Technology Can Help Disabled

The UN is pushing for new technologies to help people who need accessibility support. The good news is that this has started to happen. OneWorld South Asia is reporting on the use of ICTs designed for accessibility.

Google recently added more accessibility services to its search engine. Google Labs created Accessible Web Search for the Visually Impaired that returns only sites that are easy to read by screen readers. The search uses the W3C standards, which ThingsAreGood.com passes.

“Governments, at the first World Summit on the Information Society in 2003 in Geneva, committed themselves to building a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge.

“The new computer-based information technologies have the potential for opening up a world of new opportunities for persons with disabilities,” said Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development.”

Goodbye Driveway!!

Good riddance I say, to the driveway and its cousin, the back alley roadway. A new product from Gridtech preforms the same function as your conventional driveway with the added benefits of drainage and a grassy feel. By incorporating plastic cylinders into the ground, filled with gravel and finished with regular landscaping you have a green structure that can support fire trucks. Other products in their line up include a paving to prevent ATV damage.Green Paving

Real Foundation

I would just like to take a moment to apprecieate the good work the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia does for both the environmental and the built environment. Funding comes from the intrest accured upon real estate deposits.

Estimates for similar models in Ontario have been valued in the billions of dollars annually. The foundation’s mission is to support sustainable real estate and land use practices for the benefit of British Columbians. At quick glance, past projects have been salmon restoration, urban planning, education and restoring natural and heritage features.

US Congress Supports Peace

logo of the organization Unbeknownst to me, the United States Congress has been funding the US Institute of Peace since 1984. Recently they updated their website and have made it a lot better, they’ve added podcasting, and archived recordings. The USIP also offers online training. You should check out their impressive Library!

“Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and democratic transformations, and increase peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by its direct involvement in peacebuilding efforts around the globe. “

Costa Rican Wins!

a faceCarlos Manuel Rodriguez, a really cool Costa Rican environemntalist won the Blue Moon Fund’s first annual Conservation Leadership Award! The Worldwatch Institute has the great reason why he won the award.

“Rodriguez is credited with implementing a unique conservation policy in Costa Rica, whereby the users of a forest’s environmental services, such as carbon fixation, water, and biodiversity, are required to pay the forest’s owners for these rights. By establishing an economic incentive to maintain forests, Costa Rica was “able to start decreasing illegal logging to a rate that was unprecedented in the country,” says Rodriguez. Worldwide, the average rate of illegal logging in tropical regions is some 80 percent, while in Costa Rica it is now only some 15 percent, he notes. Costa Rica is probably the first tropical country to reverse the process of deforestation, and there are now twice as many forests in the country than there were 20 years ago, according to Rodriguez.”

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