Rolling Rains Report:

Encuentro en Colombia: Turismo Accessible

Disabled Teacher, Students Thrown off Bus Near Esplanade District in Kolkata

The following is not the sort of story likely to improve tourism:

Kolkata, October 29: Disabled teacher and her two students, both hearing impaired, were thrown off a private bus by the conductor near Esplanade today.

The victims, who were injured in the incident, later lodged a complaint at the New Market police station, after which the driver and conductor were arrested.

Nandini Sengupta, a national award–winning teacher at the Behala Deaf School, and her two students - Satyabrata Mukherjee and Bapi Mukherjee - boarded a private bus on route 241A from Taratolla crossing around 11 am. They were supposed to get down at Esplanade.

A few minutes after boarding the bus, the trio showed their special concession passes for disabled people to the conductor Tapan Das.

But he reportedly demanded money and an argument ensued. The trio later bought tickets to avoid confrontation.

When the bus reached Esplanade around noon, the driver did not stop the bus while the conductor pushed her off, alleged Nandini in her complaint. Satyabrata and Bapi were allegedly pushed off next.

The teacher and her students, who sustained minor injuries, were rushed to Calcutta Medical College and Hospital where they were treated and discharged subsequently.

"We have arrested the driver Swapan Mondol and conductor Tapan Mondol," said Vinit Goyal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters).

Nandini is a resident of Budge Budge while Satyabrata and Bapi are residents of Tollygunge and Haridebpur respectively.

Source: http://www.expressindia.com

Marketing Jerusalem

The Tourism Ministry and the Jerusalem Tourism Board are embarking on a national campaign to promote and make the capital city more accessible as a tourist destination for senior citizens.

"Jerusalem represents a major destination for pensioners but the potential of this growing population visiting the city has not yet been realized," the Tourism Ministry said Sunday. "The main reason why pensioners are not coming to Jerusalem are lack of knowledge about Jerusalem, its abundance of attractive sites and the activities available."

According to a survey conducted for the Tourism Ministry, about 50 percent of pensioners (over the age of 65) in Israel, which make up 676,000 people, travel the country on a regular basis, while 180,000 are able to go on a vacation but didn't.

The NIS 200,000 campaign, which starts in November to February 2008, will offer pensioners reduced tour packages tailored for their needs and interests including hotel stays, special night-time events and entertainment activities in addition to the regular sites. The ministry will launch an advertising campaign in the national press this week with details of the vacation packages.

Source:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1192380677433

TV Trip.com: Increments of Innnovation

I am preparing the keynote, Global Trends in Accessible Tourism, for ICAT 2007. When we met two years ago my focus was Universal Design of facilities that were emerging as islands of innovation. This year policy and consumer education will get equal focus.

Figures on the purchasing power of travelers with disabilities and data on the travel behavior of this niche are driving improvements in service. Social movements championing inclusion and legal frameworks, such as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, asserting a rights-based approach to governance and business strengthen this trend.

Innovative consumer education initiatives like TV Trip.com represent the next phase of significant progress for Inclusive Tourism.

TV Tip offers the unique resource of videotaped tours of hotels. For those with mobility impairments this ability to visually inspect a facility prior to booking it is essential as persuasively argued by Simon Darcy and Bruce Cameron

A TV Trip review does remarkably well for a site that is not designed with travelers with disabilities in mind. It includes professionally produced video revealing both interior and exterior of the venue. The main clip for a hotel includes a quick tour of the highlights. Captioning is used effectively. Detailed presentations are available under a tab labeled "Experience!" or one labeled "Features" (example) A Google map locates the hotel. A list of nearby hotels is generated. Space is available for user feedback.

In order for TV Trip to live up to its potential to serve the growing disability and senior niche the following practices ought to be adopted:

Attend to stature -

Video clips on the site are shot from a height, and therefore and an angle, that distorts the perspective for a wheelchair user or person of short stature. Height of beds and space between furniture or fixtures is not as easy to discern as it could be.

Solution: Use a wheelchair or scooter as a dolly when shooting inside the hotel room and its bathroom.

Attend to scene selection -

Video clips of rooms do not include examples of all classes of rooms in the venue. Most relevant to this market they do not include rooms that are typically adapted for guests with disabilities.

Solution: Include at least one example of a DDA or ADA compliant room for each venue; two if bathrooms offer both roll-in shower and bathtub options. Obtain training for production crews and site editors on hospitality venue accessibility audits and supplement with disability simulations for each team member. The latter practice will give the teams a visceral sense of the elements of interest to people with disabilities allowing the creative to integrate relevant shots with artistic integrity.

Attend to Completeness of Information -

Venue information ("Amenities" and "Features") is incomplete. Items such as "restaurant", "cable tv", and parking" are listed but not "elevators", "non-auditory emergency alarm systems", "number of accessible rooms", etc.

Solution: Adopt a standard list of accessibility features. Display their availability at each venue whether the items are present or not.

Attend to Paths of Travel

The site does not indicate distance to public transit or whether the nearest transit stop is accessible to people with disabilities. The videos do not indicate if main entrances are wheelchair accessible with power-assisted doors and, if not, where the location of the accessible entrance is.

Solution: Calculate the path of travel for a hypothetical user with a mobility disability at each site and document it visually. Identify paths of travel to and from both public transit and parking.

Divulgacao do Kit Vida em Movimento (Portuguese)

O kit Vida em Movimento visa estimular e contribuir para promover a inclusão
de crianças e jovens com deficiência na Educação, no Trabalho e em todas as atividades da vida social.

Com orientações e recursos de acessibilidade para mostrar ações com foco na inclusão da pessoa com deficiência nos esportes e nas atividades diárias.

O kit Vida em Movimento visa estimular e contribuir para promover a inclusão
de crianças e jovens com deficiência na Educação, no Trabalho e em todas as atividades da vida social. O movimento, a brincadeira, o jogo, práticas esportivas e atividades físicas são o ponto de partida que mostra que Inclusão é Vida e que Vida é Movimento. O kit se compõe de 4 DVDs uma publicação em forma de encarte que, além de textos complementares aos temas dos vídeos, apresenta um guia criteriosamente elaborado com indicações de sites, para saber mais. Destina-se a professores, profissionais especializados, familiares, pessoas com deficiência, profissionais de Recursos Humanos e a todos aqueles que convivem e trabalham com a temática da Deficiência, que se queixam da falta de materiais que auxiliem sua prática.
O projeto é uma realização do Amankay Instituto de Estudos e Pesquisas e do Departamento Nacional do SESI - Serviço Social da Indústria e conta com as parcerias do Instituto Vivo, Laramara - Associação Brasileira de Assistência ao Deficiente Visual, SEPED – Secretaria da Pessoa com Deficiência e Mobilidade Reduzida e Portal Planeta Educação.
O patrocínio desta tiragem é do Instituto Vivo.
A distribuição do Kit é gratuita Para obtê-lo, solicitamos o preenchimento da ficha cadastral abaixo. É muito importante conhecer o perfil das pessoas interessadas. A ficha deve ser enviada para martaalmeidagil@gmail.com
A postagem é por conta do interessado. Quando a ficha for recebida, calculamos o custo do envio por Sedex e avisamos ao interessado, para que faça o depósito correspondente.

Kit Vida em Movimento
Ficha cadastral

Nome, Endereço, Bairro, CEP, Cidade, UF, E-mail, Site, Nome do Contato, Área de atuação, Trabalha na área da Deficiência - Sim ( ) Não (...)
Razão do interesse pelo kit Vida em Movimento

Conteúdo

Os 25 vídeos estão distribuídos em quatro dvds e têm duração entre cinco a oito minutos.

Os programas têm uma linguagem descontraída e seguem o lema do movimento das pessoas com deficiência – nada sobre
nós, sem nós. Assim, o apresentador selecionado dentre vários candidatos foi um jovem cadeirante muito comunicativo.
A série está organizada em três grandes blocos temáticos:

Gerais: são 6 programas, de 8 minutos cada, com depoimentos sobre conquistas, aspirações e situações inclusivas sobre família, trabalho, relações afetivas, além de mostrar a importância do acesso a tecnologias assistivas e da saudável resistência a posturas discriminatórias.

Pessoais: são 4 programas, de 8 minutos cada, que apresentam o dia-a-dia e os testemunhos de quatro rapazes: um com paraplegia, um com síndrome de Down, um surdo e um cego.

Específicos: são 15 programas, de 5 minutos cada, que mostram crianças e jovens com deficiência praticando diferentes modalidades de esportes, atividades físicas, jogos e brincadeiras; mostram ainda professores de Educação Física e profissionais de diversas áreas que utilizam com sucesso alternativas e recursos pedagógicos que permitem a inclusão e a convivência entre pessoas com e sem deficiência.

Recursos de acessibilidade

Os quatro dvds têm etiqueta em braile, assim como a embalagem; cada DVD abre com um menu com quatro opções de acessibilidade: somente vídeo; Libras (língua brasileira de sinais) e/ou legendas, somente Libras e áudio descrição; este último é um recurso específico para pessoas com deficiência visual e ainda pouco conhecido e utilizado no Brasil.

O encarte, também em papel reciclado, tem versão em áudio no DVD 1 da série, gravada por locutores profissionais e alterna voz feminina e masculina. O arquivo está dividido em faixas, para facilitar a busca.

Saiba mais: www.amankay.org.br

Lives in Motion at the Glasgow Museums

Recent posts on museums and access to culture in Spanish, English, and Portuguese focused on the accessibility of culture. This exhibit, "Lives in Moton" by John Ferry, Senior Education & Access Curator for the Glasgow Museums, highlights the culture of accessibility through transport.

The theme holds great possibilities for public education on Inclusive Tourism.

Lives in Motion

Start Date : Friday 19 October 2007

End Date : Friday 29 February 2008

Have you ever stopped to think about the role transport plays in your life? For disabled people it can be both a help and a hindrance.

This exhibition explores objects from Glasgow Museums' transport collections and tells the stories of how they affected people's lives.

Objects on display include 'Wee Bluey', an 'invalid' car. The car's owner used to sit in it on the pitch at Hampden to watch football matches.

The exhibition is part of a nationwide initiative co-ordinated by the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries , University of Leicester.

Along with Glasgow Museums, eight other museums are looking at issues of disability through their collections.

Introduction to Lives in Motion
The introduction to Lives in Motion is available in a number of formats, including BSL, by following the link under Related Information here.

Our Journey
Peggy Boyle and Jackie Shields from the Three Eyes Project went on a journey by public transport to see how accessible it is for someone who uses a wheelchair. Find out how they got on by following this Our Journey link.

Podcasts
You can download two podcasts by journalist Ian Hamilton by following this link. Ian is blind, and he tells us some of his experiences of using public transport, bringing out the humorous as well as the serious aspects of his experiences.

More information about Lives in Motion
For more information about the project, please phone the Education & Access team on 0141 287 2651.

Making Your Way Home to Malaysia: Preparing the Welcome

Recently, someone asked me, “How do we attract more of the growing market of travelers with disabilities to Malaysia?” The answer? “Build first on your existing success in marketing Malaysia – and then brag about it!

In 2006, 8,700 people had successfully applied for the “Malaysia My Second Home Programme” (MM2H). Travelers with disabilities rely heavily on the word-of-mouth endorsements of others with disabilities. Attracting the financial, social, and cultural resources of this underserved market requires strategically recruiting it members. Their firsthand endorsements from within the disability community will have an impact beyond what any marketing campaign can achieve.

To win this group's loyalty here are some practical steps:

1) Make a governmental commitment to this market

2) Review MM2H policy to remove barriers for people with disabilities (i.e. in the medical screening, etc.)

3) Review Malaysian building policy, practices, and local availability of materials to facilitate national dissemination and adoption of Universal Design best practices

4) Facilitate the construction of a series of uniquely Malaysian Universal Design model homes in key tourist areas

5) Research and prepare resources on travel to, and life in Malaysia, that address the specific concerns of travelers with disabilities, including seniors, interested in short stays as well as the long term opportunities available through MM2H

6) Promote a national curriculum of training on this market for the Malaysian hospitality industry

7) Sponsor a familiarization tour (fam) of Malaysia for key disability travel suppliers, journalists, and policy makers

8) Launch an international campaign of invitation and welcome to Malaysia and brag to the world!

IAUD & the International Universal Design Declaration in Japan 2002

The International Association for Universal Design (IAUD) began in 2003. It drew inspiration from, and further extended, the "International Universal Design Declaration in Japan 2002."

In the prospectus, the conventional concept of UD is further expanded to the creation of a sustainable society in recognition of differences in culture and habit.

The expanded concept also suggests global environmental conservation and the way to sustainable design and trans-generational design.

IAUD seeks to contribute to the healthy development of society and improvement of the welfare of all humans beings.

More:
http://www.designtaxi.com/news.jsp?id=2973&monthview=1&month=6&year=2005

International Universal Design Declaration in Japan 2002
December 4, 2002

We, the participants of the UD2002 Conference, gathered here in Yokohama, and discussed focusing on the topic with the main theme "For all, for everybody".

As our society has developed and become more complicated, we have tended to presume a uniform whole rather than recognizing the diversity of individuals. We propose to redefine the relationships between the designers/producers and users, thus giving priority to the diversity of individuals and cultures.

Design should create the social environments that respect and support the dignity of humans, which we propose to call Universal Design.

To realize this, it is urgent to establish user-centered system to be applicable to all aspect of society including infrastructures and legal systems.

We do not assume Universal Design to be a panacea. However, we think it possible going step by step toward the goal. In doing this, it is vital for the users to be part of the process, and the society to earnestly respond to them.

We would like to seek true globalization that respects difference in cultures.
The philosophy of Universal Design should be a foundation to respect limited natural resources and sustainable society.

We go forward.

We would like to continue our efforts toward building a society that will respect the natural variations among individuals, and the changes that we experience as we grow older, and give the highest priority to inclusion, participation, and independence for all.

We the participants from all over the world to the world to the UD2002 Conference share this ideal as a result of this conference and declare that we devote ourselves to progress forward to this goal.

First Anniversary Issue of the Disability Blog Carnival

The Disability Blog Carnival passed a milestone:

Got your sparkly frock ready for the gala? No? That's fine. Blogging, and this blog carnival in particular, are all about "come as you are." And "as you are" is spectacular. Don't doubt that for a minute: the diverse disability blogging community is strong, thoughtful, funny, eloquent, creative, committed and punctual. Punctual? Well, yeah. We've had 23 previous editions of the carnival--exactly as scheduled, nobody flaked, nobody even posted late without warning. Many, many blog carnivals fade away after a few editions, or publish irregularly, unable to gin up the enthusiasm or volunteers to sustain a regular frequency. Enthusiasm and volunteers we have never lacked.

Friends in the Sky: Good Work United Airlines!

While discount airlines continue their efforts to balance their books on the backs of passengers, Carl Kole from United Airlines has done important work on behalf of passengers with disabilities.

Following a change in CFR power wheelchairs and scooters that have gel batteries and are secured on the device will no longer have to be disconnected. Work is underway to standardize it internationally with both IATA (International AirlineTransport. Assoc) and US DOT.

The text of the regulation: Download file

Indian Airlines Inch Toward Inclusion

Here is the latest version of the Indian Civil Aviation Requirements on Carriage by air of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility. Finalization is scheduled to take place on October 29, 2007. Download file

Unfriendly Skies? Application for Temporary Exemption: Regional Express

The Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has received an application (attached in MS Word format) from Regional express airlines (Rex) requesting exemption from sections 23 and 24 of the Disability Discrimination Act so far as to permit Rex placing certain restrictions and requirements on the carriage of passengers with specific disabilities on its SAAB aircraft.

Would an aircraft design process that had acknowledged that the 4 million Australians with disabilities are potential passengers not have been a more elegant and sustainable solution? Transferring onto travelers with disabilities the consequences of Rex's choice to purchase what they now claim are inappropriate vehicles seems more like sleight of hand than justice.

Rex argue that these restrictions are justified having regard to

* Aircraft operational and performance limitations
* OH&S concerns for the crew.
* Equipment being operating around the aircraft.
* The dignity and comfort of disabled passengers .

Rex indicate willingness to report on measures during the exemption to reduce the level of restriction required.
Restrictions proposed by Rex

* If a passenger using a wheelchair cannot assist him/herself to move between their own wheelchair and the Rex aisle chair and between the aisle wheel chair and the aircraft seat, a Passenger Facilitator (provided by the passenger) is required to attend both the departure and destination airport to assist with moving the wheelchair passenger between their wheelchair and the aisle chair and between aisle wheelchair and the aircraft seat. This facilitator is not required to travel with the passenger and there is no additional financial burden on the passenger.
* If the passenger is unable to understand and follow safety directions (written or verbal), is unable to don a life vest, requires the application of medication in flight, or requires assistance to the toilet or to eat, a companion is required to travel with the passenger. If the passenger's only restriction is the inability to eat or drink unaided, a companion is not required if the passenger elects to forgo catering during booking.
* To help with the cost of this requirement Rex will provide the lowest fare applicable to the flight, regardless of availability of that fare, for the companion.
* Passengers using wheelchairs must check-in no later than 45 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time at regional airports and 60 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time at capital city airports to allow sufficient time to prepare the wheel chair for carriage and to board the passenger without unduly delaying the flight.
* Passengers with electric wheelchairs must either disable their own electric chair or supervise Rex staff in disabling and re-activating the electric wheelchair after transfer to the aisle chair.
* All flight bookings must be made with the Rex Customer Contact Centre to ensure that all special requirements are notified to the airline. The weight of the chair will have to be notified to Rex during booking. No extra charge is applicable to this service. Bookings for disabled persons cannot be made on the Rex website.
* Wheelchairs must not weigh more than 64Kg, except that with prior approval, wheelchairs in excess of 64 kg but not exceeding 140 kg may be carried at ports where specialist lifting equipment is provided.
* Passengers using wheelchairs will be required to book at least two days in advance of the flight to enable Rex to make all the necessary preparations.
* Rex will limit the number of wheelchair bound passengers to 2 per flight and will carry only one chair weighing in excess of 64 Kg per flight.
* If approval is obtained to carry chairs in excess of 64 Kg an excess baggage fee will apply.
* A limit of one chair per disabled passenger will be carried free of charge. Additional chairs will be charged at the normal excess baggage rates with the normal excess baggage restrictions.
* Passengers who are unable to understand instructions from the Flight Crew or Flight Attendant in an emergency due to intellectual disability are required to travel with a companion
*

Rex will not carry a passenger with a prescribed contagious disease unless a notification is provided from a doctor stating that the person is fit to fly and poses no danger of infecting the crew or other passengers in the aircraft.

Request for submissions

In accordance with its policy on exemption applications, the Commission seeks to give interested parties an opportunity to participate in the process of considering this application.

Accordingly, the Commission seeks submissions by 5 December 2007, preferably by email to disabdis@humanrights.gov.au .

Submissions may also be addressed by mail to Disability Rights Unit, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, GPO Box 5218, Sydney 2001.

To promote open public discussion and exchange of views, the Commission intends to posting submissions made electronically on its Internet site. Any requests for material to be treated as confidential should be clearly indicated.

David Mason
Director Disability Rights policy, HREOC
23 October 2007

For further reading on lack of airline access see Katja's post at Broken Clay, " Airline’s refusal to let disabled passenger board ‘not discrimination,’ court rules"

US Access Board Creates the Passenger Vessel Emergency Alarms Advisory Committee

The Passenger Vessel Emergency Alarms Advisory Committee has been formed by the US Access Board. It examines vessel emergency alarm systems and notification procedures in relation to the needs of passengers who are deaf or heard of hearing.

The committee’s recommendations will advance the Board’s development of new guidelines for passenger vessels which are to include criteria for emergency alarm systems. The committee’s membership includes representatives from disability organizations, the vessel and cruise ship industry and trade groups, and the National Fire Protection Association, among others.

Meeting on September 19 and 20 in Washington, D.C., the committee reviewed and finalized its operating protocols and received briefings from the Board delineating issues of inquiry. Members representing industry made presentations on current practices for notifying passengers of emergencies aboard various types of vessels, including cruise ships, ferries, excursion vessels, and gaming boats. Members representing advocacy organizations briefed members on the varied population of people with hearing impairments and common methods and technologies for providing communication access.

The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for November 28 and 29 in Washington, D.C. For further information, contact Paul Beatty at pvag@access-board.gov, (202) 272-0012 (v), or (202) 272-0082 (TTY). Additional information is available on the Board’s website at www.access-board.gov/pvaac/alarms/.

The Gimpy Girls

Just for fun try the Gimpy Girls blog: A Lifestyle Magazine for Aging Baby Boomers, the Disabled and the Just Plain Lazy.

Keep an ye on them as they fill out their Travel section

The Freedom to Roll on Your Own

For 25 years Whirlwind Wheelchairs has been improving access around the world. In this video you will see the new Rough Rider go through its paces:

Here is a video about the Rough Rider in Spanish:

And here is a little rock crawling -- power wheelchair style!

The Theology of the Epithet

Now, before I am accused of cultural bigotry for sharing this bit of political theater commented on by Peter Tan in Malaysia let me remind readers that Jerry Lewis raises millions of dollars in the United States each year preaching from an equally handicapped theological script. Apparently Malaysian Member of Parliament Datuk Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai) thinks he has the inside track to the Divine when it comes to disability. In an angry courtroom outburst at an opponent he shouted, "Now you are sitting in a wheel chair. God has punished you."

For the story:
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/National/2066250/Article/index_html

The News Goes Public: Red Carpets Roll Out on Copacabana Beach!

After several years of persistent advocacy - and some recent public tests of alternative products - the beaches in Rio de Janeiro are to become accessible to wheelchair riders. In Portuguese that's "cadeirantes."

Hit the beaches of Rio thanks to the cumulative efforts of the Rio City Project, Designing for the 21st Century III, the Pan American Games of 2007, and the continuous work of Cariocas (residents of Rio de Janeiro) with disabilities and their allies. The winning design, typical of good design, is also sustainable and green. Access will be provided using bamboo mats prototyped by professor José Luis Ripper of PUC-Rio. Parabems, prof!

Below is a story from O Gobo newspaper in Portuguese.

Copacabana terá rua modelo para deficientes

Instalar sinais sonoros nos cruzamentos, proibir a ocupação das calçadas por mesas de bares e remanejar o mobiliário urbano. Essas são algumas medidas previstas pelo projeto da prefeitura "Copacabana Mobilidade", que terá uma versão piloto na Rua Rodolfo Dantas, com a adaptação da via para a circulação de deficientes físicos, visuais e auditivos.

A intenção da Secretaria municipal da Pessoa com Deficiência é facilitar o deslocamento pela Rodolfo Dantas desde a saída da estação do metrô Cardeal Arcoverde até a água do mar na Praia de Copacabana, na Zona Sul do Rio.

A rua modelo terá piso nivelado para o uso de cadeira de rodas. "As calçadas de pedras portuguesas, agora tão criticadas, serão mantidas, mas precisam estar uniformes para o cadeirante", avalia a secretária Leda de Azevedo.

O projeto piloto, elaborado em conjunto pela Rio Urbe e pelo Instituto Pereira Passos, prevê, ainda, a instalação de rampas, sinalização especial e de um piso tátil – recurso voltado para os deficientes visuais que indica o caminho com saliências no piso. Os três sinais sonoros devem ser instalados nas esquinas da Rua Rodolfo Dantas com a Rua Barata Ribeiro, da Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana e da Avenida Atlântica.

Removendo obstáculos

A retirada de equipamentos urbanos de áreas centrais das calçadas pretende ampliar a área de circulação e impedir colisões dos cadeirantes. Com isso, será criada uma "faixa de serviço", que leva o mobiliário urbano para o trecho junto ao meio-fio.

A Secretaria informou que, em breve, a comunidade receberá orientações sobre as mudanças. O objetivo é tentar envolver a população no projeto.

"Algumas medidas podem não parecer simpáticas de início. Queremos mostrar que o benefício é para todos. A Rodolfo Dantas será a primeira rua modelo do Rio. Mas sabemos que donos de bares, por exemplo, podem se incomodar com as restrições ao uso da calçada. Os comerciantes só têm a ganhar com uma melhor circulação na via", avaliou o assessor da Secretaria, Amarildo Gomes.

Para chegar ao mar, esteira de bambu

Para viabilizar a chegada de usuários de cadeira de rodas até a água do mar, a prefeitura encomendou ao escritório modelo de Arquitetura e Design da PUC-Rio dois protótipos de esteira, uma de plástico, outra de bambu.

O teste na praia, realizado pela prefeitura no dia 20 de setembro com deficientes físicos e mães com carrinho de bebê, apontou o bambu como a opção ideal. Além de não agredir o visual, a esteira de bambu se acomoda melhor na areia, avaliou a secretária. O protótipo foi desenvolvido pelo professor de design, José Luis Ripper.

"Essa iniciativa vai transformar a vida de muitas pessoas. No dia do teste da esteira, uma senhora de 60 anos comemorou ter chegado sozinha até a água do mar. Ela contou que é cadeirante desde criança e sempre precisou ser carregada para chegar à praia", relatou a secretária.

O edital de licitação do projeto sairá na semana do dia 21 de outubro. A previsão da secretaria é de que as obras durem seis meses e impliquem em gastos de cerca de R$ 750 mil.

A Secretaria planeja expandir o projeto a outros pontos da cidade, mas decidiu começar por Copacabana, já que o bairro tem alta concentração de idosos, que costumam ter dificuldade de locomoção, e muitas ruas com problemas de circulação. Se a idéia da rua modelo se espalhar pelo bairro, Copacabana pode ficar ainda mais atraente para a terceira idade.

Source:
http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/Rio/0,,MUL153306-5606,00-COPACABANA+TERA+RUA+MODELO+PARA+DEFICIENTES.html

***********
Board Holds Public Hearings on Guidelines for Federal Outdoor Sites

In September the Board held public hearings on guidelines it has proposed for Federal parks and recreation areas. Held in Washington, D.C. on September 6 and Indianapolis on September 26, the hearings provided an opportunity for the public to provide feedback on the guidelines directly to the Board. These guidelines, which cover trails, beach access routes, and picnic and camping areas, are intended to clarify how, and to what extent, access can be achieved in developing or altering Federal outdoor sites.

The Board received input from various industry and consumer organizations, among them the National Recreation and Park Association, the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the American Council of the Blind, and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Federal land management agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Interior, also weighed in on the guidelines, as did representatives from assorted organizations, such as the National Center on Accessibility and the International Code Council. Trail designers, park operators, product manufacturers, independent living centers, and others also provided testimony.

Many commenters generally endorsed the guidelines, including their overall approach, and urged the Board to complete action promptly and to follow-up with guidelines for non-Federal sites due to the long standing confusion that exists on providing access to outdoor environments. The U.S. Forest Service highlighted considerations and provided recommendations based on its experience applying similar accessibility criteria to sites and trails under its jurisdiction.

Most comments addressed trails and outdoor access routes. Trail operators and designers provided information on the results of their efforts to improve access and flagged topics of inquiry, such as alternative methods for measuring surface firmness and stability. Recommendations were received on trail signage and map systems and other subjects in response to questions posed by the Board in its published proposal. Participants also addressed beach access, including proposed criteria for access routes, compliance and maintenance concerns, boardwalks, and available mat systems for routes. In addition, comments were received that highlighted subjects that should be further clarified or explored, including the guidelines' scope of coverage and applicability to certain types of sites and documentation of compliance. Speakers also stressed the need for supplementary guidance materials and training once the guidelines are completed.

Testimony received at the hearings, including an earlier one held in Denver, is posted on the Board’s website along with other comments submitted by mail and email. The comment period closed October 18. The Board will revise the proposed guidelines based on this input. For further information, visit the Board’s website at www.access-board.gov/outdoor/ or contact Bill Botten at botten@access-board.gov, (202) 272-0014 (v), or (202) 272-0082 (TTY).

More on access to parks & recreation:

Theme Parks, Imaginary Worlds, and Real Access
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/18423/112537

Universal Design Meets Green Design = Good Design

In 2004, at Designing for the 21st Century III, a group of Latin American visionaries crafted the document known as the "Rio Charter" or the "Rio Charter on Universal Design for Sustainable and Inclusive Development." They built upon a foundation laid by conference sponsors Adaptive Environments who clearly link Green and Universal Design:

Universal Design is also called Inclusive Design, Design-for-All and Lifespan Design. It is not a design style but an orientation to any design process that starts with a responsibility to the experience of the user. It has a parallel in the green design movement that also offers a framework for design problem solving based on the core value of environmental responsibility. Universal Design and green design are comfortably two sides of the same coin but at different evolutionary stages. Green design focuses on environmental sustainability, Universal Design on social sustainability.

LEED building certification awards points for Universal Design as sustainable green practice and the tourism industry accelerates the convergence between Universal Design and green building with the Davos Declaration. While MIT's House Research Consortium was preparing homes through their Open Prototype Initiative, Access Living in Chicago was applying good design with readily available materials to its offices as described below.

Universal Access Meets Green Design by and Melissa Schmitt Oct 16, 2007

The height of Jennifer Thomas' desk at Access Living, a Chicago non-profit outreach organization, adjusts to accommodate her wheelchair. She rolls effortlessly across non-toxic carpet to her recycled filing cabinet under energy-efficient indirect lighting. There are no doors to struggle with at the restroom entrances. Once inside, all the faucets are automatic, a benefit to both Thomas and the environment.

Best of all, Thomas said, the features "are seamless. They don't look like they're marked for people with disabilities. As other members of the population age, they can use these features as well."

Access Living's new building at 115 W. Chicago Avenue is touted as the only one in the city where both universal design and green design meet. The building, which has a LEED certificate for energy and environmental efficiency, recently won the Barrier-Free America Award from the Paralyzed Veterans of America. The city most recently won that award for the design of Millennium Park, which opened in 2004.

Access Living staffers, city officials and experts in universal design held a workshop and tour at the building Tuesday entitled "Leadership in Action: Universal and Green Design For All."

"A building without barriers--it's a perfect example of what this building stands for," said Mayor Daley. "This building represents the future of construction in the city of Chicago and around the world."

The recently opened facility was built over five years on land donated by the city. The architect was Jack H. Catlin of LCM Architects in Chicago.

At some point in their lives, most Americans experience a functional limitation, such as arthritis, back problems or heart disease. They find themselves unable to navigate effectively in their homes, offices and public spaces.

The World Health Organization wrote a new definition of disability in 2001, classifying it as a predictable, universal experience. More than 190 member nations recognized the new definition, which will apply to a majority of the world population at some point in their lives.

Universal design offers a framework for creating places, products and communication systems that anyone can use, regardless of physical ability. They can range from can openers with large, comfortable handles to adjustable desks and easy-access cars.

The twin values of universal design and green design are at the centerpiece of Access Living's new building. It has energy-efficient heating and cooling systems and a green roof, which is accessible to people with disabilities.

Workstations accommodate a wide array of disabilities. Deaf workers communicate with a Video Relay System, allowing them to use sign language over a video screen with a specially trained operator. Elevators have front and back doors, which prevents people in wheelchairs from having to navigate to the front of a crowded space.

Some at the workshop said the need for universal design is especially acute today.

"Universal design is for all of us, especially the aging population," said Valerie Fletcher, executive director of Adaptive Environments, a non-profit that focuses on universal design."By 2050, over 25 percent of the population will be over 60 years old."

Faceless on Facebook: Inaccessibility in Web 2.0

Youreable.com argues that Facebook has instituted a serious design flaw that results in the exclusion of people with disabilities. Their analysis provides some useful detail on how to make digital information accessible:

Facebook is excluding users with poor vision and reading difficulties from its social network, through recent changes to its accessibility options, according to usability and accessibility specialist Foviance.

The online community has removed an accessibility feature that enabled people to verify themselves by mobile phone, instead of by visual CAPTCHA, and replaced it with an audio CAPTCHA that is not visible or keyboard accessible.

The move is likely to prevent many disabled communities from accessing Facebook. Visual CAPTCHAs are graphics with distorted or obscured letters or numbers used to determine if a user is human, to prevent spam and automated postings to blogs and communities etc.

They cause significant problems for people who are blind, visually impaired or dyslexic.

Continue to the full article:
http://www.youreable.com/TwoShare/getPage/01News/01Current/October2007/facebook

More Than 500 `Silver Industry' Reps Strut Their Stuff For Seniors

"Manufacturers are showing an overwhelming response to the needs of the Boomer population," Adam Sohn associate director of media relations says. "Some of the biggest names in consumer brands includingHewlett Packard, Microsoft, Nintendo, Home Depot, along with hundreds of other companies were at our event, exhibiting new products and looking to tap into the boomer market."

The AARP's Life@50+ convention was held last month in Boston:

http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-prime1018.artoct18,0,2625190.story

Tips for the T-List: A Rolling Rains Article in a New Book

Here's how Jens Thraenhart explains this collaboration at his site Tourism Internet Marketing Bog:

Stephen Joyce (who had the idea of the book) as publisher, as well as Mathieu Ouellet and I as editors are spearheading the initiative to publish this book for the Canada-e-Connect Conference on November 7-9 in Vancouver. The book will be a collection of 100 (or so) of the best posts from T-List bloggers who are the actual authors of the book. The audience for the book is executives, marketers, and decision makers from the travel and tourism industry. Topics will include customer trends, emerging technologies, e-marketing tips, social media, new and ground breaking website reviews, etc. The book is a promotional piece and will not be sold, but attendees at the Canada-e-Connect Conference in Vancouver will get an exclusive print copy as part of their attendance. Additional copies will be made available at the contributing T-List bloggers website as an e-book download.

Full article at:
http://jensthraenhart.com/cblog/archives/297-Ground-breaking-new-book-in-online-travel-and-tourism....html

A short excerpt from the book - Download file

Maslow, Marketing, & Maturity Revisited

Abraham Maslow postulated a hierarchy of human needs in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation.” He further refined the idea through his lifetime.

Just where does tourism intersect with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Maybe not where you think.

Often represented as a pyramid with the base being physiological needs Maslow observed an impulse toward satisfying ever higher needs. Deficit Needs were his name for the first four needs: physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem. The remainder which he called Growth Needs. He noted that Deficit Needs were so fundamental that each prior need must be satisfied in order for a person to progress to the next.

Let's review his list of needs:

1. Physiological needs
2. Safety needs
3. Belonging needs
4. Esteem needs
5. The need to know and understand
6. Aesthetic needs
7. Self-actualization needs
8. Transcendence

Now walk with me by stages through encounters with destination marketing. Assuming that one would not have the leisure to pursue the growth experiences promised by tourism if they had not surmounted the deficit stages of physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem needs we start at level five with curiosity.

The need to know and understand a place, a people, or a piece of history, figures prominently into my destination selection process. It sustains me through a drawn out dreaming stage where I speak to friends and travel agents while scouring the web or reading tour books, magazines, and marketing materials. During my research I can always count on marketing materials to persuade me with ample real – or Photoshopped – evidence that my target destination will raise me to level six by satisfying my Aesthetic needs. Add-on adventure packages, classes, or more personalized services promise level seven’s Self-actualization. My trip does not need to take me to literal mountaintops to offer peak experiences of Transcendence. Volunteer opportunities providing meaning, breathtaking beauty in unexpected places, or life-changing experiences of depth with strangers along the way are common enough travel experiences to need only be suggested or attested by sidebar quotes rather than hyped in marketing.

But what if you heard $13.6 US billion saying, “Find the error in this marketing approach and I might find my way into your bank account?”

The ignored data is that travel thrusts all who engage in it into deficiency mode. Examine exaggerated cases for evidence. Look up industry bottom lines during the SARS epidemic (physiological needs), or after the 9-11 attacks (safety needs), or where you as an individual are palpably unwelcome for reasons of race, nationality, or income (belonging and esteem needs.)

The oversight is predictable. Most places, products, and policies are designed to accommodate a significant portion of the travel market.

Uniformity in the infrastructure providing basic needs like access to water to drink, air to breather, food to eat, and locations to rest, wash, or relieve oneself lend the predictability to assure one that the deficits encountered during travel are temporary and easily surmountable. That assurance allows these travelers an experience open to the higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchy. It makes possible what travel marketing sells.

The oversight is also predictable because it extends even to those who create the infrastructure for these basic needs – and precedent, even bad precedent, teaches.

This is the open secret within the – within our – community: travelers with disabilities consciously risk immersion in situations of Deficit Need whenever they travel. Even so, we studies document that we continue to travel in greater numbers each year. We, the 42 million US citizens with disabilities spending an average of $13.6 billion on travel annually, look for things not typically included in marketing messages. The absence of reliable information about the application of Universal Design at every level of the travel experience deters us from traveling. As our ranks are swelled by the normal diminishment in function that accompanies aging the number of – and potential profit from – by baby Boomers entering this underserved niche do you see an opportunity on the horizon?

Some are exercising creativity creating web directories, blogs, e-zines, print magazine, and books to get the word out about accessibility for travelers. Astute hospitality marketers would be rewarded with new customers by learning from their example.

Others take on the task of remodeling the industry level by need level. To list only the Deficit Needs:

• Physiology: A young woman named Rasha now has 13,000 signers on her petition for airborne bathroom accessibility.
• Safety: The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), together with the disability rights movement, is supporting a complaint to the U.S. Department of Transportation that employees charged with assisting passengers to safely board and deplane are not provided adequate training or safe equipment.

• Belonging: Bonnie Lewkowicz and Judith Smith have filed a lawsuit against Hotels.com and Spector, et al has won a Supreme Court case against Norwegian Cruise Lines for policies resulting in the exclusion of travelers with disabilities.

• Esteem: Disability groups as far-flung as India, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Argentina, South Africa, Norway, and France offer excursions ranging from bowling to skiing, tennis to whitewater rafting, fishing to cooking classes all in a manner that values the differing abilities of each participant

I will illustrate with one autobiographical case study.

For several years I have corresponded with salespeople, designers, and other professionals in the timeshare, condotel, or “vacation ownership” market. Recently I was invited by Marriott to examine their Newport Coast Villas in southern California. At roughly $100,000 for the package that we had in mind the price point was not unreasonable for the strong Marriott brand and their dominant international network of options. Quality of materials, aesthetics of design, and pride in workmanship were evident inside and out. The “buy now” incentives we enticing. Still I declined.

Maybe you could say that, along with so many other things that I successfully do differently because of my disability, I did the math differently as well.

Imagine x number of people competing for 700 units at Newport Coast Villas during the peak season. Now keep x constant but decrease the number of units by 90% to 70 units. It doesn’t take a degree in mathematics to intuit that something important just happened to the demand/supply ratio.

Recalculate over time to account for the fact that x is not constant. It increases. Oops, supply-side problems on steroids.

Just for fun – or rather, just to match the actual case – let’s factor in that roughly two dozen of those 70 units will not be available for another 36 months. Oh yes, and of the two units that you inspected in that group that will someday number the resort’s 70 wheelchair accessible vacation units none had roll-in showers or independently accessible bathtubs, cutaways for wheelchairs under cabinets, counters or sinks, stoves with controls in the front, furniture selected for ease of transfer, or washer/dryer accessible from a wheelchair – and community covenants allow for no changes, not even replacing the artwork on the walls.

Shopping from a supplier with a well-honed reputation for customer service for a product within my means and one that I had been attracted to enough to track over several years I was offered the option to buy into a situation of permanent Deficit Need.

Infrastructure design errors created physiology and safety problems. The total lack of wheelchair access to some buildings results in the inability to socialize with other guests in their homes and prohibits achievement of belonging. If 10% of the bathrooms are usable then Visitability is not achieved in 90% of the units. The end product weighs as quite an assault on self esteem.

Over time the owner base will age. With age comes disability. With a greater number of owners (and their guests) having disabilities the inadequately designed set-aside 10% will be the only universe of options for more people.

Design that accounted for lifespan use – not simply lifestyle glitz – probably would have made the salesman we spoke to a little closer to his monthly goal.

And then there would have been the word-of-mouth referrals and sales from the pass along value of this article.

It is expensive not to use Universal Design. As the old guard leadership of the Disability Rights Movement – all Baby Boomers – ages daily into the market, the cost of not meeting our needs increases exponentially.

Museums and Access to Culture

In the field of disability studies and among those who champion disability pride it is commonplace to talk about "disability culture." The concept will figure in an essay I wrote for New Mobility magazine about travel and disability.

There is another conversation heating up. It seems to be happening in several places around the world simultaneously. One would hope it is in part due to the impact of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that includes access to culture.

Both in the Spanish-speaking and the Portuguese-speaking worlds access to museums has surfaced as a recent issue for advocacy. On a broader scale, access to heritage sites such as the Taj Mahal or Angkor Wat, reflects the same concern. Below are two articles in Spanish and Portuguese and a link to a museum project reported by Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts 2007.

Universal Design Model: The Museum At The Mill by Kristen McCosh, Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts 2007:
http://mswheelchairmass07.blogspot.com/2007/10/universal-design-model-museum-at-mill.html

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

Denuncia la falta de accesibilidad en museos

Como se apunta en el texto, “muy pocos museos españoles pueden presumir de disponer de las condiciones arquitectónicas, materiales y de formación necesarias para que las personas con discapacidad puedan acudir a disfrutar de los recursos culturales”.

“Según la normativa vigente en España, los museos no tienen obligación de tener medidas de accesibilidad concretas, ya que tan sólo existe una legislación general que no se cumple en la inmensa mayoría de los casos y que aquí no es sancionadora como en otros países como Estados Unidos”, señaló la jefa del departamento de recursos culturales de la ONCE, Mercedes Hernández.

En cuanto a las instalaciones, estas personas necesitan ascensores acristalados para poder comunicarse con el exterior y sistemas de inducción magnética que mejoren la señal auditiva a los usuarios de prótesis en las salas de proyección y de conferencias.

Por otro lado, una persona ciega no obtiene información de las obras pictóricas o no puede leer los carteles de los materiales de un museo. Del mismo modo, una persona sorda no puede atender a las explicaciones verbales de un guía o a las locuciones de los vídeos que se proyectan. A todo esto se le puede añadir la dificultad que representa tener que moverse por las diferentes salas. Del mismo modo, los recursos de accesibilidad para personas sordas que debería poseer cualquier museo son: alarmas de emergencia luminosas, señalización suficiente, avisos de información visuales mediante rótulos o displays y audioguías con información textual en las pantallas.

La formación del personal del museo también es indispensable para este sector social, por eso el movimiento asociativo pide formación básica y específica en lengua de señas y subtítulos en los diferentes medios audiovisuales.

El trabajo de las organizaciones de la discapacidad está centrado en conseguir mayor accesibilidad a la cultura en una doble dirección: por un lado, sensibilizando a la Administración sobre la imperiosa necesidad de adaptar los recintos y exposiciones para todos los ciudadanos y, por otro, asesorando a los profesionales que trabajan en ellos en la ejecución práctica de la accesibilidad y en el trato de las personas con discapacidad.

Museus acessíveis

Por Leandra Migotto Certeza

Profissionais trabalham para o acesso à cultura. A especialista em acessibilidade em museus Viviane Panelli Sarraf, lança um pesquisa para conhecer melhor o público com deficiência que visita os museus. Participe!

Segundo o IPHAN - Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional existem aproximadamente 2.208 museus no Brasil. São 366 só no Estado de São Paulo. Você costuma visitá-los? Com que freqüência? Por quê? Quais são suas expectativas em relação a eles?

Caso você tenha alguma deficiência visual (dependendo do grau) pode precisar de ajuda para consultar os sites dos veículos de comunicação - que ainda não são acessíveis - e saber as principais atividades dos museus.

Você consegue chegar até os museus e permanecer neles com tranqüilidade? Se você utiliza cadeira de rodas para se locomover, poderá encontrar dificuldades de transporte e barreiras arquitetônicas, externas e internas. Se você quebrou o pé e precisa, temporariamente, de um par de muletas para conseguir andar, encontrará dificuldades para subir degraus e/ou escadas.

Ao visitar um museu, você compreende o que os educadores explicam durante as visitas guiadas? Se você tem alguma deficiência auditiva ou intelectual, poderá encontrar dificuldades para se comunicar, pois os museus estão começando a treinar os monitores para falar a Língua Brasileira de Sinais, e como se relacionar com diferentes formas de pensar.

Você interage durante as atividades propostas pelos educadores? Se você tem surdocegueira encontrará dificuldades, pois os museus estão começando a produzir recursos sensoriais, como maquetes e/ou réplicas de 'obras', por exemplo.

Você encontra sanitários com portas mais largas dentro dos museus? Caso você se locomova com ajuda de um andador, devido à idade; ou vá ao museu acompanhado do seu filho (carregando-o em um carinho), encontrará dificuldades, pois os museus começaram a se tornar acessíveis há pouco tempo.

Viviane Panelli Sarraf, especialista em acessibilidade em museus,explica que até meados do século XX, os europeus ainda estavam muito voltados às suas origens, às elites. O público dos museus, ou seja, as pessoas, só começaram a receber atenção da museologia, após o término da segunda guerra mundial. Museu do Louvre, Museu D'Orsay, Museu do Prado e Tate Gallery, são exemplos de instituições acessíveis.

Já os brasileiros começaram a respeitar a diversidade humana no final do século XX e início do século XXI. Os principais museus que se tornaram acessíveis foram o MAC - Museu de Arte Contemporânea da USP (Universidade de São Paulo); o Museu Histórico Nacional no Rio de Janeiro; a Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, e o Centro de Memória Dorina Nowill, em São Paulo.

Para conhecer o público com deficiência que visita os museus, Viviane lança uma pesquisa. Respondê-la é simples e rápido, são apenas quatro perguntas objetivas. Clique aqui e participe!

Programa de Orientação para Museus Acessíveis

O Centro de Memória Dorina Nowill foi criado em 2002, na FDNC - Fundação Dorina Nowiill para Cegos, com o objetivo de preservar a história da inclusão da pessoa com deficiência visual no Brasil.

O Centro de Memória também é acessível às pessoas com deficiência física. E desde 2003, vem ampliando sua atuação em prol da inclusão, com a criação do Programa de Orientação para Museus Acessíveis. O programa faz visitas de sensibilização e ministra workshops de formação sobre acessibilidade para pessoas com deficiência visual.

"Durante as visita, estamos na companhia de pessoas videntes que nos descrevem com detalhes o local, além do que, utilizamos as escadas; rampas (quando existem); sentimos sinais pódo-táteis (quando os mesmos estão lá); verificamos se existem publicações acessíveis (folhetos em braille, catálogos digitais etc) e recursos sensoriais (maquetes, réplicas, etc), além de áreas de descanso, e principalmente, se os monitores foram treinados", explica Antonio Carlos, um dos voluntários do programa.

Coordenados pela especialista em acessibilidade em museus, Viviane Panelli Sarraf, os voluntários do programa (em sua maioria pessoas com deficiência visual) já estiveram no Museu de Zoologia da USP; Museu de Geociências da USP, Museu Lasar Segall; Espaço Cultural do Banco Real; Museu do Instituto Biológico; Museu Biológico; Museu de Microbiologia do Instituto Butantã; Museu da Bíblia; MAM - Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo; Museu do Instituto Adolfo Lutz; Museu de Arte Brasileira da FAAP; e exposições na OCA; (Parque do Ibirapuera), todos no município de São Paulo.

"Os museus que efetivamente implantam programas acessíveis começam a receber mais visitas", comenta Viviane. Desde abril de 2005, a exposição "Fundação e Suas Muitas Histórias" do Centro de Memória Dorina Nowill recebeu aproximadamente 1.200 pessoas com deficiência acompanhadas de educadores. Segundo a especialista, esse número é maior ainda, somado aos visitantes espontâneos.

Para Viviane, "a acessibilidade torna o museu mais atrativo para um maior número de visitantes potenciais. As rampas para pessoas em cadeiras de rodas também são úteis para carrinhos de bebê; e sinalizações e identificações de peças em letras grandes também facilitam a leitura de crianças e de pessoas da terceira idade, por exemplo. No entanto, o grande desafio hoje é tornar a informação acessível e eliminar as barreiras mais difíceis, as atitudinais (o pré-conceito de cada indivíduo)".

Para tornar ou criar ambientes convidativos a todas as pessoas, é preciso unir forças e trabalhar em conjunto. Parcerias eficazes e de baixo custo com ONGs, instituições, órgãos públicos, escolas e universidades, centros culturais, empresas privadas, e profissionais é o melhor caminho para levar cultura a todos. Os museus são um dos melhores exemplos de como é possível que a arte esteja ao alcance de todos.
Basta querer!

Antonio Carlos e Marieta são voluntários do programa de acessibilidade em museus da FDNC. Saibam o que eles pensam sobre o assunto e conheça um pouco mais sobre o trabalho que realizam, clicando em seus nomes.

*Leandra Migotto Certeza é paulista, deficiente física, Produtora Editorial, Jornalista há oito anos (MTb 40546), Repórter e colunista voluntária da Rede SACI e do Site Sentidos. Participa da Rede de Ativistas de Direitos Humanos do Hemisfério Sul e Rede Diálogo DH da Conectas - Direitos Humanos. É Diretora de Divulgação Voluntária da ABOI - Associação de Osteogeneis Imperfecta, e voluntária do Conselho Municipal da Pessoa Deficiente de SP. Foi uma das quatro brasileiras premiadas no concurso de periodismo Sociedad Para Todos na Colômbia, e ficou em segundo lugar no "Sexto Congresso Internacional Prazeres Dês-Organizados - Corpos, Direitos e Culturas em Transformação", promovido pela IASSCS - Associação Internacional para o Estudo da Sexualidade, Cultura e Sociedade, em Lima no Peru na Categoria: apresentação de pôster sobre o projeto "Fantasias Caleidoscópicas" (ensaio fotográfico sensual de pessoas com deficiência) sobre o tema: Sexualidad y Mujeres con Discapacidad, em 2007. Desenvolve o projeto, Caleidoscópio Comunicações - Consultoria em Inclusão Social, realizando palestras, treinamentos e assessoria técnica em empresas, escolas e ONGs. Informações: inclusaosocial@yahoo.com.br e Tel: 55 (0xx11) 3453-5370 ou 8697-9067.

*Viviane Panelli Sarraf é Especialista em Acessibilidade em Museus, Pesquisadora da ECA - USP na área de Políticas Culturais de Acessibilidade em Museus, e Diretora da Museus Acessíveis Serviços Museológicos e Culturais, que presta serviços para a Fundação Dorina Nowill para Cegos, além de outros museus e/ou centros culturais. Informações: vsarraf@gmail.com.

Sentidos
http://sentidos.uol.com.br/canais/materia.asp?codpag=12947&canal=agenda

Senderos de La Palma - Canarias

El Cabildo de La Palma ha presentado las ocho rutas de la Red de Senderos Insular, aptas para hacer uso de la silla Joëlette . Gracias al proyecto Tourmac, Ader y el Cabildo se dispone de 5 sillas (se ceden a las personas que hayan realizado un curso de capacitación para su empleo; en caso de tratarse de visitantes deben acreditar conocer su uso)

Senderos Accesibles (con silla Joëlette )

Dificultad baja:
-entorno de La Laguna de Barlovento I ( 2,9 km y tiempo estimado de 1.30 h)
-desde el Centro de Visitantes de La Caldera , al Pino de La Virgen ( 4,5 Km y tiempo estimado de 1.30 h)

Dificultad media:
-cercanías del Llano del Jable, en El Paso ( 5 km y tiempo estimado de 2 h)
-barranco de Izcagua, en Puntagorda ( 2,5 km y tiempo estimado de 1.30 h)
-Montaña de Las Varas, en Garafía (con 6 km y tiempo estimado de 2.30 h)
-Montaña El Caldero, entre El Paso, Mazo y Breña Baja ( 9 km y tiempo estimado de 3.30 h)

Dificultad Alta
- La Laguna de Barlovento II ( 9 km y tiempo estimado de 2 h)
-Volcán Teneguía, en Fuencaliente (con 6,5 km y tiempo estimado de 3.30 h).
Las personas interesadas en solicitar la cesión de las sillas Joelette deben ponerse en contacto con Ader o el Cabildo.

Cabildo Insular de La Palma
Consejería de Infraestructura y Medio Ambiente
Avenida Marítima, nº 1
38700 Santa Cruz de La Palma. La Palma - Canarias.
Tel: 922 423 350
Email: florenzo@aderlapalma.org

ADER LA PALMA
C/. Plaza Pedro Pérez Díaz, s/n. 38730 Villa de Mazo. La Palma
Tel: +34 922.42.82.52 Fax: +34 922.42.84.76
E-mail: ader@aderlapalma.org
www.aderlapalma.org

Información turística sobre La Palma : www.tourlapalma.com

Disabled Advocates Push Disney World, SeaWorld to allow Segways

The JFA Daily (10/15/07) cites an Orlando Sentinel report that Disney World and SeaWorld will not allow Segway users. This turns out to be a difficulty for visitors like James Nappier.

When James Nappier, a petty officer in the Navy Reserve, first rode his new Segway scooter out into his Loxahatchee neighborhood, he felt emotions that were rare since he got home from Iraq.

On the two-wheeled, electric scooter, he could get around easily.
That felt like personal freedom. Standing on the upright vehicle,
he could look neighbors in the eyes, not the belt buckles. That
felt like equality.

"It's been a godsend, because I can get out and get around on it,"
said Nappier, 49, who suffered leg- and arm-nerve damage in a May
2004 mortar attack in Ramadi, Iraq.

"I try to take it all the places here I can."

But he can't take it everywhere. Disney and SeaWorld Orlando won't
allow visitors to use Segways, citing safety concerns.

"We're not turning people away," Disney World spokeswoman Kim
Prunty said. "We're turning away a particular form of
transportation."

...

To read the entire article, go to:
http://www.aapd.com/News/transportation/071015os.htm

More on the popularity of Segway travel:
http://www.travelindustryreview.com/news/6518

Inviting to All - Good Writing on an Exemplary UD Project

Freelance writer Robin Avni has succeeded in writing a type of story about Universal Design in homes that I don't believe I have seen before. Intelligent, excellently illustrated, and personal without being mawkish or drawing on stereotype this is definitely an article worth reading.

Designer and builder Sanjay Soli transcended the sterility of simple "accessible design" and retrofitting to achieve striking stylishness through Universal Design. Avni has written a piece on disability lifestyle worthy of New Mobility magazine. Kudos to the Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine for bringing to mainstream readership both the concept and the heart behind good design.

See Inviting to All .

Seattle has come a long way since we founded the Disabled Students Commission and launched the campus Architectural barriers removal Project at the University of Washington in 1974 when Ron Mace was pioneering this work! What was once a marginal design philosophy is now core design and architecture curriculum - and lives are fuller as a result.

Next step? Full adoption of Universal Design with style by the hospitality industry in hotels, resorts, and on cruise ships.

The Bangkok International Conference on Accessible Tourism

Travel industry analyst Imtiaz Muqbil has written an article in the Bangkok Post previewing the 2007 Bangkok International Conference on Accessible Tourism (ICAT 2007)

Conference highlights needs of disabled travellers

An International Conference on Accessible Tourism (ICAT 2007) for people with disabilities is to be held in Bangkok from Nov 22-24 to highlight the need for improved facilities and services for a growing but largely neglected market segment. ''With a generation of permanently disabled people having experienced increasing degrees of employment, education, and leisure, those of us with the means to travel belong to a consumer group that is only starting to be noticed,'' says Scott Rains, one of the conference organisers and publisher of the Rolling Rains Report, a newsletter on travel for people with disabilities.

The conference is being backed by Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, UN Escap and Disabled People's International Asia Pacific (DPI-AP). It will be held at the UN Escap convention centre.

There is no registration fee for participants with disabilities but they have to pay their own personal expenses and for any personal assistants. Accessible buses will be provided for airport pickup and send-off. Facilities such as accessible toilets, water fountains and lifts are available.

Essential sessions of the conference programme will be translated into Braille. A large-print programme will be prepared. English will be the official language, accompanied by a sign-language interpreter during the conference.

Mr Rains says the conference will contribute to change and development lines of tourism businesses to ensure a favorable environment for tourists and travellers with disabilities and retired, ageing people, including access to built environments and public transport as well as training and employment.

Says Mr Rains: ''Travel the world today and you will find that there is a hunger for community and solidarity among people with disabilities. Wherever you go you will find unique opportunities to learn from and contribute to local manifestations of disability culture.

When we travel we represent more than ourselves because we are part of a community. The very fact that you have a disability and travel suggests something about your economic condition. It indicates that you have credit, savings, education, maybe a profession that requires travel, but most importantly the ability to make decisions about the course of your life for yourself. That combination of means and dignity are potent means of social transformation.

''Leisure travel means moving beyond mere survival mode. A small but growing percentage of us have made the transition to economic stability but we are not equally distributed around the world. Travel spreads us around, which is to say that it spreads around living examples of an alternate lifestyle; ambassadors of choices still out of reach for some.

''How we chose to spend those resources _ even through our leisure activities _ has a profound impact.''

Mr Rains cited research showing American adults with disabilities or reduced mobility currently spend an average of US$13.6 billion a year on tourism. In 2002, these individuals made 32 million trips and spent $4.2 billion 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.

Out of a total of 21 million persons, 69% had travelled 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. In the previous two years, out of a total of two million adults with disabilities or reduced mobility, 7% had spent more than $1,600 outside the continental United States. In addition, 20% had travelled at least six times every two years.

A study by the Open Doors Organization estimated that in the year 2003, people with disabilities or reduced mobility spent $35 billion in restaurants. According to the same study, more than 75% of these people eat out at restaurants at least once a week. The United States Department of Labor reported that a large and growing market of Americans with disabilities or reduced mobility have $175 billion 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 C$25 billion.

A UN survey also found that by year 2050, the ageing population will rise to two billion and 54% of them will be in Asia.

The conference is supported by Pattaya City, Asia Pacific Disability Forum, The Redemptorist Foundation for People with Disabilities and the Council of Disabled People of Thailand. The conference website is http://www.dpiap.org

Imtiaz Muqbil is executive editor of Travel Impact Newswire, an e-mailed feature and analysis service focusing on the Asia-Pacific travel industry.

Source:

Conference Highlights Needs of Disabled Travellers
http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/15Oct2007_biz31.php

You Go, Anahí!

Brazil has a national movement for social inclusion that spans disabilities and emphasizes participation in culture. Thanks to Anahí for sharing this campaign video promoting captioning. (Video in Portuguese and Brazilian Sign Language, "Libras" (Língua Brasileira de Sinais).

Survey: How Designed Environments Affect Individuals' Activities

A research team from the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Universal Design and the Built Environment at the State University of New York at Buffalo is conducting online surveys examining how designed environments affect individuals' activities. The environments being studied are public buildings, streets and residences.

The study is interested not only in the experiences of individuals with cognitive, hearing, mobility or sight conditions but also in the experiences of individuals with none of those conditions. Widespread participation is very important to the goal of this study to identify environmental design features that are useable by everyone.

This study employs anonymous surveys to examine three build environments' influences on routine activities:

-Public Buildings (for example: using entrances, restrooms, etc.)

-Public Streets (for example: using sidewalks, intersections, etc.)

-Residential Environments (for example: using kitchens, bathrooms, etc.)

If you think you might be interested in participating or would just like additional information, go to the research study's website at http://www.udeworld.com/research/index.php. The surveys will be available online through January 2008.

Inaccessible Telephone Technology? AAPD Answers the Call!

Here is Silicon Valley I have the privilege of meeting with technology designers who are in residence or just passing through. Not long ago I had the opportunity to discuss NTT DoCoMo's universally designed phones with their engineering team. One of the problems we lamented was the lack of communication between people with disabilities as consumers of phones and telecommunications companies.

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is taking up the challenge. Because the size of the problem is expanding geometrically with the aging of Baby Boomers the failure of AARP to be a full partner in this work is disappointing. However, it demonstrates once again that the disability community is pioneering the new definition of retirement by being "beta testers for aging."

Consumer Complaint Campaign: People with Disabilities Fed Up With
Poorly Designed Phones

Over the past several months AAPD, and several other national disability organizations, have been assisting consumers with disabilities with their complaints about phones that are not accessible or usable. These complaints are from persons with vision loss, physical disabilities, hearing loss, and in several cases multiple disabilities. Several of the complaints involve aging boomers who expect the same usability they used to have when younger. Complaints range from lack of access to the information on the cell phone screen, such as not being able to navigate through the menus or being able to enter caller information from the keypad, lack of hearing aid compatibility, keypad buttons that are too small or keypads with no indicators, missing calls because the ring tone and vibrate function cannot be turned on simultaneously, customer service reps ignoring disability concerns, bills and product materials unavailable in alternate format, and other barriers to making and receiving calls like everyone else.

AAPD believes that most of these concerns are readily achievable
and we remain puzzled why the services providers are not insisting
on more usability from the device manufacturers, particularly as
the product life cycle is short and many of our design needs help
America's aging population. The Section 255 phone accessibility
and usability law was passed in 1996. Yet, eleven years later,
people with disabilities are putting up with clumsy workarounds
and barriers to making and receiving phone calls that mean they
are overpaying for their phone devices and services. It's time to
make sure the phone companies hear from you!

AAPD will continue to assist consumers with informal complaints
involving cell and other phones. Please contact Jenifer Simpson,
AAPD staffer, if you have just such a concern. Alternatively you
can file your complaint directly at the FCC using their online
Form 475 at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm

Jenifer's Email is aapdjenifer@aol.com. Put "phone complaint" in
the subject line for faster handling.

Press notices about this consumer campaign can be seen at:

Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology at
http://www.aapd.com/News/telecomm/070814coat.htm

Hearing Loss Association of America at:
http://www.audiologyonline.com/news/news_detail.asp?news_id=2834

American Foundation for the Blind at:
www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=
/www/story/07-26-2007/0004633567

SOURCE: AAPD

More on Cell Phones
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/001538.html

Update on the [with]TV Blog

The travel column that I write at [with]TV has a new URL:

http://withtv.typepad.com/weblog/travel/index.html

The entire [with]TV blog has moved over to the Typepad blog engine to make life much easier for Blogmaster Connie Kuusisto.

Gwangju Design Biennale 2007

The Gwangju Design Biennale 2007 is one more sign of Korea's leadership in Universal Design. Pre-conference publicity describes the event:

The international design conference is to provide the scientific background for the motto of this year's design biennale, "Light" (Life, Identity, Green, Human, Technology).

The conference will deal with the industrial value of design as well as design's new orientation towards convergence and communication in the era of U-Design and the new roles, which designers will play in it.

The term "U-Design" refers to universal design, design for everyone.

In his lecture “U-Design: Design for the People” Prof. Dr. Zec will talk about Life Science Design. As the term already indicates, Life Science Design is a combination of design and biological sciences such as medical technology, biology, bionics, genetics and nanotechnology. The most important focus of Life Science Design, however, is the human being.

“Life Science Design concentrates on a new quality of life as well as new product quality. It can function as a kind of translator of complex machines; it can make the life of handicapped people more comfortable and simplify medical processes – in other words, it opens up completely new perspectives,” Professor Dr. Zec explains the significance of Life Science Design.

Since design was increasingly becoming an essential part of our life, good design was no longer inspired by the idea of creating a new product for market success, but rather by meeting people’s needs. “‘Universal Design’ is the term of the future,” resumes Zec.

Sources & Further Information:

http://www.dexigner.com/product/news-g12284.html

http://www.design-biennale.org/2007gb/

http://en.red-dot.org/2398.html

http://www.icsid.org/

The TOMAR Resolution

The European Union Committee of Ministers played an important role in the promotion of Universal Design with the following resolution in 2001.

Resolution ResAP(2001)1 on the introduction of the principles of universal design into the curricula of all occupations working on the built environment

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers
on 15 February 2001,
at the 742nd meeting of the Ministers Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers, in its composition restricted to the Representatives of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, member states of the Partial Agreement in the Social and Public Health Field,

Recalling Resolution (59) 23 of 16 November 1959, concerning the extension of the activities of the Council of Europe in the social and cultural fields;

Having regard to Resolution (96) 35 of 2 October 1996, whereby it revised the structures of the Partial Agreement and resolved to continue, on the basis of revised rules replacing those set out in Resolution (59) 23, the activities hitherto carried out and developed by virtue of that resolution; these being in particular aimed at:

a. raising the level of health protection of consumers in its widest sense, including a constant contribution to harmonising – in the field of products having a direct or indirect impact on the human food chain as well as in the field of pesticides, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, legislation, regulations and practice governing, on the one hand, quality, efficiency and safety controls for products; and, on the other hand, the safe use of toxic or noxious products;

b. integrating people with disabilities into the community; defining – and contributing to the implementation at European level – of a model of coherent policy for people with disabilities, which takes account simultaneously of the principles of full citizenship and independent living; contributing to the elimination of barriers to integration, whatever their nature, whether psychological, educational, family-related, cultural, social, professional, financial or architectural.

Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of facilitating their economic and social progress;

Bearing in mind the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and in particular the freedom of movement (Article 2 of Protocol No. 4);

Bearing in mind the principles embodied in the revised European Social Charter, namely the right of persons with disabilities to independence, social integration and participation in the life of the community, in particular through measures aiming to overcome barriers to communication and mobility and enabling access to transport, housing, cultural activities and leisure (Article 15, paragraph 3);

Bearing in mind Recommendation No. R (86) 18 on the “European Charter on Sport for all: disabled persons”;

Bearing in mind Recommendation No. R (92) 6 on a coherent policy for people with disabilities;

Bearing in mind Recommendation 1185 (1992) of the Parliamentary Assembly on rehabilitation policies for the disabled;

Bearing in mind Recommendation N° R (98) 3 on access to higher education;

Bearing in mind the United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities;

Having regard to the Council Directive 85/384/EEC of 10 June 1985 on the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications in architecture, including measures to facilitate the effective exercise of the right of establishment and freedom to provide services;

Having regard to the Resolution of the Council of the European Union and of the representatives of the governments of the member states meeting within the Council of 20 December 1996 on equality of opportunity for people with disabilities;

Having regard to the European Concept for Accessibility, March 1996, elaborated by the Central Co-ordinating Commission for the Promotion of Accessibility (CCPT);

Having regard to the Barcelona Declaration: The City and the Disabled of 24 March 1995, signed by 150 European cities following the Congress on The City and the Disabled, Barcelona, 23 and 24 March 1995;

Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe can be pursued, inter alia, by the adoption of common legislation and practice conducive to the creation of a society for all;

Considering that failure to promote the rights of citizens with disabilities and ensure equality of opportunities is a violation of human dignity;

Considering that equal opportunities for members of all groups in society can contribute to securing democracy and social cohesion;

Emphasising the almost total lack of compulsory training programmes with a universal design dimension for all occupations working on the built environment;

Acknowledging the work carried out in the field of accessibility policies by the Council of Europe's Committee on the Rehabilitation and Integration of People with disabilities and its subordinate body, the Committee of Experts on the Training of Personnel other than Health Care Personnel concerned with Rehabilitation (Architects and Town Planners), and considering the urgent need for such training;

Convinced that universal design and accessibility have a key role to play in the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms and should therefore be incorporated into all levels of the education and training programmes of all occupations working on the built environment,

Recommends that the governments of the member states of the Partial Agreement in the Social and Public Health Field, having due regard to their specific constitutional structures, and national, regional or local circumstances, as well as education systems:

a. when formulating national policy, take into account the principles of universal design and measures to improve accessibility, in the widest sense of the term, as set out in the appendix to this resolution in so far as they concern curricula and other matters of education, training and awareness-raising for which governments are directly responsible according to the allocation of responsibilities in each country;

b. take such steps as they consider appropriate towards the application of the principles and measures contained in the appendix in fields where these are not the direct responsibility of governments, but where public authorities have a certain power or play a role;

c. promote implementation of these measures by universities and institutions responsible for higher and further education, as well as vocational training;

d. ensure the widest possible dissemination of this resolution among all interested parties, particularly those concerned with education and training, as well as the users.

Appendix to Resolution ResAP(2001)1

1. General principles

The right of all individuals, including persons with disabilities, to full participation in the life of the community involves the right to access to and use and understanding of the built environment.

It is the responsibility and duty of society, and in particular of all occupations working on the built environment, to make it universally accessible to everyone, including persons with disabilities.

A coherent and global policy in favour of people with disabilities or who are in danger of acquiring them should aim at, inter alia, guaranteeing full citizenship, equality of opportunity, independent living and active participation in all areas of community life.

To implement this policy states should take steps to, inter alia, avoid and remove, wherever possible, all obstacles in the built environment and to improve the information of all policy makers and other stakeholders whose decisions concerning the manmade environment affect the quality of life of people with disabilities.

Such policy includes the education and training of key players in this process.

Through a co-ordinated set of measures introducing the concept of universal design into the curricula of all occupations working on the built environment, people of all ages, sizes and abilities should be enabled to have as much mobility and access to buildings, as well as means of transport, as possible, so that they can play a full role in society and take part in economic, social, cultural, leisure, and recreational activities.

2. Definitions

“Universal design” is a strategy, which aims to make the design and composition of different environments and products accessible and understandable to, as well as usable by, everyone, to the greatest extent in the most independent and natural manner possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised design solutions.

The intent of the universal design concept is to simplify life for everyone by making the built environment, products, and communications equally accessible, usable and understandable at little or no extra cost. The universal design concept promotes a shift to more emphasis on user-centred design by following a holistic approach and aiming to accommodate the needs of people of all ages, sizes and abilities, including the changes that people experience over their lifespan. Consequently, universal design is a concept that extends beyond the issues of mere accessibility of buildings for people with disabilities and should become an integrated part of architecture, design and planning of the environment.

For the purpose of this resolution the terms “integral accessibility”, “design for all” and “inclusive design” are understood to have the same meaning as the term “universal design”, which is used in this text.

The term “everyone” means that no difference will be imposed by the environment upon individuals regardless of their age, size or other physical features, abilities or disabilities.

The term “independent” means the ability to act without having to rely on outside help, thus avoiding dependency.

The term “natural” stresses the integral aspect of the definition. It implies that provisions for access and usability are perceived as normal.

The term "built environment” means all buildings, traffic provisions and places or spaces open to the public.

3. Aims, objectives, and strategies

To ensure equal chances of participation in economic, social, cultural, leisure and recreational activities, everyone of whatever age, size and ability must be able to access, use and understand any part of the environment as independently and as equally as possible.

Education and training of all occupations working on the built environment should be inspired by the principles of universal design.

For the purpose of taking early action to promote a coherent policy to improve accessibility, the concept of universal design should be an integral and compulsory part of the mainstream initial training of all occupations working on the built environment, at all levels and in all sectors.

Adequate further training should be made available for active professionals, such as architects, engineers, designers and town planners. Their attendance should be strongly encouraged.

Curricula should be developed with the co-operation of users, including organisations of and for people with disabilities.

The concept of universal design should be brought into focus for other professions working with the built environment, such as regional planners, property developers, estate agents, landscape architects and landscape gardeners, as well as interior designers. It should also be brought to the attention of users, customers and clients, including organisations and bodies representing them.

Awareness of the difficulties people with disabilities encounter in the built environment should be raised as early as possible.

Education, training and awareness-raising should provide everyone dealing with the built environment with the necessary understanding, knowledge, skills and values to instil new attitudes and behaviour towards achieving a built environment that is universally accessible.

4. Higher education

Curricula of architects, engineers, designers, and town planners at under-graduate and post-graduate level should develop the following skills:

– that of perceiving the relationship between human beings and their constructural creations and between the latter and their environment,

– that of understanding the need to accord constructural creations and space in compliance with human needs,

– that of mastering problem-solving techniques in order to increase the usability of all their constructural creations, taking into account human diversity.

Public authorities, educational institutions, the bodies for the professions concerned and the organisations representing those professions should review education and training in architecture, engineering, design, and town planning in order to ensure that it enshrines the universal design concept as an integral part, including appropriate examinations on the subject.

Moreover, they should take steps to ensure that continuing education based on the universal design concept be organised, encouraged and followed by architects, engineers, designers, and town planners.

Governments may examine appropriate ways of creating incentives, such as student grants, scholarships and awards, to stimulate such innovation in design that will lead to the creation of environments and products that incorporate universal design principles.

5. Further education and vocational training

Universal design issues should be included in all types and levels of education influencing our physical environment. Achieving a universally designed environment requires competence and skills in all parts of the production and construction process. Since architects and engineers are not involved in all building projects, as many are carried out by craftsmen, such as bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers, and electricians, the initial vocational training of all professions concerned should include universal design principles.

The new inclusive perspectives of universal design should become a compulsory part of the education and training for everyone working on the built environment.

Governments may examine appropriate ways of creating incentives, such as prizes, to stimulate practical solutions to design questions that incorporate universal design principles.

6. Teaching methods and materials

Education and training should take an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach, covering all disciplines relevant to the built environment. Linkages to other courses should offset the problem of isolating the subject in the curriculum.

Learners of all ages should be given the possibility to personally experience the difficulties encountered by people with disabilities in the environment, using appropriate interactive, participatory and collaborative methods, such as field trips, on-site observations, case studies, direct and personal contact with people with disabilities and people across the age span, as well as simulation of certain impairments.

Theoretical and cognitive-intellectual learning should be complemented by practical and emotional learning.

The perception of “normality” and “difference” should be studied; stereotypes and prejudices should be examined.

Teaching and learning through projects should be encouraged and developed. A real-life supervised project could be an appropriate completion of a training period.

Positive attitudes towards people with disabilities should be created as early as possible to overcome psychological barriers to their active participation and to lay the foundations for the removal of physical barriers.

The new curricula should be accompanied by appropriate teaching methods and materials adapted to the various educational needs, paying particular attention to audio-visual material and new technologies, notably information technology and computer-based training and simulations.

Every member state should appoint or set up a governmental body, promote the creation of a professional centre of expertise or use other bodies with competence to disseminate information and documentation as well as to give advice, assistance and support.

7. Training of trainers

Since the awareness of lecturers, teachers and trainers is crucial to all action in this field, basic and further training in the concepts of universal design should be provided to those who are required to implement provisions under chapters 4 to 6, as well as this one.

Staff development programmes to raise awareness and support universal design issues should be encouraged, as should full staff involvement in the development and delivery of universal design strategies.

Special attention should also be paid to the training of non-teaching staff, such as school heads and administrators.

8. User participation

Curricula should be developed with the co-operation of users across the age span, including people with disabilities. Curriculum developers should draw on their expertise. They should be considered as a source of information, first-hand experience and professional competence. User participation should take place as early as possible.

9. Evaluating teaching effectiveness

Since the effectiveness of teaching measures cannot be determined without systematic analysis, the degree of success of each measure should be considered and emerging problems identified.

Institutional evaluation of teaching effectiveness should be seen as an integral part of curriculum development or revision and as a key professional tool for management and planning.

10. International exchange of information and good practice

Member states should exchange information and research findings on the strategy of universal design and the standards of accessibility achieved.

Governments should promote and/or facilitate co-operation across borders and foster contacts between professionals in this field. These activities should include co-operation between universities and other educational or training institutions, the exchange of lecturers, teachers and trainers, as well as study visits of teaching staff and students/trainees.

The bodies referred to in chapter 6, paragraph 8, should be called upon to communicate with corresponding bodies and institutions in other states.

An international exchange of good practice should be developed to illustrate the major themes of the resolution with practical examples in some detail, making the best possible use of new information technologies, such as the Internet.

The examples, although set in specific contexts, should be sufficiently transferable to demonstrate that solutions and good practice can be shared. They should inspire creative imitation in the spirit of the resolution.

The examples should include action by the member states to revise curricula of the different educational institutions and to enhance the work of the bodies referred to in chapter 6, paragraph 8. It should also include action by the different educational and training institutions as well as professional and vocational groups

"Reality TV" in India : Sound of the Silent

Part of the reason transportation and hospitality infrastructure and practice remains inhospitable is because the reality of the lives of people with disabilities is not accurately portrayed. K. Murali of Deaf Leaders in India has a proposal to begin to remedy that.

A tele–serial exclusively for the hearing impaired will soon capture the aesthetic interests of the hearing impaired country–wide.

A brainchild of K. Murali, Director of Deaf Leaders, an organisation working for the empowerment of the hearing impaired in Coimbatore, "Sound of the Silent" would feature success stories of hearing impaired individuals.

Speaking to The Hindu before his visit to Japan for a "Leadership Training for Deaf Persons," Mr. Murali said that he had met Government officials in New Delhi and Doordarshan to get a 28–minute slot once a week on the national channel. Mr. Murali was expecting a positive response from the Centre in two to three months.

A compact disc on the lives of two hearing impaired people from Madurai and Coimbatore had also been released by him, which would be used as material for the programme.

Insufficient funds were slowing down the process. The camera and related equipment were expensive and finding professionals to undertake the production work was also difficult.

Mr. Murali was expecting technical assistance from Japan and planned to get equipment required for shooting videos from there.

With movies on hearing impairment having begun to be accepted in mainstream cinema, the hearing impaired community would feel less excluded, he said. Such movies should be encouraged as they did not portray the hearing impaired as seeking public sympathy, but empowered citizens contributing to society. Through "Sound of the Silent," he aimed at motivate those of his ilk to empower themselves and contribute to society.

He is the only person from the country who has been selected by the Government of Japan to attend the training programme, which would mainly concentrate on improving communication skills for international sign languages and formulate an action plan to resolve the problems faced by hearing impaired people.

On his return from Japan, he would conduct conferences to impart the information to other organisations.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/08/stories/2007100857910100.htm

Gary Robb on Outdoor Accessibility

Gary Robb is Director of the National Center Accessibility at Indiana University. Those who work on trail accessibility or want to view the proposed US regulations on outdoor accessibility through the eyes of an expert may appreciate this transcript of his testimony: http://www.access-board.gov/outdoor/nprm/comments/robb-co.htm

You can find numerous helpful resources. There is even an opportunity to sign up as a volunteer.

Lingo 24 - Professional Translation and a Little Geography Fun!

For a bit of fun and geographic challenge try Lingo 24's entertaining map game Web Whereabouts:

http://www.lingo24.com/resources/games/eurogame/index3.html

Lingo24 Web Whereabouts - web
geography educational game provided by Translation Service

The World Health Organization's New Definition of Disability

Every so often it is good to review the basics -- especially when they keep changing on you!

Below is a good introduction to the changing definition of the concept of disability. This is an especially good read for those in the US who feel they are familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). There are some better adapted definitions ut there than the one codified in ADA.

World Health Organization's New Definition of Disability

The way disability is defined and understood has also changed in the last decade. Disability was once assumed as a way to characterize a particular set of largely stable limitations. Now the World Health Organization (WHO) has moved toward a new international classification system, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF 2001). It emphasizes functional status over diagnoses. The new system is not just about people with traditionally acknowledged disabilities diagnostically categorized but about all people. For the first time, the ICF also calls for the elimination of distinctions, explicitly or implicitly, between health conditions that are 'mental' or 'physical.'

The new ICF focuses on analyzing the relationship between capacity and performance. If capacity is greater than performance then that gap should be addressed through both removing barriers and identifying facilitators. The new WHO ICF specifically references Universal Design as a central concept that can serve to identify facilitators that can benefit all people.

The WHO defines disability as a contextual variable, dynamic over time and in relation to circumstances. One is more or less disabled based on the interaction between the person and the individual, institutional and social environments. The ICF also acknowledges that the prevalence of disability corresponds to social and economic status. The 2001 ICF provides a platform that supports Universal Design as an international priority for reducing the experience of disability and enhancing everyone's experience and performance.

Source:

Adaptive Environments:
http://www.adaptiveenvironments.org/index.php?option=Content&Itemid=3

Sign of our times? Revis(it)ing the International Symbol of Access

Discussions about visual communication of accessibility, icons, and iconographers have appeared here occasionally. Liat Ben-Moshe and Justin J.W. Powell have recently published a scholarly paper on the subject entitled, "Sign of our times? Revis(it)ing the International Symbol of Access." The abstract is available here.

Guy Fisher Does New York

Guy Fisher demonstrates the best of this site's Flickr.com Travel With a Disability Photo-Sharing section by uploading a photo essay today.

Yankee Stadium, Empire State Building, John Mayer concert (backstage even!), Ellis Island, and the ever invigorating dash from one side of the street to another in NYC. He's done it all -- and lived to tell:

John Hockenberry once wrote that "New York City will probably always require an aggressive mix of physical and social skills to get a wheelchair off the street and back onto it." Navigating the crowds and traffic in Times Square will definitely put your wheelchair skills to the test. We ended up taking several trips through the square, and I enjoyed the challenge of dodging pedestrians, mixing into the flow of the crowds and jockeying for a straight shot to the curbcuts. On our last trip through the hurly-burly, I went ahead and turned the traffic bollards that lined the streets into my own private wheelchair lane.

I especially appreciated his reflections on the history of disabled immigrants here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/guyfisher/1439611399/in/pool-rollingrains/

Brasil: Portadores de Deficiências e Esportes de Natureza

Last week the Brazilian nonprofit Aventura Especial selected Serra da Canastra National Park as the location for a model project demonstrating best practices in outdoor accessibility. A press release has not yet been issued.

O ONG Aventura Especial elegeu a semana pasada o Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra para um projeto modelo das boas práticas de acesso. Ainda não saiu noticias para a midia.

A ONG Aventura Especial (www.aventuraespecial.org.br) trabalha para a inclusão de mais de 24,5 milhões de pessoas com algum tipo de deficiência, só no Brasil, no fascinante mundo do ecoturismo e dos esportes de natureza.

O primeiro passo foi dado graças à realização do projeto Aventureiros Especiais, em parceria com o Ministério do Turismo, quando foram feitos vários testes de campo reunindo pessoas com deficiências físicas, sensoriais, mentais e múltiplos. Entre eles, um amputado, um paraplégico, um tetraplégico, um deficiente visual, um surdo-cego, um com paralisia cerebral e um com síndrome de dowm. Todos praticaram modalidades de esportes de aventura, como rapel, rafting, tirolesa, bóia-cross, acqua-ride e off-road, com o intuito de apurar as necessidades de adaptações e condutas a serem seguidas pelos profissionais do turismo.

Acompanhados por uma equipe multidisciplinar de treze profissionais, entre integrantes da ONG Aventura Especial, fisioterapeutas, médicos e voluntários, foram levantadas as adaptações necessárias para viabilizar a prática das atividades por este público.

Além das adaptações físicas, como o desenvolvimento de uma cadeirinha para técnicas verticais e um colete e uma cadeira para o bote de rafting (específicos para pessoas sem mobilidade no tronco) também foram criadas condutas e procedimentos de comunicação alternativa, para interagir com as pessoas com deficiência sensoriais antes e durante as atividades.

A formatação desse novo produto turístico adaptado representa um estudo de campo inédito, que fará do Brasil referência internacional de turismo de aventura adaptado, acredita o jornalista e fotógrafo Dadá Moreira, fundador e presidente da ONG.

Os testes foram realizados na cidade de Socorro, a 130km da capital, que será o primeiro destino totalmente adaptado do país, servindo de modelo para que outros municípios venham as ser adaptados. Além das atividades e pontos turísticos, a estância também está adaptando sua infra-estrutura de produtos e serviços.

Com o objetivo de disseminar os conhecimentos adquiridos com todas estas experiências e implantar as adaptações em outros destinos, a Aventura Especial oferece palestras e cursos de capacitação.
Contato para entrevista com Dadá Moreira Cel 11 99462593 ou dadamoreira@aventuraespecial.org.br
Mais informações
Vanessa Rodrigues – (11)9856-2049 aventura_vanessa@aventuraespecial.org.br
Aventura Especial www.aventuraespecial.org.br

New Web Site for MIUSA

If MIUSA (Mobility International USA) had existed when I was a student -- well, during the first couple decades that I was a student anyway -- my life as an exchange student (all three times) would have been much easier. I certainly would have been able to find the mentor that was nowhere to be found at that time in the fields of student services, student exchange, or international development. That is why I am always pleased to support the excellent work of MIUSA and have spent much of my career assisting the students they serve.

They have made changes to their web site at http://www.miusa.org/miusa-exchange-programs

Check out their student exchange program to Bahrain. Hurry. Application deadline is November 19, 2007.

UPCOMING MIUSA EVENTS:

FREE! Foreign Language and Disability TeleTraining
November 5, 2007
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern Standard Time

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Central Standard Time

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Mountain Standard Time

11:00 am – 12:30 pm Pacific Standard Time

Interested people must register online at
http://www.miusa.org/ncde/spotlight/foreignlanguage/teletraining to
participate

Mobility International USA
National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange
(541) 343-1284 ext. 21
www.miusa.org
Mobility International USA empowering people with disabilities around the
world to achieve their human rights through international exchange and
international development for 25 years.

Boomers: A Generation Discovers Universal Design, Inclusive Travel, & Livable Communities

The United States lives in a fog of denial about the coming population inversion. When the fog burns off the slow, steady adoption of Universal Design best practices that we have been documenting in the housing, leisure, hospitality, and development fields will catch the inattentive by surprise.

MONEY magazine published survey results this week on the next wave of "future shock". Almost 3,000 Boomers participated in the survey (Forever Young) conducted to examine their attitudes and its potential social impact.

Boomers are starting to form a new agenda, a reinvention of the American dream that emphasizes friends and family over making money, having fun over working hard, and making a difference in the community and the said MONEY's Marlys Harris in her article on the survey. The study shows that 63% of participants said their definition of success has changed since their late teens and early twenties. Living independently and maintaining health are the top two goals of Boomers.

"Living independently" has been the objective of the Disability Rights Movement (a baby Boomer generation phenomenon) as it created the Independent Living Movement and networks of Independent Living Centers (CILs) :

Independent Living Centers are typically non-residential, private, non-profit, consumer-controlled, community-based organizations providing services and advocacy by and for persons with all types of disabilities. Their goal is to assist individuals with disabilities to achieve their maximum potential within their families and communities.

Also, Independent Living Centers serve as a strong advocacy voice on a wide range of national, state and local issues.

New configurations of services for older adults imitate what CILs have refined over decades while younger people with disabilities have been "beta testers for aging." Comprehensive regional planning approaches such as the National Council on Disability's Livable Communities for Adults with Disabilities and WHO's Age-friendly Cities Initiative address at a macro level what home builders and remodelers know at the local level -- lifespan planning may not have been a priority for Boomers in their financing of retirement but it has certainly begun to catch on in home (re)design.

However, there is a confrontation with destiny facing any Boomer who holds unrealistic expectations of "maintaining health." (A 2006 AARP poll found that half of Boomers surveyed complain of some degree of hearing loss, but only one in four have seen a doctor about it.)

Here again, the disability community has been at the forefront of providing expectation management. It rejected the medicalization and personalization of disability -- that inevitable companion of aging -- in order to guarantee the generations' first goal of "living independently." It formulated the "social model of disability" as a means to locate the causes of handicap in the lack of social accommodation rather than as an inevitability of difference ("Anatomy is not destiny!"). Thinking has further progressed to include the definition of disability now proposed by the World Health Organization:

The way disability is defined and understood has also changed in the last decade. Disability was once assumed as a way to characterize a particular set of largely stable limitations. Now the World Health Organization (WHO) has moved toward a new international classification system, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF 2001). It emphasizes functional status over diagnoses. The new system is not just about people with traditionally acknowledged disabilities diagnostically categorized but about all people. For the first time, the ICF also calls for the elimination of distinctions, explicitly or implicitly, between health conditions that are 'mental' or 'physical.'

The new ICF focuses on analyzing the relationship between capacity and performance. If capacity is greater than performance then that gap should be addressed through both removing barriers and identifying facilitators. The new WHO ICF specifically references Universal Design as a central concept that can serve to identify facilitators that can benefit all people.

The WHO defines disability as a contextual variable, dynamic over time and in relation to circumstances. One is more or less disabled based on the interaction between the person and the individual, institutional and social environments. The ICF also acknowledges that the prevalence of disability corresponds to social and economic status. The 2001 ICF provides a platform that supports Universal Design as an international priority for reducing the experience of disability and enhancing everyone's experience and performance.

The convergence of Boomer idealism and the legacies of the disability movement's social transformation tradition promises exiting times in the very near future. The travel & hospitality industry is already experiencing the benefit. Watch the trends:

So will the future find boomers shooting Colorado River rapids and hiking through the Mombacho cloud forest? Some will, but don't bet on it, says Edward Kerschner, author of "The Next American Dream," a 2004 study of boomers for Smith Barney and Citigroup Global Markets. He describes boomers as "lazily active." They enjoy walking but not running; going on cruises but not swimming; and going for a drive instead of hiking.

More on Universal Design:

The TOMAR Resolution
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=186495&BackColorInternet=9999CC&BackColorIntranet=FFBB55&BackColorLogged=FFAC75

The Davos Declaration

Universal Design has been recognized as a green building strategy because it creates lifespan appropriate construction that does not produce the waste or materials and energy consumption of retrofitting. Universal Design has been recognized as central to sustainable development in the Rio Charter on Universal Design for Sustainable and Inclusive Development. It figures fundamentally in the World Bank's Global Partnership for Disability & Development (GPDD) of In addition;

Universal Design is a framework for the design of places, things, information, communication and policy to be usable by the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. Most simply, Universal Design is human-centered design of everything with everyone in mind.

Universal Design is also called Inclusive Design, Design-for-All and Lifespan Design. It is not a design style but an orientation to any design process that starts with a responsibility to the experience of the user. It has a parallel in the green design movement that also offers a framework for design problem solving based on the core value of environmental responsibility. Universal Design and green design are comfortably two sides of the same coin but at different evolutionary stages. Green design focuses on environmental sustainability, Universal Design on social sustainability.

Now the conergence has been made stronger as the UNWTO releases the Davos Declaration emphasizing tourism's obligation to protect the environment in the face of climate change:

"UNWTO Assistant Secretary-General Geoffrey Lipman said that “We know that the solutions for climate change and for poverty are interrelated...."

(ForImmediateRelease.Net) CLIMATE CHANGE AND TOURISM RESPONDING TO GLOBAL CHALLENGES.
The 2nd International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism “urges action by the entire tourism sector to face climate change as one of the greatest challenges to sustainable development, and to the Millennium Development Goals in the 21st Century." The Davos Declaration presented at the closing of the three-day Conference underscores that “the tourism sector must rapidly respond to climate change, within the evolving UN framework if it is to grow in a sustainable manner".

The Conference was organized by UNWTO together with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and supported by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Swiss Government.

UNWTO Assistant Secretary-General Geoffrey Lipman said that “We know that the solutions for climate change and for poverty are interrelated. Here at Davos, the tourism sector committed itself to take a long-term strategic position on these issues, starting now, and to do this as a contribution to the UN Secretary-General's global roadmap for the Climate Change Conference in Bali, at the end of this year. We leave Davos more optimistic about our future on the common agreement to build upon quadruple bottom line sustainability of economic, social, environmental and climate responsiveness."

This will require action for the tourism sector to:

- mitigate its Greenhouse Gas GHG emissions, derived especially from transport and accommodation activities;
- adapt tourism businesses and destinations to changing climate conditions;
- apply existing and new technology to improve energy efficiency; and
- secure financial resources to help poor regions and countries.

Stefanos Fotiou, head of UNEP's Tourism Unit, stressed how the Conference proved “that the tourism industry is challenged by climate change and at the same time is not an insignificant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The Conference has also demonstrated that, through a more intelligent and better managed development trajectory, tourism can assist in combating poverty in developing countries, in reducing its own carbon footprint and make a contribution to the conservation of natural and nature-based resources. In short, tourism has a potentially very important and positive role to play in the key sustainability challenges of our age."

The Davos Conference called on UNWTO, in collaboration with UNEP and WMO, to strengthen this process, and to convene a Third Conference on Climate Change and Tourism, at an appropriate time in the future, to review progress, to maintain response levels and to identify further needs and actions.

Jeremiah Lengoasa, Assistant Secretary-General of WMO said that “While climate is, in fact, a valuable and essential resource for tourism, there can be no complacency with respect to the power of climate hazards and climate change to affect the infrastructure, the people, the financial networks and the ecosystems that are vital to the success of tourism at all levels. WMO urges governments and the industry to strengthen climate-tourism partnerships and effectively use climate information and prediction services provided by the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, and to incorporate climate factors in tourism policies, development and management plans, so as to ensure a sustainable future for the sector".

The Davos Declaration and results of the Conference will provide the basis for the UNWTO Minister's Summit on Tourism and Climate Change, scheduled at the World Travel Market, London, UK, 13 November 2007. It will be submitted for adoption at the UNWTO General Assembly in Cartagena de las Indias, Colombia, 23-29 November 2007, and also will be presented at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007.

For further information please contact:
Geoffrey Lipman, UNWTO Assistant Secretary-General, Spokesperson
Marcelo Risi, Media Officer
T: +34 91-567-8194 / +34 91-567-8100 / F: +34 91-567-8218
comm@unwto.org - www.unwto.org

India Ratifies UN Convention on Rights of Disabled

The Uniteed Nations reports that India has ratified the UN convention on rights of disabled.

India has ratified a UN convention to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of those with disabilities as also respect for their inherent dignity.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday deposited with the UN the instrument of ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted by the UN General Assembly on Dec 13 last year.

The adoption of the convention "to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity" followed four years of intense negotiations.

The convention marks a major step toward changing the perception of disability and ensures that societies recognise that all people must be provided with the opportunities to lead a life to their fullest potential, the permanent mission of India to the UN said in a press release.

India is committed to the elimination of barriers that persons with disabilities face and the Constitution of India implicitly mandates an inclusive society for all, including those with disabilities, it added

Souce: http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/World/20071002/781790.html
Source: http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/oct/01/india_ratifies_un_convention_rights_disabled.html

Released: Global Age-friendly Cities - A Guide

The WHO book on active aging for has now been released. It is available from WHO Press here.

Population ageing and urbanization are two global trends that together comprise major forces shaping the 21st century. At the same time as cities are growing, their share of residents aged 60 years and more is increasing. Older people are a resource for their families, communities and economies in supportive and enabling living environments. WHO regards active ageing as a lifelong process shaped by several factors that, alone and acting together, favour health, participation and security in older adult life. Informed by WHO's approach to active ageing, the purpose of this Guide is to engage cities to become more age-friendly so as to tap the potential that older people represent for humanity.

By working with groups in 33 cities in all WHO regions, WHO has asked older people in focus groups to describe the advantages and barriers they experience in eight areas of city living. In most cities, the reports from older people were complemented by evidence from focus groups of caregivers and service providers in the public, voluntary and private sectors. The results from the focus groups led to the development of a set of age-friendly city checklists presented in this guide.

With an estimated one million people worldwide turning 60 every month, global cities face the daunting challenge of redesigning their services and facilities to cater to the needs of the aged and the ageing. A checklist of views from elderly people in many cities worldwide has been compiled into a new guidebook that could prove of extensive help for hotels, airports, airlines and others catering to this growing market.

According to United Nations estimates, the number of older persons (60+) will double from the current 600 million to 1.2 billion by 2025, and again, to 2 billion by 2050. The vast majority of older people live in their homes and communities, but in environments that have not been designed with their needs and capacities in mind.

To support Governments in developing and strengthening health and social policies in an ageing world, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a Policy Framework on Active Ageing in 2002. Active ageing policy is defined as “optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age.” The active ageing approach is grounded in the UN-recognized principles of independence, participation, dignity, care and self-fulfilment. It acknowledges the importance of gender, earlier life experiences, and culture on how individuals age. It takes into account the biological, psychological, behavioural, economic, social and environmental factors that operate over the course of a person’s life to determine health and well-being in later years.

Active ageing age-friendly community

Participation

* Positive images of older persons
* Accessible and useful information
* Accessible public and private transportation
* Inclusive opportunities for civic, cultural, educational and voluntary engagement
* Barrier-free and enabling interior and exterior spaces

Health

* Places and programs for active leisure and socialization
* Activities, programs and information to promote health, social and spiritual well-being
* Social support and outreach
* Accessible and appropriate health services
* Good air/water quality

Security and independence

* Appropriate, accessible, affordable housing
* Accessible home-safety designs and products
* Hazard-free streets and buildings
* Safe roadways and signage for drivers and pedestrians
* Safe, accessible and affordable public transportation
* Services to assist with household chores and home maintenance
* Supports for caregivers
* Accessible stores, banks and professional services
* Supportive neighbourhoods
* Safety from abuse and criminal victimization
* Public information and appropriate training
* Emergency plans and disaster recovery
* Appropriate and accessible employment opportunities
* Flexible work practices

Compiled from various sources.

More on Active Aging and Age-Friendly Cities:

CARP Endorsement
http://www.carp.ca/display.cfm?DocumentID=2038&cabinetID=263&libraryID=70

Neighborhoods Fit for People
http://www.adaptiveenvironments.org/index.php?option=Project&Itemid=36

Age-friendly primary health care
http://www.who.int/ageing/projects/age_friendly_standards/en/index.html

Saanich, BC Contribution
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2007HEALTH0111-001220.htm

Making Communities More Age-Friendly
http://myuminfo.umanitoba.ca/index.asp?sec=7&too=100&dat=3/21/2007&sta=2&wee=4&eve=8&npa=12470

India Will Sign U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

"Home to an estimated 70 million disabled people, India will ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on Monday." Read the full story at Disability News India:

http://www.disabilityindia.com/html/news.html#UNC

Teaching Tourism - Multiple Intelligences Style

I have not spoken to the instructor, Leslie Robinson, at the Tourism Train the Trainer Institute at the University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada but I like her approach. It would seem inevtitably to lead to open-mindedness about Inclusive Tourism:

We teach tourism differently

We use simulations and experiential learning to engage participants. We keep them doing, thinking, feeling, smelling, tasting, and hearing tourism while still in the classroom.

Our curriculum activates sound learning theory and national occupational standards stimulating learning while having fun…all in easy to use formats… at reasonable rates…

Energize your classes!

More information:
http://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/csie/course-text.aspx?courseCode=edpd140

International Conferences on Accessible Tourism

Disabled People's International in Thailand has published the revised schedule for the 2007 International Conference on Accessible Tourism. It will be held in Bangkok November 22-24.

The conference description below itemizes the emergence of a strong policy framework to undergirds this regional movement for Inclusive Tourism. It is a sign of transition into a new phase of maturity of the market that the Thai government, UNESCAP, and industry are collaborating on this event. Organizers hope to continue the momentum with emphasis on a rights-bsaed approach to disability issues.

It is also a reminder that we have a little farther to go in inter-regional coordination -- that we scheduled ICAT 2007 in Thailand at the same time that ENAT scheduled the European Congress on Inclusive Tourism in Valencia, Spain! Wouldn't it be nice if the real reason for the calendaring pileup were that there was now such a groundswell of interest in the topic that the collision was unavoidable?

We will organize the [ICAT 2007] Conference along with the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, UNESCAP and Disabled Peoples’ International Asia Pacific (DPI-AP). The Conference aims at the promotion of accessible tourism in the region as a way to enhance the implementation of the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights –based Society for Persons with Disabilities (BMF), Biwako Plus Five and the Plan of Action for Sustainable Tourism Development in Asia and the Pacific (phase II 2006-2012) focusing on access to built environments and public transport and training and employment including self-employment.

Besides, tourism is often considered as a valuable alternative for diversifying the economy in the areas dependent on only one maritime activity (e.g. fisheries). Quality tourism can contribute to the development of coastal areas by improving the competitiveness of businesses, meeting social needs and preserving the natural and cultural heritage. However, to be simultaneously successful in all these areas at the level of the tourist destination requires a global approach, called Integrated Quality Management [IQM], focused on tourist satisfaction and based on the principle of sustainable development. Tourism clearly requires not only an attractive environment but also its accessibility.

Furthermore, barrier free tourism is also alternative choices for elderly and persons with disabilities travelers that the numbers of them gradually increasing. However, those travelers face man barriers for traveling planning information such as accessible accommodation, transportation barriers and any kinds of discrimination e.g. Disability Travel on the Rise Despite Barrier to Access research found that numbers of American travelers with disabilities have been increasing 50 percent since year 2005. The numbers of European travelers with disabilities increase to 134-267.9 million. UN survey also found that by year 2050, the numbers of ageing population will rise to 2,000 million and 54 percent of them live in Asia region.

The Conference objectives are to contribute to processes of change and development lines of tourism businesses to ensuring a favorable environment for attracting tourists and travelers with disabilities and retired, ageing people toward the implementation tourism sustainability initiatives, dissemination recommendations about Promoting Sustainable Tourism towards an Inclusive, Barrier-Free and Rights-Based Society.

More information:
http://www.dpiap.org/news/2006/icat.html#invitation

Integrated Quality Management (IQM)
http://www.irs.aber.ac.uk/rsw/integrated_quality_management.htm

Principle #7 of Integrated Quality Management: Inclusivity

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/115176