Tactile Features on Currency Notes are a Worldwide Trend

Aug 26, 2015

Tactile features on currency notes are used in many countries around the world, which allows citizens with visual impairments to handle money more easily. Canada’s currency notes are printed with a tactile feature in the corner so that visually impaired citizens can easily tell what denomination they’re holding. So are the currency notes in Bahrain, Thailand, Malawi, and […]

New Yorkers Celebrate First Disability Pride Parade

Jul 16, 2015

On Sunday, July 12th, New York City hosted its first annual Disability Pride Parade. Over 3,000 members of the disability community took over Broadway to champion equal access, and to mark the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Crowds cheered enthusiastically as participants passed by. Mayor Bill de Blasio was in attendance, telling reporters he […]

Q&A with John Kirkwood, Entrepreneur

Mar 6, 2015

This installment of our Accessibility Activists is an interview with John Kirkwood from CityMouse, one of New York’s first independent Internet media agencies. When did you first get started in accessibility? Well, accessibility has always been a part of our government standards and guidelines I wrote since I built the first official website for the City of […]

Q&A with Thad Johnston: Making a Physical Board Game Accessible for Blind and Low Vision Players

Feb 7, 2014

Let’s start from the beginning. How did you come up with the idea of making a board game be accessible? It started early last year, in March, when I started working with a student at Colorado State University named Adam, who is blind. I was supposed to work with him to help him in one […]

Virtual Smells

Jan 9, 2014

The five senses of the human body all have various technologies being developed to record and reproduce experiences for reference later.  The sense of smell is not something many of us have had virtual experience with.    It is common for people to relate to smell on an emotional level as few people outside of the […]

How to DJ Using Only Your Eyes

Jan 17, 2013

Music allows people around the world to creatively express their thoughts and feelings. For people who share this passion, losing the ability to make music would be a depressing  and scary proposition.  David Anderson is one of these people.  He has a neurological disorder (ALS) that weakens the body’s muscles progressively over time.  ALS typically […]

Wheelchair-Accessible Taxis Can Be Hailed by Smart Phone in NYC

Jan 8, 2013

Wheelchair-accessible taxis have been available for some time in New York City, but they have never been so quickly or easily summoned.  If you have a smartphone, you can now download the Accessible Dispatch WOW Taxi app, summon a wheelchair-accessible taxi to any location in Manhattan, and be transported. The Accessible Dispatch mobile app and […]