Global Resources and Promising Practices for Building and Refining Accessible and Inclusive Smart Cities from Darren Bates LLC.
It’s not just about meeting the regulations, it’s about making GOV.UK accessible for everyone. It’s important to us that we do not stop at meeting the standards. GOV.UK should be accessible for everyone so we’re aiming to fix the other accessibility issues we found, even if they’re not covered by WCAG.
Read More
Eleven Technology Matching Fund recipients aim to close digital divide The Seattle City Council approved $320,000 in funding for community-led projects that increase digital literacy. The Technology Matching Fund grants were awarded to 11 projects that will reach an estimated 3,000 residents, increasing their access to technology and digital skills training. “Access to technology and digital literacy is an equity…
Read More
Whether for work or personal enjoyment, reading has long-lasting social and cognitive benefits. However, for seniors experiencing barriers to reading such as low vision or a physical impairment, using traditional print materials is a struggle, if not impossible. Benetech’s growing library of over 685,000 accessible titles, Bookshare, enables seniors to read in ways that work for them, choosing from a…
Read More
An Overview for Legal Teams on ADA, Section 508 Issues Affecting Websites and Other Digital Assets Business owners, legal teams, web and communications teams, and developers are experiencing a wave of legal actions and civil rights complaints. These actions—and the resulting court decisions—are stretching society’s understanding of what constitutes online discrimination and how the ADA and related laws apply to…
Read More
Former Mayor Megan Barry in the spring of 2016 convened a working group to outline and coordinate Nashville’s efforts to better integrate technology with the city’s infrastructure as well as other parts of government and public life. The group’s work led to the delivery to Mayor David Briley in late April of a final community report called “Connected Nashville: A…
Read More
Although the quantity of people using technology in their everyday lives is constantly rising, a relatively high percentage of the world’s population remains digitally disengaged or even technologically illiterate. In the European Union alone, nearly a third of people don’t use the internet on a daily basis; only half of all Europeans aged 16 – 74 use social networks or…
Read More
The Power of Disability Inclusion in the Technology and Entrepreneurial Sector How Technology Startups Can Leverage Disability Inclusion and Become Relevant, Competitive and Gain an Unfair Advantage Image: A cartoon of six identical individuals dressed in business suits and sitting around a table with notepads and pen. At one end of the table, an individual is cupping his hand to…
Read More
With the growth of smart cities, how do we build smart citizens to match? Date Published: 1st March, 2018 When you work in a certain sector, there’s a tendency to assume everyone thinks like you; has the same knowledge. If you work in social media, you might presume everyone’s on Twitter, if you’re a footballer, you might expect everyone to…
Read More
begin main content area Protecting digital accessibility ensures equal rights for disabled people toolbar By Lainey Feingold January 2018 features pagination logic primary story image on first paginated page Lainey Feingold. As the world has moved online, so have disability rights. Disability community activists use social media to spread the message of equality, opportunity, justice and inclusion. Disabled people and…
Read MorePutting Digital Equity in Cities Front and Center There are plenty of opportunities and challenges for municipal leaders who want to expand access to high-speed Internet in their communities. WASHINGTON — Providing Wi-Fi hotspot devices that can be checked out from libraries, connecting residents in public housing with high speed Google Fiber service and beaming down wireless Internet signals to…
Read More
Net Inclusion 2018 welcomes digital inclusion community practitioners, advocates, academics, Internet service providers, and policymakers to discuss local, state and federal policies and policy innovations impacting digital equity, sources of financial and programmatic support of digital inclusion programs, plus digital inclusion best practices from across the country. Net Inclusion 2018 will begin Tuesday, April 17th with pre-conference events in the…
Read More
Smart City Seattle: The Digital Equity Initiative Seattle’s Digital Equity Initiative was launched in response to the City’s quadrennial Technology Indicators Report, released in May 2014. The Report found significant disparities in internet access and digital literacy skills for those of lower education, low-incomes, seniors, disabled, minorities, and immigrants. The Initiative is one part of the Mayor’s broadband strategy to…
Read More
Digital Inclusion Digital Inclusion refers to the activities necessary to ensure that all individuals and communities, including the most disadvantaged, have access to and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This includes 5 elements: 1) affordable, robust broadband internet service; 2) internet-enabled devices that meet the needs of the user; 3) access to digital literacy training; 4) quality technical…
Read More
San Antonio officials announced Tuesday night it had formed a new standing committee to address technology and innovation. break According to Mayor Ron Nirenberg, the innovation and technology committee will take on smart city goals, strategy for growing the cyber security industry, digital inclusion initiatives, open data and expanding municipal broadband access all under one roof. “We’ve been working in…
Read More
On December 14th, we hosted our final Smart City Hub Meetup of the year with special guest speakers David Keyes (Seattle IT), Azmeena Hasham (Verizon), and Bob Akers (e-Stewards). Thus far, the meetups have been focused on emerging technologies such as broadband and sensors, connected & autonomous vehicles, blockchain, cybersecurity, shared mobility platforms and advanced data analytics. But last week,…
Read More