against the implementation of the guidelines stating that they were not clear enough in their definition of disability. The requirements also made it necessary for disabled passengers to be accompanied by escorts. The disabled rights groups claimed this was discriminatory.

The revised requirements define a disabled person or a person with reduced disability as "any person whose mobility when using transport is reduced due to physical disability (sensory or locomotor, permanent or temporary), intellectual disability or impairment, or any other cause of disability, or age, and whose situation needs appropriate attention."

The requirements also state that airlines "shall not insist for the presence of an escort," acknowledging that "many persons with disabilities do not require constant assistance for their activities." If a passenger declares "independence in feeding, communication with reasonable accommodation, toileting and personal needs," he or she will not have to travel with an escort.

"Welcome relief"

"The revised guideline is a welcome relief," C. Mahesh, advocacy coordinator of the Community-Based Rehabilitation Forum told The Hindu on Thursday. "The earlier version was draconian and would have greatly hampered independent air travel for persons with disabilities."

Mr. Mahesh said that the earlier requirements had not made a distinction between disabled passengers and those with a medical condition.

"Thankfully, this has been done away with," he said. "This distinction is very important because not all disabled persons have a medical condition. Disability is not an illness but a condition that is more or less permanent in nature."
Mr. Mahesh added that the DGCA had written to the disabled rights groups for feedback on the revisions. The revised requirements will come into effect on October 1.

The issue of aviation requirements for disabled passengers has come under the spotlight following the prevention of Rajiv Rajan, a cerebral palsy patient, from boarding an Air Sahara flight in Chennai on June 18 for failing to produce a medical certificate. Mr. Rajan was also forced to take a sedative pill before boarding a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Chennai two years ago.

According to the new requirements, airlines will no longer have the authority to take such steps.
Disabled passengers who require assistance only in embarking or disembarking, or needing "reasonable accommodation" in flights, cannot be asked by airlines to produce medical certificates.

Right to travel

For the disabled rights groups, the revisions are a welcome measure. Mr. Rajan, also an activist with the disabled rights non-governmental organisation Vidyasagar, told The Hindu that the earlier requirements, in particular the
demand for escorts, infringed on a disabled person's right to travel.

"If the August 15 draft were to come into effect, it would affect my right to movement," he said.
"I travel at least three times a month, so it is very difficult for me to find an escort on my own. It is a violation of my right to be independent."

Source:
http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/07/stories/2007090761741500.htm

Further Readings on Disability Studies and Inclusive Tourism:

Defining the Market of Travelers with Disabilities
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/110781

Inclusive Tourism: Some Definitions
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/114773

"Specialness" & Scarcity: The Paternalism Syndrome
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/001674.html

ahistoricality: Progressive Engagement With Disability
http://ahistoricality.blogspot.com/2007/09/progressive-engagement-with-disability.html

Getting the Design Right: Inclusive Destination Development
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/115176

Mapping an Alternate Future

If you like puzzling over maps you might be interested in the call for paper to "Subversive Cartographies for Social Change" below or enjoy the collection at WorldMapper.com. The map above represents Transport & Travel Service distribution. It is further explained in this .pdf file.

From the site:

Together, transport and travel services constitute 13.2% of all international exports of goods.

Transport services are the movement of goods and people by air, sea and land. It is because transport services cost money that imports have higher values than exports worldwide - the transport costs are included in the import price.

Travel services mainly include the services and goods that are sold to tourists who visit a place. This might include a guided tour and some postcards. Exports are linked to tourist numbers, but also to the prices that tourists are charged.

Call for Papers, AAG Meeting Boston April 15-19, 2008

Subversive Cartographies for Social Change

Chris Perkins, University of Manchester
J�rn Seemann, Louisiana State University

To be subversive, is to wish to overthrow, destroy or undermine the
principles of established orders. As such subversive cartographies
offer alternative representations to established social and political
norms. Maps are no longer cast as mirrors of reality, instead they
are increasingly conceived as diverse ways of thinking, perceiving
and representing space and place which express values, worldviews and
emotions. Maps are no longer part of an elite discourse: they can
empower, mystify, and enchant. More critical assessements of mapping
increasingly explore subversive contexts strongly associated with
innovative methodological approaches, with mapping seen as an
explicitly situated form of knowledge. This shift has been strongly
facilitated by the increasing popularity of new media, burgeoning
technological change and newly developing mapping spaces (eg
OpenStreetMap, WorldMapper and EmotionMap). So subversive mapping
has an agency (Corner 1999), which can be enacted outside existing
cartographic conventions. It has escaped from the grasp of
cartographers: everybody is mapping nowadays.

This session focuses upon these subversive elements in contemporary
cartographic practice and theory. We invite critical contributions
from researchers concerned with the subversive potential of mapping,
working in the fields of cartography, cultural, social, political,
historical and social geography, ethnic and indigenous geography,
qualitative approaches and allied areas. We are keen to have
contributions from practitioners enacting change and making new maps,
in artistic practice, protest movements, participatory development,
and community activism. The aim is dialogue between academics and
practitioners and with exploring how mapping research can challenge
conventions and become more relevant to more people.

POSSIBLE THEMES:

* New approaches and methods in subversive cartography. What
qualitative and ethnographic approaches are most appropriate for
which mapping circumstances?

* Institutional forms and agency: how do links and flows facilitate
subversive mappings?

* The cultural significance of subversive mapping practices.

* The implications and consequences of technological shifts for
subversive mapping. How does Web 2.0 change the oppositional mapping
world?

* Subversive cartographies created through personal mappings.

* What is the role of mapping aesthetics and artistic practice in
creating subversive cartographies ?

* Can subversive cartographies really work as countermapping to enact
political changes?

Proposed papers in the form of a title and short abstract (250 words
max) should be submitted to Chris Perkins
(c.perkins@manchester.ac.uk) or J�rn Seemann (jseema4@lsu.edu) by
30th September 2007. Further details on the paper requirements and
registration for the AAG meeting are at
http://aag.org/annualmeetings/2008/index.htm

Consulta Pública: Regulamentos Técnicos da Qualidade Referentes à Acessibilidade no Transporte Rodoviário e Aquaviário

Os Regulamentos Técnicos da Qualidade referentes à acessibilidade no transporte rodoviário e aquaviário encontram-se em consulta pública por 60 dias, tendo os mesmos sido publicados hoje (04/09) no DO - Diário Oficial.

Estes podem ser acessados na íntegra, na página do Inmetro, no seguinte endereço: http://www.inmetro.gov.br , na margem direita da página, no item Produtos e serviços - consultas públicas ou da link:

http://www.inmetro.gov.br/rtac/resultado_pesquisa.asp?seq_classe=1&sel_categoria=21

Abaixo segue um extrato do título das Portarias que publicam os dois RTQs.

Portaria INMETRO / MDIC número 339 de 31/08/2007
Regulamento Técnico da Qualidade para Inspeção da Adaptação de Acessibilidade em Embarcações Utilizadas no Transporte Coletivo de Passageiros.

Portaria INMETRO / MDIC número 340 de 31/08/2007
Regulamento Técnico da Qualidade para Inspeção da Adaptação de Acessibilidade em Veículos de Características Rodoviárias para o Transporte Colet ivo de Passageiros

Posted by rollingrains at 08:09 PM

Free Book: Universal Design and Visitability

Announcing a free e-book for environmental designers, planners, and others
interested in universal design.

Jack L. Nasar, & Jennifer Evans-Cowley (Eds.) (2007). Universal Design and Visitability: From Accessibility to Zoning. Columbus, OH: John Glenn School
of Public Affairs. (Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts
Universal Design Leadership Initiative).

You can download the pdf file for free at:
https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/handle/1811/24833

If you would prefer to have a paperback addition, you can order it
by sending a check made out to The Ohio State University for 34.99 ($ 29.99
+ 5.00 shipping U.S.)
to:

Jack Nasar
231 Knowlton Hall, 275 W. Woodruff Ave
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH 43210

The book introduces the concepts of universal design and visitability. It
presents:

€ a paradigm for the future
€ rationale for studying it
€ design and planning examples
€ a discussion of design for individuals with vision loss,
€ planning barrier free transportation facilities
€ successful county-wide and national policy initiatives
€ the importance of education, and
€ considerations of certain cultural barriers to adoption of policies.
It aims to advance your understanding of this ever-widening movement; to
provide the information needed to teach the concept of universal design, and
to plan, design, and draft policy for making spaces comfortably accessible
to everyone.

Contents
Preface
Jack L. Nasar and Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Forward
Deborah Kendrick

The Seven Principles of Universal Design into Planning Practice
Wolfgang F. E. Preiser

Toward Inclusive Housing and Neighborhood Design: A Look at Visitability
Jordana L. Maisel

Universal Design, Architecture and Spatial Cognition without Sight
Shohreh Rashtian

Universal Design in Public Transportation: ³Segway² to the Future
Katharine Hunter-Zaworski

As Your County Gets Older. . . Planning for Senior Housing Needs in Howard
County, Maryland
Stephen Lafferty

Making Universal Design work in Zoning and Regional Planning: A Scandinavian
Approach
Olav Rand Bringa

Research and Teaching Of Accessibility and Universal Design In Brazil:
Hindrances and Challenges In a Developing Country
Cristiane Rose Duarte and Regina Cohen

Universal Design Guidelines to Accommodate Wheelchair Occupants in the Thai
Context
Antika Sawadsri

Universal Design in the Institutional Setting: Weaving a Philosophy into
Campus Planning

Inclusive Tourism Over at the Gimp Parade

Kay Olson has some great photos from Flickr.com up at her blog the Gimp Parade.

Contributing to the online event designed to balance the distorted images of people with disabilities presented at Jerry Lewis' telethon she has some shots of people with disabilities enjoying travel and fun!

See her response to Jerry's command to people with disabilities to , "Stay in your house!" at:

http://thegimpparade.blogspot.com/2007/09/stay-in-your-house.html

She's on a roll!

See "Stay in your house!" part 2:

http://thegimpparade.blogspot.com/2007/09/stay-in-your-house-part-2.html

Got a great photo? Share it with Kay!

Sue Slater Serves Blind Travelers

Mike Stevens has done an informative article on Sue Slater. Sue specializes in travel for the blind. See the article here.

Labor Day in the USA

The US takes a typically low-key approach to celebrating the accomplishments of labor with its own day far removed from May 1 and the international May Day tradition of worker solidarity. Here is a labor intellect, humor, and social reconstruction of disability activists commenting on a Labor Day tradition of particular significance to people with disabilities -- the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

Read the Blogswarm at Protest Pity -- http://karasheridan.com/?p=164 My particular contribution was goaded by Jerry's taunt to the disability community to, "Stay in your house."

Simplified Language for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

One of the principles of Universal Design (UD) -- and certainly a starting point of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) -- is principle #4:

Perceptible Information: The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities.

This information below is a plain language version of the text of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The full text is available on:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/convtexte.htm

CONVENTION IN PLAIN LANGUAGE

This information is a plain language version of the text of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The full text is available on:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/convtexte.htm

This information is based on and adapts the summary of a report of the Working Group that looked at a draft Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities prepared by the New Zealand government in 2004.

PREAMBLE
a. The founding documents of the UN say that we are all equal and we are all members of the human family which is important for freedom, fairness and peace in the world,
b. We are all equal and all of us have human rights,
c. We agree that people with disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms and they must not be discriminated against,
d. There are seven other international agreements that promote and protect human rights,
e. We understand that disability is something that changes all the time and it is the environment and people’s attitudes that create disability,
f. It is important to keep in mind what the Standard Rules and the World Programme of Action are trying to achieve when trying to make laws, rules, decisions, programmes and practice better for people with disabilities,
g. It is very important to make sure that the situation of people with disabilities is always equally taken into consideration when governments and international organizations make plans about a country’s growth, for example, about how to get people out of poverty, or get them jobs,
h. We understand that when someone discriminates against people with disabilities, he or she takes away their dignity and value as human beings,
i. We also understand that there are many differences among people with disabilities and there are many types of disabilities,
j. We also understand that all people with disabilities must have their rights, including people with disabilities who need extra support,
k. We are worried that the rights of people with disabilities are still being taken away, even though there are agreements that protect their rights,
l. We understand that it is important that countries work with one another to make life better for people with disabilities, especially in poor countries,
m. We understand that people with disabilities help make countries better if they are fully included and their rights enjoyed,
n. We understand that it is very important that people with disabilities are free to make their own decisions,
o. We believe that people with disabilities should be included in the making of policies and programmes, especially those that are directly related to them,
p. We are worried because people with disabilities are not only discriminated because of their disabilities, but also because of race, sex, or for many other reasons,
q. We understand that many times, women and girls with disabilities are more often abused, beaten, injured or taken advantage of,
r. We understand that children with disabilities have the same rights as all other children, and that the international agreement on children’s rights also applies to them,
s. It is very important to make sure that both women’s situation and men’s situation are taken into account in everything that the country does for human rights of people with disabilities,
t. It is also very important to remember that most people with disabilities are poor, and it is necessary to find out what consequences that has for them,
u. We keep in mind that we must have peace and security to make sure people with disabilities can have their rights, especially when they live in war zones or in countries that are not run by their own government,
v. We understand how important it is for people with disabilities to be able to enjoy all areas of life, to have good health care, to go to school, to have the information they need, so that they can use their rights,
w. We understand that each of us also has the duty to make sure everyone else enjoys his/her rights,
x. We believe that the family is the main group in a society and that people with disabilities and their families should get the protection and help they need to be able to work for their human rights,
y. We believe that an Agreement that covers all areas of life will be very helpful in making lives of people with disabilities better and in making sure that people with disabilities are treated equally and equally included in all areas of life, and in poor and richer countries. Because of all the things listed, countries that decide to be part of the Agreement agree:

ARTICLE 1 PURPOSE
The reason why this Agreement is made is to make sure that the countries that agree to this Agreement (called “countries” in this document) will make sure that:
• All human rights and freedoms of all people with disabilities are enjoyed, promoted and protected;
• The dignity of people with disabilities is respected.
People with disabilities include those who have long-term impairments, for example, physical, psycho-social, intellectual and who cannot get involved in society because of different reasons, such as attitudes, language, stairs, and laws, which prevent people with disabilities from being included in society.

ARTICLE 2 DEFINITIONS
Communication – Means all ways of communicating, so that all people can communicate. For example, spoken language, sign language, text, Braille, touch, large print, written, audio, plain language, human reader and other ways that people with disabilities communicate.
“Language” – means all kinds of languages, spoken, signed, and other types of language that is not spoken.
“Discrimination on the basis of disability” – when people are excluded, shut out or prevented from doing things because of their disability. This can be in all areas of life.
“Reasonable Accommodation” – means that a person may need to have changes made, for example, to their home, or where they work, so they are able to enjoy their rights. If this is too expensive or too difficult then the changes may not be able to be made.
“Universal Design” – means that things are made, programmes created and places adapted so that they can be used by all people. Sometimes someone with a particular type of disability may need something specially made so they can enjoy their rights.

ARTICLE 3 GENERAL PRINCIPLES
This Agreement is about:
• Dignity
• Ability to choose
• Independence
• Non-discrimination
• Participation
• Full inclusion
• Respect for difference
• Acceptance of disability as part of everyday life
• Equality of opportunity
• Accessibility
• Equality of men and women
• Respect for children.

ARTICLE 4 GENERAL OBLIGATIONS
1. The countries promise to make sure that all human rights apply to all people, without discrimination because of disability. To fulfill this promise, they will:
a. Do what it takes to make sure that the rights from this Agreement are put into laws, policies, and practice in their country;
b. Take action: for example, adopt new laws and rules, change old rules and laws where necessary, and get rid of other laws and stop actions that discriminate against people with disabilities;
c. Make sure that the human rights of people with disabilities are included in all policies and programmes;
d. Not do things that do not support the Agreement, and make sure others respect the Agreement;
e. Take action to stop individuals, organizations or businesses from discriminating because of a person’s disability;
f. Work on and encourage the use of goods, services, equipment and facilities that can be used by all people with disabilities all over the world, at the smallest possible cost to the person;
g. Work on and encourage new technologies in all aspects of life that are useful for people with disabilities, especially those that are low cost;
h. Provide information about all types of assistance, including technologies, and other forms of assistance, in a way that can be understood by people with disabilities;
i. Promote trainings about the rights in this Agreement for those who work with people with disabilities to make sure they can work better with people with disabilities.
2. For economic, social and cultural rights, the countries will put into practice the laws and rules that relate to these rights as much as they can with resources they have. If need be, they can cooperate with other countries to put into practice these rights. All other rights must be put into practice right away.
3. When making laws and rules about this Agreement, the countries will talk to and involve people with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through the organizations that represent them.
4. This Agreement will not affect any laws or rules that are better for the rights of people with disabilities. Countries must not use the Agreement as an excuse to not put into practice human rights that already exist.
5. The Agreement will apply to the country as a whole.

ARTICLE 5 EQUALITY AND NON-DISCRIMINATION
1. The countries agree that all people with disabilities are equal before the law and protected by the law without any discrimination.
2. The countries agree that discrimination because of a disability will not be allowed and that people will be protected if there is such discrimination.
3. The countries will take action to make sure that if a person with a disability needs changes made to his/her environment to enjoy his/her rights, then those changes will be made.
4. Special actions, or actions that are needed for people with disabilities to become equal to others, are allowed. This type of special treatment is not discriminatory to people without disabilities.

ARTICLE 6 WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES
The countries agree that:
1. Women and girls with disabilities face all types of discrimination. Countries will make sure girls and women enjoy full and equal human rights and freedoms.
2. They will take action to support the growth and empowerment of women and guarantee that women with disabilities enjoy their rights.

ARTICLE 7 CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
The countries will:
1. Make sure that children with disabilities have the same rights as other children.
2. Make sure that what is best for the child is a priority whenever they do anything that concerns children.
3. Make sure that children with disabilities have the right to tell their opinion and that their opinion is taken into account. Make sure that children with disabilities get the help they need to tell their opinions.

ARTICLE 8 AWARENESS-RAISING
1. The countries agree that, without delay, they will:
a. Help families and all people in society be more aware of the issues facing people with disabilities. They will work to make sure that rights and dignity of people with disabilities are respected;
b. Fight against stereotypes and prejudices about people with disabilities;
Stereotypes are general and incorrect beliefs that some people have about people with disabilities. These beliefs are often damaging which leads to discrimination against people with disabilities.
c. Help people in society be aware of the capabilities of people with disabilities and how they can help the country grow.
2. The countries will also:
a. Make public campaigns about the rights of people with disabilities that:
i. Show that people with disabilities have the same rights as all people;
ii. Highlight disability in the community and change misunderstandings about disability;
iii. Show how people with disabilities help improve the workplace.
b. Make sure that schools and other places of learning teach respect for the rights of people with disabilities;
c. Encourage media (i.e. radio, television, newspapers and magazines) to show images of people with disabilities that promote the rights of people with disabilities;
d. Promote training programmes that will help people be aware of rights of people with disabilities.

ARTICLE 9 ACCESSIBILITY
1. The countries will eliminate barriers that people with disabilities face in buildings, the outdoors, transport, information, communication and services, in both cities and the countryside. This way people with disabilities can live independently and fully live their lives. They will make rules and put them into practice for:
a. Buildings, roads, transportation, indoor and outdoor objects, for example, schools, housing, hospitals, health centers, and workplaces;
b. Information, communications, and other things, for example, electronic services and emergency services.
2. The countries will also take action to:
a. Make, put in place, and oversee minimum standards for accessibility for places and services that are open to public;
b. Make sure that private businesses and organizations that are open to the public are accessible for people with disabilities;
c. Train people who are involved in accessibility issues on what people with disabilities need when it comes to accessibility;
d. Have Braille signs and easy to read and understand information in buildings open to the public;
e. Provide help, such as readers, sign language interpreters and guides, so people with disabilities can access buildings open to the public;
f. Provide other types of help as needed so people with disabilities can get access to information;
g. Promote access to new technologies for people with disabilities;
h. When looking for, and creating new technology, make sure that accessibility is taken into account early on, so that this technology can be made accessible at the smallest cost.

ARTICLE 10 RIGHT TO LIFE
The countries agree that all people with disabilities have the right to life and will take action to make sure people with disabilities can use this right.

ARTICLE 11 SITUATIONS OF RISK AND HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES
The countries agree that they will respect all other agreements they have entered into about war or human rights.
The countries will take action to make sure that in the case of war, natural catastrophies or other emergencies, people with disabilities are protected.

ARTICLE 12 EQUAL RECOGNITION AS A PERSON BEFORE THE LAW
The countries:
1. Agree that people with disabilities have the right to be recognised as people before the law.
2. Agree that people with disabilities are capable like all other people on legal issues in all areas of their lives.
3. Will take action to make sure that people with disabilities can get and use support if they need it to work on legal issues.
4. Agree that where people with disabilities need support on legal or financial issues:
• They will be protected from abuse;
• Their rights and their choices will be respected;
• People who give support will not pressure people with disabilities into making a decision;
• They get the help they need, only for the time they need it and only as much as they need;
• The courts will review the support received.
5. Agree and will make sure that people with disabilities:
• Have the right to own or get property;
• Have the right to control their money or other financial affairs;
• Have the same opportunities as other people to get bank loans, mortgages and credit;
• Cannot have property taken away without a reason.

ARTICLE 13 ACCESS TO JUSTICE
1. The countries will make sure that people with disabilities can access the justice system in their countries just like all other people.
They will make sure that any rules which say how things should be done are adapted so that people with disabilities can be productively involved in all stages of legal processes, for example, being a witness.
2. The countries will provide training for people working in the justice system, such as police and prison staff.

ARTICLE 14 LIBERTY AND SECURITY
1. The countries will:
a. Make sure that people with disabilities have the same right to liberty and security as all other people;
b. Make sure that people with disabilities do not have this right taken away from them without a reason, because they have a disability, or in a way that is against the law.
2. The countries will make sure that if a person has had his/her liberty taken, he/she will be protected by law. They will also make sure that changes are made to the individual’s environment if they are needed for that person to enjoy his or her human rights.

ARTICLE 15 FREEDOM FROM TORTURE OR CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR Punishment
1. Nobody will be tortured, or be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way. Nobody will be forced to take part in medical or scientific experiments.
2. The countries agree to pass laws, and take other action to make sure that people with disabilities are protected from torture just like all other people.

ARTICLE 16 FREEDOM FROM EXPLOITATION, VIOLENCE AND ABUSE
The countries will:

1. Pass laws, and take other action to make sure people with disabilities are not exploited or abused, both inside and outside their home.
2. Take action to prevent exploitation of people with disabilities by giving help and appropriate information to make sure people with disabilities and their families are protected from abuse.
3. Make sure that institutions and programmes serving people with disabilities are regularly looked at to make sure there is no violence or abuse.
4. Support people with disabilities with their recovery and reintegration into society if they have been victims of violence and abuse.
5. Create laws and policies to investigate and punish people who abuse or mistreat people with disabilities. These laws and policies will make sure that the needs of women and children are included.

ARTICLE 17 PROTECTING INTEGRITY
People with disabilities have the same right as everyone else to be respected for their physical and mental whole.

ARTICLE 18 FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND NATIONALITY
1. The countries agree that people with disabilities have the same rights as others to move around in their country or between countries, to choose where they live and to have a nationality like all other people. They will make sure that people with disabilities:
a. Have the right to get and to change their nationality and that nobody can take away their nationality without a reason or because of a disability;
b. Cannot have their passports or other identification of nationality taken away without a reason, or because of a disability, and that they are allowed to try to move to another country;
c. Are free to leave their own country and any other country;
d. Cannot be stopped from entering their own country without a reason or because of a disability.
2. Children with disabilities will be registered immediately after they are born. They will have the right to a name, to a nationality and, as much as possible, the right to know their parents, and be raised by their own parents.

ARTICLE 19 LIVING INDEPENDENTLY AND BEING INCLUDED IN THE COMMUNITY
The countries agree that all people with disabilities have the same right as anyone else to live in the community and to be fully included and participating in the community. This includes making sure that people with disabilities:
a. Have the same opportunities as other people to choose who they live with, where they live, and are not forced to live in institutions or in other living arrangements that they do not like;
b. Have a range of choices on where and how to live in the community, including personal assistance, to help with inclusion and living in the community and preventing people with disabilities from being isolated;
c. People with disabilities can use community services that are available to the public, which may need to be adapted to a particular person’s needs.

ARTICLE 20 PERSONAL MOBILITY
The countries will make sure that people with disabilities can move around with the greatest possible independence, including:
a. Assisting people to move around in the way they choose and at a cost that they can afford;
b. Assisting people with disabilities to access mobility aids and technology, including making sure they do not cost a lot;
c. Providing training in mobility skills for people with disabilities and staff working with them;
d. Encouraging those that produce mobility aids and technology to take into account all aspects of movement.

ARTICLE 21 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND OPINION AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION
The countries will make sure that people with disabilities have the right to say what they think through Braille, sign language or other types of communication that they choose.
The countries will make sure people with disabilities have the same right as other people to give and receive information, including:
a. Providing information intended for the general public to people with disabilities in formats that are adequate for them without extra cost (for example, Braille);
b. Accepting the use of different ways people with disabilities communicate in official situations;
c. Encouraging private businesses and organizations that serve the public to make their services more accessible for people with disabilities;
d. Encouraging the media to make their information accessible to people with disabilities;
e. Agreeing to, and promoting the use of sign language.

ARTICLE 22 RESPECT FOR PRIVACY
The countries will:
1. Make sure that nobody gets involved in the private life of people with disabilities without a reason, or in a way that is against the law. They will make sure that nobody illegally attacks the honour and reputation of people with disabilities. People with disabilities have the right to be protected by the law from such attacks.
2. Protect the confidentiality of personal, health and rehabilitation information of people with disabilities, in the same way that other people’s information is protected.

ARTICLE 23 RESPECT FOR HOME AND THE FAMILY
1. The countries will take action to stop discrimination against people with disabilities when it comes to marriage and family relations, to make sure that:
a. People with disabilities have the same right as other people to marry and have a family;
b. People with disabilities have the same rights as other people to have children, to decide how many children to have, and when to have them. They should get information and be educated on reproduction and family planning; and they should get help to understand this information;
c. People with disabilities have the same right as everyone else to keep their fertility.
2. The countries will make sure that people with disabilities have the rights and responsibilities related to guardianship and adoption of children, with the most important issue being the child(ren)’s interest. They will give support to people with disabilities in accomplishing responsibilities related to raising their children.
3. The countries will make sure children with disabilities have the same rights as everyone else to a family life. From an early stage the countries will provide the information, services and support to children with disabilities and their families.
4. The child must not be taken away from his/her parents against his/her will, unless it is in the best interests of the child and is done legally. The child cannot be separated from parents because of the parent’s or the child’s disability.
5. Where close family (for example parents, brother or sister) cannot care for a child with a disability, they will look first at the wider family, and then the local community to provide care for the child.

ARTICLE 24 EDUCATION
1. The countries agree that all people with disabilities have the right to education. They will make sure that the education system, at all levels, includes people with disabilities, and that the educational system:
a. Works to make sure everyone develops their human potential, sense of dignity and self worth, and respect for human rights, freedoms and diversity;
b. Works to develop the person’s personality and talents to their fullest potential;
c. Works to make sure all people with disabilities can be involved in society.
2. To do this, the countries will make sure that:
a. People with disabilities are not excluded from education because of their disability, and children with disabilities are not excluded from free and compulsory primary and secondary education because of their disability;
b. All people with disabilities can choose education that includes them, is accessible and is in their own community;
c. Reasonable changes are made to make sure that people with disabilities get the most out of their education;
d. People with disabilities get the help they need to get the most out of their education;
e. The help for students with disabilities is given so that their individual needs are met.
3. The countries will make it possible for people with disabilities to learn social and life skills that they need to go to schools and be in the community. They will do this by:
a. Arranging that students with disabilities learn Braille or other types of communication, and that they get peer support and mentoring;
b. Teaching sign language;
c. Making sure that especially children who are blind, deaf or deafblind are educated in the most appropriate types of communication so that they get the most out of their education.
4. To help make sure that these rights are put into practice, the countries will hire teachers who are people with disabilities, teachers who are qualified in Braille and sign languages, and will train teachers and staff at all levels of education on how to give quality education to people with disabilities.
5. Countries will make sure that people with disabilities have equal access to vocational training, study in universities and lifelong learning like all other people, and will make any changes needed to make that happen.

ARTICLE 25 HEALTH
The countries recognise that all people with disabilities have the same right to quality health care, without discrimination because of disability.
The countries will make sure that health and health-related rehabilitation services are available, including:
a. Making sure that people with disabilities get the same variety, quality and standard of free and affordable health care as other people;
b. Making sure that people with disabilities can get services they need because of their disability and to protect them from further disability;
c. Having health services in peoples’ own communities;
d. Insisting that health workers give the same quality care to people with disabilities as to others, for example, only if the person agrees and has been told about their rights—achieved through trainings and by making ethical standards for health care;
e. Stopping discrimination against people with disabilities when it comes to health insurance and life insurance, and making sure that such insurance is provided fairly;
f. Making sure that people with disabilities will not be discriminated against and denied health care or health services or food and fluids because of their disability.

ARTICLE 26 HABILITATION AND REHABILITATION
1. The countries will take action, for example by promoting peer support, to make it possible for people with disabilities to enjoy maximum independence, full abilities and that they can be fully involved in all aspects of life. To make sure this happens, the countries will make available services that cover all areas of life, both in habilitation and rehabilitation, so that they:
a. Begin as early as possible, and are made specifically with strengths and needs of a particular person in mind;
b. Help people with disabilities participate and be involved in the community;
c. Are voluntary and available as close as possible to their communities.
2. The countries will promote training programmes for staff working in habilitation and rehabilitation services.
3. The countries will promote the use of assistive devices and other types of aid as they relate to habilitation and rehabilitation.

ARTICLE 27 WORK AND EMPLOYMENT
1. The countries agree that people with disabilities have the same right to work as other people. This also means that they have the right to earn a living from work they choose in a work environment that is open and accessible to all people.
The countries will pass laws and take other action needed to:
a. Stop discrimination because of disabilities in all situations relating to all kinds of employment. This relates, for example, to situations when people with disabilities are trying to get jobs, are hired, or promoted, or in making sure that the working conditions are safe and healthy;
b. Protect the rights of people with disabilities to equal pay for equal work, equal opportunity, safe and healthy working conditions, and the ability to make complaints;
c. Make sure that people with disabilities can organize and join labor unions and trade unions like everyone else;
d. Make it possible for people with disabilities to get career counseling and vocational trainings;
e. Promote employment, career advances, and help people with disabilities to find and keep employment;
f. Promote self-employment, business opportunities, and start-up businesses;
g. Hire people with disabilities in the government;
h. Encourage and help employers to hire people with disabilities;
i. Make it easy for people with disabilities to be in the work place and work environment by making sure reasonable allowances are made for them;
j. Work to make sure that people with disabilities can gain work experience in the labour market;
k. Promote vocational and professional rehabilitation and programmes to
support people with disabilities to return to work and keep their jobs.
2. The countries will make sure that people with disabilities are not held in slavery. They will protect people with disabilities from forced labor as all other people are protected.

ARTICLE 28 ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING AND SOCIAL PROTECTION
1. The countries recognise the right of people with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families. This includes adequate food, clothing, housing, and to always be improving their living conditions.
2. The countries also recognise the right of people with disabilities to social protection by the government, without discrimination because of their disability.
The countries will protect this right, including by making sure that:
a. People with disabilities can get necessary services, equipment and help for disability related needs;
b. People with disabilities have access to social welfare assistance and programmes that help them get out of poverty. This especially applies to women and girls with disabilities and older people with disabilities;
c. People with disabilities and their families who live in poverty get help from the government to be able to pay for expenses related to their disability;
d. People with disabilities have access to government housing programmes;
e. People with disabilities can get pensions.

ARTICLE 29 PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL AND PUBLIC LIFE
The countries recognise the political rights of people with disabilities without discrimination, and will:

a. Make sure that people with disabilities can be fully involved in political and public life, for example by having the right to vote and be elected. To do this they should make sure:
i. That voting is easy to understand and accessible;
ii. To protect the right of citizens to vote in secret and to be elected;
iii. That citizens with disabilities who want assistance can get help to vote
from someone of their choice.
b. Encourage people with disabilities to be involved in the work of the government and to participate in public affairs, including:
i. Being involved in non-governmental organizations and associations
focused on the activities of political parties and civil society;

ii. Forming and joining organizations of people with disabilities to
represent people with disabilities, nationally, regionally and locally.

ARTICLE 30 PARTICIPATION IN CULTURAL LIFE, RECREATION, LEISURE AND SPORT
1. The countries recognise the right of people with disabilities to take part in cultural life. They will take action to make sure that:
a. People with disabilities have access to literature and other writings in formats such as Braille, sign and audio;
b. People with disabilities can get television programmes, film, theatre and other cultural activities in a way that they will understand, for example, with captioning and sign language;
c. People with disabilities can get to cultural performances and services such as libraries, museums, theatres and sites of national importance.
2. The countries will take action to make it possible for people with disabilities to develop and use their creative, artistic and intellectual potential.
3. The countries will take action to make sure that laws that protect documents and other writings and inventions from forgery or copying do not discriminate against people with disabilities.
4. People with disabilities have the right, just like everyone else, to have their
culture and language recognised, for example sign languages and deaf culture.
5. The countries also recognise that people with disabilities have the same right as others to take part in recreation, leisure and sports. The countries will take action to:
a. Encourage and promote involvement of people with disabilities in sports with people without disabilities at all levels;
b. Make sure that people with disabilities have a chance to organize and participate in sport activities, and to receive the same training and support as other people;
c. Make sure that people with disabilities can get to sports and recreation arenas as other people can;
d. Make sure that children with disabilities can participate in play and sports at school, like other children;
e. Make sure that person with disabilities can get services to help organize recreational and sporting activities.

ARTICLE 31 STATISTICS AND DATA COLLECTION
1. The countries will collect and look at statistics and other information to put into practice this Agreement.
In collecting this information they will:
a. Respect the right to people’s privacy. The information should be given only if people agree;
b. Respect human rights and ethics when collecting and using the statistics.
2.The information collected will be in categories so that the countries can better understand how to put into practice the Agreement, and to learn more about barriers that exist for people with disabilities.
3. The countries are responsible for distributing this information and making sure that it is in a format like Braille or easy-to-read, for example, so that people with disabilities can access it.

ARTICLE 32 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
1. The countries agree that it is important that they work together to make sure that each of them can put this Agreement into practice. They will take action to work together, especially with organizations of people with disabilities, to:
a. Make sure that people with disabilities are included and can access international programmes for development;
b. Make sure that they work together to educate people by sharing information, experiences, training programmes and best practices;
c. Arrange cooperation in areas of science and technology;
d. Give technical and economic help, for example by sharing new technologies.
2. The governments are not allowed to say that because they do not have help from other countries, they cannot put the Agreement into practice.

ARTICLE 33 NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING
1. The countries will make sure that there is at least one position in the government that will be responsible for making sure that the Agreement is put into practice.
2. The countries will make sure that within the government, they create an independent institution that will monitor how the Agreement is being put into practice.
3. Non-governmental organizations, especially people with disabilities and their organizations, will be fully involved in overseeing how the country puts the Agreement into practice.
ARTICLE 34
Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities
1. The Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities will be created.
2. When the Agreement becomes law, the Committee will have 12 experts. After 60 more countries agree to the Agreement, six experts will be added with a maximum of 18 members.
3. Members of the Committee will serve as individuals. They will be highly ethical and will be experts or have experience with disability.
4. The countries will elect the members of the Committee and will make sure that they are from all over the world, that they have members who are men, women, people with disabilities, and come from different legal systems.
5. When countries meet for a Conference, they will elect the members of the Committee in secret. To be elected, a person must receive the largest number of votes. Also, more than half of people present at the Conference must vote for him/her.
6. The first election will happen within the first six months after the Agreement becomes law. After that, four months before every election, the UN Secretary General will send a letter to the countries and ask them to nominate people for the Committee. Countries will have two months to do so.
7. Members of the Committee will serve for four years. They can be re-elected once. After the first election, six members of the Committee will serve for only two years.
8. When time comes for the additional six members to be added to the Committee, they will be elected during regular elections.
9. If a member of the Committee dies or leaves, the country that nominated that member will get to nominate another expert to serve for the rest of the term.
10. The Committee will make its own rules of how it will work.
11. The UN Secretary General will give staff and office space to make sure that the Committee can work effectively.
12. The members of the Committee will get paid for their services and the UN General Assembly will decide how much.
13. The members of the Committee will have the same rights as the other experts of the UN.

ARTICLE 35 REPORTS BY STATES PARTIES
1. Each country will write a report for the Committee within two years after the Agreement becomes law. The countries will report on how they are putting the Agreement into practice.
2. After that, each country will report to the Committee at least every four years.
3. The Committee will say what should be in the report.
4. After the country writes the first report, it does not have to repeat the same information in later reports. It is recommended that countries write their reports openly and consult with people with disabilities and their organizations.
5. The countries can write in the report what difficulties they had in putting the Agreement into practice.

ARTICLE 36 CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS
1. When a Committee receives the report it will:
• Review and make comments and recommendations;
• Give the comments and recommendations to the country that reported;
• The country may then give more information to the Committee;
• Ask for more information if needed.
2. If a country is very late with its report, the Committee will:
• Tell the country that it is late;
• If after three months, the country still does not report, the Committee will let
the country know that it needs to visit the country to examine how it is putting into practice the Agreement.
3. All countries will get each country’s report from the UN Secretary General.
4. The countries will share the report publicly in their countries and will allow comments and suggestions on the report.
5. If needed, the Committee will send the country’s report to other agencies within the UN, so that they can help the country with technical issues.

ARTICLE 37 COOPERATION BETWEEN STATES PARTIES AND THE COMMITTEE
1. Each country will work together with the Committee and help them do their job.
2. When working with the countries, the Committee will also try to find ways to make sure the countries are better equipped to put the Agreement into practice.

ARTICLE 38 RELATIONSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE WITH OTHER BODIES
To make sure that the Agreement is put into practice and to encourage countries to work together:
a. Agencies can be included in the meetings of the Committee when the Committee is talking about issues that the agency works on.
The Committee can invite these agencies to the meetings when their expertise is required.
The Committee can also ask these agencies to give their own reports on how countries are putting the Agreement into practice.
b. There are seven other committees that look at how countries are putting into practice other human rights agreements, for example, agreements on women, children, etc. The Committee will talk to these other committees to make sure that they are not repeating their work, and to make sure that they are consistent when giving advice to countries on how to best put the Agreement into practice.

ARTICLE 39 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE
The Committee will report to the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council every two years. It will make suggestions and recommendations based on the reports they receive.

ARTICLE 40 CONFERENCE OF STATES PARTIES
1. The countries will meet regularly to talk about issues relating to putting the Agreement into practice.
2. Within six months after the Agreement becomes law, the UN Secretary General will organize the first meeting. After that, the meetings will happen every two years or as the countries decide.

ARTICLE 41 DEPOSITARY
The Agreement will be filed with the UN Secretary General.

ARTICLE 42 SIGNATURE
The Agreement will be open for signing by all countries at the main UN building in New York as of March 30, 2007.

ARTICLE 43 CONSENT TO BE BOUND
The countries that sign the Agreement right away will have to “ratify” it, that is, their national government will have to accept the responsibility to put the Agreement into practice.
If the country does not sign the Agreement right away, they will be able to “accede” to the Agreement, meaning that they can join later.

ARTICLE 44 REGIONAL INTEGRATION ORGANIZATIONS
1. “Regional integration organization” is an organization made up of a number of countries in the same region that have given that organization the power to deal with issues that are covered in the Agreement.
2. When the Agreement says “countries” it also applies to these organizations.
3. When counting how many countries have signed the Agreement, these organizations do not count.
4. These organizations can vote during the meetings, and will have as many votes as there are countries in the organization. If any of the countries in the organization votes on its own, the organization cannot vote.

ARTICLE 45 ENTRY INTO FORCE
1. The Agreement will become law on the 30th day after 20 countries ratify or accede to the Agreement.
2. After that, when countries accept the Agreement, it will become law for them 30 days after the acceptance.

ARTICLE 46 RESERVATIONS
1. The countries can make reservations, meaning that they can say when they are signing the Agreement that they will not put into practice a particular obligation.
But, these reservations cannot be against the goal and intent of this Agreement.
2. The reservations can be taken away at any time.

ARTICLE 47 AMENDMENTS
1. Any country can propose changes to the Agreement with the UN Secretary General.
The Secretary General will then send the proposed changes to other countries.
If, within four months, at least one third of all countries want to meet to adopt the changes, Secretary General will organize the meeting.
The changes will be adopted if two-thirds of countries that are present at the meeting vote for them. Then the Secretary General will present it to the UN General Assembly for acceptance.
2. When a change is approved by the General Assembly, it will become law 30 days after two-thirds of all countries accept it.
After that, whenever a country accepts the change it will become law for them 30 days after they accept it.
The changes will be law only for those countries that accept it.
3. If the proposed change is about the reporting or the Committee, then 30 days after it is accepted by two-thirds of all countries, it will become law for all countries, not only those who accept the change.

ARTICLE 48 DENUNCIATION
A country can later go back and say that they will not agree to the Agreement anymore. To do this, they must write it down and send it to the UN Secretary General. That becomes effective one year after that.

ARTICLE 49 ACCESSIBLE FORMAT
The text of the Agreement will be prepared in Braille and other forms, so that all people can read it and understand it.

ARTICLE 50 AUTHENTIC TEXTS
The Agreement will be equally original in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

OPTIONAL PROTOCOL
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities
(to be adopted at the same time as the Agreement)
All countries that agree to this Protocol agree to:

ARTICLE 1
1. Give the power to the Committee to receive and review complaints from individuals or organizations about violations of rights in the Agreement.
2. The Committee will only deal with complaints from countries that agree to this Protocol.

ARTICLE 2
The Committee will NOT accept the complaints if:
a. They do not say who they are from;
b. They do not match the Agreement;
c. The same situation has already been investigated. The same situation is being investigated by another body;
d. The people complaining did not use their domestic system to the fullest extent. But, the complaint will be reviewed if the domestic system takes too long;
e. The complaint is without basis; there is no proof;
f. The complaint is about something that happened before the Protocol became law.

ARTICLE 3
If the complaint is accepted, the Committee will secretly send it to the country in question. The country will respond within six months, and will say what solution they found.

ARTICLE 4
1. When the Committee gets a complaint, it can ask the country to take action right away if there is a risk that the victim(s) will be hurt permanently.
2. If the Committee decides to ask the country to take action right away, this does not mean that the case is successful.

ARTICLE 5
The Committee will meet in secret when examining complaints. After examining the complaint the Committee may, if needed, give suggestions and recommendations to the country in question and to the person(s) complaining.

ARTICLE 6
1. If the Committee gets trustworthy information about serious or widespread violations of rights in the Agreement, it may invite the country in question to participate in the reviewing of the information and to give its opinion on it.
2. After reviewing all the information that it has, the Committee may select one or more of its members to urgently investigate the matter. If the country in question agrees, and if it is needed, it may make a visit to the country to investigate directly.
3. The Committee will give the country in question the results of the investigation and any recommendations it has.
4. The country in question will give its opinion on the results to the Committee within six months.
5. The investigation will be confidential and the country in question will be asked to cooperate throughout the process.

ARTICLE 7
1. The Committee can ask the country in question to include in its report what it did in response to the investigation.
2. If it is needed, the Committee can ask the country in question to give its opinion on the results of the investigation if it has not answered within six months.

ARTICLE 8
Each country that agrees to this Protocol is allowed to say that it does not give the power to the Committee for situations discussed in Articles 6 and 7.

ARTICLE 9
The Protocol will be filed with the UN Secretary General.

ARTICLE 10
This Protocol will be open for signing at the UN Headquarters in New York as of 30 March 2007.

ARTICLE 11
The countries that agree to put the Agreement into practice can sign this Protocol and must then ratify it in their home countries.

ARTICLE 12
1. “Regional integration organization” is an organization of several countries that have given it (the organization) the power to deal with issues that are covered in the Protocol.
2. When this Protocol says “countries that agree to this Protocol,” it applies also to these organizations.
3. When counting how many countries have signed the Protocol, these organizations do not count.
4. These organizations can vote during the meetings, and will have as many votes as there are countries in the organization. If any of the countries in the organization votes on its own, the organization cannot vote.

ARTICLE 13
1. After the Agreement becomes law, this Protocol will become law on the 30th day after 10 countries ratify or accede to the Protocol.
2. After that, when countries accept the Protocol, it will become law for them 30 days after the acceptance.

ARTICLE 14
The countries that agree to this Protocol can make reservations. But, these reservations cannot be against the goal and the intent of the Protocol.
The reservations can be taken away at any time.

ARTICLE 15
1. Any country that agrees to this Protocol can suggest a change to the Protocol with the UN Secretary General.
The Secretary General will then send the proposed changes to other countries that agreed to this Protocol.
If, within four months, at least one third of all countries that agreed to this Protocol want to meet to adopt the changes, Secretary General will organize the meeting. At the meeting, the changes will be adopted if two-thirds of countries that are present vote for them.
Then the Secretary General will present them to the General Assembly for acceptance.
2. When the changes are approved by the General Assembly, they will become law 30 days after two-thirds of all countries that agree to this Protocol accept it. After that, whenever a country accepts the changes, they will become law for them 30 days after they accept it. The changes will be law only for those countries that accept them.

ARTICLE 16
A country can later go back and say that they will not agree to the Protocol anymore. To do this, they must write it down and send it to the UN Secretary General and it will become effective one year after that.

ARTICLE 17
The text of the Protocol will be prepared in Braille and other forms, so that all people can read it and understand it.

ARTICLE 18
The Protocol will be equally original in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Rasha's Petition for Airline Accommodations

Rasha's petition is still flying! 13,000 people have signed her petition for airborne bathroom accessibility. Here she is profiled on the engaging site Kids on Wheels:

The airline industry says it is too expensive to put accessible bathrooms on planes. They claim if they removed enough seats to make room for a large bathroom, they couldn't make enough money to fly the plane.

Rasha's not buying that either. "Then why don't they take out all the restrooms? They could have all seats, no bathrooms, save even more money," she says sarcastically. "If airline people think people who use wheelchairs can fly without using restrooms, then everybody else can fly without them, too, right? Or do they think that because we use wheelchairs, we don't fly on airplanes?"

If they do, Rasha could certainly correct them by citing figures such as these:

American adults with disabilities or reduced mobility currently spend an average of 13.6 billion U.S. dollars a year on tourism. Out of a total of 21 million persons, 69% had traveled at least once in the previous two years, including 3.9 million business trips, 20 million tourist trips, and 4.4 million business/tourist trips. The United States Department of Labor reported that a large and growing market of Americans with disabilities or reduced mobility have 175 billion dollars in purchasing/consumer power.

In the United Kingdom, the Employers’ Forum on Disability estimated 10 million adults with disabilities or reduced mobility in the UK, with an annual purchasing power of 80 billion pounds sterling. The Canadian Conference Board reported that in 2001, the combined annual disposable income of economically active Canadians with disabilities or reduced mobility was 25 billion Canadian dollars.

Armed with that market data for those who want to pursue this campaign with the engineering specs but may need to brush up on the basics may I discretely suggest the Macauley-esque site Toiletology 101