Rolling Rains Report:

New Zealand Recevies the Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today congratulated the Government and people of New Zealand, the recipient of this year's Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award, for their efforts to improve the lives of those living with disabilities.

The Award is presented by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute to a UN Member State that makes noteworthy progress towards the full participation of citizens with disabilities as called for in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

In his remarks at the award ceremony, Mr. Ban noted that New Zealand is widely recognized for its leadership on disability issues, particularly as a leading proponent of the Disabilities Convention, which just entered into force on 3 May.

Ambassador Don McKay of New Zealand chaired the committed tasked with drafting the Convention, and his "inspired leadership ensured an open, transparent and inclusive process that led us to a successful outcome," the Secretary-General noted.

The Ambassador's leadership was a reflection of his country's deep commitment to disability issues domestically, Mr. Ban added, noting that the Government's comprehensive disability strategy led New Zealand to adopt Sign Language as its third official language in 1996. It has also promoted quality living for persons with disabilities within their communities.

"As a result of these many similar measures, New Zealand has become a model for the world on disability issues," said Mr. Ban. "Your example strengthens our resolve to ensure human rights and development for all – especially through the full and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in every level of society, from the local to the global."

The Secretary-General's own country, the Republic of Korea, was the first recipient of the Award, which was established in 1995.

Source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=26585&Cr=disab&Cr1=

Ministra Suplicy Lança Programa Viaja Mais Jovens (Portuguese)

A ministra do Turismo, Marta Suplicy, lançou ante ontem um novo programa de incentivo ao turismo no Brasil. Segundo reportagem "metade das vagas" dsse programa, Viaja Mais Jovens "serão destinadas a alunos das escolas da capital [da Acre] e o restante para estudantes de municípios com baixo desempenho nos Indicadores de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica (Ideb). ´´Na hora em que você leva o estudante que não tem acesso a alguma coisa que faz parte da cultura, você está investindo no conhecimento, na oportunidade dele em olhar o mundo, mas não por aquela janelinha pequena que ele vê da casa dele´

E verdade pois sabemos que a deficiencia ocure mais com pobreza. Viaja Mais Jovens tem condicoes transportar jovems portadores de deficiencia? Tem planes atingir acessibilidade nos teatros, museus, e outros pontes turistico-culturais

Ministra lança programa Viaja Mais Jovens

Os jovens são o novo público-alvo dos programas de incentivo ao turismo no Brasil. A ministra do Turismo, Marta Suplicy, lançou nesta quarta-feira, 7 de maio, o programa Viaja Mais Jovens. A iniciativa faz parte do programa Viaja Mais, que desde o ano passado se dedicava à terceira idade. Segundo a ministra, o foco principal estará nas viagens de estudo, o turismo pedagógico. O projeto piloto começará com 600 estudantes de escolas públicas do Acre que visitarão o Vale do Acre. A ação terá início com alunos da 6ª série do ensino fundamental. ´´É um projeto do turismo, mas muito relacionado à educação, porque ele transforma aquela viagem em conhecimento´´, defendeu Marta. O ministério, em parceria com o governo do Acre, investiu R$ 400 mil no projeto. Em um primeiro momento, metade das vagas serão destinadas a alunos das escolas da capital e o restante para estudantes de municípios com baixo desempenho nos Indicadores de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica (Ideb). As viagens serão integralmente custeadas pelo ministério em parceria com o estado. Segundo Marta, o Distrito Federal também manifestou interesse em aderir ao programa. ´´O projeto vai beneficiar o Brasil todo, mas principalmente o estudante que não teve a oportunidade de viajar. Você viajar, primeiro no seu estado, é você se apropriar da sua cultura´´, afirmou. De acordo com Marta, o ministério está à disposição de outros estados que queiram integrar o Viaja Mais Jovem. ´´Na hora em que você leva o estudante que não tem acesso a alguma coisa que faz parte da cultura, você está investindo no conhecimento, na oportunidade dele em olhar o mundo, mas não por aquela janelinha pequena que ele vê da casa dele´´, disse a ministra.

Agência Brasil
Fonte: Hotel On Line

My Green Map

GreenMap.org is a project that I have followed with interest for several years. I attempted to connect up with one of their projects in Brazil last week but scheduling did not allow it. Below is more on what GreenMaps is doing that's new:

Green Map System has promoted inclusive participation in sustainable community development around the world since 1995, using mapmaking as our medium. Over 450 locally-led map projects in 50 countries have successfully published 335 Green Maps, used by millions to connect with green living, nature, social and cultural resources near home and while traveling. While all use Green Map Icons to highlight both positive and challenging sites, each powerful guide is unique.

Now, we're taking our inclusiveness mission the next step by developing an open interactive Green Mapmaking tool that will help people worldwide quickly share their own selection of sustainability sites, pathways and resources online.

Merging local knowledge and our freshly updated iconography with a Google Map, the resulting interactive Green Maps will be viewable from our own and many other websites, starting in mid-2008. With open commentary, green ratings, multimedia elements, 'impacts index', mobile access, onsite markers and more, everyone will be able to get involved.

My Green Map (working name) will give voice to thousands and ensure that an enormous diversity of successful sustainability activities and models are shared with the broadest audience possible. Merging the booming ‘going local’ and green development movements with social networking and interactive mapping, My Green Map begins with our network's collective inventory of green sites. Each of their maps will be linked to the related profile and locally-designed full-scale Green Map already viewable at GreenMap.org. Once we have helped them overcome technical barriers to participation, we intend to phase in public mapmaking and behavior change assessment, mobile formats, thematic worldviews, and more.

To help people of all ages impact current conditions, My Green Map will encourage local participation that counters global climate change, supports vibrant biodiversity and heritage preservation while addressing social and cultural challenges. It will promote more diverse involvement by guiding newcomers to get involved in important greening activities, encourage long-time residents to make more sustainable everyday choices, build students' eco-literacy and leadership skills, provide visitors with best practice models to share back home, and motivate decision-makers to act for the common good.

See http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/en/news/ggm!

Publishing Disability Directories as a Revenue Source: CapeAbilities

The Cape Cod Disability Access Directory is a project of CapeAbilities.

When he learned last year that funding was desperately needed to continue publishing the Cape Cod Disability Access Directory, Larry Thayer, CapeAbilities' executive director, sought a grant from the Lyndon Lorusso Charitable Foundation.

The grant saw the directory through last year's publication, allowing JAM Specialists' Jean Ann McLaughlin to purchase hardware and software to produce the publication and CapeAbilities to train staff to assess potential sites to be included.

This year, Thayer and McLaughlin invited the Cape Organization for the Rights of the Disabled (CORD), one of last year's sponsors of the directory, to join them as co-publishers. "We were able to use last year's advertising revenue to fund this year's directory," Thayer said.

Before CapeAbilities' involvement, McLaughlin was founder and sole publisher of the directory. "I made all the site visits myself," McLaughlin said. "That's becoming increasingly difficult for me to do."

Disabled as a result of a drunk-driving accident, in 1996 McLaughlin turned her disability into an asset for Cape Codders and the millions of visitors with challenges by founding JAM Specialists INC., which publishes the annual Cape Cod Disability Access Directory.

CapeAbilities' clients have taken over responsibility for delivering the directories to senior centers, libraries, chambers of commerce, the National Seashore, and increasingly, hotels and motels.

kedlocal.com/dennis/news/lifestyle/health/x1632299787

Wellington City Council and Tourism for All

A public forum held by the Wellington City Council at Te Papa earlier this month was entitled “Tourism for All” and concentrated on a number of aspects around accessible tourism for people with disabilities (PWDs) and seniors. Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city, is probably the most proactive jurisdiction in the country when it comes to access tourism, and the forum, driven by the council’s Disability reference Group (DRG), was opened by Wellington mayor Kerry Prendergast.

Guest speaker Sandra Rhodda from Tai Poutini Polytechnic in Greymouth said that the New Zealand tourism and hospitality industry ignores the boomer, senior, and access tourism market to its peril.

She suggested that PWDs, seniors, and boomers are all part of the same equation. In spite of the fact that the world population is dominated by baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1965 and now aged 43 to 62), in spite of the fact that this age group has the most disposable income, in spite of the fact that as these boomers age, they will swell enormously the ranks of the seniors market (25% of New Zealand’s population will be 65+ by 2040) and the ranks of PWDs, in spite of the fact that already over half of international visitors to New Zealand are over 45 (as are over 70% of cruise passengers in New Zealand), in spite of the fact that PWDs are the worlds largest minority group (e.g., 17% of New Zealanders have a disability), Rhodda pointed out that these groups are apparently rarely considered in New Zealand tourism and hospitality planning and market targeting. Unlike in countries overseas, very few New Zealand businesses or jurisdictions are gearing up to meet the demands of these groups, and there is little New Zealand research providing information on their size, spending power, habits, or needs.

A presentation by the Barrier Free New Zealand Trust (BFNZT) outlined how it plans to create a “one-stop” website of accessible venues for all people. The website will include accommodation venues, conference facilities, restaurants, bars, and cafes, and event centres. The BFNZT is a charitable trust, made up of consumers and individuals with experience and expertise in local government, the building industry and the disability sector.

Garth Stewart of NZ Bus outlined how his company will invest $40m over the next two and a half years on 90 new buses, and plans to have 95% of their fleet fully accessible by end of 2009. New customer service training and accessible bus stops are planned, together with GPS and Real Time services (up-to-date information by internet, phone, or txt).

Patrick FizGerald8360 from Squiz NZ described a plan to develop the online and print version of the “Accessible Wellington” map so that it remains up to date, interactive, and so that the visually impaired and blind would have full access to the information.

Michael Grace from Positively Wellington Tourism (the local marketing organization) made a plea for sector cooperation in increasing the accessible tourism offer in Wellington. He noted that there was currently no disability-specific accreditation scheme in New Zealand and in fact his organization depended on self-assessment by operators who listed their business on the Positively Wellington site. He discussed the various pros and cons of various international accreditation systems, and the adoption of an Independent Qualmark type rating system for disability accreditation.

The DRG reported back to the community on its work plan progress over the previous 12 months. Of particular importance was mobility parking, access to the railway station, the Kilbirnie Community Sports Centre, bus driver training with Stage Coach, input into the councils draft annual plan, and issues relating to the Footpath Management Policy. A project called the Kumutoto Open Spaces, which has reconnected the city waterfront to the CBD, was reported on. Project improvements included having ramps at a 1-in-15 gradient (as opposed to the legislated 1-in- 12), colour contrasts, and hand rails. However, a ramp to the water’s edge was not included despite the recommendations of the DRG. The DRG intends in the coming year to raise the issue of access gangways on the inter-island ferries, provide further Universal Access training, submit on the council’s Draft Annual Plan, progress issues with the council’s website in respect to accessibility, and work closely with the Greater Wellington regional Council to implement the recommendations of the Human Rights Commission Report into Accessible Land Transport.

Skype presenta un servicio de videollamada para sordos (Spanish)

Madrid. (EFE).- Las personas sordas podrán comunicarse a través de una aplicación de videollamada on line de alta calidad que se ha presentado hoy por Skype y Logitech en la Asociación de Sordos de Madrid.
Más información sobre enlace www.skype.com

Este sistema permite transmitir mensajes gestuales a cualquier parte del mundo descargando de la página web de Skype el software que permite establecer la comunicación de manera gratuita.

Sólo será necesario contar con un ordenador con conexión a Internet, el software de Skype y la vídeo cámara de alta calidad de Logitech por el precio de 99 euros.

El responsable de imagen y comunicación de Skype, David Málaga, apuntó en rueda de prensa que para las personas con disminución auditiva esta nueva aplicación tecnológica va a suponer un avance clave en el camino hacia el derrumbe de las barreras de la comunicación.

La vídeo cámara que se ha presentado hoy de Logitech ofrece una calidad de 30 imágenes por segundo y según el jefe de producto de Logitech, Max Valls, la cámara permite apreciar detalles y movimientos casi imperceptibles sin cortes ni saltos.

Accessibility Means More Than Entry for Wheelchairs

This article from the Cape Cod Times explores disability and citizenship. You can read the whole article here.

Every town on the Cape holds its town meeting in a location that at least meets the minimum standards to be accessible to voters who use wheelchairs.

But town meeting venues aren't always so accommodating for those who are visually or hearing-impaired.

The article goes on to document a lack of awareness of accessibility requirements by towns in the area. With financial pressures to save money this is not a hopeful sign.

The Independent Living Institute Launches New Version of its Accessible Vacation Home Exchange Service

This note from Sweden's Independent Living Institute:

The Independent Living Institute Accessible Vacation Home Exchange service has been greatly improved. It is now possible for you to add, delete, and revise your own entry, as well as add photos.

Swapping homes with other persons with similar needs, in other parts of the world, is a low-cost and practical alternative. You can find out in advance how accessible the vacation home is, since you can ask your swap partner relevant questions. And, unlike most other tourists, you’ll have an infrastructure of neighbors and local contacts in place as you arrive.

As the number of visitors to the Independent Living Institute website continues to grow, so will the exposure of your offer to swap homes.

Please take a look at www.independentliving.org/vacaswap.html and contact me, should you have any questions.

Thanking you,

Miles

miles.goldstick@independentliving.org

An Endemic Epidemic Gets the Media Coverge it Deserves

"Ludwig van Beethoven (the famous deaf composer) would not be allowed to fly alone on a Tiger Airways flight if he were alive today, because of the Singapore-owned airline's purported policy on deaf passengers."
.

A representative of Tiger Airways Australia told the group last month they could not make an interstate flight without a care provider who could hear. The group was allowed on the March 4 flight eventually, but was then sent a note by the flight attendant that they will not be allowed to fly alone on the airline again, the Herald Sun newspaper reported.

Source:
Airline Slammed on Deaf Policy

Airline Slammed on Deaf Policy

By ROD McGUIRK – 1 day ago

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Ludwig van Beethoven would not be allowed to fly alone on a Tiger Airways flight if he were alive today because of the Singapore-owned airline's purported policy on deaf passengers, a government minister said Friday.

Bill Shorten used the example of Beethoven — who famously continued composing until his death in 1827 despite losing his hearing — in condemning the treatment of deaf passengers by the Australian subsidiary of Singapore-based budget carrier Tiger Airways.

The policy bars deaf passengers from flying unless accompanied by a fare-paying adult care provider, a Tiger Airways reservations agent who said she goes by only one name, Jinky, told The Associated Press.

But airline spokesman Matt Hobbs denied that the airline had such a policy, and said he was investigating why air crews and call center staff in the Philippines were telling passengers otherwise.

Shorten, Australia's parliamentary secretary for disabilities and children's services, said he telephoned the airline Friday to tell them that barring deaf people from flying alone was wrong.

"Under this, Beethoven would never have been able to catch a plane" on his own, Shorten told Sky Television. "Just because people are deaf doesn't mean that they're stupid."

A group of four deaf adults has lodged a complaint with the Australian government's anti-discrimination watchdog agency after a representative of Tiger Airways Australia told them last month that they could not make an interstate flight without a care provider who could hear, the Herald Sun newspaper reported Friday.

The group was eventually permitted to take their seats on the March 4 flight but a flight attendant told them they would not be allowed to fly alone again on the airline, the newspaper said.

Hobbs, Tiger Airways Australia's head of corporate communications, said the cabin manager had written the four a note saying: "In future, so you know, you'll need to travel with a carer for safety reasons."

"We're clarifying with all staff that deaf people do not require a carer to travel with them," Hobbs said, adding that he could not explain the widespread misunderstanding within his company.

"We are apologetic and very sorry that the people involved in this feel in any way that they've been discriminated against or upset by this in any way," he said.

Hobbs said his company's sister airline, Tiger Airways Singapore, had changed its policy that once required deaf passengers to be accompanied by a care provider.

The Australian subsidiary of Singapore-based Tiger Aviation entered the Australian domestic aviation market last November. Its Australian competitors allow deaf passengers to fly alone.

International Coalition Launches Groundbreaking Disability Rights Fund

Press Release:

BOSTON, MA – The Open Society Institute, The Sigrid Rausing Trust, the United Kingdom Department for International Development, and an anonymous donor today announced a groundbreaking collaborative to support the human rights for people with disabilities.

Launched on the first anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD), the Disability Rights Fund will provide financial support for human rights advocacy in the developing world and Eastern Europe/former Soviet Union. The broad objective of the Fund will be to empower disabled persons organizations around the world to effectively implement and monitor the CPRD.

“The Fund is a unique partnership among donors and the worldwide disability community,” said Emily Martinez, Director of Special Initiatives at the Open Society Institute. “It will directly support the human rights work of disabled persons organizations in the developing world.”

The CRPD recognizes that self-representation is essential to the enjoyment of human rights. It underscores the importance of including people with disabilities in the development of disability law, policies and programs. Through its unique governance structure, the Disability Rights Fund incorporates this principle.

A global advisory panel, made up of 12 individuals, most of whom are persons with disabilities, will provide recommendations on grantmaking strategies for the Fund; four of the Panel members will also serve on the Fund’s grantmaking decision body. The members of the panel come from five continents and reflect a broad cross-section of the disability community. The majority were nominated by international and regional disabled persons organizations.

The structure of the Fund not only reflects the international disability community’s slogan, “Nothing About Us Without Us,” it also reflects a growing trend within the grantmaking community to better listen to the communities they seek to serve and to redefine the relationship between grantmaker and grantee in the interest of more effective grantmaking.

Grants disbursed by the Disability Rights Fund will be centered on three major areas: increasing the participation of persons with disabilities in their communities through trainings and networking opportunities; developing awareness of the CPRD among stakeholders; and supporting advocacy projects that promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by persons with disabilities. The Fund expects to make its first grants in late spring/early summer 2008.

“The broad, international support for the Disability Rights Fund is a remarkable characteristic of this grantmaking enterprise. It is our hope that this diversity in funding sources will expand as the Fund develops,” said Diana Samarasan, Director of the Fund.

####

MARCH 31, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Diana Samarasan, Director
Telephone: 617-261-4593
Email: dsamarasan@disabilityrightsfund.org

Air Passenger Rights in the UK?

Richard Rieser, Director, Disability Equality in Education (DEE) has written the article at Inclusion Week entitled The Social Model of Disability. I think some of the ideas contained in it will gain some new press coverage as one of his travel companions textmailed me a moment ago with Twitter-like reflexes:

" Scott - Watch out for a press release. A member of Equality 2025 was taken off a plane and refused a flight by air france from london to belfast..."

Reiser begins his article with a review of the damage caused by the medical model and the absolution it promises to those who then fail to perceive any social responsibility to adopt Universal Design:

The 'medical model' of disability sees the disabled person as the problem.

We are to be adapted to fit into the world as it is. If this is not possible, then we are shut away in some specialised institution or isolated at home, where only our most basic needs are met. The emphasis is on dependence, backed up by the stereotypes of disability that call forth pity, fear and patronising attitudes.

Usually the focus is on the impairment rather than the needs of the person. The power to change us seems to lie within the medical and associated professions, with their talk of cures, normalisation and science. Often our lives are handed over to them.

Other people's assessments of us, usually non-disabled professionals, are used to determine where we go to school, what support we get and what type of education; where we live; whether or not we can work and what type of work we can do and indeed whether or not we are born at all, or are even allowed to procreate. Similar control is exercised over us by the design of the built environment presenting us with many barriers, thereby making it difficult or impossible for our needs to be met and curtailing our life chances. Whether in work, school, leisure and entertainment facilities, transport, training and higher education, housing or in personal, family and social life, it is practices and attitudes that disable us.

Read on at:

http://inclusion.uwe.ac.uk/inclusionweek/articles/socmod.htm

And watch for the press release. The Office of Her Majesty's Government Office for Disability Issues describes Equality 2025 as:

Equality 2025 is a big step forward towards the government meeting its commitment to implement the recommendations in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit report ‘Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People’.

Equality 2025 will carry out the promise to disabled people that they will have a direct voice into government to help us design polices and services that they really want.

Air France, are you creating the sort of "voice in government" that serves investors? Perhaps this pattern of treatment is part of a neatly conceived plan to "adjust shareholder value downward" on the order of the incident with passenger Adele Price:

Adele Price, 42, a British citizen, sued the airline in Manhattan federal court seeking unspecified damages.

Price, who was born without limbs because her mother took the drug thalidomide during pregnancy, said in the suit she is able to manipulate a wheelchair and has traveled by air many times.

The suit states that she had bought a ticket in 2000 for travel between Manchester, England and New York. After Price had checked her luggage, she alleged that she was stopped by an Air France agent who told her that "a head, one bottom and a torso cannot possibly fly on its own."

http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000156.html

The Trend Toward Meaningful Travel

Over at Conde Nast Jill Culora validates what we know about trends in tourism that are being drien by the aging of Boomers -- purpose-drive travel and travel for learning. Her article Twenty Trips doesn't make the obvious link to the principles of Inclusive Travel but that too is to be expected. In its current phase, with the explicit emphasis on the industry transformations necessary to accommodate those with disabilities, Boomers will not self-identify as disabled. They will demand the same transformations but shun the stigma of disability.

From Culora's article on the trend to meaningful travel:

Learning a new skill or delving into an area of interest—whether the French Resistance or Renaissance painting—while on vacation is the latest indulgence in travel. A recent Travel Industry Association survey reports 56 percent of travelers would like to take an educational trip—outranking interest even in spa and family travel—and ShawGuides.com, an Internet directory for travel learning opportunities, cites an increase in site traffic of between 10 and 15 percent annually. "More Americans than ever are looking for self-improvement," says Kristin Lamoureux, tourism studies director at George Washington University. "That's why we're seeing such growth in educational travel and experiential learning." The participants, she says, are mainly from among the 78 million baby boomers who make up more than 40 percent of all leisure travelers and who now have their families and finances in order and are eager to take up new challenges.

Source:

http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/detail?articleId=12082

Universal Design Boom: REACT Survey

What happens in home trends gets carried over to hotels, resorts, and cruise ships:

Universal design booming: The baby boom generation and those planning for retirement are driving demand for easy-to-use features and floor plans. Sixty five percent of agents in the REACT survey said that the number of buyers looking for universal design features, such as a master bedroom on the main floor or a single story home, has increased in the last few years.

Source:
http://www.buildingonline.com/news/viewnews.pl?id=6947&subcategory=140

The Benefits of Being Last to Market: AT&T Stumbles Onto UD

In an effort to catch up with the years of strategic advantage in product design enjoyed by world-class innovators in Universal Design in Japan, Korea, and other nations AT&T has released a simple restatement of Universal Design principles.

By branding UD as somehow proprietary to AT&T this cultural product of the Disability Rights Movement created and promoted by quadriplegic architect Ron Mace of North Carolina and further developed since its creation in the 1970's now seems to have achieved the same degree of ubiquity that leads to "greenwashing" marketing strategies.

Universal Design is a set of principles that launch the long hard process of good design not a "let-me-on-the-bandwagon-too" marketing campaign. The generation that invented Universal Design and the Disability Rights Movement - Baby Boomers - is well represented in the 36,200 references that come up when you Google the phrase "I hate my cell phone." AT&T, the future of your product line depends on getting UD right.

Botton line? Show us full lines of universally designed mobile phones operating on US networks - now!

"It is our goal that the concept of 'design for all' is not viewed as a constraint but as a catalyst for innovation across the industry," said Carlton Hill, vice president of Marketing for AT&T's mobile unit. "We believe that, by making our methodology on Universal Design available for all to see, we can show the importance and value of creating wireless products and services that are usable and beneficial to as many people as possible. The end result will be more choices for more consumers."

From FierceDeveloper:

AT&T announced it will publicly release its Universal Design methodology in an effort to encourage application developers and handset manufacturers to consider the needs of seniors and customers with disabilities when creating new mobile products and services. AT&T said principles of Universal Design--the practice of developing apps and products usable by the widest possible spectrum of subscribers--are employed in its fledgling Mobile Speak and Mobile Magnifier applications, which the operator released late last year to improve the user experience for customers suffering from impaired vision. AT&T said its methodology not only defines and explains the benefits of Universal Design but also several scenarios to further illustrate its relevance--the full document is available at http://developer.att.com/universaldesign.

Developers must first submit applications created via Universal Design principles to AT&T for certification if they wish for the apps to be available on the operator's Media Mall mobile site. Consumers who download premium applications will be billed by AT&T, which will split revenues with the developer. "It is our goal that the concept of 'design for all' is not viewed as a constraint but as a catalyst for innovation across the industry," said AT&T Mobility vice president of marketing Carlton Hill in a prepared statement. "We believe that, by making our methodology on Universal Design available for all to see, we can show the importance and value of creating wireless products and services that are usable and beneficial to as many people as possible. The end result will be more choices for more consumers."

For more on AT&T's Universal Design specs:
-read this release

Posted by rollingrains at 11:53 PM

The Rolling Rains Report Featured Entrant in the National Geographic and Ashoka's Changemakers Geotourism Challenge

The proposal to open three Centers of Excellence in Inclusive Tourism that is being considered by Echoing Green Foundation and publicy discussed at Ashoka's Changemakers' Geotourism Challenge has generated 80 comments from around the world here:

http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/5952

The Rolling Rains Report Featured Entrant in the National Geographic and Ashoka's Changemakers Geotourism Challenge

Global competition will uncover most innovative projects that support better tourism

[San Jose, CA, USA] – The National Geographic Society and Ashoka’s Changemakers have introduced the first Geotourism Challenge to identify and showcase innovators in tourism development, management, and marketing.

The one-of-a-kind online collaborative competition is designed to raise awareness about how tourism can help sustain, enhance and preserve local culture and environment.

The Rolling Rains Report is a featured entrant in this initiative at - http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/5951. The Rolling Rains Report is an experiment in achieving social inclusion. As a daily online publication it provides research and educational material emphasizing the quality of tourist experience of a group who has historically been denied access to tourism - people with disabilities.

At the Geotourism Challenge an expanded project is proposed. The Centers of Excellence in Inclusive Tourism Project will bring to scale sustainable inclusive tourism development projects piloted in Asia and the Americas. The project goal is to make the tourism industry an authentic partner in the aspirations, rights, and culture of the disability community by establishing local collaboratives, directed by people with disabilities, to provide tourism product creation, infrastructure design, and destination development services to the tourism and hospitality industry. Matching the profit motive of industry to the pent-up demand for travel opportunities among people with disabilities will be the purpose of three Centers of Excellence in Inclusive Tourism currently under consideration for funding and launch in September 2008. People with disabilities of the USA alone spend $13.6 billion annually on travel. Tourist destinations recognize the market advantage they gain by accommodating this travel sector. One of the world’s largest industries, tourism, can create lasting social change for one of the world’s fastest growing underserved populations, people with disabilities - including aging Baby Boomers and their parents.

Discussion of the Centers of Excellence in Inclusive Tourism proposal is drawing worldwide participation at - http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/5952

The Geotourism Challenge is Changemakers’ 15th collaborative competition and draws on Ashoka’s 27 years of experience in identifying leading social entrepreneurs around the world. To date, the competitions have sourced more than 2,000 local innovations on various themes from more than 125 countries. The Rolling Rains Report is honored to be recognized as a leader in the global movement to create social change through the tourism sector and the foremost voice for Inclusive Tourism and Inclusive Destination Development.

Anyone can participate and comment on entries. Everyone is invited to improve all entries through online collaboration. A panel of expert judges will choose approximately a dozen finalists who demonstrate innovation, social impact and sustainability. Judges include: Keith Bellows, VP, National Geographic Society, Editor-in-Chief, NG Traveler; Susan Berresford Past President, The Ford Foundation; Leonard Cordiner, CEO, whl travel; and Nachiket Mor, President, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth.

The finalists will have the opportunity to present their innovations at The Geotourism Challenge Summit this fall. Three winners will be chosen by online voting and receive $5,000 each.

###

About National Geographic Society

The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 300 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 8,800 scientific research projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy. For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.com or visit the Web page for the Center for Sustainable Destinations at www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable/.

About Ashoka’s Changemakers

Changemakers is building the world's first global online “open source” community that competes to surface the best social solutions to the world’s most pressing issues. Changemakers focuses on thematic, collaborative competitions, inviting innovators from around the world to profile and collaborate with a global community of investors, thought leaders and enthusiasts. To date Changemakers has launched 14 successful collaborative competitions and attracted more than 2,000 high-impact solutions from more than 125 countries. Changemakers builds on Ashoka’s 27-year history identifying and selecting leading social entrepreneurs and its belief in “Everyone a Changemaker” global society. Get involved. Find out more about how to nominate, enter, comment and vote in our collaborative competitions at www.changemakers.net

For more information please contact:

Delyse Sylvester
Director of Communication
Ashoka's Changemakers
250-551-0570
dsylvester@ashoka.org

About Scott Rains and the Rolling Rains Report

Dr. Scott Rains writes daily on travel and issues in the tourism industry of interest to people with disabilities.
His work appears online at http://www.RollingRains.com and http://withtv.typepad.com/weblog/travel/ . Rains’ articles have also appeared in New Mobility, Emerging Horizons, Contours, Design for All India, Accessible Portugal, Audacity, Travel and Transitions, eTur Brazil, Co-Walking Korea, Turismo Polibea, Current Rehabilitation, [with]TV, and Disaboom among others. For his research on the topic of Universal Design and the travel and hospitality industry he was appointed as Resident Scholar at the Center for Cultural Studies of the University of California Santa Cruz (2004-05)

For more information please contact:

Dr. Scott Rains
Publisher, The Rolling Rains Report
srains at oco dot net

Home Design Trends Survey of the American Institute of Architects.

Jenny Sullivan reports on the current Home Design Trends survey by the American Institute of Architects. The story continues to be that Universal Design and green design fit together:

Those consumers who are buying new or renovating their homes appear to be more budget conscious and environmentally minded than in years past. Renewable flooring and countertop materials ranked among most popular kitchen features in the latest poll (at 61 percent and 49 percent respectively), along with drinking water filtration systems (44 percent), and recycling centers (45 percent).

On the bathroom side, radiant heat flooring topped consumers' wish lists (at 60 percent), followed by multi-head showers (59 percent), doorless showers (59 percent), universal design elements (58 percent), low flow toilets (57 percent), hand showers (42 percent), and LED lighting (39 percent). These preferences indicate a similar greening of bathroom spaces, as well as mounting currency for accessible design features, no doubt fueled by the aging boomer population

ENAT: The European Network for Accessible Tourism

The European Network for Accessible Tourism, ENAT, is maturing organizationally. It has gained status as the European Union's non-profit organization promoting inclusion in tourism. The press release below illustrates how organizations promoting travel with a sensitivity to disability share a similar agenda worldwide that converges around standards informed by the participation of people with disabilities and disabled peoples organizations.

PRESS RELEASE

* * * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * * *

Athens, 25.2.2008
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
European Network for Accessible Tourism begins new phase

The European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) has registered this week as a non-profit organisation in Belgium. This marks an exciting new phase in its European and international operations.

The ENAT network started two years ago as a pilot project, co-funded by the European Commission and nine sponsoring organisations from six EU countries. Over 400 members from 50 countries have joined up.

The network's principal aim is to help tourism businesses meet the access needs of the growing market of seniors and disabled visitors, as well as families with small children. Good access is seen as a key part of quality that benefits everyone, rather than as an 'extra'.

"What makes ENAT so attractive is that our network contains a good mix of tourism businesses, policy-makers, educators and consumer groups all sharing their expertise and ideas” says ENAT’s newly-elected Swedish President, Lilian Müller. ”By networking, we help to create the optimum conditions for business innovation and improvement."

"ENAT’s on-line Resource Centre plays a key part in delivering knowledge to where it is needed. Those who can respond quickly and effectively with improved access are already seeing the positive effect on the company’s bottom-line,” says Lilian Müller.

Ongoing and future concerns include:

* Introducing an 'Accessible Tourism Compliance Label' as part of a quality assurance scheme for tourism providers.
* Introducing a 'Code of Good Conduct' and ’Good Practice Guidelines’ for members who wish to use this label.
* Encouraging members to create partnerships and share good practices, both through e-networking and at regular conferences and workshops.

ENAT national coordinators are signed up in Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, and others are expected to follow soon. ENAT’s coordination offices will give information and support to the tourism sector at the national and local levels, working in their respective languages.

For further information or to join the network or become a sponsor, please visit www.accessibletourism.org

You can also send an email to Monica Guy at press@accessibletourism.org or contact ENAT’s Managing Director, Ivor Ambrose at enat@accessibletourism.org (telephone 0030 210 6148380).

- This Press Release was published today on the ENAT website at: http://www.accessibletourism.org/?i=enat.en.press.373

--
European Network for Accessible Tourism
Press Office
c/o EWORX S.A.,
Jean Moreas St., 66
GR-15231, Halandri, Athens
Greece.
Tel. 0030 210 614 8380
Fax. 0030 210 614 8381
E-mail: press@accessibletourism.org
Web: http://www.accessibletourism.org

Press Officer: Monica Guy, Paris, France. Call direct: +33 1 4209 5614

ENAT: The European Network for Accessible Tourism asbl
is a non-profit association of organisations and individuals
from the private, public and NGO sectors. Our mission is
to make European tourism destinations, products and
services accessible to all visitors and to help promote
Accessible Tourism around the world.

Conde Nast: "Renting a Different Kind of Wheels in France"

The Perrin Post blog brings Inclusive Tourism incrementally closer to mainstream with this entry called Renting a Different Kind of Wheels in France.

Segway & Disability in San Francisco

I could no longer stand the constant confrontations, and reluctantly taped a bright blue handicapped logo squarely on the front of my Segway. I thought that people would see the logo and understand that I was not just some lazy rich guy. But I was wrong.

Sometimes, people come up to me just to say that the Segway is cool. Others are curious about how it works. I hope that more people, able-bodied and disabled, adopt and accept the Segway as an alternative mobility device. Until then, I have a simple plea: Please don't push me off my Segway.

Read Peter D. Poulos' article "Segway helps disabled man more than wheelchair"

Gordon Rattray on Disability Culture -- and Touring Africa

Gordon Rattray is an expert on travel in Africa. He also uses a wheelchair. As he explains here the wheelchair isn't always the most efficient way to get somewhere but, as he writes a guide on accessible travel in Africa, his experience reinforces one of the key values of disability culture -- interdependency:

There are distinct advantages to being disabled too; apart from the fact that enthusiastic and able help is often easier to find away from home, being reliant on people can even help bridge the usual gulf between us, the tourists, and them, the locals. I'm often forced to ask for assistance; and people, in turn, are interested to know what caused my disability and why western medicine can't cure me. This means there is a greater chance of more meaningful encounters and conversations, instead of the usual bartering with a market trader where both parties' motives are financial. Information I compile for Bradt guides is aimed mainly at people with physical disabilities, but some books also contain notes for those with sensory deficits, and it's not just disabled people who are seeking new trails; many older travellers worry about having to climb too many steps, availability of bathrooms or simply being able to regularly take a rest and sit down.

Gordon Rattray is Bradt's expert on travel for the disabled. Gordon worked as an overland driver in Africa before a diving accident left him C5/6 (complete) quadriplegic. Despite that, his wanderlust remains undiminished; he continues to travel frequently, and his experiences inform the tailored advice for disabled travellers that he contributes to many of our guides. A writer himself, he recently reached the final of the Bradt/Independent on Sunday Travel-Writing Competition, and is currently researching a Bradt Guide to African safaris for those with limited mobility (due for publication in June 2009).

Brian Sterner on CNN Yesterday & the Today Show Tomorrow

A quadriplegic in Florida is abused on videotape -- at the police station. (Note response received from Commissioner Al Higginbotham below.)

Follow- up:

Dear Scott,

Thank you for sharing with me your concerns regarding the incident at Orient Road Jail. As you may or may not know, I myself am a paraplegic. The actions of the guards and other employees involved were deplorable, unacceptable, and not typical of most employees of Hillsborough County or of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. I have urged Sheriff David Gee to investigate and respond seriously to the actions of his deputies. We look forward to hearing Sheriff Gee’s findings.

Sincerely,

Al Higginbotham
HigginbothamA@HillsboroughCounty.ORG
[Commissioner Hillsborough County District 4 ]

“Working together we will make a difference.”

Tampa Bay
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/02/deputies-suspen.html

MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23131766/

Live Leak:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0d7_1202840119

The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/12/florida-police-dump-quadr_n_86290.html

(Note: CNN has placed an ad for Valentines Day pajamas before the news clip. There does not appear to be an "opt out" function for the ad.):

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/02/12/deeson.fl.disabled.man.dumped.wtsp

News on the Beijing Paralympics Games

This report on the Beijing Olympics from Daniel Schearf atVoice of America. Note that "for the first time in Paralympics history, the city will pay all travel expenses for disabled athletes and team officials."

China is preparing to hold its first Olympic Games this year, and along with it, the Paralympics Games for disabled athletes. Chinese officials acknowledge that they are far behind in providing equal access for the country's disabled citizens, and they hope the games will help improve the situation.

Beijing wants to host a festive Olympics this year and officials say the Paralympics should be equal in splendor.

Beijing has built new facilities for the games and for training China's disabled athletes.

Chinese officials say there are 83 million people with disabilities in China and two million of them play sports.

Cao Qiuping hopes to play basketball for the Chinese team. She says the Paralympic Games will help reduce prejudice in China against the disabled. "A lot of people take [disabled people] to be obedient and docile. In fact, it's not like this. Their understanding is wrong. We want to use this opportunity to show them the real appearance of handicapped people."

An estimated 4,000 athletes from 150 countries are expected in Beijing for the Paralympics.

Officials say they will provide them with the same quality services as Olympic athletes and should have no problem meeting their needs.

Beijing plans to provide accessible buses and subway cars for getting disabled athletes and spectators to the Paralympic events.

But most public transport still lacks access facilities, cutting disabled athletes off from most of the city when they visit for the games. Officials say they will make the city more accessible, but they warn that Beijing will likely lag behind cities in more developed nations.

"We hope through the work of preparing for the Paralympics we can in Beijing reach national standards. But quickly reaching common, but rather high, international standards is difficult for all places," says Tang Xiaoquan, who is a director with the China Disabled People's Federation.

Beijing says, for the first time in Paralympics history, the city will pay all travel expenses for disabled athletes and team officials.

Source:

http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-02-08-voa25.cfm

Access to the Golden Gate National Recreational Area

Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a California-based non-profit law firm, filed a class action complaint today in federal court challenging the Golden Gate National Recreational Area (GGNRA) on behalf of visitors with disabilities. The complaint may be downloaded here.
The press release follows.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Golden Gate National Recreational Area (GGNRA) and the National Park Service (NPS) are discriminating against individuals with disabilities by denying them access to GGNRA parks. In order to end this discrimination, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a California-based non-profit law firm, filed a class action complaint today in federal court on behalf of all people with mobility and vision disabilities who have been denied access to GGNRA parks. GGNRA has been obliged to provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, since the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Spanning over 75,000 acres of land and water from San Mateo to Marin County, GGNRA is the country’s largest national park in an urban area and attracts more than 13 million visitors a year. The park includes such national landmarks as Alcatraz, the Presidio, the Marin Headlands, Muir Woods, Crissy Field, and Forts Point and Mason. It contains 1,273 plant and animal species, encompasses 59 miles of bay and ocean shoreline, and has military fortifications that span centuries of California history from the Spanish conquistadors to Cold War-era Nike missile sites.

“What makes this case especially frustrating,” said Laurence Paradis, executive director of DRA, “is that we have been working in good faith with the GGNRA for over a year in an effort to achieve a plan to bring this agency into compliance with federal law. In the end, all we obtained was another year of delayed access for people with disabilities.” DRA attorney Julia Pinover echoed the sentiment, “This is not rocket science. We’re not seeking accessibility in the most remote part of the Amazon, we’re talking about long overdue accessible restrooms, visitors’ centers, parking, exhibits, trails and programs in the San Francisco Bay Area. This case is really about how our national parks systematically exclude people with disabilities and, in doing so, fail to fulfill our local and national policy of inclusion.” Although access requirements took effect in 1973, now, in 2008, GGNRA still does not provide basic accommodations to allow access.

Plaintiff Laurie Gray, a wheelchair user with a visual impairment, organizes and leads outdoors trips for groups of people with various disabilities to facilitate outdoor experiences and the enjoyment of the natural wonders of the Bay Area. Gray stated, “It’s astonishing that decades after the Rehabilitation Act was passed, the GGNRA still won’t make the most basic accommodations, never mind considering the possibility that groups of people with disabilities might occasionally travel together and need group accommodations.” Co-plaintiff Ann Sieck, like many Bay Area residents, has a life long love of the outdoors and is frustrated that she cannot enjoy what GGRNA has to offer. “The pervasive access barriers discourage people with disabilities and their families from visiting the parks. I think many people have just given up.”

DRA previously reached a settlement agreement with the State of California in 2005 to improve accessibility at parks statewide.

Svayam Receives Pro Forma Apology from Jet Airways

Backsliding on issues of air travel safety for people with disabilities has recently been a frequent issue here. One issue in India with Jet Airways has reached an unsatisfactory conclusion:

Ms. Sminu Jindal travelled by Jet Airways to Bangkok and back, on the Christmas vacations on 25th December 2007 and return on 01 Jan 2008. She was shocked to see the lack of sensitivity, ill-trained ground staff, absent essential services and above all how the Airliner like Jet Airways treat people with reduced mobility. Although Jet Airways issued a public apology, when media highlighted the incident, however, that doesn't solve the problem of millions of other people with disability whose voice doesn't reach the public/media.

Specifically, the apology indicates that Jet Airways will provide aisle chairs only on international flights. Such assurances by Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer certainly make for interesting case studies of worst practices in the anthology of business cases that I provide to faculty colleagues. However, I think he and I both share the ideal that such examples should be on the decrease rather than on the increase.

I would advise Jet Airways that their policy failure has already had negative impact on the company's international reputation. The smart business decision would be to consistently apply internationally recognized standards of non-discrimination and protect against further brand erosion.

Download apology from Jet Airways as .pdf

For more on this case see Svayam:
http://www.svayam.com/?q=node/411

Fundaperdis de Caracas

Caracas, 1 Feb. ABN.- La Fundación para la Atención de las Personas con Discapacidad (Fundaperdis), adscrita a la Alcaldía Mayor, finalizó el ejercicio operativo 2007 con grandes logros para este sector de la comunidad metropolitana, beneficiando a más de 3 mil personas.

Esta fundación sin fines de lucro, creada como parte del programa de Gobierno del alcalde Juan Barreto Cipriani, tiene como misión proporcionar atención integral a este sector del Distrito Capital para facilitar su incorporación e integración a la comunidad de forma digna, productiva y participativa.

El presidente de Fundaperdis, Otto Tovar, dijo que durante 2007 beneficiaron a 3 mil 946 personas de las 32 parroquias caraqueña, con lo cual superó las metas fijadas en más de 60%.

El organismo puso en marcha el Programa Apadrinando un niño con discapacidad o hijo de personas con discapacidad, el cual consiste en que cualquier persona, natural o jurídica, ayude a un pequeño con alguna discapacidad en forma de beca durante un año.

También realizó donaciones de sillas de ruedas, prótesis auditivas, bastones de rastreo, regletas y punzones, grabadores digitales, coches ortopédico, medicinas, férulas anti equinas, montacargas, rampas de acceso, becas escolares y de rehabilitación, termómetros y tensiometros parlantes, software sonoro para personas con discapacidad visual, intervenciones quirúrgicas, exámenes médicos, lentes, muletas axilares, muletas canadienses, andaderas, maquina de escribir braille, magnificadores para baja visión, colchones y cojines antiescaras y pañales, entre otros.

Fundaperdis también creó los equipos de baloncesto y de tenis sobre sillas de ruedas de la institución y concretó acuerdos de corresponsabilidad social con empresas públicas y privadas de Venezuela y de España (Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (Once) y Universidad Complutense de Madrid, entre otras).

Además, patrocinó la publicación de la revista Todo con nosotros y El Manuel de accesibilidad como Derecho y Diseño Universal para todos, y organizó, patrocinó y participó en el II Encuentro de Discapacidad Intelectual, el II Encuentro Metropolitano de Políticas Públicas de la Asociación Civil Por una Caracas Posible y el II Aniversario del Sistema Metropolitano para la Integración Social de Personas con Discapacidad.

Otro de los logros tiene que ver con el impulso a la creación del Consejo Metropolitano del Poder Popular para las Personas con Discapacidad, en la que se logró la unidad del sector en una organización colectiva, cooperante y de participación protagónica.

Metas para 2008

Para el presente año 2008, Fundaperdis contará con un presupuesto operativo que estará destinado a la Creación de la Unidad Metropolitana de Ortesis, Prótesis y Ayudas Técnicas y mantendrá los programas iniciados el año pasado.

Igualmente, impulsará nuevos proyectos como la Cruzada por la Discapacidad, el Baúl de los Sueños, el Museo Tiflológico de Caracas, Ciudad Sin Barreras, Tecnoperdis de Venezuela y Producciones Fundaperdis.

Aunado a ello, gracias a las gestiones del alcalde Juan Barreto, Fundaperdis contará con otra sede para atender a las personas del sector con discapacidad, ubicada en la avenida Lecuna, esquina de Petión, Edificio El Águila, Planta Baja, municipio Libertador, sede donde también funcionarán las instituciones hermanas como el Consejo Metropolitano del Poder Popular para las Personas con Discapacidad y el Sistema Metropolitano para la Integración Social de las Personas con Discapacidad.

Las personas interesadas en contactar a Fundaperdis pueden acudir al Edificio Lander, esquina de Torres a Veroes, Planta Baja, Parroquia Catedral, Caracas, o a través de los teléfonos 0212-861-76-95 y 0212-815.85.20 y del correo electrónico fundaperdis@gmail.com.

Vouched for by a Vowel: A Big "E" for "Excellent!"

The Rolling Rains Report has been awarded a big "E." (Technically, it would be called a "Lazy E" if it were a cattle brand. I'm not so handy as a cowboy on the ranch where I worked as teenager since I've become paralyzed so optometrists and computer manufacturers come to mind first now when I look at it. "Big E" works fine as a visual description for us city slickers.)

I have been socialized to prefer "A's", of course. (Except on the shipping boxes of my PCs and laptops where the previous vowel predominates.) Fortunately, this "E" stands for "excellent" as in the "Excellent Award." My gratitude to previous recipient Ruth Harrigan for the nomination.

The meme seems to be circulating through the Catholic bloggers circle so I am going to give it wider circulation as I follow the rules for accepting the award. But I am going to hold off posting who I award this to for a few days to give Rolling Rains readers the chance to submit sites that they think should also be rated "Excellent":

By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you have to award it to 10 more people whose blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want-even those that have received it already, but please award at least 10 people.

So, if this blog were on Sesame Street would it be introduced with the voiceover, "Today's post is brought to you by the letter 'E' !" Maybe so.

Shameless Self-Promotion -- And a Tribute to Rolling Rains Readers!!!

Our work together to date -- and my plans for future projects -- promoting Inclusive Tourism and Inclusive Destination Development worldwide has won the affirmation of the Echoing Green Foundation. The dedication shown by those who read, contribute to, and are written about here at the Rolling Rains Report have been an encouragement for me to continue to the next phase of the competition.

Very briefly my proposal is to establish three Centers of Excellence in strategic locations around the world over the next two years.

The Centers of Excellence will gather industry, government, and disabled people (individual PwDs and their DPOs) into an action-oriented network to grow this market of travelers with disabilities. The Centers will gather the local tourism business eco-system to function as results-focused resource and a professional standard-setting body. As part of a coordinated international network these Centers are the launch of a new stage of industry maturity in service and marketing to this growing but underserved and eager-to-travel demographic.

Each Center of Excellence will participate in our international work to standardize the diversity of accessibility laws, disseminate minimum accessibility guidelines for hotels, train travel & hospitality industry staff, promote the education & hiring of PwD in the industry. At the local level we will work to make these three destinations accessible and train a core of PwD to be self-sustaining as advocates & experts in Inclusive Tourism for their region.

This competition is important because it will provide initial seed funding. Without this Echoing Green Foundation funding the project cannot take place. With it we will see the confluence of the many "islands of innovation" that you have read about here over the years.

This project to make strategic impact in the proper management of three destinations is the concrete expression of the vision I presented at the United Nations for ICAT 2007 in the address, "Inclusive Tourism: A New Strategic Alliance for the Disability Rights Movement."

Readers are welcome to submit recommendation letters to the Rolling Rains Report. The form is available here. Download file

Potential funders: Echoing Green is interested in hearing that the project has matching grant, partner, and post-seed stage funders are standing ready to support this project. Contact me at the email address provided under the Rolling Rains graphic on the top left.

Readings on a vision for inclusion in travel:

Waking Up to a Changed Travel Market

Defining the Market of Travelers with Disabilities

Theme Parks and Real Life

From, "Prayaville, Thailand:Becoming a Destination of Choice for Travelers with Disabilities":

Vision Statement

(This Vision Statement is written in the present tense to express the ideal goals of the project as if they were already reality.)

• Prayaville is a barrier-free city with an affirmative policy of inclusion of people with disabilities (PwD) that is evident in its infrastructure as well as its business and civic cultures.

• Prayaville is a city with a community of citizens, as well as long- and short-term guests with disabilities, who actively participate in civic life through government, business, education, media, and the arts.

• Prayaville is a destination of choice for people with disabilities because it has applied Inclusive Destination Development principles of Universal Design in developing its tourist assets.

• Prayaville has differentiated itself from other tourist destinations while positioning itself within the mainstream tourist route of Thailand and of Southeast Asia.

Bluetooth as an Aid to Walking?

From the "What Will They Think of Next?" file comes this report at CNN on the use of Bluetooth technology as a substitute for the human nervous system. In effect, the technology that brings you hands-free cell phones frees a man without legs to walk. Here Joshua Bleill describes how his prosthetic legs work:

Bleill's set of prosthetics have Bluetooth receivers strapped to the ankle area. The Bluetooth device on each leg tells the other leg what it's doing, how it's moving, whether walking, standing or climbing steps, for example.

"They mimic each other, so for stride length, for amount of force coming up, going uphill, downhill and such, they can vary speed and then to stop them again," Bleill told CNN from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he's undergoing rehab.

"I will put resistance with my own thigh muscles to slow them down, so I can stop walking, which is always nice."

Hmmm, what do you get if you hit "redial" while you are asleep -- sleepwalking?

For the full story see, " Double amputee walks again due to Bluetooth Die to Bluetooth"
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/01/25/bluetooth.legs/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Around the World on a Skateboard!

Beth Haller has a blog called Media dis&dat. She has done a post on Kevin Connolly. Kevin traveled around the world on his skateboard. That's unique enough but Kevin was born without legs -- and he took along his camera to document people staring at him. From her site:

Connolly took 32,000 photos and has created an online exhibit, called The Rolling Exhibition at http://therollingexhibition.com/. It's a wonderful exhibit, which allows the viewer to see the world from a unique perspective. Many of the images are visually stunning because of the upward angle that captures aspects of the scene that one usually doesn't experience. I know its theme is the staring but the composition and subjects on the street make many of the images pure artistry. If this is any indication of his documentary abilities, I will be there to buy tickets to his first film.

http://media-dis-n-dat.blogspot.com/2008/01/man-without-legs-photographs-staring.html

Kevin's personal site:
http://www.kevinmichaelconnolly.com/

Steak & Shake: Where ADA Compliance has Been Taken Off the Menu!

Americans with disabilities spend more than $13.6 billion annually on travel. The Open Doors Organization calculated that in 2003, persons with disabilities or reduced mobility spent 35 billion dollars in restaurants. According to the same study, more than 75% of these people eat out at restaurants at least once a week. But Karen at A Deaf Mom Shares Her World tells a story that gives these mind-numbing numbers some texture and reality.

Can it really that be that hard to spend our money? Maybe the misguided narratives about "plucky" super-crips "overcoming" their disabilities and achieving heroic feats that inspire TABs (look it up) have some validity. Buying a milkshake and completing the transaction with dignity intact rates high on the heroic achievement scale in this story of an encounter with Steak 'n Shake -- but her equanimity to the bile evident in the public comments about her post is where Karen's true strength of character is revealed. Insult added to injury:

So I told him about the Americans with Disabilities Act and I explained that taking orders through the window is an accommodation that I need because I can't use the speaker to place an order.

He kept insisting that orders need to be taken at the speaker. "If you had just let me know at the speaker that you needed accommodations then I could take your order through the window."

"But I'm DEAF! I can't hear on the speaker! When I drove up, the first thing that I told you was that I couldn't order back there because I can't hear through the speaker."

Read about her descent down Alice's Rabbit Hole here at Steak and Shake Denies Service

ASTA Files Comments with the Department of Transportation on Oversales and Denied Boarding Compensation

Press release:

ASTA, [the American Society of Travel Agents] filed comments today with the Department of Transportation (DOT) on the issue of Oversales and Denied Boarding Compensation. ASTA provided the DOT with numerous recommendations for updating the more than 20-year old rules that currently govern the process of Denied Boarding Compensation practices.

“This is unfortunately an issue that affects most passengers at one time or another,” said Cheryl Hudak, CTC, ASTA president and CEO. “ASTA’s recommendations, if implemented, would reduce the number of instances in which airline passengers are involuntarily bumped and, in the event that an airline is forced to bump a passenger, create a more stable and acceptable process for doing so.”

In its comments, ASTA:

• Stated that it is in favor of doubling the ceiling on compensation for involuntarily bumped passengers.

• Suggested that ceiling caps should be adjusted automatically every five years and based on the Consumer Price Index Consumer-Price-Index Oct-07 (CPI).

• Objected to the DOT permitting airlines to establish, without any control, preference as to who will be involuntarily bumped when they are unable to secure volunteers. The DOT currently allows airlines to decide who will be involuntarily bumped based on the price of a passenger’s ticket.

• Argued that anyone with a confirmed seat assignment should never be bumped. ASTA also suggested that if an airline reserves the right to bump passengers based on the price of their ticket, the airline should warn the passenger of this risk at the time of purchase.

• Argued that compensation practices for international and domestic travel should be treated identically and based on a combination of length of delay and distance.

• ASTA recommended that the rules abolish the use of vouchers in favor of cash payments, stating that only cash payments will create a full incentive for airlines to closely manage Denied Boarding Compensation.

For additional information or to read any of ASTA’s filed comments on Oversales and Denied Boarding Compensation, please visit, ASTA.org.

The mission of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) is to facilitate the business of selling travel through effective representation, shared knowledge and the enhancement of professionalism. ASTA seeks a retail travel marketplace that is profitable and growing and a rewarding field in which to work, invest and do business.

Contact: Kristina Rundquist/Sarah Wilhite, Phone: 703-739-8710

Decreto do Passeio Livre ( 45.904/05) - (Portuguese)

A nova lei, com data de 23 de janeiro, foi publicada no Diário Oficial de hoje, quinta-feira, 24.

Depois da transformação visual da nossa cidade, incentivado pelo Programa Cidade Limpa, agora são as calçadas que vão fazer a diferença. Além da estética, o mais importante é a acessibilidade. Se já é difícil circular na maioria dos passeios públicos de São Paulo, imagine para quem tem uma deficiência ou mobilidade reduzida - como idosos, mães com carrinhos de bebê, obesos ou pessoas com uma perna quebrada, por exemplo?

De autoria da vereadora Mara Gabrilli, a lei 14.675, de 23 de janeiro de 2008, vai implantar na cidade o Programa Emergencial de Calçadas - PEC. A partir de hoje, a Prefeitura de São Paulo, por meio da Secretaria de Coordenação de Subprefeituras, vai reformar as calçadas de São Paulo de modo a atender o Decreto do Passeio Livre ( 45.904/05). Por Lei, o morador é o responsável pela sua calçada e, caso não faça a adequação, pode ser multado. Mas, para incentivar as reformas, é a Prefeitura quem vai arcar com os custos das novas calçadas que estiverem dentro das rotas estratégicas determinadas pela Secretaria Municipal da Pessoa com Deficiência e Mobilidade Reduzida (SMPED).

São Paulo tem 30 milhões de metros lineares de calçadas

As rotas serão especificadas por um sistema de georeferenciamento desenvolvido pela SMPED. "Cada Rota Estratégica e de Segurança terá de dois a cinco quilômetros e vai contemplar as vias com serviços públicos e privados, como saúde, educação, esporte, cultura, correios, bancos, entre outros, e, principalmente, paradas ou estações para embarque e dsembarque de passageiros do transporte público", informa a vereadora Mara Gabrilli. "Temos, pelo menos, 31 rotas, uma em cada Subprefeitura da cidade", complementa. O cronograma de rotas e obras será determinado trimestralmente e publicadas no Portal da Prefeitura de São Paulo. "É essencial, que, além da população, o próprio Poder Público se conscientize da importância da acessibilidade para todos. O Projeto de Lei da vereadora Mara Gabrilli vai nesse sentido", comenta o secretário das Subprefeituras e Subprefeito da Sé, Andrea Matarazzo.

Como a Prefeitura será a responsável pelas reforma das calçadas, ao munícipe caberá a manutenção delas. Para se ter uma idéia, desde 2005 a Prefeitura aplicou mais de 8 mil multas aos cidadãos que não conservaram sua calçada. Para estipular um novo valor de multa - na verdade, um "incentivo" para que o munícipe cuide da nova calçada -, esta lei altera a Lei 10.508/88, que dispõe sobre limpeza de imóveis, passeios públicos e dá outras providências. Segundo a antiga legislação, o valor da multa aos munícipes era de R$ 200 reais por metro linear de calçada, corrigido anualmente pelo IPCA. A partir da aprovação do PEC, a multa será de mil reais pelo mesmo metro linear.


Mais informações

Assessoria de Imprensa

Vereadora Mara Gabrilli

Jorn.Resp.: Claudia Carletto

fones: 11 3396-4899 // 8385-3443

One Person, One Fare: Canadians in the Air

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities / Conseil des Canadiens avec Deficiences send the following press release:

Reaction to Landmark Canadian Transportation Agency Decision:
Disabled Canadians Jubilant to Have Transport Barrier Removed

Winnipeg, January 10, 2008 – Today the Canadian Transportation Agency
(CTA) released a landmark decision concerning the right of individuals with
disabilities to travel by air without having to pay for a second seat, for
an attendant or other use, to accommodate their disability. In a historic
decision in the “One Person, One Fare” case, the agency has recognized the
right of these individuals to have access to a second seat when traveling
by air in Canada without having to pay a second fare.

“Canadians with disabilities are celebrating today,” said Pat Danforth,
Chairperson of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities Transportation
Committee. Joanne Neubauer, one of the principal complainants in the
case, agreed. “We hope that this decision sends a strong message to all
transportation carriers,” she said. “Access is the rule.”

The CTA decision acknowledged the importance of a number of established
human rights principles underlying the arguments of the complainants in
the case, noting that these principles dictate that persons with disabilities
have the same rights as others to full participation in all aspects of
society and that equal access to transportation is critical to their
exercise of that right.

“The Canadian Transportation Agency recognized the fundamental soundness
of our arguments, which have a strong foundation in existing human rights
jurisprudence,” said David Baker of Bakerlaw, legal counsel for the
complainants in the case. “While the number of people who will benefit
and the actual cost to the airlines are larger than in any previous case, the
principles applied by the Agency in its decision were clearly established
by the Supreme Court of Canada in its March 2007 CCD v. VIA Rail decision,”
said David Baker.

Disabled Canadians said the decision had the potential to make an enormous
difference in their lives. “This is about independence,” said Sandra
Carpenter of the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto. “It’s about
our
ability to be part of Canadian society and to have barriers to our
participation removed.”

The decision was many years in coming – the late Eric Norman, Joanne
Neubauer, and the Council of Canadians with Disabilities filed the
original complaint with the CTA in 2002, seeking to establish a situation of
equality for passengers with disabilities who travel with attendants.

For many years, Canadians with disabilities traveling by train, bus or
marine service have been permitted to use a second seat without cost when
one was required. But airlines such as Air Canada, Westjet, and Jazz have
not been bound to obey this policy, meaning that many Canadians with
disabilities have been forced to effectively pay double what others pay to
fly.

Now that all seems set to change.

“We have been looking for some good news in the transport industry for
some time,” said Claredon Robicheau, a member of the Council of Canadians with
Disabilities (CCD) Transport Committee. “This decision gives us enormous
hope that we are once again moving to build an accessible and inclusive
Canada.”

- 30 -

For More Information or Comment on the Decision Contact:

Mr. David Baker, Legal Counsel

Ms. Sandra Carpenter, Acting Executive Director,
416-533-0040 Ext 222 Centre for
Independent Living in Toronto 416-599-2458 Ext 36

Ms. Joanne Neubauer Mr. Jim
Derksen, CCD Policy Advisor
250-881-1936
204-781-4187

Ms. Pat Danforth, Chair, Mr. Laurie
Beachell, National Coordinator CCD
Transportation Committee 204-947-0303
250-595-0044

Mr. Claredon Robicheau,
Member CCD Transportation Committee
(available for French interviews) 902-769-2474

The Year Ahead - Clearer Skies?

The end of 2007 saw the ENAT and ICAT conferences on Inclusive Tourism. Early January 2008 will be the SAT conference and may 2008 will see the IIDI Turismo para Todos conference. At the same time ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities continues at a rapid pace.

With so much progress on the stabilization of human rights for persons with disabilities the actions of the Federation of Indian Airlines to subvert the ' Carriage by Air of Disabled Persons or Persons with Reduced Mobility' proposed by India's Office of The Director General of Civil Aviation is especially out of step with the global consensus on the value of travelers with disabilities as a market. One would think that no one in the industry is doing their diligence on market forecasting.

Dear Kiki and Friends,

I would like to thank you for your responses...and I will go through the attachment you have sent.

In the meanwhile there has been a new development in India on the 30th Dec 2007 - this time by the FIA - Federation of Indian Airlines.

The FIA are not ready to accept the new guideline on ' Carriage by Air of Disabled Persons or Persons with Reduced Mobility' proposed by DCGA (Office of The Director General of Civil Aviation). The same was to come into force from 1st Jan 2008. I have attached the draft guideline with this mail for your reference. And in the last few months we had strongly lobbied for many changes before this final draft.

FIA says "Free help to disabled can't be enforced" - kindly read on for the article that was published in yesterday's news paper for your reference.

Kind Regards

Mahesh

'Free help to disabled can't be enforced', Times of India, 30th Dec 2007

NEW DELHI: The government's first attempt to regulate pricing policy of airlines could come to naught and add to the costs of physically challenged passengers.

Following several complaints from disabled rights groups, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had about a month back issued a draft civil aviation requirement (CAR) on the subject. Among other things, it asked airlines to mandatorily provide free assistance to such passengers. The rule was to go into effect from January 1.

While most airlines currently provide wheelchairs, stretchers and ambulifts free, they have strongly opposed making the free service compulsory. The Federation of Indian Airlines — a joint body of Air India, Jet, Kingfisher, Deccan, GoAir, IndiGo, Paramount and SpiceJet — has said that the industry must be free to recover any extra cost that's incurred in the process of providing assistance to handicapped passengers.

Saying airlines are aware of their responsibilities towards physically challenged passengers, FIA has submitted its reply to the CAR to the ministry and DGCA.

"FIA believes that the issue of costs and cost-recovery for such special facilities cannot be mandated through the CAR. In our consultation with members, all carriers have expressed their strong opposition to airlines being denied the right to charge and recover costs for service provided," it said.

It goes on to add: "No other passengers are provided services free of charge. Any additional service should necessarily come at a charge to the passenger using the service, else the increased costs will need to be borne by the other airline passengers which is unfair. Airlines should be allowed to independently decide the charges, which certainly should be communicated clearly to passengers."

It has pointed out that the earlier CAR of July, 2005, allows airlines to charge for any additional service provided to passengers with special needs.

The new CAR stipulated that no airline would refuse to carry persons on a stretcher if they are accompanied by an escort who would look after them in flight. While FIA agrees to this, it says: "However, the carriage must be paid for. For example, a stretcher requires displacing nine seats that would otherwise be sold as revenue. It must be clear that these seats must be reserved in advance and paid for."

Similarly, the new rules say that all airlines must provide assistance to persons with disabilities/reduced mobility from the departing airport terminal to the destination airport terminal without any additional charge. "The Airlines strongly disagree with this statement. It is one thing to provide service, another to do it for free. No other passengers are provided free-of-charge services," the FIA has said.

Asked about this stand, a member airline of FIA said that most carriers provide these services free of charge and may even continue to do so. "But the decision to charge or provide assistance free must be the commercial decision of airlines. It can't be legally mandated," he said. This is not the first time airlines are spurning government's moves on influencing their charges. While the aviation ministry strongly opposed the term "congestion surcharge", airlines continue to levy it.

saurabh.sinha@timesgroup.com http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Free_help_to_disabled_cant_be_enforced/articleshow/2661352.cms

****************************** Response to the Article **********************

31.12.07

Dear Mr. Saurabh,

Greetings and thank you very much for publishing the article titled "Free help to Disabled Can't be enforced"

This is a significant development and a new hurdle posed by The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) towards the new Civil Aviation guidelines by DGCA for "Carriage by Air of Disabled Persons or Persons with Reduced Mobility".

In the last few months, we as a group of disabled persons have been lobbying with the DGCA in drafting these guidelines and finally when it was to come into effect from 1 Jan 2008 - the FIA has sprung a surprise.

We as persons with disabilities are not asking for free service, we want to use the services like any other passengers. However the limitations posed by the procedures adopted by the different airlines further reduces our mobility and prevents us from using the airline just like any other.

Some examples that prevent us are highlighted below:

1. From the point of check-in - the airline asks us to use the wheelchair provided by them - these wheechairs cannot be self-propelled and therefore we need a ground staff.

2. The airline do not handle our personal wheelchair safely and many times they have broken my wheelchair because of their careless attitude.

3. Where ever there is an aerobridge facility passengers using wheelchair are not given access to use them and they are not alloted the first row of seats - because of which we physically lifted by 3-4 persons with our wheelchair up and down the stairs to the aircraft.

4. We cannot use the buses/ transport facilities provided by the airline on the tramac as there are steps and no ramps to get into the coach. Therefore we need assistance to be lifted up and down from the bus or wheeled on the tarmac till the aircraft.

5. There are no wheelchair accessible toilets in many of the airport, the ones that are built are not according to standard specifications therefore one needs assistance to access the toilets.

Who is to be blamed for creating such obstacles? Why should the passenger using wheelchair or a person with limited mobility bear the cost towards these procedural and architectural barriers created by the airlines and at the airports.

Closing with warm regards

Mahesh

****************** A Prior Violation of Rights ******************************

Dear Friends,

Greetings,

Through this mail I would like to highlight the practice adopted by some of the airlines where passengers using wheelchairs have to sign in the "APPLICATION FOR THE CARRIAGE OF MEDICAL PASSENGER".

The most offending paragaraph in the 'APPLICATION' that we as passengers using wheelchair are forced to sign reads as follows -

"I the undersigned .....hereby indemnify and hold harmless, DECCAN from any and against any liability arising out of any bodily injury, and / or death. damage or loss that I may suffer/ experience and also from any damages, payments, expenses, face and cost which DECCAN may incur directly or indirectly as a result of accepting me on its Flight No. .........from ....... to ...... on date.....

I hereby further indemnify DECCAN from any payments that DECCAN makes to meet any of my expenses towards damages, loss etc for the said purpose."

This I feel is both humiliating and discriminating towards persons with limited mobility.

Do passengers with limited mobility have to sign similar forms in other countries too before boarding the flight?

Please find below my letters written to both the Commissioner (Disabilities) and DGCA (Director General Civil Avaiation) highlighting this practice and with suggested changes.

Closing with best wishes for Christmas and New Year...

Kind regards

Mahesh

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

24.12.2007
To
The Commissioner (Disabilities)
Office of the Commissioner Disabilities
Govt. of Karnataka
40, Thambuchetty Road, Cox Town
Bangalore. Email: discom@vsnl.net

Copy
Mr. R. P. Sahi
Jt. Director General
Office of the
Director General of Civil Aviation
Opp. Safdarjung Airport
New Dehli – 110 003
Tel: 011-24611504. Email: rpsahi@dgca.nic.in

Respected Sir,

Greetings,

This letter is to bring to your kind notice the prevailing discriminatory practice adopted by some of the airlines who force passengers who use wheelchairs to sign the "APPLICATION FOR THE CARRIAGE OF MEDICAL PASSENGER" before boarding the flight.

Although, I, as a passenger who uses wheelchair did clarify that I am not a medical passenger, the ground staff are in no mood to listen and we are left with no choice but to fill and submit the form if not we should be prepared to miss our flight.

In this connection, I would like to quote my recent experience:

During my recent return journey from Kolkata to Bangalore by AIR DECCAN on 18th Nov 2007, I was asked to fill the "APPLICATION FOR THE CARRIAGE OF MEDICAL PASSENGER" as I use a wheelchair. I did argue that I am not a "MEDICAL PASSENGER" but the ground staff were in no mood to listen. Therefore I filled in the form during check-in but deliberately did not submit the same while boarding the aircraft.

The most offending paragaraph in the 'APPLICATION' that we are forced to sign reads as follows -

"I the undersigned .....hereby indemnify and hold harmless, DECCAN from any and against any liability arising out of any bodily injury, and / or death. damage or loss that I may suffer/ experience and also from any damages, payments, expenses, face and cost which DECCAN may incur directly or indirectly as a result of accepting me on its Flight No. .........from ....... to ...... on date.....

I hereby further indemnify DECCAN from any payments that DECCAN makes to meet any of my expenses towards damages, loss etc for the said purpose."

Firstly, I personally feel that it is the duty of all the airlines to protect the safety of all passengers. But by signing the above form - the airline is not taking the responsibility to ensure the safety of passenger like me who use the wheelchair.

Secondly, the airline should make appropriate changes in the systems and built environment so that we can use our personal wheelchair (as much as possible) till we transfer to the seat of the aircraft. This procedure will assist us to be comfortably seated in our own wheelchair instead of sitting on the very small and uncomfortable chairs provided by the airlines for more than an hour.

Thirdly, passenger using wheelchairs should be give permission to use the aerobridge facility where available. These change will prevent the ground staff of the airline ground from physically lifting us up and down the flight of stairs to the aircraft. The practice that is both humiliating and extremely dangerous especially for the person who is being lifted.

Fourthly, in recent times DGCA has issued a new Guidelines on "Carriage by Air of Disabled Persons or Persons with Reduced Mobility" that is going to come into effect from 1st Jan 2008 and has taken into account some of the issues mentioned by me in my letter. However, I am not aware if any strategy for dissemenation/ training has been planned for all the ground staff of the different airlines at the airports on the need to "Respect the Rights and Dignity of Passengers with Disabilities".

Therefore, it my sincere appeal to your esteemed office to initiate appropriate steps to prevent this discriminatory and humiliating practice adopted by the airlines towards passengers with limited mobility.

Looking forward for your kind reply.

With kind regards

C. Mahesh

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

Design for All Institute India

Design For All Institute of India and EIDD-Design For All Europe are jointly publishing December2007 Vol-2, No-12 issue of the Design for All Newsletter. From the editor, Dr. Sunil Bhatia:

Different eminent designers from different countries and those are the members of EIDD under the guidance of Mr. Pete Kercher have contributed the articles and our current issue is in front of your computer screen. Our December issue is very special and historic, reason is, we are celebrating completion of our two years of publication of newsletter. We have started a new section of CASE study for benefits of our readers. We have loaded a movie and those who wish to see the movie they can click the below given link
Kindly visit our web site www.designforall.in for our current as well as past publication of our monthly newsletter or click this link

http://www.designforall.in/newsletter_dec_2007.pdf (For Newsletter)

The download link for mechanical elevator

http://www.designforall.in/mechanicalelevator.zip
First unzip it by using winzip

Senegal: Disabled students fight great odds

Inclusion in higher education is one of the prerequisites for building the sort of diversity in a local tourism economy to make a place a destination of choice for travelers with disabilities. This story from Senegal is not one of the more hopeful in this regard.

SENEGAL: Disabled students fight great odds

Students recently protested a shortage of housing for the physically handicapped at Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop University

DAKAR, 18 December 2007 (IRIN) - On the campus of Cheikh Anta Diop University in the Senegal capital Dakar, physically handicapped students can often be seen crawling unaided up concrete staircases or across dirty bathroom floors.

With a few exceptions - such as the main library and a new amphitheatre - buildings on the sprawling, sandy campus have no handicap accessibility.

"Users of hand-powered or motorised wheelchairs have to crawl to access certain buildings," the disabled students association said in a recent letter to the authorities. The association compiled a list of their grievances and proposed solutions and presented it to university officials at the beginning of the school year.

Serigne Diop, a government official, says he cannot erase from his mind what he calls an "unbearable" image. "I saw a severely handicapped student trying to make it up a spiral staircase on crutches. I think she did not want to crawl so as not to get her clothes dirty," he said. "Other students passed by her without bothering to help at all."

Given the difficulties of getting around, physically disabled students often arrive late to classes. That is for those who have on-campus lodging. For those who do not, commuting is a problem, as public transport vehicles have no accommodations for wheelchairs, the disabled students association says.

Abandoning school

In their dorm room, which also serves as the headquarters of the association, students lament two disabled female colleagues who had to abandon their studies for lack of on-campus housing.

They were not the first and likely will not be the last, say handicapped students.

"These two students, who had passed the university entrance exams, had to drop their academic ambitions and return to their home villages simply because they did not find housing on campus," Fulbert Manga of the association told IRIN.

Disabled students remaining at the university say they face the same struggle daily - lack of housing, lack of access to most school buildings and public transport, inadequate financial assistance and difficulty getting decent jobs.

Photo: Serigne Adama Boye
The social services building is one of few university buildings that have ramps for wheelchair access
While Senegal's constitution includes laws protecting the rights of disabled persons, and the country is a signatory to related international conventions, the daily reality is otherwise, students say. For the disabled, arriving at university means taking on a huge battle far beyond keeping up with studies.

Access

The handicapped students association in November staged a protest at the university, calling for better housing. For some 250 disabled students, at least 162 beds should be made available according to quotas agreed to by university officials, but only 107 beds are available, fourth-year sociology student Insa Sané said.

The director of housing, Makhtar Ndoye, says given the wider problem of housing at the university the housing department has had to fight to keep even 107 spaces for handicapped students. At Dakar's main university, only 5,136 beds are available with a student body of some 55,000.

Bathrooms also pose a constant problem for disabled students. "In not one single men's room will you find a sit-down toilet, and that's the case even in some women's restrooms," Yague Touré, a second-year physics and chemistry student, told IRIN.

"We are constantly protesting these inhumane conditions in the toilets." In many restrooms, inaccessible in a wheelchair, the floors are wet from faulty faucets. "Those of us who use wheelchairs are forced to crawl in dirty water." Housing official Ndoye says the university plans to install sit-down toilets and repair the faucets.

Regional problem

Djibril Sow, West Africa director of an African Union institute for the physically handicapped, said disabled people face such barriers in public places across the region. He said many more disabled students would likely be in university were conditions better.

"Certainly if conditions were improved, the number of physically handicapped students in Dakar would be multiplied by 10 or 20. From Dakar to [the Burkina Faso capital] Ouagadougou, the disabled face the same kinds of problems."

Press Release: Mexico, El Salvador and Nicaragua Ratify the UN Disability Rights Convention

Mexico, El Salvador and Nicaragua Ratify the UN Disability Rights Convention
RI Calls on Governments to Recognize the Human Rights of All by Ratifying the CRPD

(United Nations, New York, USA, 17 December 2007): RI congratulates the Governments of Mexico, El Salvador and Nicaragua for ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), bringing the number to 14 States Parties. Mexico also ratified the Optional Protocol today. RI calls on all governments which have not yet ratified the CRPD and its Optional Protocol to do so as a matter of priority and without reservations and declarations. Furthermore, RI urges all States Parties to begin the process of implementation by developing laws, programs and policies to ensure that ALL persons with disabilities, regardless of the type of disability, enjoy all of the rights in the Convention.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Libre Acceso President Federico Fleischmann said, “We recognize the great efforts of the Government of Mexico for being a leader in promoting the human rights of persons with disabilities, as embodied in the Convention. RI and its member in Mexico, Libre Acceso, are committed to working within its broad network to ensure that Mexican laws are strengthened to comply with the high standards set by the Convention.”

As part of its Global Advocacy Campaign, RI partnered with Libre Acceso, representatives of the Mexican government, the Mexican law firm Barrera, Siqueiros y Torres Landa, S.C., the international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and local disability experts to develop recommendations on how Mexico’s National Disability Law can comply with the Convention. These recommendations, presented to the Mexican Government on October 18, 2007, were formally adopted by Partido Accion Nacional (PAN), the political party of the Mexican President, as the official proposed amendments to this national law. The Senate and Chamber of Deputies will now discuss the amendments, which may be adopted as early as next year. This RI project has been made possible because of the generous support of an anonymous donor and Irish Aid.

“We are very happy today to deposit the instrument of ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Setting up the legal framework is only the first step. The real challenge is to build a culture where the human rights of every person are fully respected,” said Senator Gu