Legislation
On November 15th and 16th 2011, the Government of Canada’s appeal in the Jodhan Court Challenge was heard at the Federal Court in Toronto. The blind deafblind communities are becoming very excited that the decision will be positive and the Government appeal will be deemed invalid. Regardless of the appeal, there is much evidence pointing to activity across the Government that accessibility related initiatives are well underway.
It seems to me that the Government of Canada has had a most...
Posted on: 07 Dec 2011
The day the four of us decided to go to Greece together was a momentous event, as we were all aware that we were in for memories of a lifetime, a promise of adventure and probably a few challenges. My daughter Shannon, as well as two of our closest girlfriends, had decided that travelling with Bizet, my guide dog, was bound to introduce some interesting twists to the trip.International air travel went off without a hitch and Bizet and I were upgraded to business class. He is, after all, my...
Posted on: 06 Jun 2011
On August 22, 2010, the third stage of the American Federal Reserve's implementation of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act came into force. Provisions for fair and equal credit have continued to be incorporated into laws that prohibit discrimination in credit transactions. These regulations require that consumers are notified of the reasons for denial of credit, provide borrowers with the means to check out their credit records, and...
Posted on: 27 Aug 2010
With tomorrow set to mark the first day of 2010, the January 1st date is particularly meaningful for service providers operating in the province of Ontario. The Customer Service standard is the first of five to be implemented under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), and there are certain requirements that providers must comply with by tomorrow's deadline.
Based on the questions I have received personally, and the...
Posted on: 31 Dec 2009
It was with great interest, both general and vested, that I read today’s announcement of Finance Minster Flaherty’s release of new regulations that govern credit card disclosure practices . As both a blind consumer and CEO of a company assisting institutions in delivering information accessibly, I applaud the introduction of a regulation that mandates the clear and effective communication of critical information.
As one of the 12.8 million blind and...
Posted on: 22 May 2009
Final chance for review and input Prior to it’s transmittal to the Minister of Community and Social Services for anticipated approval, the final draft of the Information and Communications Standards is scheduled to be voted on by the ICS Development Committee on the 28th of this month. As with the other four standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), the draft Information and Communications Standard...
Posted on: 13 Apr 2009
I wanted to take this opportunity to update all stakeholders on the status of the Accessible Information and Communications Standard, as both an ICS-DC committee member, and blog contributor who endeavours to keep communities of interest informed. Open for public review as of November 17th, the proposed standard, which outlines potential accessible communication requirements of both public and private organizations, will now be open until February 6th, 2009, extended from the originally...
Posted on: 10 Dec 2008
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
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