Community Involvement
Last week, I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at the North Dakota School for the Blind located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. What an experience!
After a seven hour flight, my dog, Bizet, and I touched down in Grand Forks. Grand Forks is a charming town of about 50,000 very friendly people. Being a country girl at heart, I felt immediately welcome.
Before delivering my speech, I had the opportunity to spend some time with the students. As usual, Bizet was the centre of attention...
Posted on: 22 Jun 2010
With the school year now set to start in less than a month’s time, educators are already considering unique opportunities for students, geared to enhancing learning and inspiring motivation.
As a blind entrepreneur who has faced a number of challenges (including unexpectedly having to refocus education and career goals), and has created opportunities as a result (namely launching a company to fulfill consumer needs), I welcome the opportunity to visit North...
Posted on: 15 Aug 2009
As referenced in a previous post, “Requesting input from my communitiesâ€, the recently proposed standard for Accessible Information and Communications, as part of the AODA, 2005 is now open for a period of public review. As a contributing member of the Standards Development Committee (SDC), while I am confident that we have drafted a representative proposal, I am hopeful that interested members of government, corporate and consumer communities will review and offer feedback on...
Posted on: 18 Nov 2008
The Accessible Information and Communications Standards Development Committee (I & C SDC) was established under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 to develop a proposed Ontario standard for accessible information and communications, to be considered by the government for adoption into a regulation.
The Standards Development Committee is working to reach consensus on an initial draft of a proposed standard. As a member of the Committee, I am seeking your informal...
Posted on: 04 Sep 2008
Last week, the Canadian government proposed updates to the Copyright Act which until now, has remained unchanged for over ten years. The tabled amendments outlined within this Copyright Reform Act (Bill C-61) were introduced by Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner, defended with the promise of offering consumers greater access and copying capabilities, while ensuring the protection of copyrighted content for authors/creators.
The proposed Act has sparked great...
Posted on: 20 Jun 2008
Ontario has an important law called the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. It’s the first of its kind in Canada. In direct relation to the mission of my company, it’s intent is to ensure that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as all others and be able to do the things that most of us take for granted. Businesses and organizations that provide goods and services to people in Ontario will have to meet certain accessibility standards...
Posted on: 28 Apr 2008
Although our primary focus is providing alternate format materials for organizations, from time to time T-Base also provides accessible communications for blind, deafblind and partially sighted individuals. A prime example is our annual athletic sponsorship of a blind athlete where we assisted deafblind speed skater Kevin Frost, as well as this year’s recipient, blind runner Jason Dunkerley, who aspires to represent Canada at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. When I heard...
Posted on: 27 Mar 2008
When we think of acronyms, many come to mind. When it comes to HR, I encourage employers to consider adding an “A†as a prefix to their profession to become AHR, or in my world, “Accessible Human Resourcesâ€.
In North America alone, there are 12.8 million blind and partially sighted individuals, many of whom are currently employed within the workforce. As one of those individuals, I found it interesting to note that statistics compiled from a recent survey indicated...
Posted on: 22 Feb 2008
With today's blind, deafblind and partially sighted population on the rise, we are witnessing an increase not only in the size of this consumer base, but also in it's prosperity. The aging population, for example, the majority of whom require large print due to failing eyesight, have disposable incomes and high net worth. Not surprisingly, this affluent group of consumers is equally concerned with access to public and private information. What may be surprising...
Posted on: 28 Jan 2008
