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New Smart Tech Helps Visually Impaired South Koreans Increase Mobility

woman in wheelchair using her smart phone for wayfinding and accessible mapping

South Korea’s second largest city is using new, inclusive technology to bring down barriers to mobility for people who are blind.

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How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone?

How well are we ensuring that contactless fare payment is accessible and equitable?

How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone? Considering equity and accessibility issues from the beginning will help ensure all travellers have barrier-free access to these new systems.

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Smart Cities Could Give The Blind A New Outlook On Urban Life

Smart Cities Could Give The Blind A New Outlook On Urban Life

Traveling to work, meeting friends for a catch up or just doing some shopping are often taken for granted by people with no known disabilities. For the visually impaired, these seemingly simple things can be a serious challenge. But imagine a city equipped with technology that enables the visually impaired to recognise people, places or even bank notes, helping them…

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Smart Cities Could Give the Visually Impaired a New Outlook on Urban Life

Smart cities could give the visually impaired a new outlook on urban life — GCN

Travelling to work, meeting friends for a catch up or just doing some shopping are often taken for granted by people with no known disabilities. For the visually impaired, these seemingly simple things can be a serious challenge. But imagine a city equipped with technology that enables the visually impaired to recognize people, places or even bank notes, helping them…

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ICT Access Still A Hurdle For People With Disabilities

ICT access still a hurdle for people with disabilities | Deccan Herald

Accessibility to some key information and communication technologies (ICTs) like TV, websites, books, assisted medical devices, mobile phones and apps for persons with disabilities (PWDs) remain a mere lip service, according to users and experts in the field. India is ranked 46th in the world and 9th amongst lower-middle-income countries behind Egypt, Kenya, Angola, and the Philippines according to the…

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IoT & Accessibility: How the Internet of Things is Transforming Accessible Digital Experiences

IoT & Accessibility: How the Internet of Things is Transforming Accessible Digital Experiences

Digital accessibility is in a better state today than it has ever been—but we still have a long way to go. The emergence of IoT devices have made life easier for those with disabilities, but has this been a conscious effort on behalf of industry-leading brands, or just a fortunate side effect of omnichannel marketing? dotCMS is a proud supporter…

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Inclusive Public Procurement Policies Will Help Create More Accessible ICT …

More Accessible ICT Will Help Create More Inclusive Smart Cities

Inclusive Public Procurement Policies Will Help Create More #Accessible #ICT —and More Accessible ICT Will Help Create More #Inclusive #SmartCities — Smart Cities Library™ (@SmartCitiesL) August 21, 2018

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Adaptive Technology Programs Turn to Robotics and IoT to Help People Who Have Disabilities

Adaptive Technology Programs Turn to Robotics and IoT to Help People Who Have Disabilities

Smart technologies, such as robotic telepresence and the Internet of Things (IoT), are capturing the attention of adaptive technology programs in state and local governments, as well as educational institutions, according to experts. IoT and robotic telepresence are among the latest adaptive technology (AT) efforts states are deploying, as they seek to deliver on the 30-year-old Technology-Related Assistance Act of…

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Smart City ICT Accessibility From Zero Project Conference 2018

Advancing ICT Accessibility From Zero Project Conference 2018

It is difficult to summarise a three days conference that combined so many different contributions, views and discussions, but we would love to share some key impressions.In the High Tech Solutions session for example, Rodrigo Huebner Mendes who is paralysed from the neck down, shared his experience of driving a Formula 1 car with his mind. Dr. Christopher Lee, expert…

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Smart Cities Need Technology That Understands All Humans

Screenshot-2018-1-20 Future Cities Need Technology That Understands All Humans

Smart Cities Need Technology That Understands All Humans Cities need to be accessible to all, including those with hearing and sight impairments, and restricted mobility   The world’s cities and their populations are growing at an unprecedented rate. The United Nations predicts that by 2050, 66 percent of the world’s population will live in urbanized areas, compared to just a…

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Persons with disabilities not to be left behind in smart cities  

Persons with disabilities not to be left behind in smart cities  

The answer seems to be a hopeful yes. At least 100 buildings each in 50 cities will be made accessible in a couple of years. These are part of the much hyped, technology intensive and ambitious ‘Smart Cities’ in the country. The Government had decided to turn 100 cities Smart.

The Government has selected these 50 cities under the Accessible India Campaign. Accordingly, the focus will be on auditing and ensuring access to atleast 25-50 of the most important government buildings in these cities fully accessible to these people by the end of 2017. By end of 2018, the target is to cover 50 per cent of all government building of the national capital region and all state capitals within reach….

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Wheelchair users to get an easier and safer ride| @ UOW @SMART_facility

Screenshot-2017-12-12 Wheelchair users to get an easier and safer ride

Internet of things project to create maps for wheelchair users

The University of Wollongong (UOW) will be the first university campus in Australia to have dedicated directional mapping for wheelchair users, making moving around easier and safer for people with a disability.

Briometrix, a start-up that specialises in technology for wheelchair users, has launched its pilot mapping project in partnership with the Digital Living Lab, an internet of things (IoT) initiative by UOW’s SMART Infrastructure Facility….

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Smart City Collaboration in Preparation for the World Urban Forum  

Collaboration in Preparation for the World Urban Forum  

On November 1, 2017, the DIAUD Network held another successful meeting in preparation for the 9th World Urban Forum (WUF9), which will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next February. Members provided information about their planned representation and contributions at the Forum and were also able to collaborate in planning logistics for various events and meetings that will be taking place. The discussion was led by Federico Batista Poitier, Executive Assistant to the President and Communications Coordinator for Global Alliance on Accessible Technologies and Environments (GAATES) outlining the side events under consideration by GAATES and World Enabled for WUF9….

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Accessibility to ICTs: Achieving equitable communications for everyone

Accessibility to ICTs: Achieving equitable communications for everyone

​​​​​​​15 per cent of the world’s population lives with a disability. This represents about 1 billion people globally. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as mobile phones, satellites or the Internet, are a unique infrastructure that expand access to key  public services, promoting digital inclusion. Throughout the world, persons living with disabilities are already benefitting from the advantages of ICT-enabled applications. But…

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Smart World Lockdown: Preparing for a truly connected world

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About 10 years ago, technology company PTC noticed a change in the market. After 22 years designing, and later servicing, products for manufacturers, it noticed its customers starting to value software over physical products. More and more devices were getting IP addresses and connecting to the internet, and the company realised that the dawn of widespread and accessible IoT applications would herald huge changes in manufacturing.

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Accessibility: Why Are We Still Talking About This? (/dev/world/2017)

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This video looks at why it’s so important to build accessible apps, how we can do so, and the impact this has on our users. We’ll look at the accessibility accommodations that iOS provides to the user; such as voice over, guided access, and display customisation. We’ll go into detail on the use of the iOS Accessibility APIs and developer…

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SmartCities and ICT accessibility

Screenshot-2017-10-29 WTDC-17 Pre-event together for an #accessible world

Last Sunday October 8, 2017, as part of the pre-events organized on the occasion of  the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-17), the Telecommunication development Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) brought together a group of diverse stakeholders from all over the world to share their views, challenges and success stories related to ICT accessibility. The event, which took place…

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