Posted By CECILIA NASMITH NORTHUMBERLAND TODAY
April 29, 2010

CCOBOURG– Willowdale MPP David Zimmer is holding up the Town of Cobourg as an example to emulate, as debate goes on at Queen’s Park over updates to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

By Jamie Smith tbnewswatch.com
April 27, 2010

Voters looking to phone, mail or cast their ballot by internet won’t get the chance this October after a recommendation was voted down by city council Monday night.

By Geof Collis
Badeyes Design & Consulting
April 26, 2010
Just like dandelions in Spring Web Accessibility Experts are popping up all over the place!
Now that the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Customer Care Standard is Law and the Information and Communications Standard is soon to follow,websites are showing up claiming all kinds of expertise.

They are experts in Customer Care, Web Accessibility, cleaning windows and I’ll bet Transportation and the Built Environment before too long.

April 20, 2010

Late in the day on Tuesday, April 20, 2010, on the eve of the resumption of clause-by-clause debates on Bill 231 by the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly, the McGuinty Government proposed new amendments. These deal with the very issue on which we have been vigourously campaigning over the recent days and weeks, namely the bill’s proposed ban on network-connected accessible voting technology like telephone voting and internet voting.

Renfrew undecided whether to go electronic

Alternative voting method. Stephen Beamish of Dartmouth-based Intelivote addresses Renfrew council. The business will provide electronic voting systems for about 30 Ontario municipalities in the October 2010 election Steve Newman

Forget about the old paper ballot. Several Renfrew County municipalities are making the move to electronic voting for the October 2010 municipal election.

April 20, 2010
Trish Crawford
LIVING REPORTER

Retired Unitarian minister Peter Hughes had to enter a polling station on the seat of his pants.

“That’s all I could do. They didn’t have a good railing and I didn’t want to fall,” said Hughes, 57, who had polio as a child.

Post-polio syndrome has him using a walker to get around, but to vote in the March 17, 2008 federal by-election, Hughes had to descend the stairs of Toronto’s St. Basil’s Church on his rear end, while another voter carried his walker. It was the only way Hughes could get inside.

April 17, 2010

Recap of Progress to Date in our Campaign for Fully Accessible Elections in Ontario -and More on Options for Accessible Voting Technology -and our Recent Exchanges with Elections Ontario and the Ontario Government on Elections Accessibility Issues

See https://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/04112010.asp
and
https://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/04122010.asp

SABRINA BYRNES / METROLAND
David Onley speaks at conference on geriatric care hosted by Lakeridge Health
Apr 16, 2010 – 04:30 AM
By Reka Szekely

AJAX — When it comes to accessibility, it’s places like Lakeridge Health in Durham that are showing the way for other organizations, said Lt.-Gov. David
Onley in Ajax on Wednesday.

12 Apr 2010

It is widely recognized that disabled Ontarians are poorly served when attempting to cast an election ballot. Barriers haven’t yet been eliminated at many
polling places, some of which feature multiple steps or doorways too narrow to accommodate a scooter.

By Geof Collis
April 10, 2010

The Essex County AAC is paving the way for a more inclusive Ontario by being the first AAC to become a member of the www.COAAC.ca website.

Posted By LAURA MACDUFF, POST NEWS
April 9, 2010

Plans that do not include an elevator in the Durham Arena sparked some concerns from members of the public this week. After a public information session held at the Durham Community Centre at the end of March, West Grey Coun. Carol Lawrence, chair of the building committee, brought forth the comments to council.

Disabled group pushing for legislation to protect rights

By ANTONELLA ARTUSO Queen’s Park Bureau Chief
>
Last Updated: April 5, 2010 3:37pm

A provincial byelection polling station was bounced to a non-accessible site by a volleyball game, disability activists say.

Members of the Accessibility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act Alliance have been trying to find out since February why a Toronto Centre polling station
was moved to a room that could be accessed only by stairs.

April 5, 2010

Despite crackdown, enforcement efforts seen as inadequate

Since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995, Randi Daniels has had countless arguments with scofflaws. She and her husband are used to pulling up to a designated parking space in a mall, only to find it occupied by a seemingly able-bodied person loading up heavy grocery bags.

“I’ve been sworn at, when I was using a walker,” says the 61-year-old, who’s now in a wheelchair. “I say to them, ‘I hope you never, ever need this spot.’”

Posted to site April 2, 2010

Recently, many CUPE3908 faculty received a notice from their Chairs that seemed to indicate they would be required to complete “COU/AODA Training”.

The Union did not receive any notice of the University’s plan for implementing the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
(AODA), which comes into force gradually over the next few years. We are currently awaiting clarification of how this will affect our members.

Last Updated: Thursday, April 1, 2010 | 1:08 PM ET

By Denise Deveau, Special to CBC News

According to the National Coalition for Vision Health, the number of visually impaired and blind Canadians will double over the next 25 years. (iStock)”I
have lived a very complex existence,” says Valentina Gal, a novel writer and consultant based in Toronto who says technology is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s essential for her writing. On the other, even the simplest of Google searches can turn into an hours-long marathon surfing session.

That’s because Gal has been blind since birth. And like many visually impaired people, she finds that functioning in the online world is not easy. That’s
despite the fact there are text-to-speech screen readers, Braille printers and other tools to help the cause.