All Posts Tagged With: "civil rights"

Scenes from the Occupy Toronto eviction

November 15th, 2011 • Josh Dehaas

As some protesters pack up, others discuss what to do next

Around 10 a.m. this morning, the City of Toronto posted eviction notices on the benches and fountains in St. James Park telling Occupy Toronto protesters to “remove your tents, structures, equipment and personal belongings” between 12:01 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. It also said: “the City can no longer sanction the appropriation of St. James Park by a relatively small group of people to the exclusion of all others wishing to use the park and to the detriment of those in the vicinity.”

The park has been occupied by members of the anti-greed Occupy Wall Street movement for past 31 days. Protesters were evicted and arrested last night at the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City, although a court order has allowed them back into Zuccotti Park today.

The scene in St. James Park this afternoon was more serene. Under bright sunshine, a handful of protesters chatted about what to do next, trading bets about the likelihood of riot police with tear gas tearing down their encampment at midnight. One man, who gave his name as Bertrand, packed up his tent, adding “it was a gift.” An advertising student from Humber College packed up too.

Others assembled at a microphone in front of St. James Cathedral to discuss what they might do next. The small crowd was doubled in size by journalists, local residents and onlookers in business attire. Meanwhile, an old lady sped through the centre of the park on her motor-scooter, a man jogged through in shorts, and children played in the mud where the grass was killed by tents.

Near the entrance to the park, a young man stood holding a poster of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, shouting out “this is the only permit we need!” A passerby called him a “loser.”

Is Google inaccessible?

March 16th, 2011 • Danielle Webb

A U.S. advocacy group has launched a civil rights challenge, claiming the software is unusable for blind students

Google is the wrong choice for university email, a U.S. advocacy group is charging.

But it’s more than that. They argue that by choosing to outsource university email services to Google, universities are violating the civil rights of vision-impaired students and faculty.

The U.S.-based National Federation of the Blind launched a civil rights challenge against two American universities this week, pointing out that while Google’s free software suite is attractive, it is nearly impossible to use by the blind.

Their position is pretty clear. President Marc Maurer writes:

“Given the many accessible options available, there is no good reason that these universities should choose a suite of applications, including critical email services, that is inaccessible to blind students.

“Worse yet, according to recent data more than half of the American higher education institutions that are outsourcing e-mail to third-party vendors plan to deploy this suite, even though they know that it cannot be used by blind students. Nor can these universities claim ignorance of their legal obligations, since the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education have specifically warned all university presidents against the adoption of inaccessible technology.

“The National Federation of the Blind will not tolerate this unconscionable discrimination against blind students and faculty and callous indifference to the right of blind students to receive an equal education. We urge these higher education institutions to suspend their adoption of Google Apps for Education until it is accessible to all students and faculty, not just the sighted, or to reject Google Apps entirely.”

Canadian universities, though, are in a similar spot. Large schools like the University of Toronto, the University of Alberta and even smaller schools, like Lakehead University, have already signed over their email services to Google.

North of the border, most concerns related to this shift have been about privacy. How much control does a university have over the privacy of its students’ email accounts when they’re based out of servers on U.S. soil? It turns out, not very much.

But those concerns are theoretical. Concerns about accessibility are real, daily and serious for those whose disabilities prevent them from using core services.

Google told the Chronicle of Higher Education that they were meeting with the NFB to improve their product line, but no details or timelines were offered.

The NFB is right to challenge the use of inaccessible software as much as wheelchair-bound students are right to challenge the lack of ramps on campus. Canadian schools should be paying close attention, and working with their students and faculty to ensure that all services — especially critical core services — are available to all.