DevOps
Automating Accessibility Testing of Web Applications
IBM has released a new solution that is designed to allow developers and testers to integrate automated accessibility testing within Chrome browser development tools to help deliver an optimized user experience and conform to industry standards. IBM AbilityLab™ Dynamic Assessment Plugin, a browser extension that quickly identifies accessibility issues, and evaluates and recommends potential fixes, including those […]
DevOps
Open Source Accessibility Tools Help Streamline Inclusive Development
IBM is embarking on a new era of open source accessibility by releasing tooling, samples and design patterns to help streamline the development of inclusive web and mobile applications. IBM has released two new projects on the developerWorks/open community, AccProbe and Va11yS, to help alleviate accessibility roadblocks during the agile development process, strengthen the user […]
Aging
Transforming Transportation for the World’s Aging Population and People with Disabilities
The earned privilege of driving tethers us only as far as the road, fuel, and our physical and cognitive abilities can take us. And, we all know what waits for us on the horizon as we age – losing the freedom to safely operate a vehicle. By teaming with the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Foundation […]
Connecting the Dots to Make Austin an Age-Progressive City
Interview with Teresa Sansone Ferguson, Executive Director, AustinUp The recent IBM study “Loneliness and the aging population – how businesses and governments can address a looming crisis” noted that any solution designed to mitigate loneliness must involve wide range of stakeholders – family, caregivers, healthcare practitioners, social workers, and more – all of whom want […]
IBM Japan’s “Access Blue” Program Trains Students with Disabilities for New Collar Jobs
In my country of Japan, there is a legal requirement (Act for Employment Promotion of Persons with Disabilities that states that at least 2 percent of employees across all business organizations (with workforces greater than 50) must be persons with disabilities. This requirement will increase to 2.2 percent in 2018 and 2.3 percent in 2020. […]
When Should You Think About Accessibility?
Editor’s Note: Tom Babinzski, an Accessibility Advisor with IBM Accessibility Research, is starting a new blog series where he will share tips and tricks for accessible design and development. If you have topics you’d like Tom to address, please leave your thoughts in the comments section. I spend a majority of my time traveling to […]
Creating Inclusive Workplaces is a Business Imperative
by Lou Orslene, Mobile Accommodation Solution (MAS) Project Manager and Co-Director of the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), Center for Disability Inclusion The World Health Organization reports globally there are more than 1 billion people with disabilities. Increasingly, chronic health conditions and disabilities are becoming more commonplace in the workplace. This has major implications for employers […]
Accessible Design for an Aging Population
by Bo Campbell & Susann Keohane Violet Brown is the oldest living person on this planet at 117 years old. Today, to make the list of the top 100 oldest living people, you much be aged 110 years or older. We are dawning on the age of the super-centenarian, someone who has lived to or […]
Combating Loneliness in the Aging Population
The world’s aging population is expanding rapidly, and by 2050 more than one out of five people will be age 60 or older. A new epidemic is growing just as quickly, with 43% of people over 60 reporting that they are suffering from loneliness. With an impact often equated to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, loneliness […]
Guiding the Way: On the Streets and in Life
by David Wei, Development Manager, Watson Career Coach With ear-splitting applause and screams, I cross the fabled finish line of 121th Boston Marathon, step by step with Erich Manser. I had the opportunity of running the Marathon by being a running guide for Erich, a blind Marathoner, an Ironman, an IBM colleague, and my friend. I […]
Blind Community Lends Valuable Insights to AccessbleOlli
Continuing our work of creating the world’s most accessible, self-driving vehicle, IBM, Local Motors and the CTA Foundation recently hosted an #AccessibleOlli workshop, which tapped the unique combination of the blind and visually-impaired community and transportation organizations in the greater Boston area. We invited participants at varying stages of vision loss – from mild impairment […]
What Happens When I Can No Longer Drive?
People love their cars. For most teenagers, getting their license is a much anticipated milestone, increasing their independence and opening up new opportunities and adventure (often to the chagrin of their parents). For most older adults, the day they decide to stop driving is also a milestone, albeit a dreaded one representing a loss of […]