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Desde El Peridi.com:


El Museu de La Vila, una de las principales colecciones de la Comunidad Valenciana, da un paso crucial en su historia al convertirse en Vilamuseu. Uno de los pilares del nuevo museo será la accesibilidad integral; para ello, el equipo de Joan Sibina Arquitectes Associats (Barcelona) ha realizado, bajo la dirección de la Sección Municipal de Arqueología, Etnografía y Museos, dependiente de la Concejalía de Patrimonio Histórico del Ayuntamiento de La Vila Joiosa, el proyecto museístico (no confundir con el proyecto arquitectónico) que utiliza todos los sentidos, incluyendo los requisitos de la norma UNE 170001 y los últimos avances tecnológicos en accesibilidad.

El concejal de Cultura y Patrimonio Histórico del Ayuntamiento de La Vila Joiosa, Pepe Lloret, ha explicado que "la identidad corporativa busca transmitir la accesibilidad de Vilamuseu a través de la gráfica, al incorporar las iniciales de vila y museu, V y M, en braille (alfabeto para personas con discapacidad visual). De este modo, el compromiso que el consistorio vilero adquiere en Vilamuseu es absoluto. Es, que sepamos, el primer museo que incorpora el braille en su logotipo, como símbolo de toda una filosofía, de una apuesta que permitirá a mucha más gente disfrutar del extraordinario patrimonio de La Vila Joiosa".


Leer mas:

http://www.elperiodic.com/villajoyosa/noticias/156102_vilamuseu-sera-museos-accesibles-mundo.html

Destination Derbyshire

Glowing words on Derbyshire as an accessible destination by Allan Harris:


Derbyshire, Accessible Travel Destination

 

If rugged hills and mountains, lush green farmlands, lavish lake views and majestic caverns are what you have always fancied then Derbyshire is a place you would not be able to get enough of.

 

No matter what time of the year you are visiting this spectacular county, it will never fail to amuse you. A comprehensive holiday destination conforming to all the needs of the disabled, Derbyshire ensures that every other vacationer remembers it as a 'Tourist Paradise'. 

 

Nestled in awe-inspiring countryside, Derbyshire is one of the larger counties exuding a raw appeal that coaxes tourists into visiting it. Promising an experience of a lifetime, Derbyshire has ample attractions with facilities to accommodate those with issues of reduced mobility.

 

While the area is dotted with fascinating attractions, those with maximum amenities for disabled are as following:

 

Crich Tramway Village- Crich:

 

Overlooking the renowned Derwent Valley, Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire is home to the National Tramway Museum. Showcasing a world of archives, Crich Tramway Village promises a great day out for everyone. Featured here are the 'Smoothway' to provide ease of movement to wheelchairs and pushchairs. Guide dogs are also welcome. 

 

Peter Fiddler Nature Reserve-Bolsover:

 

If you are in a mood of some wildlife watching, Peter Fiddler Nature Reserve is your stop. Watch the wide array of wildlife species as they roam their territories. Apart from observing these engaging fellas, you can also do some cycling, walking or horse-riding. Very pet friendly, the whole area has wheel chair access to provide freedom of movement to the disabled holiday-maker.

 

Gulliver's Kingdom- Matlock Bath:

 

It is time to have a bash with a splash at Gulliver's Kingdom. Endless fun for people of all ages, Gulliver's Kingdom has countless rides and attractions to keep you occupied all day long. With restaurants offering sumptuous food, Gulliver's Kingdom is disabled-friendly with rides and paths throughout the park which make the compound fully accessible. 

 

Peak Rail-Matlock:

 

If steam travel is your dream, Derbyshire fulfils it. A steam train giving you a ride of the breath-taking area of Derbyshire Dales, it will prove to be a nostalgic experience. Deemed as the most scenic area in all of Derbyshire, with all the viaducts and a multitude of other civil-engineering marvels, it is your chance to take in Derbyshire delights. Assistance is provided for the disabled to embark and disembark trains.

 

In a nut shell, Derbyshire is an accessible and very promising travel destination, one you just cannot afford to miss on a visit to United Kingdom. 

Source: http://www.reducedmobility.eu/Blog/123/accessible-travel-derbyshire-disabled-tourist-paradise.html

O Programa Praia Acessivel (Portugese)

O Programa Praia Acessivel do Estado de São Paulo:

Para melhorar o atendimento às pessoas com deficiência, houve curso para servidores, lojistas e funcionários

Possuir alguma deficiência, seja ela física, sensorial, intelectual ou múltipla, ou ter a mobilidade reduzida, é ter de enfrentar, diariamente, inúmeras barreiras de locomoção. Nos aeroportos, a situação não é diferente. Com o intuito de melhorar o atendimento a esse público, foi realizado, de 21 de novembro até ontem, um curso no Aeroporto Internacional Pinto Martins, em cumprimento à política de acessibilidade da Infraero, realizada pela assessoria da Presidência.

O curso contou com cerca de 90 participantes, entre servidores, lojistas, funcionários de locadoras de veículos e comunidade portuária em geral. Após uma série de debates sobre a temática, chegou a hora dos participantes simularem o dia a dia de um deficiente. Com muletas, cadeiras de rodas ou os olhos vendados, eles saíram, acompanhados de algum colega, pelos corredores do Pinto Martins. O objetivo era sentir na pele as dificuldades dessas pessoas.

A agente de proteção Nagela Magalhães, de 36 anos, mesmo acompanhada de uma pessoa, disse se sentir insegura por andar com os olhos vendados.

Dificuldade semelhante sentiu o profissional de serviço aeroportuário Francisco Valdecy Lopes, de 51 anos. Sentado em uma cadeira de rodas, ele conta que gostou da experiência, pois pôde se sentir no lugar do outro. No seu caso, como parte do treinamento, estava utilizando muletas, mas passou mal e precisou de uma cadeira de rodas.

Simulações à parte, o publicitário Xyco Theophilo, que é portador de deficiência física e anda de cadeira de rodas, afirma que o problema maior não está no aeroporto, mas no embarque e desembarque. "Continuamos embarcando como sacos de batata", queixa-se.

Sua reclamação é por não existir nenhuma tecnologia que tire a pessoa da cadeira de rodas e coloque na poltrona do avião com conforto, afirma.

Theophilo destaca que os deficientes brasileiros, 23,9% da população, querem embarcar em sua cadeira de rodas, assim como nos ônibus e táxis.

No encerramento do curso, os participantes contaram com palestra do músico Davi Valente, portador de deficiência físico-motora congênita. Depois, ele fez um show na Praça de Alimentação do Aeroporto.


Fonte:

O objetivo do 2º Dia Nacional da Pessoa com Deficiência em Parques e Atrações Turísticas (DNPD), que é celebrado no dia 29, é mostrar a importância da acessibilidade em parques temáticos e atrações turísticas de todo o Brasil. A iniciativa de responsabilidade social visa compor o maior movimento de inclusão de pessoas com deficiência.

Idealizada pelo Sistema Integrado de Parques e Atrações Turísticas (Sindepat) em parceria com a Associação das Empresas de Parques de Diversões do Brasil (Adibra), essa foi a forma que os complexos de lazer encontraram para proporcionar a esses visitantes momentos de total conforto, tranquilidade e segurança.


Neste dia, empreendimentos associados as duas entidades estarão abertos, simultaneamente, recebendo de forma gratuita entidades que atendam a pessoas com deficiência. Com programação especial, parques e atrações oferecem sem custo a todo participante, passaporte para as atrações e muitos deles lanches e refrigerantes.


"Para garantir maior conforto e total segurança durante o evento, todas as pessoas com deficiência estão acompanhadas de alguém indicado pela instituição, um amigo, familiar ou monitor", diz o presidente do Sindepat, Alain Baldacci. Além disso, os empreendimentos contam com a ajuda de voluntários capacitados para auxiliar no atendimento aos presentes.


Muitos parques e atrações já possuem programas de atendimentos específicos às pessoas com deficiência. "Isso facilitou a decisão de se realizar uma data em que todos pudessem realizar a atividade no mesmo dia, assim como é o Dia Nacional da Alegria, em que parques e atrações abrem gratuitamente para receber crianças carentes. A realização desse evento proporciona a todos os empreendimentos a oportunidade de aprimorar cada vez mais seus serviços e promover a esse tipo de visitante uma estadia com total segurança e diversão", declara Baldacci.


O padrinho oficial do evento é o cartunista Maurício de Sousa, que cedeu gratuitamente o personagem Luca, um menino cadeirante, para compor a logo do DNPD. Além dele, cada empreendimento participante conta com a presença de uma autoridade, artista ou atleta que apadrinhará o DNPD. Participam da ação: 


  • Hopi Hari, Playcenter, O Mundo da Xuxa e Wet n' Wild no Estado de São Paulo,
  • Beach Park, no Ceará
  • Alpen Park, no Rio Grande do Sul
  • Beto Carrero e Unipraias, em Santa Catarina 
  • Bondinho do Pão de Açúcar e Trem do Corcovado, no Rio de Janeiro 
  • Hot Park, em Goiás 
  • Complexo Turístico de Itaipu, no Paraná
Fonte:

Carlson Studio has the capacity to create fully ADA complaint way finding and interpretative exhibits.  This product is suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications and can incorporate a digitally printed color image on the relief surface.

To contact: Address: Carlson Studio 285 San Joaquin Street Laguna Beach, CA 92651 USA Telephone: 949-715-0395 Information: 8am to 5pm Pacific Standard Time

Official seal of Orlando

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By Tatiana SartoriSão Paulo, Brazil

In October I took 24-day trip to  Miami and Orlando, Florida. I had been there before, but it is always so nice to be back.

I just love this place. Love everything there; the warm weather, the fun parks and people smiling everywhere , the restaurants, lakes, and of course the shopping. There is a place where you can find anything you want. But, especially for me coming from Brazil, there one thing that I enjoy the most and even feel I little bit jealous, the ACESSIBILITY! 

Yes people, I consider everything there accessible, at least for someone in a wheelchair. I saw ramps everywhere, the buses were accessible, the parks, hotels. There was not a place where I could not go.

Maybe for people in wheelchair who were born in a place like this they may think that it´s not a big deal. But think about someone who lives a different reality.

Imagine you living in a wheelchair, not having a car, and the place where you live doesn´t have an accessible bus? It becmes almost impossible to leave the house, to work, and do other things. It is very sad. Well, but let´s go back to the trip.

This time we rented a very nice house so everyone could be accommodated with comfort and space. The good thing about renting a house is that you almost feel like you are at home. The bad thing is that you need to make your bed every day. You need to go to the supermarket to buy some food, but its fun and makes you feel like living in a different country for a while.

During my flight from Miami to Orlando the people from American Airlines very badly damaged one of my wheels. I realized that it would be impossible for me to use my wheelchair like that, so I went to the baggage claim and told them what happened. Fortunately, I was very well cared for by the American Airlines staff.They immediately put me in contact with a company called " Quest Mobility Solutions" that supports them in these situations. As soon as they contacted the Quest staff, I waited only 15 minutes for one of them meet me at the airport and check my wheels. I highly recommend their services because they were very efficient.

 Well, with the wheels were fixed let´s go have some fun!

This trip we went to three parks; Universal Studios, Island of Adventure and Magic Kingdom. It´s so exciting and so much fun to be there. People in wheelchairs can participate in all the attractions, even the rollercoaster. But I do not recommend it if you don´t have good strength in your upper body. Some activities you can do without transferring from your chair. For others you need to transfer. Right in the park entrance you find a map that provided very detailed iformation about all the attractions and whether you need to transfer from your chair.

While I was at the Island of Adventure Park I saw many children in wheelchairs, with different disabilities, been guided by monitors wearing t-shirts from "Miracle Flights.org".  I thought that so interesting and looked over the internet to see what that´s about. Miracle Flights for Kids® is the nation's leading nonprofit health and welfare organization with a mission of helping families overcome financial obstacles by flying their seriously ill children to receive proper medical care and to get second opinions. It sounded like such a neat job and made me feel very glad to see those children having the opportunity to travel and have fun.

Well people, I suppose I could tell you just a little bit about my emotions and feelings during this trip. Perhaps I could tell a lot more, but the essence is here and you won´t get to tired to read it.

To wrap up my final message is, "People with disabilities, please don't be afraid to overcome the barriers of travelling to a different country. It's so exciting and we all, with no exceptions, have the right to do it. Let´s travel everyone." J

 

 

 

 

  

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The Norwegian Design Council is the body behind the launch of a new 
Norwegian prize to reward innovative, user-friendly accessibility solutions. 
Scandic Oslo Airport was the winner in the Furniture and Interior category 
and therefore automatically nominated for the Innovation Design Prize 
2011. It was announced on November 18 that Scandic Oslo Airport also 
won by the main prize - The Innovation Prize! 

The prize recognises those who have innovatively and creatively developed 
products, services and environments that contribute towards a more inclusive 
society and the award is made on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Children, 
Equality and Social Inclusion. The prize was awarded today at a special event at 
DogA (the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture). 

"It's important to us that everyone is able to enjoy their stay at Scandic hotels, 
whatever their special needs are. To improve accessibility, we are working on this 
aspect every day in all our hotels. We have even had our own Disability 
Ambassador since 2003," says Scandic Norway's CVP Svein Arild Steen-Mevold

 

The jury says: 

- With Scandic Oslo Airport hotel, Scandic shows how modern architecture and 
design can be combined with a universal design approach. In this project, good, 
sustained quality in the design of products, the interior, the architecture and 
functional solutions produces universal design at a high level. 

Scandic is the only hotel chain today to have incorporated consideration for all user 
groups into its business strategy and Scandic Oslo Airport sets a new standard in 
the integration of universal design. The jury considers that the hotel is a fantastic, 
iconic project because it shows that competitive advantage and increased 
profitability can be attained by focusing holistically on the inclusion of all types of 
guest. The hotel epitomises quality. The design stigmatises no one and the building 
is welcoming and elegant. All guests are accommodated well and included. 


Everyone is equal and can participate equally in all contexts. The hotel has been 
designed well for guests with impaired vision, hearing and mobility, with good 
accessibility, visual alarms, telephones with induction loops, systems for charging 
electric wheelchairs and much more besides. 

The interior is also designed with people with environmental diseases in mind, i.e. 
asthma, allergies or hypersensitivities. 

 
 

Verdal in Norway: Universal Design

During the period 2006 - 2008 Verdal was one of the Norwegian pilots for the project Verdal.gif"Universal Design." From 2009  to 2013 the municipality is a local resource local for "Universal Design".


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West face of the United States Supreme Court b...

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Desde Bengala Legal por  Izabel Maria Madeira de Loureiro Maior:

Amigas e amigos, tenho uma história interessante para partilhar com vocês. Ano passado, vivi uma experiência inédita em Washington, a bonita capital dos Estados Unidos. Nem imaginava que existisse um intenso turismo noturno que roda a cidade mostrando os pontos principais. São cerca de duas horas e meia, saindo da Grande Estação do metrô, em microônibus com guias, sendo que alguns desses veículos dispõem de acesso facilitado para pessoas com mobilidade reduzida e para as pessoas cadeirantes. Os passeios em transporte acessível são tão procurados que você precisa chegar antes para garantir seu espaço. Saibam que os locais visitados ficam repletos de turistas do país e do exterior. Esse tipo de visita é uma novidade para nós brasileiros, pois requer segurança e organização, entretanto é muito procurada em outras cidades.

A capital Washington concentra museus, marcos referentes aos pioneiros e presidentes, a famosa Casa Branca (atualmente moradia da família Obama), o Capitólio (sede do Legislativo que tem uma cúpula alta que não pode ser ultrapassada por nenhuma outra construção) e a maior coleção de livros do mundo, na Biblioteca do Congresso. À noite, não se podem visitar essas construções internamente, mas a iluminação e os arredores dão uma excelente noção da beleza e da conservação desses prédios históricos.

É claro que ajuda muito falar ou entender as informações em inglês, mas cada vez mais o espanhol se espalha naquele país e facilita que brasileiros se comuniquem e possam conhecer melhor o que foram visitar. Mesmo assim, ninguém deve se espantar com esse item, já que as excursões brasileiras oferecem guias que falam português (mas ainda não há intérpretes de língua de sinais, em qualquer dos idiomas).

Mais:

http://www.bengalalegal.com/viajar

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Coat of arms of Barbados

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Bonnie Leonce has published a warm article on my Barbados trip here on page 8: Inclusive Tourism

The Barbados Council or the Disabled also published this story today. It is quite clear from my conversations with Minister Sealy and his competent staff that Barbados really "gets" this issue:

’Inclusive’ tourism a welcome addition

The Barbados Tourism Industry welcomes inclusive tourism to the product mix says Mr. Richard Sealy, Minister of Tourism.

 

“Even

 though we have achieved a significant level of success, much more is needed to make Barbados a fully accessiblemarket for locals and visitors alike. The destination must cater to all types of disabilities,” explained Minister Sealy at the Ministry of Tourism  Inclusive Tourism Symposium entitled “Working towards a Fully Accessible Barbados” (FAB) on Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

 

The Minister launched an appeal to encourage businesses to retrofit their facilities to accommodate the disabled members in our community and suggested to new businesses to ensure that their architectural designs are functional to ensure the comfort of all guests.

 

He pointed out, “In Barbados we have continuously carved out niches within the industry such as sports, health, heritage, etc., we now welcome Inclusive Tourism to the product mix.”

 

The Minister explained the economic value to including disabled visitors. He reported, “According to the United Nations, 650 million people or ten percent of the world’s population is disabled. A portion of that ten percent lives in or wants to travel to the Caribbean. Interestingly, Barbados’ number one source market, the United Kingdom has approximately ten million persons living with disabilities and in England alone, 2.7 million that travel annually.

 

Similarly, in our second largest market (The USA), there are twenty-two million disabled persons who have travelled at least once in recent times. In Canada, our fourth largest source market, disabilities account for twenty-five billion in consumer spending. Implicit in these figures are the likelihood that Barbados receives a number of disabled guest on a yearly basis.”

 

He said based on these figures, “We would like to know that our guest are able to freely enjoy all that we have to offer without the constraints of inaccessibility. This demands that we upgrade with haste. This is particularly evident in some of the most recently refurbished hotels which have incorporated into their designs wheelchair ramps, handrails, specially equipped bathroom and accessible parking. The Ministry will pursue the goals of a Fully Accessible Barbados with vigour as we do other aspects of our tourism products.”

 

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The new Bandar Tasik Selatan integrated transport terminal (ITT) has achieved a 75% score on disabled-friendliness from a recent audit conducted by the Committee on Universal Design and Built Environment.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the results were beyond satisfactory as the multi-transport terminal covers most of the needs of the disabled.

She added that the audit included the Express Rail Link (ERL) and Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) stations.

The audit was conducted on September 22 in collaboration with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), International Islamic University of Malaysia, RapidKL, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd, ERL and associations representing the disabled.

The ITT, which was opened on January 1 this year, served primarily as a bus terminal for south-bound buses while the terminal is also an interchange for rail services such as KTM Komuter, Light Rail Transit (LRT) Ampang Line, ERL and RapidKL buses.

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Marco Antonio Bonilla es um promoter ambiental en Chapultepec.

Coat of arms of Barbados

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Shirley Barber has published another article in the "Makeover" series at RollingRains.com

These articles are a series of suggestions for simple changes to existing tourism products that make them more appealing to travelers with disabilities and that signal to the industry that we are a viable market. 
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