Accessible all the way

Greetings! I'm Scott Savoy, managing editor at http://www.sterlingcreations.ca
Ah yes! It is a brand new month and I hope that winter is gone for good.
Today, I am pleased to introduce our weekly editorial by our president Donna J. Jodhan and today her editorial focuses on a topic that is very near and dear to her heart.
I wish you a great weekend.

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Accessible all the way
By Donna J. Jodhan

For the past few years, I have been witness to several technological evolutions when it comes to the development to accessible devices for blind and vision impaired persons. This includes such things as mobile devices, some hand held devices, and certain types of kitchen and utility types of devices. Accessible cell phones for blind and vision impaired persons have come a very long way. The same could be said for such things as GPS devices, PDAs, bar code readers, color detectors, plus more.

We have seen the evolution of talking microwaves and timers, other kitchen devices, some remote controls, MP3s, iPhones, and so on. This is all goodness but there still needs to be more work done in order to make devices more user friendly and accessible to blind and vision impaired persons.

I do not doubt that if appropriately sensitized, developers and manufacturers will continue to make their products more accessible but there needs to be a greater push towards this trend; accessibility all the way.

We need to convince developers and manufacturers that there are huge benefits to be derived if they make their products accessible all the way. For not only would it benefit those who are blind and vision impaired, it would also benefit such groups as: The print disabled, those who are deaf/blind, and those with learning and cognitive disabilities and with a rapidly aging population these groups are only going to multiply in numbers.

We need to use these factors to our advantage and start pushing now for accessibility all the way. It is not too late and while we're at it we can expand our efforts to pushing for accessible pin number devices. In this instance, we can include the lobbying of banks and other financial institutions, and manufacturers of pin number readers, point of sale devices, and banking machines.



Who are the ones that are in the best position to push for accessibility all the way? Governments, consumer groups and associated organizations and agencies, and those agencies that work directly with those listed above. Can it be accomplished? My answer is a definite yes and in order to start the ball rolling we as consumers need to make our voices heard by governments, developers and manufacturers, and yes! The media.


I'm Donna J. Jodhan wishing you a terrific day and weekend.
To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca and I would be delighted to send you an electronic copy of our latest newsletter.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna's blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog
A monthly editorial on issues on diversity
http://www.diversityintheworkplace.ca