NEWS BRIEFSAt AbilityMaine we are developing a special page for events, committee meetings, board meetings, etc. that are of interest to people with disabilities. The calendar link will still be on our site, but this special page will be specifically for disability related meetings and events. If you have items to add to this page, if you are a committee member who can provide dates for your meetings,or if you are planning an event, send items to Mainefun40@hotmail.com with CALENDAR in the subject line. We're always looking for news and information at Abilitymaine. If you have items you think we can use, send them to Mainefun40@hotmail.com with NEWS in the subject line. NewsBriefs Kind of a short version of NewsBriefs this week, power failure for more than a day at my house kept me waaaaaay behind!! -Steve Google has released a search engine that enables the blind to find information on the Web more easily. Accessible Search has been developed by T.V. Raman, a Google research scientist who is himself blind. The visually impaired have so far been able to surf and read internet pages with the help of screen readers. In the past few years, however, the sites have been added all kinds of graphics and video, which impedes the screen readers. The challenge before Google was to develop an algorithm distinguishing accessible from inaccessible pages. The new engine is in fact not made to exclude inaccessible pages but to rank accessible ones higher. According to Raman, who worked at IBM Research before joining Google about a year ago, by developing better ways of measuring accessibility, Google could eventually offer consumers with specific disabilities ways to do more customized searches. Google Accessible Search is built using Google Co-op technology, which enables users to create specialized searches by topic. Raman hopes that the visually impaired people will take part in the tests and in this way help Google finish the tests and improve the engine. Read this article with useful links at: From the Choices CEO Project At Muskie; WGBH announces the free publication, Accessible Digital Media:
Design Guidelines for Electronic Publications, Multimedia and the Web. WASHINGTON, DC - The National Council on Disability (NCD)
released The Needs of People with Psychiatric Disabilities
During and After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Position Paper
and Recommendations According to NCD chairperson Lex Frieden, The destructive forces of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in fall 2005 wreaked an emotional as well as a physical toll on residents of the Gulf Coast region. Millions of Americans from across the country reached out to hurricane survivors, opening their homes and their hearts. Government employees at local, state and federal levels worked long and hard to help evacuate and rescue people in the Gulf Coast. Many of these people are still in the Gulf Coast helping to rebuild communities. In the months since the hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast, media coverage of the hurricane survivors has waned. However, for hurricane survivors with psychiatric disabilities, the hurricanes destruction resulted in trauma that didnt last 24 hours, then go away. ...It goes on and on. Some of these challenges were unavoidable. As one government official said, No one ever planned for what happens when your social service infrastructure is completely wiped out. Nonetheless, many of the problems could have been avoided with proper planning. Maine People’s Alliance,
Web site contains current news and Happenings!
MPA has a new website! Same old address,
http://www.mainepeoplesalliance.org,
but new and improved! Check it out!
We would love to get your feedback. You can send comments via the site at At The National Social & Economic Justice Conference For information on SEIU's involvement in Long Term Care, go to |