A record low voter turnout at this month’s provincial election might have had many Ontarians wondering where everyone’s gone, but an earlier report talked about at least one thing helping bring people to the polls. Elections Ontario used new equipment this year for the first time in a province-wide vote, and The Expositor‘s Michelle Ruby talked with students at Brantford’s W. Ross Macdonald School, who got to test the technology themselves. Called assistive voting technology, or AVT, the new units are designed to help all people vote independently.
“The equipment’s audio tactile interface, paddles and sip and puff devices allow voters who previously needed assistance to cast their ballot to now do it on their own,” reports Ruby. “Visually impaired voters can use either braille or brightly coloured buttons on the unit’s remote control to cast their ballots, which are then fed into a tabulator. The process takes about five minutes.”
Universal accessibility using innovative technology was recently the topic of another local event, when South African ex-paratrooper Anthony Netto showed off his ParaMobile in Windsor, Ontario earlier this summer. As The Windsor Star‘s Dave Waddell reports, Netto uses the multi-use cart – an idea born of his refusal to be wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life – to stand for golfing, archery, skeet shooting, fishing, and hunting like any able-bodied sportsman.
“One in seven people in Ontario have a disability,” according to Ontario’s Ministry of Community and Social Services. “Creating a province where every person who lives or visits can participate fully makes good sense – for our people, our businesses and our communities.”
Heather Grim, Partner and Vocational Consultant of SPENCER Experts, agrees. “Working with injured clients requires consideration of a whole host of adaptive interventions – including strategies, devices and services – that are both reasonable and effective,” said Grim. “SPENCER is always keeping an eye out for new developments in assistive technology in the work that we do.”
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Read The Expositor‘s full story at http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3322764
Read The Windsor Star‘s full story at http://www.windsorstar.com/sports/Robocop+hits+links/5215421/story.html#ixzz1ZizLwxA8
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SPENCER congratulates all participants of the 2011 Canadian Paraplegic Association (CPA) Wheelchair Relay Challenges for raising $24,500 in Windsor on October 3rd and $36,000 in London on October 15th! SPENCER was proud to be a part of these events – and to take home Windsor’s Best Team Spirit award. What we lacked in speed we made up for in enthusiasm! www.cpaont.org
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If you or a colleague is handling a case needing vocational expertise,
be sure to contact SPENCER to find out how we can help!
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