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A-SIG Newsletter: Achieve! Corporate and Organizational Press Releases In the Professional Press

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Corporate and Organizational Press Releases

• Bank of America press release. Bank of America Accessible Banking announced today enhancements made to the company's web site to help ensure greater access choices for all customers. Following W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the Bank of America web site offers increased accessibility for users of assisted technology such as screen readers and those who access financial information from web-enabled cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Full release on icdri.org at http://icdri.org/ATMs/bank_of_america_continues_committ.htm, April 28, 2004

• Ms. Juliette Rizzo crowned Ms. Wheelchair Maryland Nov. 9, 2003. See the Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant site for more information about the state and national pageants.

• ISO/TS 16071, Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Guidance on accessibility for human-computer interfaces. Press Release "ISO guidelines to designing software for users with disabilities" International Organization of Standardization (ISO), June 3, 2003.

• Access America e-zine

Vol. 2, No. 44, July 31, 2000
Access America for People with Disabilities. July 26, 2000, marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In celebration of this milestone, the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities created this site to provide one-stop online access to resources, services, and information available throughout the federal government.

In the Professional Press

• Posted on Fri, May. 12, 2006, The State.com, South Carolina's home page—Most disabled people have jobs in U.S. But they usually get lower pay and don't get health insurance, by Stephen Ohlemacher, The Associated Press. "WASHINGTON – More than half the nation's disabled people hold jobs, but they often have lower incomes and less education and are less likely to have health insurance than people without disabilities, the government reported today." More... (18.8 KB )

• 13 August 2005, The Gainsville Sun—Bigger paperbacks with larger print try to entice baby boomers "...Faced with declining sales, two of the biggest publishers of mass-market titles, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster, have begun issuing new paperbacks by some of their most popular authors in a bigger size that allows larger type and more space between lines." More...

• Keep up with electronic and information technology (E&IT) accessibility requirements and tools with TecAccess' IT Accessibility Review newsletter.

• "Blind Get Earful of Spam Daily" By Amit Asaravala, Wired News, 22 June 2004.
"Think looking at spam is offensive? Try listening to it. For the millions of blind and visually impaired Internet users around the world, using text-to-speech software is often the only way to check e-mail. But as the spam problem gets worse, more and more of those users are finding that having their e-mail read aloud can be a minefield. Listening to the next message in the inbox may reveal an important letter from an old friend or, more often, an embarrassing ad..."

• "In Virginia's Assisted Living Homes, Violent Preyed on the Vulnerable" by David S. Fallis, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, May 24, 2004; Page A01

• Washington, DC classical music radio host is returning to work now that her Epilepsy is hopefully under control. "In Va.'s Assisted Living Homes, Violent Preyed on the Vulnerable": WGMS's Diana Hollander Thought Epilepsy Would Transform Her Life. She Was Right. By Jennifer Frey, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, May 25, 2004; Page C01

• Supreme court ruling on ADA and local government buildings, May 17, 2004

• "Answer, but No Cure, for a Social Disorder That Isolates Many" by Amy Harmon, New York Times, Monday, April 29, 2004 about autistic spectrum disorders.

• "Sleek New Devices Help Low-Vision Patients See" By Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 6 April 2004.

• "Seeing-Eye Computer Guides Blind" By Louise Knapp, Wired News, 30 March 2004.

• "A Happy Ending" By Victor Sonkin, The Moscow times Arts & Ideas, 9 February 2004. Growing up disabled in the U.S.S.R., Ruben David Gonzalez Gallego did not officially exist. In December, his novel won Russia's top literary prize.

• "Man With Paralyzing Tumor Denied Wheelchair By Airline" By Connie Leonard, LOUISVILLE, April 9th, 2004. The Department of Transportation encourages anyone with similar complaints to report them on the toll-free Disability Air Travel Hotline. The number is: 800-778-4838.

• "U.P.S. Settles Bias Lawsuit Brought by Deaf Workers" by Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, July 22, 2003

• "By Telecommuting, the Disabled Get a Key to the Office" by Eve Tahmincioglu, New York Times, July 20, 2003

• "Accessibility study of bbc.co.uk: Problems faced by users with disabilities" (1.7 MB ); Word file (2.2 MB )

• "Monkeys Control Robotic Arm With Brain Implants" by Rick Weiss, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, October 13, 2003; Page A01

• 2 August 02—BBC News: "Headset hassles and Bluetooth aches"

• 2 April 02—Northwest Disabled Community Gets Its Own Magazine

Disabled Dealer Magazine, a monthly buy-sell-trade publication offering new and used adaptive equipment by way of photo ads, classifieds, and display ads, is now available in the Northwest. Individuals will be able to purchase and sell new and used accessible vans, scooters, wheelchairs, lifts, and much more through Disabled Dealer Magazine.

In addition to providing a highly-specialized local venue for those seeking a marketplace for mobility products, Disabled Dealer Magazine will also feature news and events of interest to the disabled and elderly communities as well as human-interest stories.

Disabled Dealer Magazine has been in business serving various regions around the country since 1995. Regional publications currently cover the following areas: California & Nevada, E. PA & NJ, Metro NY, Maryland & Delaware, Minnesota, Florida & Georgia, Ohio & W. PA, Virginia & W. Virginia and NOW...Washington, Oregon & Idaho!

For more info or to request a FREE copy, contact
Dean Smith, owner
Phone: 1-888-257-3620
Phone: 1-360-714-8568
E-mail:
URL: http://www.disableddealer.com/

• Significant fines for parking in handicap parking spaces

If you're planning a trip to Ontario, be careful where you put your car - parking in a "handicapped" zone will cost you a staggering $3,000. The stupendous fine ($5,000 Canadian) was approved this week after disabled- advocacy organizations convinced politicians it was a good way to raise awareness. "The parking issue is just a lightning rod to attract everybody's attention," said David Lepofsky, chairman of the Ontarians With Disabilities Act Committee. 10 Nov 2001

• Supreme Court Considers Limits of Disability Law

7 November 2001, The Washington Post Supreme Court case (278 K ).

• FDR Statue

A bronze statue of FDR shown sitting in his wheelchair was unveiled in Washington, DC—article in the Washington Post, 11 January 2001

•  Archive of Health-related articles from USA Today Health

•  Archive of Vision Articles from USA Today Health

• Web's blind spot: Disabled users, By Lisa Vaas, PC Week, April 16, 2000 [No longer available online.]

This is a good article about how Web site developers are ignoring the issue of making their sites accessible to the disabled.

• French Paraplegic Walks For First Time

Reuters

STRASBOURG, France (March 19) - A paralyzed Frenchman took his first steps for 10 years after a revolutionary operation to restore nerve functions using a microchip implant, newspapers reported Sunday.

Marc Merger, 39, who was paralyzed in a car accident, received the implant in February during a groundbreaking operation that doctors said gave new hope to thousands of paraplegics.

"An extraordinary emotion. Suddenly, we were not teaching a paraplegic to cope with a wheelchair, but to walk," Merger, 39, was quoted as saying in French regional daily L'Alsace.

"At the beginning, a week ago, I could stay standing for about two and a half minutes. Several sessions later, I was at six minutes and a half. I'm telling you, it's magic," Merger said.

Merger, a former bank manger who now works as a consultant at a university, received an initial implant in September, but had to go back into surgery when the chip developed a bug, L'Alsace said.

"At the beginning I felt enormous relief, because the operation had been okay. And I was enchanted by the magic of standing up. It's fantastic!" he said after taking his first faltering steps Friday.

Merger said the treatment had been tough but he was determined to continue with the support of his wife and two children at his home in the northern city of Strasbourg.

"I will try, perhaps in six months, to stand up and walk around my house with a walking frame," he said.

Merger walks by pressing buttons on a walking frame which acts as a remote control for the chip, sending impulses through fine wires to stimulate his leg muscles, newspapers said.

Doctors who carried out the operation in the southeastern city of Montpellier said they had not repaired Merger's injury and the system would only work for paraplegics whose muscles had remained alive despite damage to their nerves.

"For the moment he is like a child learning to walk, but he should still make great progress within the next six months," said Pierre Rabischong, the head of the European Union-sponsored Stand Up And Walk research project which conducted the operation.

L'Alsace said two British, two Danish, and two Italian doctors were among the team that carried out the operation.

Reut11:17 03-19-00

• "'Handicapped access' hits the Web", by Maria Seminerio, ZDNET News, 18 April 1999

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