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Category: Accessibility

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Smart City: Accessibility

Concept

Accessibility can be viewed as the “ability to access” and benefit from some system or entity. Accessibility involves removing the barriers faced by individuals with a variety of disabilities (which can include, but is not limited to: physical, sensory, cognitive, learning, mental health) and the various barriers (including attitudinal and systemic) that impede an individual’s ability to participate in social, cultural, political, and economic life. Disabilities can be temporary or permanent.

The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers).

Accessibility is not to be confused with usability, which is the extent to which a product (such as a device, service, or environment) can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.

Accessibility is strongly related to universal design which is the process of creating products that are usable by people with the widest possible range of abilities, operating within the widest possible range of situations.

Smart City Practice

A key challenge faced by Smart Cities is to ensure the engagement and inclusion of all people including citizens with disabilities and those that are aging. An accessible Smart City is purposefully designed to include all people and equitably meets the needs of both people with disabilities and people who self-identify as non-disabled.

 A Smart City isn’t smart if it doesn’t support the needs of all citizens.

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Mayor de Blasio and Barcelona Mayor Colau Announce Joint Competition to Make Streets Safer and More Accessible for Pedestrians Who are Blind or Have Low Vision | Digital.NYC

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Latest cross-Atlantic cooperation builds on Vision Zero commitments, as well as those made in AccessibleNYC, the City’s comprehensive plan to enhance quality of life for New Yorkers with disabilities NEW YORK–Mayor Bill de Blasio and Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau today announced a new joint call for innovative solutions to enhance safety at intersections for blind and low-vision pedestrians. This announcement…

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Making SMART Cities Accessible for Persons with Disabilities

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Persons with disabilities have often been neglected and excluded from the various plans, schemes and campaigns of the Government. A case in point is the SMART Cities Mission that has hardly any mention of accessibility for persons with disabilities. More importantly, with technology being the cornerstone of the SMART Cities initiative, the already existing digital divide will only grow further…

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Boosting smart city inclusion, Microsoft and partners launch accessibility toolkit

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While sensor-enabled and connected cities will drive government forward, private and public sectors agree that making technology and services accessible to those with disabilities is essential.

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Disability: An Upside for Everyone in Unifying Smart City Design

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A number of Smart Cities are stepping up and making accessibility an inclusion a priority. In Seattle, accessible buses and light rail lines allow people who use wheelchairs to travel seamlessly across the network, while Portland’s LIFT paratransit service offers an essential shared-ride public transportation service for riders who are less mobile. Taxis are also going along for the ride.…

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Meet the women leading the next generation of accessible and inclusive Smart Cities

Meet the women leading the next generation of Smart Cities: Toni Townes-Whitley | HuffPost

I recently attended the Smart Cities Conference in NYC’s Brooklyn Navy Yard where I interviewed Toni Townes-Whitley, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Public Sector and Industry for part one of this series. You can read my in-depth interview with her below to learn more about her vision for Smart Cities 2.0, her thoughts on Artificial Intelligence, and her work…

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There are Smart and Accessible Cities in Japan | LinkedIn

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Recently, I visited Japan from December 31, 2016 to January 14, 2017 and I want to share my experience with you. Aside from the warm welcome I received from my parents in law, I had a special experience as a person with disability who walks with the support of both a wheelchair or a pair of forearm crutches. In this…

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Non-Accessible Sidewalks are From Hell

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Getting along a footpath isn’t always easy especially when some people act either illegally, or without thought for others. Make Way Day in Ireland is creating awareness of the common footpath obstructions that people with disability and pram pushers face every day. On Make Way Day volunteers put “Make Way Day” stickers on the obstacles in their path of travel.…

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Web Accessibility – Criterion 508 Solutions, Inc.

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Criterion’s approach to ADA , Section 508, and WCAG testing is unparalleled in the industry because we test from a “real world” perspective by including expert auditors with disabilities. Criterion believes if you want to know whether a website is accessible, ask people with disabilities. Criterion also emphasizes knowledge transfer throughout every web accessibility project by providing our clients with…

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WheelchairTravel.org I Wheelchair Accessible Travel Blog

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Hello, I’m John Morris. I’m a 28-year-old car accident/burn survivor, triple amputee and wheelchair user. I created this wheelchair travel blog to share my experiences traveling the world and overcoming the barriers to accessibility.After my car accident, I was told that my disability would make travel impossible. That was three years ago, and I have since visited 27 countries &…

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The Smart, Safe Way to Build a Smart City – CityLab

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You don’t have to dig deep to find out what can go wrong with open data initiatives. Just look back to 2014, when the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission released hundreds of millions of records on taxi trips in the city, with data anonymized to protect identifiable details—at least in theory. In reality, the data was recorded in…

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Accessibility Archives – Intelligent Transport

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Covering all the new technologies and developments within this vitally important sector, Intelligent Transport magazine regularly includes features on ticketing, real-time passenger information, intelligent transport systems, bus and coach, metro, security, trams and trolleybuses, light railways, communications, financing and legislation. Here at Intelligent Transport we pride ourselves on our editorial integrity. This means we attract the leading industry experts to…

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New Apple devices will contain additional accessibility features

New Apple devices will contain additional accessibility featuresOctober 3, 2017 · by ITU Digital Inclusion Division · in Accessibility, Persons with disabilities In a previous blog post we described new accessibility features announced for the latest Android 8.0 Oreo update (http://digitalinclusionnewslog.itu.int/2017/09/12/new-accessibility-features-included-in-android-8-0-oreo/) Now, as apple launches its new smartphone models -iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus – it remains…

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Digital Inclusion Center and accessibility conference to boost digital inclusion in Dominican Republic

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Dominican Republic is adopting different strategies to promote equal access to digital literacy and infrastructure in the country as part of the Digital Republic national program. During the first week of September, a Digital Inclusion Center was created followed by an accessibility conference to raise awareness about the needs of persons with disabilities. The Digital Inclusion Center was created by…

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A Comprehensive System for Monitoring Urban Accessibility in Smart Cities

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Despite the growth of this field, there are still many issues to resolve. One of these issues is focused on achieving Accessible Cities. Accessibility is an element of life quality that is of universal interest, a right of all citizens, a determining factor of the liveability of cities, and an essential element in modern society. It provides security, comfort and…

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Headset provides ‘3D soundscape’ to help blind people navigate cities | Art and design | The Guardian

Knobbly pavements and ticking pedestrian crossings are one thing, but the frustrating experience of getting around the city for visually impaired people could soon be revolutionised by a new navigational headset which claims to let you hear your surroundings as a “3D soundscape”.Developed by Microsoft and the Guide Dogs charity over the last two years, with the government-funded Future Cities Catapult, the headset contains a GPS tracker,…

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Accessibility and the New Urban Agenda: 5 Questions | HuffPost

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New Urban Agenda Making cities accessible and inclusive for all people, including persons with disabilities, is an essential component of the New Urban Agenda, adopted at the recent Habitat III Conference in Quito, Ecuador on October 17-20. Why? Because 15 percent of the world population live with some form of disability. If the New Urban Agenda is going to successfully…

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Access and inclusion in the built environment: policy and guidance

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  Access and inclusion in the built environment: policy and guidance – as exemplified by London approach. The need to address inclusive design from concept stage onwards is embedded in the planning process within London far more so than many other parts of the country. The key areas for consideration for designers are: The London Plan. The Equality Act 2010. The Building Regulations. The Principles of Inclusive Design. The…

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Making Smart Cities Smartly Accessible | Le Mauricien

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Making Smart Cities Smartly Accessible FEBRUARY, 2016 – 15:00 | PAR ALI JOOKHUN Smart Cities – smartly titled, youth appealing and towards a modern Mauritius. The Smart Cities are often bargained by the Government as a promise of reviving the economical landscape and part of making the population dream of the second economic miracles. Nonetheless, with much disappointment, people living…

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Adding Universal Design Techniques to Keep Austin Beautiful

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Imagine a city where a person in a wheelchair can chart a route to the local park using curb cuts and avoiding barriers. She can then connect to the park’s Wi-Fi, receive upcoming events notifications and take e-lessons about the trees and flowers in bloom. How to add accessibility and purposeful inclusion to Austin’s Recycling and Keep Austin Beautiful Initiatives.…

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