Global Resources and Promising Practices for Building and Refining Accessible and Inclusive Smart Cities from Darren Bates LLC.
Digital Inclusion is the ability of individuals and groups to equitably access and use information and communication technologies.
Smart City must ensure all individuals and communities, including the most disadvantaged, have access to, and use of, Smart City 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 support; and 5) applications and online content designed to enable and encourage self-sufficiency, participation, and collaboration.
Digital Equity ensures all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy.
Digital Equity is necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services
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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.
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One of the principles we lift up in our report is to “build with, not for” affected communities. For technology to deliver on the promise of increased inclusion, design and implementation need to be grounded in the needs and priorities of communities. To do this equitably requires actively engaging and listening to residents throughout the process.
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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…
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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…
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Tech companies and persons with disabilities gathered on the 16th November in Vienna to debate how not to leave persons with disabilities behind technological breakthroughs. The purpose of the event was to take the opportunity to discuss how new technologies embrace human diversity, and how technological solutions can be designed for all, including for persons with disabilities. It is an…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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PROVO — This city’s new mayor has had a lot of firsts in the past few months. For example, on Tuesday she shot her first group selfie, snapping a shot at the Provo Recreation Center during a kickoff lunch in support of national Digital Inclusion Week. Mayor Michelle Kaufusi, elected last fall to fill the position vacated by the state’s…
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A Cloud for Global Good: A roadmap to a trusted, responsible, and inclusive cloud The opportunity Cloud computing offers significant benefits for people of all ages and abilities. It can empower people with visual, learning, age- related, mobility, hearing and speech disabilities to learn more effectively, engage and collaborate with others more easily, and express themselves more clearly. Cloud-based technologies…
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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…
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In recent months, Uber has shone a spotlight on the importance of cultivating diversity in tech, but there’s one aspect of diversity that remains largely untouched: Ability. People with disabilities–such as deafness, blindness, or conditions including autism and Asperger’s syndrome–comprise roughly 6 percent of the U.S. labor force, according to the most recent available data from the U.S. Census Bureau.…
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One of the criticisms of the technology industry is that, by focusing on products and platforms, it has forgotten about people. Advocates for disability rights are adding that they want to see a greater commitment to disability inclusion in product development as well as global development. Last month, a group of civil society organizations published a call to action on Devex arguing…
Read More The Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently hosted its annual Assistive Technology Hackathon (ATHack), an event that brings together people with disabilities and students from the graduate to Ph.D. level to work on prototypes for assistive tools. During this year’s multidisciplinary event, teams built “an accessible beanbag-toss game, a personalized blood pressure cuff, a portable and collapsible shower chair, battery and…
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Cities capture people’s imaginations because they are a whirlwind of change, adaptation, and challenge. Cities change on almost a daily basis, with the influx and exit of commuters. To survive over time, cities have to adapt to economic change, migration patterns, and citizens’ needs. Cities also have to face society’s toughest problems—poverty, crime, homelessness, and more—all while delivering the public…
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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…
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Talking Tech: Design Thinking for Accessibility Accessible design enables people with disabilities to engage with digital products and services. Brightfind CEO Frank Klassen explains how associations can use design thinking principles to accommodate these users’ unique needs. Why should associations keep digital accessibility top of mind? One in five people in the United States has some sort of…
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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…
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What is the Digital Divide, and why should I care? It’s hard to imagine that in a city like Austin there is still a large segment of the city that has no idea how to use a computer; however, even in this high tech mecca, the digital divide exists. The digital divide is a term that describes the disparity between…
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