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International Disability

Introduction World Wide Africa Asia and the Far East Austria Australia and New Zealand Belgium and The Netherlands Canada Council of Europe/European Union Denmark Finland France Germany Greece India and the Middle East Italy Mexico, Central, and South America Norway Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom USA

Introduction

This page contains links to information about international disability organizations and services.

These and other international sites are identified in the Resources pages with the name of the country in square brackets at the end of the link information.

PDF Note:  Some hypertext links may take you to Portable Document Format (PDF) files. See the PDF File Information in About This Site for how to download and install the free Acrobat® Reader™ plug-in for your browser.

Offsite Links Note:  All offsite links open in a new browser window.

Reference Books and Resources

There are several excellent books about international disability. See the suggested reading list for general information and detailed reference books in several categories for your library.

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World Wide

• Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010: BJD Online No single organisation alone can accomplish the desired benefits for the patient. The Bone and Joint Decade is a multidisciplinary world wide initiative involving everyone concerned with the care of bone and joint disorders. The goal for the Bone and Joint Decade is to improve the health-related quality of life for people with musculoskeletal disorders throughout the world.
• Disability, including prevention, management, and rehabilitation World Health Organization (WHO)
• Disability World Bimonthly e-magazine dedicated to advancing an exchange of information and research about the international independent living movement of people with disabilities.
• Draft of the Convention on the Fundamental Rights of Persons with Disabilities by Holger Kallehauge and John Wall (World Blind Union), Eighth session, New York, 14-25 August 2006
• International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and photo gallery
• International Commission on Technology & Accessibility (ITCA) – The International Symbol of Access (ISA) was developed and adopted by RI and ICTA in 1969.
• International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR)
• International Paralympic Committee
• International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group
• International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC)
• International Tennis Federation's Wheelchair Tennis
• Legislation and Policies Relating to Web Accessibility for AU - CA - DE - DK - ES - EU - FI - FR - HK - IN - IT - JA - NZ - PT - UK - US. The policy links on this page are compiled as a resource by the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG)
• PlanetAmber global health and disability resource center
• ThinkCycle is an academic, non-profit initiative engaged in identifying and addressing design challenges related to underserved communities and the environment. ThinkCycle seeks to create a culture of open-source design innovation, with a collaborative community of individuals and organizations around the world.
• United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on a comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities was developed and adopted by RI and ICTA in 1969.
• United Nations Enable FAQ "What is the definition of disability?" [United Nations]
• Whirlwind Wheelchair International works to make it possible for every person in the developing world who needs a wheelchair to obtain one that will lead to maximum personal independence and integration into society.
• World Association of Persons with Disabilities
• World Usability Day: 3 November
• World Federation of Sleep Research & Sleep Medicine Societies (WFSRSMS)
• World Programme of Action Overview [United Nations]
• World Transhumanist Association is an international nonprofit membership organization which advocates the ethical use of technology to expand human capacities

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Africa

• Disabled People South Africa (DPSA)

Asia and the Far East

• Accessibility opens a new world
• Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD) Project
• Asian Sleep Research Society (ASRS)
• Disabled People's Association (DPA) of Singapore
• Distributors of JAWS in China / Hong Kong:

  Hong Kong Society for the Blind
  248 Nam Cheon Street
  Shamshuipo
  Kowloon
  Hong Kong
  China
  Phone: +852-2778-8332
  Fax: +852-2788-0040

  KanHan Technologies
  Unit 006, Tech Centre
  72 Tat Chee Avenue
  Kowloon
  Hong Kong
  China
  Phone: +852 2865 3800
  Fax: +852 2861 1830
  E-mail: info@kanhan.com
  Website: http://www.kanhan.com/sales/jaws/

• ESL/EFL/TESL/TEFL Links Pages (Many TESL/TEFL/TESOL/ELT Links)
• Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD) uses the same list from the City of San Antonio [Japan]
• Rehabilitation Engineering Society of Japan (RESJA) [Japan]

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Australia and New Zealand

• Accessible Information Solutions (AIS) Accessibility Toolbar lets IE users test different aspects of XHTML pages [Australia]
• ARATA - Australian Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology Association "ARATA is a national association whose purpose is to serve as a forum for issues in rehabilitation and assistive technology."
• Australian Government: Language Makes a Difference – Use of non-discriminatory language [Australia]
• The Australian Muscular Dystrophy Association [Australia]
• Australian Resuscitation Council [Australia]
• Australasian Sleep Association (ASA)
• Centre for Assistive Technology (CAT) newsletter downloads [New Zealand]
• Disability Rights policy and projects within the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission [Australia]
• e-bility.com [Australia]
• Games and Puzzels [Australia]
• Cognitive design example The Guardianship Tribunal Web site in Australia provides an extremely interesting example of a Web site that also considers cognitive disabilities. Pages are available in long and short versions as well as "easy click" pages where the links are spaced further apart.
• International Day of People with a DisABILITY "Originally declared by the United Nations General Assembly in October 1992 as the International Day of Disabled Persons, the Australian event was renamed the International Day of People with a DisAbility by community representatives in 1997. It was felt that this new title placed a greater emphasis on the abilities and achievements of people living with disAbilities."
• International Guild of Disabled Artists and Performers (IGODAP) [New Zealand]
• Special Education Ministry of Education [New Zealand]
• Technical Aid to the Disabled (TDAVIC) volunteer members design, construct or modify equipment for people with disabilities. This service is provided where no commercially available solution will meet their needs.
• Web Accessibility Toolbar is provided by the Accessible Information Solutions (AIS) team of Vision Auatralia. The toolbar has been developed to work with Windows IE to aid manual examination of web pages for a variety of aspects of accessibility and comes in several languages: English, Danish, German, Korean, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.

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Austria

• Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interfaces, Graz, Austria

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Belgium and The Netherlands

• Drempels Weg (literally: away with barriers) [in Dutch], a project from the Dutch National Accessibility Agency (Landelijk Bureau Toegankelijkheid ). Drempels Weg (literally: away with barriers) [explained in English]
• Dutch Stichting Restless Legs (RLS)
• International Federation for Hydrocephalus & Spina Bifida

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Canada

• Active Living Alliance For Canadians with a Disability
• Adaptech Research Network In partnership with NEADS, the Adaptech Research Project conducts research on the use of computer technologies by Canadian college and university students with disabilities.
• Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC)
• A-Prompt (Accessibility Prompt) is a software tool designed to help Web authors improve the usability of Web pages created in HTML format. A-Prompt first evaluates an HTML Web page to identify barriers to accessibility by people with disabilities. A-Prompt then provides the Web author with a fast and easy way to make the necessary repairs. The tool's evaluation and repair checklist is based on accessibility guidelines created and maintained by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium. A-Prompt was developed through the joint efforts of the University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC) and the TRACE Center at the University of Wisconsin. (Windows 98/98SE/2000/Me/XP only.)
• Arthritis Society of Canada
• Brain Injury Association of British Columbia
• Canadian Centre on Disability Studies
• Canadian Down Syndrome Society
• Canadian Sleep Society (CSS)
• C.H.A.N.G.E.S. (Children and Adults for Normalization, Growth, Equality and Socialization)
• Currency exchange rates for both Canadian and US dollars
• Canadian Association of Rehabilitation Professionals (CARP)
• Canadian Cancer Society/Société canadienne du cancer
• Canadian Diabetes Association
• Canadian Disability Sites
• Canadian Guide Dogs For The Blind / Chiens Guides Canadiens Pour Aveugles
• Canadian Hearing Society
• Canadian National Institute for the Blind
• Canadian Olympic Committee
• Canadian Paralympic Committee
• Canadian Paraplegic Association (CPA)
• Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association
• Canadian Women's Health Network. Women's health information you can trust.
• Centres of Excellence in Women's Health.
• Common Look and Feel for the Internet
• Council of Canadians with Disabilities in English and French
• Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) from the Canadian International Development Agency
• Disability Research Information Page (DRIP) from the Canadian Council on Social Development
• Employment Resources in Canada for Individuals labelled disabled
• Epilepsy Ontario Service Dogs
• Esmerel's Collection of Canadian Disability Sites
• Esmerel's Canadian Adaptive Technology Sites
• History of Polio in Canada
• Inclusion International promoting inclusion, equality and opportunity for people with intellectual disabilities and their families worldwide. From the Canadian International Development Agency
• Invisible Disabilities Association of Canada
• Manitoba Brain Injury Association
• Mental Health Works
• National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) in English and French
• Neurologic Rehabilitation Institute of Ontario a program to assist persons with moderate to severe brain injuries and other neurological impairments in achieving success in increasing their level of independence.
• Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Canada
• Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association
• Sleep Apnea from the Lung Association
• Tetra Society recruits skilled volunteer engineers and technicians to create assistive devices for people with disabilities.
• The Canadian MPS Society
• TILE: The Inclusive Learning Exchange "advances e-learning functionality for all learners by making broadband e-learning inclusive of people with disabilities."
• Turner Syndrome Society of Canada
• VisionKey brings the latest in wearable eye-controlled communication technology to enable users with ALS, brainstem stroke, muscular dystrophy, CP, Locked-in-Syndrome, Quadriplegia, or traumatic brain injury to use eye movements for complete computer access and for augmentative communication. Available in English, French, and Spanish and runs on Macintosh and Windows platforms. Manufactured by H.K. EyeCan.
• Book Review: "We're Women, Too: Identifying Barriers to Gynecologic and Breast Health Care for Women with Disabilities" PDF of the report: "We're Women, Too: Identifying Barriers to Gynecologic and Breast Health Care for Women with Disabilities", by Lenore Riddell; Kathy Greenberg; Joan Meister; Jude Kornelsen. () Very readable 48-page study and results by Canadian researchers of the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women's Health (BCCEWH).
• Workshop Solutions "is place in space where engineers, technicians, inventors and workshop enthusiasts can display and share knowledge on the assistive devices they have built to better the lives of the disabled."
• Women's Health Matters a Canadian source for evidence-based and up-to-date information on women's health and lifestyle issues. Also available in French at http://www.femmesensante.ca/index.html

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Council of Europe / European Union

• Accessible Europe tourism for all
• ANEC a European association for the co-ordination of consumer representation in standardisation and certification
• Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe
• Benefits of an accessible website - part 2: The business case by Trenton Moss from DMeurope.com: Digital Media News for Europe
• Communication by Gaze Interaction (COGAIN) is supported by the European Commission's IST 6th framework program. COGAIN integrates cutting-edge expertise on interface technologies for the benefit of users with disabilities. The network aims to gather Europe's leading expertise in eye tracking integration with computers in a research project on assistive technologies for citizens with motor impairments.
• Other articles by Trenton Moss from DMeurope.com: Digital Media News for Europe:
  • How to improve usability for screen reader users
  • The problem with automated accessibility testing tools
  • Writing for accessibility on the web
  • How to avoid screen reader 'noise pollution'
  • The secret benefit of accessibility Part 2: A higher search engine ranking
  • and more...
• Calimera Guidelines Accessibility for disabled people
• COST219ter (COST: European Cooperation in the field Of Scientific and Technical research) COST219ter is concerned with telecommunications and access for the disabled and the elderly aiming to provide accessibility for All to services and terminals for next generation mobile networks
• Design for All European Awards
• eInclusion & eAccessibility
• eAccessibility of public sector services in the European Union a comprehensive report issued on 24 November 2005 about accessibility of government online services across the European Union (EU). An Executive Briefing and the Full Report are archived and available in HTML and accessible Adobe PDF formats.
• European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education an independent and self-governing organisation, established by 29 member countries to act as their platform for collaboration in the field of special needs education.
• European Assistive Technology Information Network (EASTIN)
• European Design for All e-Accessibility Network (EDeAN)
• European Day of Disabled People "The European Day [UN International Day of Disabled People, December 3] provides an opportunity to raise awareness and promote European co-operation in the disability field."
• European Disability Forum
• European League Against Rheumatism (eular)
• European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) tourism for all
• European Resuscitation Council co-ordinates the activities of European organisations with a major interest in resuscitation medicine (RM) and Emergency Medical Care (EMC).
• European Sleep Research Society (ESRS)
• European Union designates 2003 as the Year of the People with Disabilities. This declaration, combined with new Web accessibility legislation coming in Canada, 14 US States, and in the UK, should encourage all Web developers and organizations to make 2003 the year to incorporate Web site accessibility.
• International Organisation of Youth with Rheumatism (IOYR)
• Oviedo, Astrius, Spain convention: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (1997, Europe)
• National Information and Communication Technology Policies – Their Impact upon the Use of ICT in Special Needs Education (SNE) - in the book: Computers Helping People with Special Needs. This paper focuses upon the findings relating to ICT in SNE policies in the participating countries.
• People With Arthritis / Rheumatism in Europe
• Web Accessibility Policies from Denmark, Norway, and the EU
• Women and the elderly are crossing the digital divide, but the poor still lag behind, says new EU report

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Denmark

• Accessibility to education in Denmark [Tilgængelighed til uddannelse] (in Danish) provided by the Danish Ministry of Education as a guide to accessibility services for disabled students in Denmark
• Accessibility to education in Denmark [Tilgængelighed til uddannelse] (in English) provided by the Danish Ministry of Education as a guide to accessibility services for disabled students in Denmark
• Architecture and Standards for E-Government in Denmark
• "Bibliography of literature in relation to Design for All" (298 K ) compiled by the Danish Centre for Technical Aids for Rehabilitation and Education
• Danish Centre for Technical Aids for Rehabilitation and Special Education the Danish national information and resource centre on disabilities and assistive technology. [in Danish and English]
• Danish companies and the use of W3C standards by Soren Johannessen (2004-03-16).
• Danish Council of Organisations of Disabled People (DSI); The Danish NGO-Umbrella [in English and mostly Danish]
• Danish Disability Council
• Danish Web-award "Det Gyldne @" (The Golden @) now includes WEB accessibility as a criterion Shell Denmark was awarded the Golden @ as the "most accessible web-site for disabled people" among the 100 biggest corporations in Denmark on March 24, 2000. But 14 days after getting the award Shell Denmark presented a thoroughly reworked website, and the new website far less accessible than the one nominated! [in Danish]
• Disability and Development Web Initiative in Denmark
• Disabled Peoples Organisations - Denmark (DPOD) member organisations the DPOD Department for Development Cooperation seek to advance the lives and human rights of persons with disabilities in the developing world.
• E-Government Project [in Danish]
• E-Government Project [in English]; English PDF version of the Danish e-government Strategy 2007-2010
• EMU Technical aids - lists (in English) provided by the Danish Ministry of Education as a guide to technical aids that are available to students with different kinds of disabilities, including compensatory programs, software programs and others.
• Equal Opportunities Centre for Disabled Persons [in English and Danish]
• Foreningen af Unge med Gigt (FNUG) [Danish Organisation of Youth with Rheumatism]
• Foreningen Tilgængelighed for Alle [in Danish, English, and German]
• Gigforeningen [Danish Arthritis Society]
• Klinefelter Syndrome from the Turner Center, a center for information, counselling and research on chromosome anomalies
• The Nordic Staff Training Centre for Deafblind Services
• Study and Work Abroad in Denmark information for students with disabilities
• The use of W3C standards in Denmark by Soren Johannessen (2004-03-02). See also discussions about the Danish report at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-evangelist/2004Mar/.
• Turner Syndrome from the Turner Center, a center for information, counselling and research on chromosome anomalies
• Web Accessibility Policies from Denmark, Norway, and the EU
• Wheelrace (in Danish) an educational game for school children aged 11-14 to teach kids what life is like when you are bound in a wheelchair. Wheelrace is made by Kongo Interactive and Guppyworks. [Denmark]

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Finland

• Levottomat Jalat - Restleass Legs ry RJ-RLS
• "Mobile telephony for people with disabilities – A guide to choosing a mobile phone" from the Nordic Forum for Telecommunication and Disability (NFTH) 2004. A PDF file of the report is also available.
• The Nordic Development Centre for Rehabilitation Technology (NUH) is a subsidiary of the Nordic Co-Operation on Disability (NSH) in Stockholm, Sweden to contribute to setting the focus on the impact of assistive technology for creating possibilities for equal participation, citizenship. [in English, Finnish, and Scandinavian]
• The Nordic Forum for Telecommunication and Disability (NFTH) a collaborative agency established in 1987 under the Nordic Council of Ministers. NFTH now works under NUH (The Nordic Development Centre for Rehabilitation Technology). [in English, Finnish, and Scandinavian]
• The National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES) is an expert agency under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in Finland. "STAKES, the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, is committed to promoting the well-being and health of people, and to securing equal access for all to high-quality and effective welfare and healthcare services." [in Finnish, Swedish, and English]

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France

• France Guide for the Disabled Tourist
• International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
• International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities (IASSID)
• Subway Navigator

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Germany

• Deutsche Restless Legs Vereinigung
• Scalamobil wheelchair attachment for climbing stairs

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Greece

• Accessible Greece accessible tourism and travel for all!
• DR Yachting provides barrier-free, fully accessible, sailing charters on the Greek islands for people of all ages with disabilities or mobility impairments.
• Greece to promote "Accessible Tourism" programs

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India and the Middle East

• Disability India Network India's one-stop site for comprehensive information related to disability in India, is hosted by the Society for Child Development.
• ICT for Persons with Disabilities in India, web-based network training workshop from the APCD, 21 July to 1 August 2003
• Motor Assisted NARI Handicapped Rickshaw (MANHARA) Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) has developed a very low-priced motorized vehicle for physically handicapped persons. MANHARA is motor assisted handpowered vehicle.
• National Disability Network (N.D.N.) a cross-disability rights movement in India
• Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) The Institute undertakes research and development in agriculture, renewable energy, animal husbandry and sustainable development.
• Screen Access For All (SAFA), Screen reader in Indian languages

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Italy

• The Information Systems Accessibility Office at CNIPA (National Organism for ICT in the Public Administration) provides an English translation of a law passed in 2004 for Provisions to support the access to information technologies for the disabled
• Italian Society for Rheumatology
• Information about what is happening in Italy with accessibility requirements: Roberto Scano Info (in Italian)

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Mexico, Central, and South America

• 2004: The Ibero-American Year of Persons with Disabilities: The XII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State in Bolivia on November 14 to 15, 2003, proclaimed 2004 the Ibero-American Year of Persons with Disabilities. This decision was adopted based on a proposal presented by the government of Spain, which in turn was a response to an initiative proposed by the Ibero-American Network of Organizations of persons with, Disabilities and their Families (RIADIS) and the Spanish Committee of the Representatives of Persons with Disabilities (CERMI). The purpose of the declaration is to increase awareness and it is a call for action regarding the present and alarming conditions of discrimination and exclusion against persons with disabilities in the Ibero-American region. The initiative has also been strongly supported by the Spanish Committee of the representatives of Persons with Disabilities, on of the founders of the Ibero-American Network. The Ibero-American Network, which is composed of more than 100 organizations of persons with disabilities, will hold its bi-annual Conference in Rio de Janeiro in 2004
• Discar Foundation in Santiago del Estero, Argentina
• Federation of Latin American Sleep Societies (FLASS)
• HealthWrights is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing the health, basic rights, social equality, and self-determination of disadvantaged persons and groups. We believe that health for all people is only possible in a global society where the guiding principles are sharing, mutual assistance, and respect for cultural and individual differences. [Mexico]
• New UN Millennium Goals do not address disability December 03, 2003 report from Choike.org, a portal on Southern civil societies. Choike is a project of the Third World Institute, Montevideo, Uruguay
• Nicaraguan Sign Language Projects, Inc.
• PROJIMO is a community based rehabilitation and education project run by and for disabled people. Its main objective is to increase abilities and opportunities of disabled persons and their families and help raise the consciousness of non-disabled persons and school children to include a disabled person in the life of the community: to look at their strengths, not their weaknesses. The disabled rehab workers provide physical and occupational therapy, counsel families about how to assist (but not overprotect) their disabled child, teach self help skills, and make a wide variety of adaptive equipment. [Mexico]

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Norway

• The Delta Centre - a national resource centre working to improve the accessibility for disabled people in society
• Special Needs Education within the Education System - The inclusion of children (and adults) with special needs in mainstream educational settings is the general rule. Specialised institutions exist, but only 0.6% of the school population are enrolled in provision outside their local school system.
• Norwegian Board of Education - runs the Norwegian School Net and are responsible for parts of the national action plan for ICT in education
• Planning Accessible Meetings, Courses, and Conferences - a tool for the all-inclusive organiser (English version)
• Programme of Action for Universal Design
• Web Accessibility Policies from Denmark, Norway, and the EU

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Spain

• Fundación Sidar – Acceso Universal (in Spanish)

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Sweden

• Independent Living Institute full-text virtual library on Independent Living and related subjects
• Index Braille
• Nordic Cooperation on Disability (NSH) NSH initiates and manages the cooperation at the Nordic level between the various players in the disability sphere. NSH also functions as the secretariat for the Nordic Council on Disability Policy. [in English, Finnish, and Scandanavian]
• Provision of Assistive Technology in the Nordic Countries, from the Nordic Cooperation on Disability (NSH), Second Edition 2007 [English version]
• Provision of Assistive Technology in the Nordic Countries, from the Nordic Cooperation on Disability (NSH) May 2004 [English version]; PDF version
• RLS Förbundets
• Turism för alla Access Sweden [in Swedish and English]

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Switzerland

• Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 2856 (XXVI) of 20 December 1971
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966
• International Union Against Cancer, Geneva, Switzerland
• Principles for the protection of persons with mental illness and the improvement of mental health care Adopted by General Assembly resolution 46/119 of 17 December 1991
• Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Support Group
• Swiss Society of Sleep Research, Sleep Medicine and Chronobiology

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United Kingdom

• Accessibility: CHI 2001 and Beyond, Ariadne Issue 28
• Action for Dystonia, Diagnosis, Education & Research (ADDER)
• Artsline provides information on all the arts and leisure services available, both as audience or participants. The Artsline database provides updated data on the access to the arts and leisure venues and pursuits in the capital city of London. See their Links page and their special Projects page.
• British Dyslexia Association
• British Institute for Brain Injured Children (BIBIC)
• British Mental Health Law
• Cabinet Office E-government Resources provides Guidelines for UK government websites, Domain registration, Open Source Software policy, Electronic service delivery reports, and Directgov and e-Government Unit - website traffic figures.
• Center for Accessible Environments (CAE) is concerned with the practicalities of inclusive design in the built environment.
• Chair and scooter carriers
• Cognitive Disability in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Education
• Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002
• Design and Layout: Accessibility
• Disability Equality Duty (DED)
• Disabled Holiday Information about holidays for people with disabilities including wheelchair accessible visitor attractions, activities, and accommodations
• Disability humor: The BBC website in the UK has a rather good Web site called "Ouch". Their About page explains that it is basically a lifestyle site for people with disabilities—because there are so many sites available with support and help information. Be sure to check out the Ouch Play videos
• Disability Now an online magazine that aims to be the only cross-media channel for disabled people, powered by disabled people.
• Disabled People the merger of disability.gov.uk and the "disabled people" section of Directgov. Directgov offers disabled people information on a wide range of topics including financial support, home and housing, leisure and travel, as well as disability rights information.
• Disability Solutions
• Disability Rights Commission Formal Investigation Report: Web Accessibility (April 14th, 2004). The report is called "The Web: Access and Inclusion for Disabled People". There is a PDF of the full report, an "easy read" version in PDF format, an RTF version, and a Welsh or Cymru version in RTF. You can also order printed, Braille, or audio versions from The Stationery Office.
• DisinHe: Web content accessibility
• Down's Heart Group (DHG)
• Ekbom Support Group for Restless Leg Syndrome
• English as a Foreign Language (University of Sussex Language Institute)
• Equality and Human Rights Commission
• Equality and Human Rights Commission: Disability
• Ergonomics & Safety Research Institute (ESRI)
• Essential Aids
• Foundation for Assistive Technology (FAST)
• Genetic Interest Group "The Genetic Interest Group (GIG) is a national alliance of patient organisations with a membership of over 130 charities which support children, families and individuals affected by genetic disorders."
• Guide Dogs list of links
• Headway, the brain injury association
• Hearing Concern.org
• Helen Hamlyn Research Centre Centre for inclusive design. Royal College of Art postgraduate art and design.
• Help The Aged
• Hyperguide to the mental health act
• An Inaccessible Website Demonstration has been put together by the Disability Rights Commission, a UK Government organisation. The demo gives you a flavour of the kind of difficulties a range of disabled visitors can face. The demonstrations make a few suggestions on improving accessibility.
• Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
• Institute Of Mental Health Act Practitioners
• Intute: Science, Engineering and Technology online service. See Computing > Computers And Society > Social Issues Computing > Information Interfaces And Presentation (e.g., HCI) > User Interfaces.
• Know Your Right (Scottish) Employment Relations Information for Workers ()
• Leonard Cheshire Disability - the leading charity provider of services for disabled people in the UK and operate in 57 countries across the world
• Making E-communication Accessible is a supplement to the SAIF Standards for Disability Information and Advice Provision in Scotland.
• MENCAP "Understanding learning disability" Mencap can help you make your information easy to understand for people with a learning disability. Or, if you have a learning disability, you might like to see their easy to read web pages and publications.
• Mental Health Act 2007 (also available in plain text and PDF) [United Kingdom]
• Mental Health Alliance
• Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (also available in plain text and PDF)
• Mobile phones for the blind The Owasys 22C mobile phone uses speech synthesis technology that allows you to make and take phone calls and text messages without the use of a visual display. (February 2005) [United Kingdom / Spain]
• National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society (NASS)
• National Autistic Society (NAS)
• National Electronic Library for Mental Health of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK
• National Sports Medicine Institute of the United Kingdom [dead link]
• Olympic Medical Institute (OMI) the largest charity representing the 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK.
• Open University distance education Learner's Guide Services for Disabled Students resources for students, including good guidance on thinking about their needs, legal advice, course materials in alternate formats, and more.
• RADAR a disability network
• REMAP provides one-off technical aids which help disabled people of all ages to enjoy a better lifestyle. Every aid is given free of charge to the user. Remap operates through a network of 1,500 volunteers. The professional engineers, technicians, and craftspeople - along with medical and paramedical staff from community services and hospitals - all belong to approximately 100 panels (groups) linked to regions across the UK, with Scotland and the Isle of Man operating separately.
• REMAP Scotland consists of engineers, occupational and physiotherapists, and other professionals engaged in helping people with their disabilities. Objective: "The design and construction of appliances to meet the individual needs of handicapped people where such cannot be provided by any other means, and the promotion of closer liaison between the Engineering and Caring professions." Members are volunteers and rely on donations of materials and funds from the general public. No charges are made to clients for the devices supplied.
• Resuscitation Council (UK)
• Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) "Helping you live with sight loss"
• Royal National Institute of the Deaf (RNID) the largest charity representing the 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK.
• Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) Accessible Website Consultancy
• Scottish Accessible Information Forum (SAIF) is a national project that works to support the rights of disabled people and care givers to have access to timely and accurate information to meet their needs.
• "See It Right Pack" provided by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). The See it Right pack is a series of 12 booklets giving comprehensive practical advice on designing, producing, and planning for accessible information.
• Skill: National Bureau for Students With Disabilities is a national charity promoting opportunities for young people and adults with any kind of disability in post-16 education, training and employment across the UK.
• SNOEZELEN® sensory stimulation therapy
• Sportability is a British charity that provides sporting and adventurous activities for people with all forms of paralysis. Their motto is "If I can do this, what else can I achieve." [Note: the side navigation in this site doesn't work well in Firefox on the Mac so you will need to View Source to get at the side navigation links.]
• Sports medicine and science in the UK
• Stay in Touch A guide to telephones and services for older and disabled people.
• The Dystonia Society
• TIRESIAS provides in-depth information on assistive devices for people with visual disabilities, current and future research, technical information, disability organisations and agencies, sources of research, funding, publications, standards and legislation
• Turner Syndrome Support Society
• UK debut for 'blind' mobile by Geoff Adams-Spink. The first mobile phone designed specifically for blind and partially sighted people.
• UK legislation and standards
• United Kingdom's Disabled People's Council (UKSDPC)
  • UKDPC Sub Committees with links to research reports such as "The Social Model of Disability and Emancipatory Disability Research – Briefing Document (Draft)" (79.3 Kb PDf)
• United Kingdom Institute for Inclusive Design (UKIID)
• University of Leeds Disability Studies Centre
• University Students With Autism And Asperger's Syndrome
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Statement on Web Access Report from the UK Disability Rights Commission
• Web Accessibility and the DDA The Journal of Information, Law and Technology (JILT)
• Web Access Centre
• Webcredible
• What are allergens? natural and chemical
• World Wide Web Usability International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (IJHCS) (1997) 47(1) 1-222

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United States

• Bone and Joint Decade 2002-2011 The Bone and Joint Decade is a multidisciplinary world wide initiative involving everyone concerned with the care of bone and joint disorders.
• Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Foreign Policy and Disability: Legislative Strategies and Civil Rights Protections to Ensure Inclusion of People with Disability ()
• Human Rights Issues Related to Women With Disabilities from the Feminist International Radio Endeavour Disabled Women's Section. A Space for Women with All Types of Disabilities
• International Conference: Technology and Persons with Disabilities
• International Dyslexia Association
• International Human Rights and Mental Health Legislation New York Law School Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2002 ()
• Mental Disability Rights International
• Recognizing Existing Rights and Crafting New Ones: Tools for Drafting Human Rights Instruments for People with Mental Disability () published as chapter 18 of The Human Rights of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities: Different but Equal (Lawrence Goston & Harold Koh, editors.)
• National Council on Disability: Understanding the Role of an International Convention on the Human Rights of People with Disabilities
• Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America (RESNA)
• TRACE Center at the University of Wisconsin. The Trace Research & Development Center is a part of the College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Trace Center is currently working on ways to make standard information technologies and telecommunications systems more accessible and usable by people with disabilities.
• Universal Design / Disability Access Program is a program at the Trace Research & Development Center that is part of the National Computational Science Alliance (NCSA) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Alliance is involved in the development of supercomputing systems and applications (including future Internet applications) and it is Trace's role to help ensure that they are built in a manner that makes them more accessible for people with disabilities.
• U.S. Department of Transportation Toll-Free Hotline for air travelers with disabilities:
  • Voice: 1-800-778-4838
  • TTY: 1-800-455-9880
  The Hotline is available from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, seven days a week. It serves two main purposes: (1) education and (2) assistance in resolving disability-related air travel problems.
  • Information for the Air Traveler with a Disability
  • Passengers with Disabilities

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