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Mar Galcerán makes history as Spain’s first parliamentarian with Down’s syndrome
After being elected to Valencia’s regional assembly, Galcerán says she wants to be seen as a person, not for her disability. The achievement catapults Galcerán to the top of the ranks of the handful of people with Down’s syndrome who have crashed through barriers to enter the world of politics. In 2020, Éléonore Laloux became the first person with the genetic disorder in France to be elected to public office, as a city council member in the northern town of Arras.
BarrierBreak Highlight
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) 2.5 – What’s New?
Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), United States maintains VPAT template and ensures that as accessibility guidelines and standards across the globe are changing, the same is reflected in the VPAT template. In October 2023, WCAG 2.2 was published and ITI’s included the same in VPAT 2.5 template. Let’s find out what are some of the key changes in VPAT 2.5 template.
People Stories
“Making an impact on local communities is where it starts”
In the spring of 2015, the City of Seattle organized a competition and invited teams to “Hack the Commute” by using technology to improve mobility for residents across the city. Among the participants at City Hall was a group of University of Washington students calling themselves Team Hackcessible who had developed a prototype of a web-based trip planning tool called AccessMap. The tool, as envisioned, would combine publicly-sourced and user-submitted data to enable individuals to customize their route around Seattle based on their mobility needs, accounting for factors such as the steepness of hills and the presence or absence of curb cuts.
Top Picks
Echo's portrayal of disability marks a big step forward for Marvel
The groundbreaking Marvel Spotlight miniseries Echo, centers around Maya Lopez, a Deaf Choctaw superhero. However, as many fans know, this series isn’t the first time Marvel has introduced a Deaf or disabled character. There’s Daredevil, who is Blind, Makkari of the Eternals, who is Deaf; and Hawkeye, the star of the series in which Echo first debuted, who is hard of hearing.
Disability Accelerator Initiative Targets ‘The Next Generation Of Radically Inclusive Technology’
There are nearly 1.3 billion people with some form of disability globally, according to the WHO. And despite the fact that an increasing variety of assistive technologies exist, a tiny portion of all those individuals have access to them. Plus, while disability-oriented accelerators, incubators, and other support organizations exist, along with entrepreneurs developing innovative technologies, the ecosystem is fragmented and in need of funding.
Achieve Digital Accessibility at Scale: Audit – Maintain – Comply
BarrierBreak is the Leader in Offshore Digital Accessibility Testing & Consulting. Your trusted adviser and reliable source for accessibility testing solutions. Get in touch with us to ensure your digital solutions conform to WCAG 2.1 & 2.2, Section 508 Testing, and to create a VPAT for your product.