Disability Solutions Editorial

Number of Americans becoming disabled in 2011

2011-07-18T16:59:00.000+02:00

This one makes you think!!

FIFA Madness

2009-12-03T16:52:00.002+02:00

Just in case there is anyone left in SA still not aware that something big is happening next year…

This week is a mad week for me, and my company, on our various 2010 projects, especially the ones in Cape Town. We have various inspections, and also the draw tomorrow at the CTICC.

The whole FIFA project is incredibly complex. I am sure (and hope) that the events tomorrow pass off without incident. Anyone in Cape Town, should join in the party on Long Street (part of the top section is closed, and a huge screen is being positioned so people can follow the draw from there.

Presently the FIFA officials are meeting in Robben Island.

There will be all sorts of speeches by all manner of people & politicians. All these speeches will be extolling the positives of the event, and assuring (and, to an extent, proving) that South Africa is ready for the event.

What they will not show is the sweat behind the scenes… We will be ready; and I am sure that the event will be a HUGE positive to the country. Already, we have proved many, many doubters around the World, and within South Africa wrong. The various new stadia are all (just about!) built. Without a doubt, they are World class stadia. Indeed many of them set new standards in terms of design.

But there is also still much to be done!! These are interesting projects, as on paper, we have many clients; for Cape Town stadium we have the following clients:

the City of Cape Town, as they own the Stadium;

South Africa tax payers, as much of the funding came out of their pockets, at both national level & provincial;

FIFA - they 'own' the event, and all the rights (and make the most money!); they have an overlay, in terms of sponsorships, VIP's, security, etc.

The prospective tenants of the Stadium (which, if it is to make sense, and money, in the future, will have to include Rugby, both national - Test matches, and regional - Western Province will have to move here from Newlands), and the soccer teams that will be based from here.

SAIL Stade de France, who will be the operators into the future of the Stadium

Sometimes these different 'clients' have different, and even opposing requirements…

So I as I am a bear of little brain, I have made it clear & simple to me & my own team. Our clients are the people with disabilities who will use, work, and play in this stadium for the World Cup, and hopefully for many other events into the future. If they come, and they can use the facility in comfort, and safely, then we have done our little bit into this HUGE project…

I wish we had more time now, to appreciate the privilege of being able to work on these projects. Hopefully these Stadia will be still standing, and providing entertainment (and jobs!,) to a huge number of people, long after I have shuffled off...

Greenpoint Stadium & Precinct

2009-08-19T12:32:00.003+02:00

I was having a chat with a few people today, and it is clear that there is very little information available about some of the new developments connected to 2010. I shall try to post some more info on some of the projects that we are involved with.

For a taste, this diagram below, gives the design for the precinct around Greenpoint stadium, it is not just a stadium, but there is so much more that that.

Apartheid by design: Disabled people in PMB

2009-08-19T12:30:00.001+02:00

Great Article in today's copy of the Witness, also available online:

ONCE upon a time in South Africa, buildings had separate entrances and facilities for people of different races. The practice was outlawed as discriminatory along with the policy that created it: apartheid.

That discredited philosophy was replaced with a Constitution hailed for its commitment to human rights that is also enshrined in the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act of 2000. Despite this, another kind of apartheid still operates: discrimination against people with disabilities. Inaccessible environments have been called “apartheid by design”.

FIFA 2010

2009-03-15T10:22:00.003+02:00

We have all been very busy here at Disability Solutions. This has meant that we have not been updating our websites and blogs as often as we perhaps should have been doing. Apologies for that.

Some of the bigger projects have been connected with the FIFA 2010 Football world cup, due to start here shortly (have a look at the countdown timer on this page!!)

So I offer some photos by way of apology!!

Accessibility

2008-08-03T15:13:00.001+02:00

Is your house accessible? Probably not. A recent survey in the UK found that 98% of all new, privately built dwellings are inaccessible (to wheelchair users). My anecdotal (therefore untrustworthy) experience, would suggest that that figure would be similar here in SA. What about your place of work? Or you local restaurant / café? What about your place of worship? Cinema? Doctor's surgery? Post Office?

So let's assume that your house is inaccessible. So what? No one in your house is disabled, and you certainly would not entertain the idea of inviting me around!!! Why go to the expense of making it accessible when it will never have a use?

Great question. Well, here comes the answer. A recent piece of research in the US (yes, I know all these are overseas figures, and things are different here…but please bear with me), has some fascinating findings. They predict that by 2050 (due to aging populations etc.) that 21% of all households will have at least one resident with a “long-lasting, severe mobility impairment” . Therefore (as people move houses) there is a 60% chance that any house will have to accommodate a long term disabled occupant, during the lifetime of the dwelling. However the figures are even more compelling when both short term impairments (such as injuries) & visitors are taken into account - they estimate that the figure rises to 93%.

The interesting point is that the trend towards accessible housing (so called lifetime housing) is being driven by the insurance industry in terms of cost saving. It is much more cost effective to design a house from the outset, to be accessible, rather than have to bolt on later. The sort of figures that are generally accepted is that to design any facility to be fully accessible from the outset adds 0.2% to the capital costs. Later adaptations can be as high as 10%.

It is not expected that every part of every house would be fully accessible (although that would be nice!), rather there are 3 main issues:

At least one level entrance into the dwelling (can be front, back or side).
All doors on the main floor, all doorways wide enough (>800mm) for easy access.
At least an accessible half (but preferably full) bathroom accessible on the main floor.

The bottom line, is that it makes financial sense to design, and build our houses (and all other built environments, by extension) to be fully accessible to all. Any of us may benefit from this accessibility one day…indeed, one could suggest that we all hope that we live long enough that we will benefit.

The research paper can be read here.

Case study: Brighton & Hove City Council - Talking Bus Stops for the blind and visually impaired (linked to Real Time Bus Information signs) :: Public

2008-04-21T08:53:00.001+02:00

This is a very interesting piece of news. A city in the UK has won a technology award for the provision of talking bus stops. I would suggest that people read the full article. They do say that this can be replicated in other areas, and I hope that will happen.

Case study: Brighton & Hove City Council - Talking Bus Stops for the blind and visually impaired (linked to Real Time Bus Information signs) :: PublicTechnology.net :: e-Government & public sector IT news job vacancies:: "A multi-disciplinary working group was been formed, including councillors, officers, system designers, users, local politicians and consultants. A partnership was formed with the Royal National Institute for Blind (RNIB) to evolve a RNIB React system from providing orientation messages to include Real Time Information. The interface to provide a text to speech link with the Siemens VDO Passenger Information Displays was created by working with SFX Technologies, whilst Atkins Consultants helped with project management. The resulting system can be replicated in other areas and interest has already been shown from London local authorities."

E Pahad on rights of people with disabilities during Imbizo Week

2008-04-14T13:59:00.001+02:00

We have heard these sort of promises from different politicians before. But I would encourage public promises like this as it does raise awareness. So full marks to the Minister for this promise. My follow up question would be how? We do need to get more people with disabilities into employment, but in order to do that there is much ground work that needs to be done. It is not as simple as just going out to employ these people. Often many PWD have had no work and limited educational experience. There are often barriers for them to access the work place, both physical, and also attitudinal (other peoples' perceptions). What we don't want to witness is the usual stereotyping and merely employing blind telephonists which we see so often...

E Pahad on rights of people with disabilities during Imbizo Week: "Minister in the Office of the Presidency Essop Pahad has reiterated government's commitment to improving the living conditions of the disabled.

Speaking in Jane Furse, Limpopo during an Imbizo held as part of the government's Imbizo Week programme, he said government was doing all possible to meet its 2010 deadline of employing a minimum of two percent public servants with disabilities. Minister Pahad was responding to a question raised during the Imbizo about unfair treatment and less opportunities for the disabled in the workforce.

'It is the policy of this government that by 2010 we have within the public service at least two percent of our total staff being those with disabilities. This is a commitment we are working hard to achieve,' he said."

Accessible Parking Abuse...but not the 'normal'!

2008-02-24T09:48:00.001+02:00

23022008232
Originally uploaded by dissol2

Outside of Sportsmen's Warehouse in Tygervalley. They had carefully positioned the trampoline in one of the accessible parking bays, but it also blocked the use of the second one. We did point this out to the management, and it was slightly moved, although the problem remained.

But it makes you realise that the management of this store does not comprehend the need for the accessible parking bays...

Rolling Rains Report:: Steak & Shake: Where ADA Compliance has Been Taken Off the Menu!

2008-01-27T12:27:00.000+02:00

This should make all businesses and restaurants think...

Rolling Rains Report:: Steak & Shake: Where ADA Compliance has Been Taken Off the Menu!: "Americans with disabilities spend more than $13.6 billion annually on travel. The Open Doors Organization calculated that in 2003, persons with disabilities or reduced mobility spent 35 billion dollars in restaurants. According to the same study, more than 75% of these people eat out at restaurants at least once a week."

Airlines warned not to bar disabled | The Australian

2007-12-11T17:58:00.000+02:00

I wonder if some local airlines are taking note of this... Perhaps it would be a good time to finally go ahead with the court action against Nationwide Airlines, before they completely disappear!?

Airlines warned not to bar disabled | The Australian: "'It's fine for low-cost or budget airlines to reduce services,' human rights commissioner Graeme Innes said yesterday. 'But not carrying passengers with disabilities can't be part of those reductions and to do so is against the law. 'As commissioner, I intend to ensure wherever I can that airlines meet their obligations to all passengers, not just passengers without disabilities.' Tiger is offering affected passengers a full refund and says the problem stems from the inability of its third-party ground handler to obtain special hydraulic devices capable of lifting wheelchairs on to planes. It did not expect the lifters to be available at all destinations until the end of February. Tiger's application comes as a report, due to be released this week by the PIAC, says an analysis of the experiences of 110 airline passengers demonstrates a systemic failure of legislation introduced in 2002 to set standards for disabled access to public transport. The report finds recent development and application of airline policy, and changes to baggage handling, have made disabled access more difficult, particularly for people with motorised or bigger wheelchairs. 'Some passengers who travelled independently for many years now find themselves barred from travel or facing the imposition of unreasonable conditions,' it says."

Accessible Tourism is Big Money | ENAT

2007-12-08T22:02:00.000+02:00

If it is true for Europe then I am sure that the same would apply in Africa...

Accessible Tourism is Big Money | ENAT: "At a congress held last week by the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT), over 200 representatives from international disability organisations, tourist boards and private enterprise came to the overwhelming conclusion that accessible tourism is the fastest-growing business opportunity in the tourism industry."

M Shilowa: International Day of Disabled Persons celebration

2007-12-08T17:06:00.000+02:00

OK, here is a politician admitting an awful (but believable) statistic. Remember that the target is 2% (which in itself one could argue is far, far, too low, considering 10 - 20% of any population may be considered as disabled). 0.09% is disgraceful, but probably about the norm for government departments. But the question is, what penalties will be invoked when departments fail to meet their targets? Without penalties, these will always remain empty promises. The Gautrain is also mentioned in the speech; apparently it, and all the transport systems feeding it will be fully accessible...I hope so...but we shall see...

M Shilowa: International Day of Disabled Persons celebration: "We have struggled to meet our target to ensure that two percnet of the total workforce of government employees is people with disabilities. We have only managed a less than ideal 0,09%. I have heard managers argue that they are experiencing significant challenges in finding suitably qualified people for employment in various positions. This sounds disturbingly like the argument that the corporate sector once advanced for their slow progress in implementing affirmative action."

E Molewa: International Disability Day

2007-12-08T16:11:00.000+02:00

Does Edna Molewa, Premier of the North West province, really believe what is being said here??! The reality is almost the complete reverse of what is being claimed here. It does make me quite frustrated when political figures try to score points by basically saying untruths(although there again...how can you tell when a politician is lying? Their lips are moving)...

E Molewa: International Disability Day: "As a nation we have a proud tradition where people with disabilities were integrated into society, viewed as part of us, and somewhat privileged members of communities as they tended to get the attention of everyone."

Idiotic Parking

2007-11-30T13:15:00.001+02:00

Idiotic Parking
Originally uploaded by dissol2

What is it about mopeds??! Why did s/he feel the need to park here????

10:59 05 September 2007 A moped completely blocking the accessible parking bay at a busy fuel station in Claremont. I really feel the urge sometimes to just knock them over...
CA33058 You are an idiot!!!!

16112007139

2007-11-30T12:56:00.001+02:00

16112007139
Originally uploaded by dissol2

From my Flickr site.

What an idiot!!!! This sad individual decided to park his pathetic bike right in the middle of an accessible parking bay, completely blocking it. CA 150169 you are a moron!
The bike itself is pathetic...it is a Harley wannabe (could there be anything worse??!). Although only powered by an old 250cc engine, it has "Iron Fist" painted on the tank! My first thought was to try to pee in his helmet... As I was lecturing that day, I felt that could have been inappropriate behaviour...or perhaps not...

Countdown to 2010

2007-11-28T09:24:00.000+02:00

If you look down towards the bottom right on the page, you should see a 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup countdown clock which I adapted from elsewhere...it is not quite formatted right just yet, but I think i ought to have this on the main site too...given the amount of work we have connected to various 2010 projects...

A Erwin: The Broadband Infraco Bill

2007-11-26T16:20:00.000+02:00

I hope that this means that something will finally happen with regard to telecommunications in South Africa. We basically have a state run monopoly and therefore incredibly high charges, and very poor service - just like the UK was 20 years ago with BT. Then competition came along (Mercury, etc.) and hey presto, prices came down, and service went up. Internet connectivity can be so useful to many people with disabilities.

A Erwin: The Broadband Infraco Bill: "This broadband capacity is so strategic to our economy that the State is intervening through the formation of Broadband Infraco. The intervention seeks to address the high cost of broadband in South Africa, by making infrastructure in the national backbone and international connectivity available at cost related prices. The high cost of broadband in this country, and the limited access of this technology to all South Africans, hampers our country's participation in the global economy. Telecommunications and internet connection charges have been identified as key barriers to doing business in South Africa, and attracting more investment into the country. If nothing is done about this, our country will get left behind, and we may miss out on key investment opportunities which could further accelerate economic growth, and create more employment opportunities for our people. "

The latest member of the Disability Solutions Access Audit Team!

2007-11-26T14:55:00.000+02:00

This is me with Michelle's 1 year old daughter, Shannon, who is a real cutie! She was gurgling with laughter right up until the moment that the camera came out!

BBC NEWS | Technology | Technique links words to signing

2007-09-17T17:35:00.000+02:00

BBC NEWS | Technology | Technique links words to signing: "Technique links words to signing By Geoff Adams-Spink Age & disability correspondent, BBC News website Photo of the signing avatar The avatar was developed by the University of East Anglia Technology that translates spoken or written words into British Sign Language (BSL) has been developed by researchers at IBM. The system, called SiSi (Say It Sign It) was created by a group of students in the UK. SiSi will enable deaf people to have simultaneous sign language interpretations of meetings and presentations. It uses speech recognition to animate a digital character or avatar. IBM says its technology will allow for interpretation in situations where a human interpreter is not available. It could also be used to provide automatic signing for television, radio and telephone calls."

BBC NEWS | Business | Africa aid target 'may be missed'

2007-04-25T23:17:00.000+02:00

Credit where it is due (pun intended!); we may argue that 0.51% is too small... but at least one country made it; pity a few more could not achieve the same...

BBC NEWS | Business | Africa aid target 'may be missed': "The European Union (EU) set a target for its 15 established members to give 0.51% of Gross National Income (GNI) in aid by 2010 and 0.7% by 2013.

In 2006 the UK provided �6.85bn in aid which amounts to 0.52% of Gross National Income."

View from a wheelchair

2007-04-25T12:31:00.000+02:00

View from a wheelchair: "Labour on defective lifts and buildings in Durban

When one realizes that a defective lift can be a complete barrier to access for many people with disabilities, or worse, if they are defective then potentially they could strand people on upper floors, with no means of escape; then we should be absolutely horrified at this finding. It is essential that action is taken by the authorities to address this serious, dangerous problem. this work was done in Durban, but I am sure other cities in South Africa would be no better. I will follow this with great interest.

Labour on defective lifts and buildings in Durban: '24 April 2007

A random survey of buildings in parts of Durban's inner city and surrounding suburbs shows that 67% have lifts that are defective or not functioning.

The findings of the study also show that a total of 33 buildings out of 49 have lifts that are not functioning or defective. Sixty seven percent of the buildings' lifts have broken down completely, stalled frequently or are defective.

Fifty three percent of the lifts were not functioning at all from less than a year to 20 years. Approximately 20% have not worked for a period of between four to five years, and 8% between 10 to 11 years with complaints by residents disregarded by the owners or bodies corporate.'"

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2007-04-22T12:19:00.000+02:00

This is a post from my personal blog, but it is probably worth posting it here too.

I had posted previously that South Africa were one of the movers, and first signatories to this convention. I feel that this convention should have far reaching effects, but I also feel that the actual implementation will prove to be difficult for many countries to acheive. I know DPI have put together a toolkit, and I will unpack that in a later post. But I want to include an email that I sent which was part of a discussion with other interested parties here in South Africa. I think it is important that we do discuss this, and ensure that our countries' obligations are not swept aside. I feel that an African Employers Forum on Disability would be a vital input source to this process. This is my proposal, in answer to an email calling for a Disability Indaba or Conference:

I feel that the DPI toolkit is a useful addition to the process. While I agree that there is a need for dialogue on these issues, I fear that we presently have more of a monologue in South Africa at present. If there is any Disability workshop or indaba, then who generally comes? People with disabilities mainly along with junior representation from a variety of HR departments, and we end up “preaching to the converted”, but not actually putting anything into action. There is a (quite natural) level of ignorance in the general public (and by extension, politicians too), on the sort of issues that people with disabilities face.
Any indaba, or conference, has to have clear, stated goals and targets of implementation that are published well before the event, and then the whole conference has to be geared towards producing these outcomes. There is nothing more frustrating (for everyone concerned) to have the expense of attending or speaking at a conference where the vast majority of delegates are people with disabilities attending in a personal capacity, and very few decision makers from the spheres of business & government. If these people are invited to speak they tend to speak historically; “this is what we have achieved”, or “this is the policy that we have signed”. They may give loose ideas of where they may be headed in the future, but very rarely do you hear clear commitments and promises (and I would include myself in that criticism!). It is much easier dealing with historical facts, than setting yourself up for a potential fall. But we do need to put together a safe, but constructive, atmosphere, where the various stakeholders (politicians, business, public sector, the Disability sector, and people with
disabilities) can work together to produce a clear, agreed framework of implementation (with goals, targets, deadlines, responsibilities, reporting procedures, budgets, etc).

We need to empower the decision makers with the right information; “right we have signed this piece of paper – but what does that really mean for us?”
Each person attending should be fully conversant with all the various documentation.

1. Why is this convention necessary?
2. What are our collective responsibilities under this convention?
3. What legislative changes will have to be made to ensure compliance?
4. What is the timeline for the different events?
a. Ratification
b. Adherence

This then gives us the information to tackle the various issues arising from the convention:
1. How are we going to implement our commitments?
2. Where is the money coming from for implementation?
3. Who is responsible for each stage (Government, Public Sector, Private Sector, commercial, Disability sector, etc.?)
a. How do we educate these people of their responsibilities?
b. How do we ensure that these people have the necessary tools to comply?
4. What reporting procedures are there for each phase?
a. What penalties or recognition is there for non compliance or compliance?
b. How will different parties measure compliance? (in house, or external)
5. How are we going to ensure compliance to any legislation? (We all know how useless any legislation is, if it is not enforced).
6. What support measures need to be in place to assist all the different parties are equipped to comply?
a. Who will provide these support measures?
b. Where will the budget come from?
7. What are the various targets and deadlines for each phase, to ensure that we meet our overall commitment?
8. What structures do we need in place to ensure that these targets can be met?
9. What skills shortages can we identify?
a. What plans need to be put in place to rectify these skills shortages?

This should give us a clear road map of implementation with achievable goals and signposts along the way. There needs to be a monitoring / policing procedure built into each stage, and the results have to be published. As we are not the only signatories to the convention, we should also be able to gauge our progress against other countries, and share our collective experiences of implementation. We are part of a global village, and there are a huge number of signatories to this convention, it therefore makes sense to have close ties with other countries and international organisations during implementation. Here would need to be clear avenues where these lines of information can be fed back to the necessary parties.

We can only achieve this if we can ensure that we have the right decision makers from the different sectors. This cannot be achieved by one group of stakeholders alone, but will need a detailed public / private partnership arrangement. We have to ensure that there are enough high level decision makers from each sector, so that they can agree to the basic road map, and assign the necessary resources to each phase to ensure that there is adequate funding to achieve compliance. To give yet another conference without these players would be a waste of everyone’s time. We would need to set up working groups to be able to reach conclusions, within those groups there has to be representatives from the different stakeholders that have real decision making authority. I think we shall have to conclude some agreements / arrangements that would allow each sector to have different representatives that are empowered to make decisions on behalf of the sector that they represent. The challenge is to get the right players – I don’t think that another conference packed with individual PWD’s & junior members of different HR departments will work. The conference would have to be aimed at executive level.

Getting in Touch: Virtual Maps for the Blind: Scientific American

2007-04-12T09:23:00.000+02:00

Some more interesting work to assist the orientation of visually impaired people in the built environment.

Getting in Touch: Virtual Maps for the Blind: Scientific American: "Researchers in Greece have developed a new system that converts video into virtual, touchable maps for the blind. The three-dimensional maps use force fields to represent walls and roads so the visually impaired can better understand the layout of buildings and cities."

Transport on public transport strategy and action plan

2007-03-30T09:33:00.000+02:00

Of course this should be welcomed. We are involved with some of these plans, and we can see some movement in the right direction. However, we are concerned that these targets will not be met. Another one to monitor.

Transport on public transport strategy and action plan: "
* plan fully accessible corridors for users with special needs, guidelines and specifications for accessible taxis, buses and trains by June 2007
* ensure initial 10% of total public transport fleet is fully accessible for users with special needs when rolling out BRT and Rapid Rail from May 2009.
* commencement of operations (including full accessibility for special needs users) by March 2009"

E Pahad to sign United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol, 30 Mar

2007-03-30T09:16:00.000+02:00

Today should be a momentous day for the rights of people with disabilities living in South Africa. Rather (than my usual) knocking of politicians, I think I will congratulate them today...but watch closely for the implementation of the protocol.

E Pahad to sign United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol, 30 Mar: "Dr EG Pahad, the Minister in the Presidency left for New York last night to attend the Official Ceremony on the opening for signature of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 30 March 2007.

This Convention is the first human rights treaty to be adopted by the UN in the 21st Century. The Convention stands to benefit 650 million persons with disabilities who are among the most marginalised in the world. The convention includes a full range of human rights as well as measures to implement them effectively.

South Africa played an instrumental role in the negotiations that led to the adoption of the treaty and strongly supported the promotion and adoption of the Convention and its Optional Protocol."

BBC NEWS | Technology | GPS navigation plan to help blind

2007-03-22T21:04:00.000+02:00

This is a very exciting use of technology, and opens up all sorts of interesting opportunities. I shall be tracking the developments closely!

BBC NEWS | Technology | GPS navigation plan to help blind: "GPS navigation plan to help blind
By Geoff Adams-Spink
Age & disability correspondent, BBC News website

Photo of a mobile phone and GPS receiver
Easy Walk is available on Symbian mobile phones
An Italian technology company is pioneering a GPS satellite system that will give blind people greater independence and mobility.

The Easy Walk service has been developed by Il Village, a firm in Turin in northern Italy.

It is currently being tested by a group of 30 people from the Italian Blind Union who are providing feedback. The plan is for Easy Walk to be launched to blind and partially sighted people in Piedmont in the autumn."

Jasper Carrott Quotes

2007-03-21T17:50:00.000+02:00

Jasper Carrott Quotes: "Laughter is the best medicine-unless you're diabetic, then insulin comes pretty high on the list.
Jasper Carrott "

2007-03-20T20:06:00.001+02:00

Technorati Profile

Happy New Year

2007-01-08T08:39:00.000+02:00

Quick post to wish all our visitors & clients a very Happy New Year; I hope that 2007 will be a peaceful New Year for us all.

Our response to the Survey

2006-12-19T23:34:00.000+02:00

We responded to the message below, as follows:

how about doing the reverse? Could we formulate a questionnaire, to pose to South African businesses, to ask them how open they are to people with disabilities. I am sure that we could put something together and it may be interesting? I would suggest some questions along the lines of:

1. In terms of the Employment Equity Act, what % of your employees / managers / owners / stakeholders are people with disabilities?

2. Are all your in house training facilities fully accessible to all (formats / timings / venue / etc)?

3. Can you confirm that your web site is fully accessible?

4. In terms of any literature that you produce (leaflets, brochures, cheque books, etc) do you offer these in different formats (large print Braille, etc)

5. Do you have facilities in place which will describe your services in a manner to which they can be understood to a person with cognitive impairments?

6. Are all your facilities (both public & private areas) fully accessible to all? And what measures do you have in place to ensure this continues?

7. Have key staff (front line receptionists, bank tellers, line managers, etc) attended Disability awareness & sensitisation training?

I am sure that we can add some more questions between us all… The answers may need some verification (not that we don’t trust them…). The results could then be published in a table…

Although somewhat tongue in cheek, I think that this may have some merit. The questions would have to be carefully formulated (which if there were some genuine interest, we would be happy to put together), and the collection of data would have to be correctly done & transparent. The results would then have to be mathematically assessed (which again we could help with). And then we would have to publish the results…with perhaps follow ups to see if things are improving…

research surveys lack Disability Confidence

2006-12-19T18:47:00.000+02:00

A friend of ours recently had an interesting experience regarding telephonic market surveys:

I participated in a telephonic Markinor survey this morning (for Standard
Bank clients).

It ended faster than I would have liked.

After a dozen or so "leader" questions it became clear that the survey was
about in-bank service, i.e. over the counter, bricks 'n mortar banking. I
said that, if at all possible, I avoided banking halls because most are
inaccessable to wheelchairs, and the accessable ones have counter-tops which
come up to my nose height. I don't like conducting my financial business
feeling like a 4-year-old at a sweet store.

This was not what Markinor wanted to hear.

I was quickly informed that if I did not use bank branches, or their banking
halls, then my contribution to the survey was not required. Re-affirming
them of my reason for not doing so did not appear to change their view. They
could not see that lack of wheelchair access, or lack of suitable teller
counters, was in effect a lack of service.

So Markinor will be providing Standard Bank with the finding of their
service level research, but it will not reflect that their service to
disabled clients is lacking. Hmmm . . .

Logo

2006-11-10T09:28:00.000+02:00

People who know us will have seen our interesting logo. We are really delighted with it. While being simple and clear (and hopefully memorable) it also defines some important approaches that we use.
It is triangular; denoting the various 3 stage approaches that we have.
Red: stop! Assess the barriers.
Often companies (and people) (end to miss this step out, and start trying to fix problems in an uninformed, ad hoc (and therefore ultimately expensive) manner. Also not just physical barriers need to be assessed; many disabled people will admit that some of the biggest barriers are other people's attitudes and preconceptions. therefore, we also have products that will gauge the level of Disability confidence in an organisation.
Green: Go! Remove the barriers.
Again, we ave not just referring to physical barriers, although this stage would include acting upon the findings of any access report.
Blue: Continue! Maintain a barrier-free environment.
The process is ongoing. Checking that new staff are up to speed; ensuring that any changes to the physical environment are sensitive to Inclusive Design. Hopefully this goes hand-in-hand with increased numbers of employees, customers, and other stakeholders with disabilities. Thereby improving the financial bottom line.
The Triangle also acknowledges the 3 stage approach, as practiced by the Employers Forum on Disability:

Engage
Equip
Deliver

But more on this another time!

Political Incorrectness or just crass?

2006-11-08T11:39:00.000+02:00

Normally I hate political correctness, and go out of my way to stamp it out...

But I was sent a photograph recently which really made my blood boil - I have attached it below.

I am trying to analyse why this is making me so angry?

Is it the political incorrectness? Although I often refer to myself as a Raspberry (Ripple = Cripple).

Or is it the derogatory way that a wheelchair user is portrayed? Something to be avoided / abhored...?

Whatever it is it really makes my blood boil. I think I shall send it to the local talk radio (Cape Talk) and get them to shame the company behind it...