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What's New at GAATES
2007 Archive
May 25, 2007
W3C - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG)
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG) invites you to comment on an updated draft of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0), published on 17 May 2007. WCAG 2.0 addresses accessibility of Web content for people with disabilities.
Comments on this Working Draft are due by 29 June 2007. Additional information about the WCAG Working Group, the Guidelines and how to comment is available at http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/ .
Abu Dhabi
GAATES had an amazing successful inaugural tour in the United Arab Emirates in March 2007. GAATES was one of the primary presenters at the ACCESS Abu Dhabi Conference with a bilingual / bicultural presentation on Best Practices in Universal Design and the release of the International Best Practices Global Review in Arabic.
Betty Dion and Mukhtar Al Shibani were co-presenters at the ACCESS AbuDhabi Conference on Special Needs. The presentation was based on the International Best Practices in Universal Design: A Global Review, in order to share the concept of Universal Design and best practices in accessibility of the built environment with conference participants.
A letter of agreement was signed by Mohammed M. Ali ben Fadel Al Hameli, Deputy Chairman of the Board and General Secretary of the Zayed Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care, Special & Minor Affairs and Betty Dion of the Global Alliance on Accessible Technologies and Environments. This was followed by a reception with the Government Ministers and a lovely dinner on a boat that cruised around the bay.
As the roads are very congested during the day, we drove during the night to Sharjah. The next morning GAATES gave a presentation to architects and urban planners at the American University at Sharjah and toured the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, a school complex for children with disabilities. That afternoon we met with Dr. Sandra Willis who is working on an accessibility strategy for Dubai.
Sheikka Jameela Mohammed Al-Qasimi, Director General of the Sharjah City and GAATES negotiated a letter of agreement that promises to see many collaborated projects relating to their proposed new building, play spaces and the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. Mukhtar Al Shibani, Abdul Kadr and Betty Dion participated in a special field trip with volunteers from the Center and enjoyed an excellent meal. Shopping in Dubai and touring a museum in Sharjah ended the successful visit.
Betty Dion
President
GAATES
June 6, 2007
GAATES at TRANSED 2007
Several members of GAATES will be taking an active role in TRANSED, the International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons (TRANSED), being held June 18 - 22 in Montreal, Canada. The theme for the 11th annual conference is "Benchmarking, Evaluation and Vision for the Future" and will be exploring technological innovations required to meet the mobility challenges of an aging population and of persons with disabilities in the travel environment.
- On Tuesday June 19 from 1:30 - 3:00 and from 3:30 - 5:30 Betty Dion will be chairing the session on AIR TRAVEL FOR ALL.
- On Wednesday June 20 from 10:30 - 12:00 Mukhtar Al Shibani and Marnie Peters will be making a brief presentation on International Best Practices in Accessible Airport Design during the ACCESSIBLE AIRPORTS ROUNDTABLE.
W3C - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG)
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG) invites you to comment on an updated draft of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0), published on 17 May 2007. WCAG 2.0 addresses accessibility of Web content for people with disabilities.
Comments on this Working Draft are due by 29 June 2007. Additional information about the WCAG Working Group, the Guidelines and how to comment is available at http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/ .
GAATES Signs First Project Agreement!
GAATES has recently signed a contract with UNESCO to complete Guidelines for Universal Accessibility in Community Multimedia Centers. This initiative is compatible with UNESCO's Information for All Programme (IFAP) - the only intergovernmental programme exclusively dedicated to promoting universal access to information and knowledge for development. The objective is to develop Guidelines on Accessibility for UNESCO's Community Multimedia Centers to ensure the participation of all people, including people with disabilities and older persons.
July 16, 2007
TRANSED 2007
World leaders in the design of accessible transportation recently gathered in Montreal to attend TRANSED, the International Conference on Accessible Transportation.
Mukhtar Al Shibani, Vice President of GAATES and Marnie Peters of BDEL gave a presentation on International Best Practices in Airport Design. Betty Dion, President of GAATES served as the moderator for a session on Accessible Air Travel for All.
In conjunction with the TRANSED meeting, GAATES held an Executive Meeting. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was a special focus of the GAATES meeting with discussions focusing on the development of an implementation and monitoring tool.
GAATES Executive members discussed legal issues, on-going projects and exciting ideas to support universal design developments around the world. Stay tuned for more information on the GAATES scholarship in Universal Design.
October 2, 2007
7th DPI World Assembly in Korea 2007
Several members of GAATES were in attendance at the 7th DPI World Assembly in Korea 2007. It was an excellent conference with approximately 2500 participants. At the close of the conference DPI announced the Seoul Declaration, which states in part: 'There are no human rights to which persons with disabilities do not lay claim.' For more information on the conference and the declaration, see www.dpi.org
GAATES re-established old friendships and discussed new collaborative agreements on accessibility of the built and virtual environments.
UNESCO and Community Media Centres
"When a Community Multimedia Centre implements Universal Design, it opens the door to inclusion for everyone."
GAATES is in the final stages of completing a project for UNESCO, which involved developing Accessibility Guidelines for UNESCO's Community Multimedia Centres (CMCs). This initiative is compatible with UNESCO's Information for All Programme (IFAP) - the only intergovernmental programme exclusively dedicated to promoting universal access to information and knowledge for development. UNESCO recognizes that accessibility is an integral component of planning for sustainability.
UN Convention
GAATES members are widely recognized as international experts in accessibility and universal design and have been invited to present workshops on the UN Convention and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Presentations will focus on articles that relate to universal design and accessibility of the built environment as well as information and communication technologies. GAATES held a special session on the UN Convention at their Montreal meeting in conjunction with TRANSED.
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