Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

In case you missed it, Ouch's favourite blind ex-Motown singing star, Stevie Wonder, recently appeared on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's flagship technology programme Click. No, he wasn't singing I Just Called To Say I Click You (sorry, I couldn't resist), but rather talking about accessible technology. He discussed what gadgets and gizmos he uses, but also called on technology companies to make their products more accessible to blind people.

Visit the to view a clip of the interview, and read what else Stevie - or Mr Wonder, as we prefer to call him - had to say.

I hope that Ouch! readers outside the capital - and, of course, outside the UK - will forgive us if we get a bit London-centric for a moment. Because we're going to talk about the tube, that famously largely inaccessible network of Victorian and Edwardian staircases, tunnels, escalators and huge gaps which you're told very loudly to 'mind' when leaping between train and platform.

Okay, perhaps I'm being a little unfair. Transport for London has been making efforts to make the underground more accessible to disabled travellers, but it's an uphill task, as a quick game of 'spot the wheelchair symbol' on the current tube map will probably demonstrate. This week, however, TfL has launched a couple of new tube maps - one to show where are located on the network, and the other detailing . And it seems that when we say 'detailing', we mean 'detailing'. That's certainly what noted London blogger thought when he took a look at the step-free access map in an entry entitled . To say it's confusing would, seemingly, be an understatement:

But why are the blobs different colours? Ah, that's to explain how you cross the gap between the platform and the train. Some gaps are too wide, and some gaps are too high, and you'll not be wheeling aboard the train if that breach is too great. The colours warn you about vertical height (green means up to 2 inches, amber up to 5 inches, and red up to a foot) and the letters warn you about horizontal chasm (A means no more than 3Β½ inches, B no more than 7 and C no more than 10). Bow Church's green A means that the gap's a doddle to cross, whereas Stratford's red C suggests a hoverchair might be needed to climb aboard. Quick test for you - can you instantly say what the two blobs at West Ham mean? No, I thought not. This stuff really takes a lot of unravelling.

Diamond Geezer frequently writes about all aspects of London's transport system, and doesn't forget about accessibility when he does so. So take a look at this post if you get the chance - even if the details give you a headache and you decide just to get a cab instead, it'll at least prove to be an entertaining read.

In case you have been living on Mars, today at noon in Washington and 5.00pm in the UK, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as 44th President of the United States of America. The event will be broadcast around the world, and is expected to pull in the biggest TV viewing audience ever. But will it be accessible?

Happily, yes. The coverage promises to be closed captioned and audio described as it happens, so if you live in the US, make sure that your TV is on all the right settings.

For all of you who don't live in the US but would like to tune in to this historic event, the website of the is providing two live streams of the event, one with closed captioning, and the other with audio description. Details are available on their home page.

The Media Access Group at , a non-profit service of the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts, will provide both the closed captioning and live description . these guys are the main audio describers in the US. If you see a movie marked DVS, that's their term for AD.

Anyway, enjoy the coverage, and let us know how you got on with the audio described and captioned streams in the comments below.

Last night, the centrepiece of the opening gala at the world renowned was a claymation film by Australian animator called (warning: this official site is extremely Flash intensive).

Written and directed by Elliot, the film tells the tale of an improbable friendship between two very different people: Mary Daisy Dinkle (voiced by Muriel's Wedding star Toni Collette), a lonely Australian eight-year-old, and Max Jerry Horovitz (Philip Seymour Hoffman, who starred in Capote), an overweight middle-aged New Yorker who has Asperger's Syndrome. The story is narrated by Australian legend Barry Humphries, who is perhaps better known for his alter ego Dame Edna Everage.

The press release says that the movie "spans 20 years and two continents" and is "a journey that explores friendship, autism, taxidermy, psychiatry, alcoholism, obesity, kleptomania, sexual difference, religious difference, agoraphobia and more". Gosh. All I know, however, from a brief glance at the film's site, is that the animation is fantastic and incredibly evocative. At a length of 92 minutes, the film has apparently taken Adam Elliot an arduous and painstaking five years to make.

Elliot seems to have an interest in disability throughout his various animations. In 2004, he won an Oscar for an animated short called (official site), about a man with Tourette's Syndrome, which you can still see in full on . Also on the popular video-sharing site is another short film called , about a relative of the director who had cerebral palsy. Check out the videos - they're great to pass some time this weekend if the weather is going to be as cold and grey as it has been recently.

You can find out more about Mary and Max by watching on the Sundance site, which includes an interview with Adam Elliot. There's no word on a UK release date for the film itself yet, but we'll be sure to let you know when we do ...

I spotted this summary of a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Bristol audio news story and, well, maybe it's just me, but something seemed slightly odd about it:

A blind man from Westbury-on-Trym has been selected to represent the UK at the IFDS World Blind Sailing Championships in New Zealand.

Now obviously, since the story is on the Bristol site, the interest here lies in the fact that the man who is going to represent the country hails from the Bristol area. Which is good. Because I'd hate to think that the main talking point is in fact about a blind man being selected to take part in a blind sports tournament. Which he would, wouldn't he?

I'm still waiting hopefully for a headline about a sighted person taking part in a blind sports event. Now that really would be news.

US President-elect Barack Obama is due to take the oath of office during the pomp and circumstance of the inauguration ceremony next Tuesday (20 January). Although most of the seats at the event are set aside for VIPs, upwards of two million people are expected to crowd Washington DC's National Mall in order to be part of such an historic occasion. Indeed, according to , the inaugural committee wants to make Obama's inauguration one of the most accessible in US history.

But just how accessible will it be to disabled people? There are amongst disability groups that all the various crowd control and security measures put in place for the event will make it very difficult for anyone with disabilities, whether it's overcrowding whilst trying to use the lifts on the subway (since escalators are less than accessible for many people with mobility impairments), having to walk or wheel significant distances because of road closures in the capital, or being required to negotiate bumpy or grassy surfaces in order to get to the audience areas on the National Mall.

Christian Kent, the assistant general manager of the Washington Metro, has advised people that "if they have any concern about being able to navigate or endure these conditions, they should avoid traveling into downtown Washington on these days". However, George Akembe of the District of Columbia Center for Independent Living - himself a wheelchair user - has responded by saying: "if this is supposed to be the most accessible inauguration in history, why are they saying disabled people should stay home? You can see the contradiction there ... this is a one-time event that everyone's excited about, and there should be equal accessibility".

Are you a disabled American reader of Ouch! who is planning to attend the inauguration? How are you planning to cope with the seemingly inevitable access hurdles? Or maybe you wanted to be there, but have been put off by the rather disability-unfriendly warnings coming out of Washington DC? Let us know your views in the comments.

Stevie Wonder has spoken out about blind people's access to the latest gadgets which use touchscreens. Appearing at the CES conference in Las Vegas he said:

"We don't want to hold up technological progress. What we're saying is, think about the interface and set it up in such a way that it's simple.

Which sounds very sensible. The superstar is already said to be using a Blackberry and a talking iPod Nano. But, as I've talked about previously on this blog, touchscreens pose a particular challenge as they don't offer the tactile feel of devices with buttons.
The good news for Stevie and others is that there is lots of interesting work happening on this front. In a fascinating piece, published last week , blind Google engineer TV Raman described a system he has developed for the G1 smartphone which puts a dial pad on the screen wherever he touches it. Whilst Nokia are working on a so-called , which combines a touch controls with 0.1mm of screen travel to create what is described as a "real-keyboard touchscreen experience". So it seems gadget makers are beginning to respond to Stevie's plea but there's still a long way to go. Read more about Stevie Wonder's appearance in .

When it comes to cute disabled animal stories on Ouch's blog, I'm regarded as the owner of that particular subject. So I proudly present to you the first example of such an entry for 2009 - although this one is more 'disability-related' than about a specific disabled pet.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, prepare to grin inanely, get teary-eyed and go "aww!" very loudly as you meet .

Yoko is a trainee guide dog, and Leo is a little tabby cat whose job it is (in partnership with his sister, Nina) to tease the pupils at the Guide Dog Training School and thus make sure that the star pupils are not distracted by their feline foes and start trying to chase them up trees.

I am going to stare at those pictures all day.

After seven and a half years working on Ouch, I've developed a finely-tuned skill. I can spot a mention of the word 'disabled' in a web page from about fifty paces. This can be annoying, for instance when I'm relaxing at the weekend and thinking about anything but work, but obviously it comes in useful at other moments. Like when I spotted in The Times about Hamburger University.

What's Hamburger University, I hear you ask? Well, it's the Illinois-based global training centre for McDonald's, the multinational burger chain. (Other burger chains are available. Please remember to eat burgers responsibly and in moderation. Et cetera, et cetera and so on and so forth.)

But here's the line that caught my eye:

There are roleplays: how to interact with disabled customers, blind customers, aggressive customers, children ...

So this means, in theory, that the next time you succumb to temptation and nip in to buy a Super Whopper Double Bumper Mega Cheese 'n' Baconburger with Fries and Extra Thick Milkshake, you will not be stared at oddly if you're a wheeler, a wobbler, a blindie or indeed any other impairment.

Now come on, you've got to admit that this is the sort of information you need to know ...

Incandescent lightbulbs ... it was a pun, see? Oh, never mind.

Right, well, quite the strangest news story going around in these cash-strapped times is that the UK is experiencing something of an unseemly consumer rush on lightbulbs. Yes, lightbulbs of all things. The old incandescent filament-style bulbs are selling out in their hundreds, leaving shelves empty all over the country. Why? Well, it's because they're about to be banned. The brightest 100 watt ones are going first, to be followed by all the other wattages (60 watt is my favourite, but then I'm a bit of a traditionalist) over the next three years to 2012.

It's all part of moves by the European Union to protect the environment. Their new regulations have set minimum energy efficiency targets for bulbs, meaning that the old-fashioned filament sort is out, and we're going to have the modern energy-efficient variety. The EU claims that this legislation will save the rough equivalent of the energy consumption of Romania.

You'd think, then, that in our increasingly environmentally aware society, this move would be welcomed with open arms. But no, there have been vocal protests - and not just from perhaps rather more predictable quarters such as the , which has been giving away 25,000 traditional lightbulbs in outrage at further European intervention in British affairs.

Of more interest to us here at Ouch! are the concerns being raised by various groups of disabled people, who say that the demise of the humble incandescent bulb will adversely affect them - from partially sighted people who rely on the brightness of 100 watt bulbs, which cannot be equalled with the energy-efficient alternatives, to those with conditions such as epilepsy, migraines and lupus, where it's claimed that the more modern bulbs can worsen their symptoms.

Last night, Radio 4's PM programme featured a short debate on the matter between , the Conservative MEP spokesman on Environment and Health, and Dr Matt Prescott of . You can still listen again to the programme on iPlayer - go to 48:52 for the start of the item.

Mr Bowis pointed out that this legislation will affect a "small but significant number of people" and "would mean pain, would mean disfigurement, would mean panic attacks, would mean inability to go into public places, because they cannot cope with the damage to their particular illness - like lupus, epilepsy or autism - which these new bulbs would cause". He also mentioned possible adverse side-effects for people with psoriasis, eczema, migraines, asperger's and ME. His stance was that the ban should not be halted, but that it should at least be delayed until an adequate alternative to incandescent bulbs is available for those who need it.

On the opposing side, Dr Prescott from Ban the Bulb accepted that there were certain health problems that could arise as a result of the ban, but that targeted medical exemptions could be made - for visually impaired people, for instance, and those with light-sensitivity issues. He maintained, however, that this shouldn't be used as a pretext for keeping the old lightbulbs on the shelves for everyone, which he felt was a danger at the moment.

So with the ban on its way, and the first incandescent bulbs vanishing fast, will such medical exemptions be granted? Are we about to see lightbulbs made available by prescription, and collected from your local high street chemist along with your medication? Or maybe traditional lightbulbs will go underground, onto the black market. Men with ridiculously padded overcoats sidling up to people on street corners, and whispering "Okay guv'nor - I've got 100 watt, 75 watt and 60 watt under 'ere. A special rate to you - just fifty quid for a pair. Can't say fairer than that now, can I?" The mind boggles ...

Are you worried about the imminent ban on incandescent lightbulbs? Is your disability likely to be adversely affected by the energy-efficient bulbs that we're all going to be compelled to use? Tell us what you think in the comments.

Have you heard of 'shared surfaces'? It's the name given to increasing moves by urban planners to make town centres into areas where pedestrians and cars share the same area. No one has right of way, which forces pedestrians, motorists and other road users to make eye contact in order to judge when it's safe to proceed. It was an idea born in mainland Europe, where it was thought that removing traffic lights, pavements and signage would create social spaces and reduce the build-up of traffic.

However, the concept has proved unpopular with certain disabled groups, particularly blind and partially sighted people. With no kerbs to give an obvious delineation between road and pavement, they can often feel extremely unsafe. You can read more about the 'shared surface' schemes, and disabled people's concerns, in from October last year.

Work is being done to address these worries though, and that's where you could come in.

is the beautifully-named acronym for the Pedestrian Accessibility and Movement Environment Laboratory, part of the Accessibility Research Group at University of London. They're currently carrying out research towards an accessible design for 'shared surfaces', and are doing a further series of tests later this month (exact dates yet to be confirmed), so they're looking for disabled people who might like to be involved.

The laboratory is based in the Tufnell Park area of North London. Participants will receive Β£20 for up to 90 minutes of their time, and some help with travel expenses - up to Β£20 worth - may also be available if you enquire further.

To find out more, give Kim Morgan from University College London a call on 020 7679 7962, or email pamela@transport.ucl.ac.uk. Tell 'em Ouch! sent you.

The Saturday Play on Radio 4 is Walter Now. This radio play tells the story of Walter, played by , a character with learning disabilities, who has been through the psychiatric care system. Now a pensioner, he hears of a house share with three other people with learning disabilities. But with Walter being more than twice their age, the play asks: will he be accepted? And will he cope with independent-living?

The play also stars Edmund Davies and Anna-Marie Heslop, actors with learning disabilities from the Theatre Company.

For those Ouch'ers old enough to remember, the play sees Ian McKellen reprising the role of Walter after 26 years, first seen in a controversial film shown on the in 1982.

Back to the present, Walter Now is on Radio 4 this Saturday at 2:30pm. You can also catch it for the following 7 days using the link on the programme page.

Here's something worth your reading time. We constantly hear a lot about disability role models - disabled people whom we should look up to and seek to be more like. But what about, well, those disabled people whom you absolutely don't want to be more like?

That's the subject of Victoria Brignell's new three-part series as part of her in the New Statesman. She's going to be looking at those disabled people who were sinners, baddies, disreputable and - as she frankly describes it - "the most dangerous disabled people of all time". She's starting with Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda and one of the most significant figures in Nazi Germany.

Those of you who follow the weekly Dear Disabled Friend cartoons by our cult doodler Andre Jordan will be sad to hear that the series is now at an end. Fear not, however, because we've got TWO brand new series of doodles from our king of the felt tip pen starting very soon.

In the meantime, those of you who are on the other side of the pond in the USA might like to know that a new book of Andre's doodles has just been published by HarperCollins. It's called Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, and it's a reworked and expanded version of his book If You're Happy And You Know It, which came out in the UK in November 2007.

Available now in all good (American) bookshops, as they say ...

Scottish crime writer is best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. But this week he's got his finger on a new case, raising awareness of Braille. Ian has a personal interest both as a bestselling author and because his son Kit is blind, attending the Royal School for the Blind in Edinburgh. It's all part of a campaign launched alongside the 200th anniversary celebrations, marking two centuries since the creation of the language by Louis Braille.

In this You and Yours Podcast, Ian talks about having his latest novel printed in Braille and the many uses of the language from soup tins to bank statements. Download it now!

Happy new year, Ouchers. While we've been away toasting the start of 2009, it seems that there's been a row brewing over the awards given to various Paralympians in the New Year Honours list (which I wrote about in the last entry).

Although it seemed like many of the gold medal-winning Paralympic athletes from Team GB were given honours of some kind, a closer look at the figures revealed that whilst every Olympic gold medallist was featured in the New Year Honours list, only 18 of the 35 British Paralympic champions secured a gong of some sort.

In The Daily Telegraph last Friday, no less a figure than multi medal-winning Paralympian appeared to criticise this "lack of parity", and suggested the Government should give equal recognition to the achievements of both non-disabled and disabled athletes when London hosts the 2012 Games.

She is quoted as saying:

The reality - and it is surely not right - at the moment is that you have to multi-medal at the Paralympic Games to get a New Years Honours list award. By the time 2012 comes around, we need to get this in order. There is a lack of parity, and we are playing catch-up. When I got my MBE after 1992 [after three gold and one silver medal at the Paralympic Games in Barcelona] there were hardly any Paralympians who ever received honours.

The Telegraph report goes on to reveal some interesting facts and figures Whilst Team GB's Paralympics squad finished second in the medals table with 42 golds - beaten only by China, the host nation - Great Britain's able-bodied Olympians, for all the acclaim they received, came fourth with 19 gold medals. Individual comparisons can be made between Chris Hoy, who received a knighthood for winning three Olympic cycling golds in Beijing, whilst his Paralympic counterpart Darren Kenny, who secured four gold medals, received the lesser award of an OBE. Meanwhile, Rebecca Adlington received an OBE for her two Olympic golds in the pool, but Paralympian swimmer Eleanor Simmonds was given an MBE for her two Olympic golds.

However, after this news report was published, Dame Tanni about the Paralympics standing within the honours system, telling Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales:

This is how the honours system works. I've been hugely honoured in that I've received three honours through the system. I'm hugely supportive of the honours system, I'm part of the decision-making process, albeit at a fairly low level. I think there's an assumption by the public that they look at medals and think, this person has been awarded this medal therefore this is the award they should get. I don't think it works like that. I don't think there's any right or wrong when it comes to the honours system. It all depends on where you are in your career, the magnitude of what's been achieved, whether you'll be around in another four years.

So what do you think? Do you think that Team GB's Paralympians have fared noticeably worse in the New Year Honours list than their Olympic counterparts? Should gold medallists necessarily receive an honour anyway? Share your views in the comments.