AccessNow Blog
The official AccessNow blog where we share articles
about accessible travel, tech, news, company updates and more.
Oh my GAAD
We’ve heard the facts - people with disabilities around the world have dramatically lower employment rates than non disabled people. It's not because disabled people aren't smart enough or qualified enough, but because we still face a wide range of barriers as a...
Incredible Disabled Women to Follow on Social Media
At AccessNow we treat everyday as women’s day so today we want to continue to celebrate all the women making the future accessible and inclusive. To those who demand change, and fight for progress, those who push boundaries and refuse to take no for an answer: may we...
Bitmoji Finally Adds Wheelchair Options
An estimated of 1% of the world's population, or just over 65 million people, need a wheelchair on a daily basis. After years of grumbles from the disability community, popular avatar app Bitmoji has finally added wheelchair options for users. Simply type in...
How to Add Alt Text to Facebook Photos
Facebook uses automatic alternative (alt) text to provide a visual description of any image posted. While this is helpful and convenient, you should still consider replacing this text to provide a better description of the image. It allows you to describe the image...
New national partnership focuses on improving accessibility on The Great Trail of Canada
Trans Canada Trail (TCT) and AccessNow are excited to announce a new partnership aimed at increasing accessibility on trails across Canada. By working together on initiatives that lead to information being shared via the AccessNow app, Canadians will be able to...
Black Disabled Leaders in History
In celebration of #BlackHistoryMonth, we're recognizing the intersectionality of the civil rights movement and disability rights movement. These two communities faced similar problems and worked together to demand changes in society as a whole. Here's a list of Black...
Free Online Courses on Disability Studies
Awareness starts with education, and with awareness comes action. Whether you're already immersed in the community or are at the beginning of your advocacy journey, here are a few courses on disability studies to help further your understanding. These courses go over...
Betakit Podcast – Black Swan #34: The perils of bad design
For the final interview of the year, our founder Maayan Ziv has a candid discussion with Douglas Soltys, Editor in Chief at Betakit, and Rob Kenedi, Entreprenur in Residence at TWG, about the "perils of bad design" and how we are building our world to be both...
2020: A Year In Review
While 2020 was pretty shit for most of us and brought a lot of challenges with it, this year also blatantly highlighted changes that can and need to be make within our society. These days we are all living with a sense of limited access, whether you have a disability...
Disabled-led Small Businesses and Brands to Shop from and Support
Whether you're looking for gifts this holiday season or all-year long, choosing to shop small can make a huge impact not just to the business itself but to your own community. It's better for the environment compared to the carbon footprints of larger companies...
AccessNow wins Governor General Award
I’ve often said that the work we do at AccessNow is not about me but about enabling and empowering our entire community of people with disabilities, activists, advocates and allies to do more and reach new heights. Our platform is about vocalizing the needs and rights...
How to be an ally for the disability community
There are 1.5 billion people on the planet with disabilities, and allyship is an important part of making the world more accessible and inclusive. Whether you are already doing your part or have never thought about these issues before, here are 8 legit ways to show...
How we fought American Airlines and won
photo credit: John MorrisOver the past few weeks we have worked hard to rally together after American Airlines announced a new discriminatory policy that banned wheelchairs weighing more than 300lbs from their aircrafts. After hearing this news, I was outraged. As a...
How to Add a Review on AccessNow
To add a review on the mobile app: 1. Open AccessNow App. Click on "Add" on the bottom menu to add a review. 2. On the search bar, type in the name of the place you want to review to. A list of search results will show up. Select the name of the place you want to add...
What we can learn from the disabled community during COVID-19
EPISODE DESCRIPTION:A lot of us haven’t thought about the fact that the way we’re experiencing the world in the midst of a deadly virus, might actually just be every day in the life of a disabled person, even before a pandemic. Maayan Ziv, disability rights activist...
12 TikTok Accounts Breaking Barriers for the Disability Community
Love it or hate it but TikTok is taking over. It is the leading destination for short-form mobile videos with over 1 billion users and 800 million monthly active users. Unlike Instagram's curated highlight reel, TikTok is "more real and raw and comedic." The app's...
Canadian company AccessNow wins Novartis Innovation Prize for Assistive Tech
Initiated in late 2019, the Novartis Innovation Prize: Assistive Tech for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) identified and encouraged technology ideas from all over the world with the aim to improve mobility, accessibility and daily life for people living with MS AccessNow...
#AccessFromHome Stories: Gabriella Carafa
Gabriella is social worker in Toronto. In this interview she shares her experience during COVID-19: what's it like for her as a person with a disability working in health care and how COVID-19 has highlighted some issues that need to be addressed. How has your life...
#AccessFromHome Stories: Naz Rahman
Content creator and autism advocate Naz Rahman shares her experience during COVID-19, the challenges her family faces, and how #AccessFromHome has enabled their family to connect with the community.
#AccessFromHome Stories: Liz & Leona
Poem by Sunny Liz: It’s a safe soft place to fall for an embrace of tenderness as love, to be insecure from has been given, things that Can’t be changed When all we need is a bear hug, and a little sweetness that we stir in the pot, Turn off the news put down the...
How to Add Alt Text to Instagram Photos
The internet is super visual. Platforms like Instagram have become central to how we communicate but posting a photo can also be inherently inaccessible, unless we are aware of how to be intentionally inclusive. Alternative text or “alt text” helps to describe and...
#AccessFromHome Stories: Kelcie Miller-Anderson
Kelcie Miller-Anderson is a social entrepreneur and environmentalist living with Mitochondrial Disease + EDS(3) + MCAS. She is based in Calgary and speaks to future leaders and on her environmental startup, MycoRemedy. In this interview, Kelcie shares her experience...
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