Global Resources and Promising Practices for Building and Refining Accessible and Inclusive Smart Cities from Darren Bates LLC.
We highlight the innovative efforts of several of the leading international smart cities, drawing advice from their efforts. Source: 7 smart city strategies from pioneering cities across the world
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New York City’s first Neighborhood Innovation Lab is coordinating new smart city efforts, organizers announced Friday. The city announced that the lab — based in the neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn, since March — will start a tech education program to teach digital skills to youths, while also installing smart trash cans for efficient pickups and solar powered smart benches to charge devices, detect foot traffic and…
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The United Nations (UN) has launched a global campaign focusing on the transition to smart, sustainable cities. It advocates that public policy promotes the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a catalyst for such change. The initiative, the United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC), is being led by the International Telecommunication Union and the Economic Commission for Europe…
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A new whitepaper ranking the top factors necessary for designing and implementing smart city strategies has been published by technology-driven design firm, IBI Group. Top 10 Smart City Success Factors, released ahead of the 2017 ITS World Congress hosted in Montreal, draws on the firm’s experience designing smart cities and delivering intelligent transportation systems internationally. It aims to shed light…
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Cities, the American-Canadian author Jane Jacobs once observed, are engines for national prosperity and economic growth. But in their current form, modern cities are also catalysts of inequality and environmental degradation. Today, the share of city dwellers in poverty is growing; 33 per cent live in slums; and 75 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions originate in metropolitan areas.…
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This month, the New Urban Agenda (NUA) celebrates its first anniversary. What has happened since its adoption at Habitat III in Quito? We asked Billy Cobbett (Cities Alliance), Mei Yi (Mayor of Jingdezhen, China), Eugénie L. Birch (Professor at the University of Pennsylvania), Yang Jun (Mayor of Suzhouto), María Alejandra Vicuña Muñoz (Minister of Urban Development and Housing of Ecuador)…
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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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WebAble TV is pleased to present the first in a new series of video interviews entitled “Champions of Accessibility”, a monthly program featuring a video interview with person with a disability who is a leader in the field of accessibility and a thought leader in the community of people with disabilities. Our first “Champion of Accessibility” is Todd Waites who…
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Accessibility Not the Same as Usability or Availability Accessibility refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people who experience disabilities. 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 can be viewed…
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“The Most Livable City in the Nation” Before Austin’s former City Manager left town for a new role in Washington, DC, he said his goal was for Austin to become the “Most Livable City in the Country — a model city, the city everyone is talking about and looks to for best practices and innovation. At a glance, a casual…
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Hi, I am Paul Bepey, a registered blind person working in the field of Assistive Technology and Accessibility. As its World Sight Day today (12 October) I wanted to look at what assistive technology means now that more and more mainstream products have accessibility built in.So, these are my own views on what assistive tech means today. Source: Disability-smart: the…
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Cities at their core are about citizens — the intermingling of diverse sets of people who live, work, visit and play there. Together they create a rich social fabric that transcends buildings, streets and services to form a culture, an identity. All city leaders understand the need to maintain strong connections between citizens, neighborhood networks, government officials and private companies.…
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Digital Accessibility Digest Stay on top of developments in website, elearning, and application accessibility. The Digital Accessibility Digest brings curated, Microassist original, and guest-provided news and information of interest to web, content, and application developers, as well as IT departments and legal counsel. Content focuses on the importance of implementing WCAG 2.0- and Section 508-specified accessibility practices that make digital…
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The secret to citizen engagement. Lessons from a Manchester success story.Does your project’s success depend on the involvement of citizens? But are you struggling to interest or motivate them? In Manchester, Dave Coleman and his team have developed a method with which they have so far managed to excite and engage over 4.000 people about climate change. Not just the…
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Children with physical and developmental disabilities now have an accessible city playground.The new Brittingham Park playground on Madison’s South Side includes traditional park features such as monkey bars while providing intellectually stimulating puzzles, an accessible merry-go-round and a smooth rubber surface around the play equipment. It is the first of five such playgrounds the city plans to create.“Often we express…
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Like once a year, December three shall be a United Nations sanctioned International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD). The goal is to extend public consciousness of the prerequisites of disabled other people and, on the similar time, to have fun their achievements and contributions. IDPwD has been supported by means of the Australian Government since 1996 and lately it’s…
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Auditors say city’s website needs improvement. The Office of the City Auditor has found that although the city’s website, AustinTexas.gov, offers residents numerous online services, the website does not meet accessibility guidelines, so it is difficult for people with certain disabilities to find and use those services The audit findings were released and accepted at Wednesday’s City Council Audit and…
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Fujitsu, the market leader in document imaging scanners, today announced it will host an event with the San Francisco Tech Council to advance a senior learning initiative. Fujitsu, the Community Living Campaign and the San Francisco Tech Council (SF Tech Council) will team up to host a “Preserving Memories” event on Saturday, October 21, 2017 from 10 a.m. to 3…
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More than $80 million worth of grants to help make communities more inclusive and supportive of people with disability in New South Wales (NSW), South Australia (SA) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) are now available. This latest round of funding is part of the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s (NDIS), Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) Jurisdictional Based Grants.The Hon…
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During Smart Cities NYC 2017, a new toolkit, Smart cities for all, was released to help cities reduce the digital divide and make them accessible for all. Jonathan Andrews spoke to Dr Victor Pineda, President of World Enabled, and Co-Chair, Persons with Disabilities, on the General Assembly of Partners, the civil society body designed to help governments implement Habitat III.…
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