We would like to acknowledge the following contributors to this month's STAE issue.
The Sterling Creations accessibility team, Jeff N Marquis and Kerry J Harrison who are our resident business consultants, Scott Savoy our managing editor, Christian Robicheau our assistant editor, and Donna J Jodhan our president.
We are especially delighted to have both Jeff N Marquis and Kerry J Harrison as part of our magazine staff and as our resident business experts because of their in depth knowledge and expertise as special needs business consultants.Both Jeff and Kerry have written many articles and they released their last hot selling book called "Untapped Wealth Discovered."This book was released in mid August 2005 and it has already begun to fulfill promises of being dynamite, explosive, and seismic and we are very sure that many of you will find it extremely valuable, useful and informative.Both the U.S and British governments have already given their blessing to this book and several business experts have also jumped on the band wagon.Marquis and Harrison are off to a flying start.
We believe in this book because it is unique in that it can help you to get back on your feet if you suddenly find yourself without a job, if you are looking for ways to put money away for your kids' education, or if you need extra income to help you live more comfortably.The beauty about this book is that it is based solely on realities and logic and not on those fool hardy get rich quick schemes and false and empty promises.
Here are just a few quotes from some U.S government officials and experts to peak your interest.
"Block buster material.This book has the potential to change the way we reduce our costs, increase our revenues, expand our customer base, and stay ahead of our competition."
"If you are looking for safe ways to protect the future of you and your kids then you should pick up a copy of Untapped Wealth Discovered."
"Marquis and Harrison have affectively provided their readers with logical and common sense ways to generate and create business ideas that will work because they are based on markets that exist.Moreover these markets are going to be around for a very long time to come."
"This book is meant to help the little guy.It's a book for almost everyone.The woman, the entrepreneur, the small business owner, and even the retiree and the college student."
"If you want to avoid those get rich quick schemes and keep your money safe then Untapped Wealth Discovered is an absolute must read for you."
Here is what some readers have to say about "Untapped Wealth Discovered."
From Kelly Strasberg vice president of a mid sized computer company in San Francisco:
"As a woman I am really impressed to see that these authors truly understand our plight in the business world. They acknowledge that there is indeed a glass ceiling for women and they show us how to deal with it in a positive way."
From Mark Gregory a foreman who unexpectedly lost his job at a GM plant in Michigan in 2005:
"It's so hard to know what to do when you suddenly find yourself without a job but this book has helped me to deal with things and turn my life around in a very quick time. I'm back on
my feet and making very good money.Enough to be the bread winner once more."
From Rick Stone a small business owner in Washington DC:
"This is the first book that I've come across where the authors don't even mention a single thing about getting rich quickly.Instead, they talk about ways to take advantage of niche markets, lucrative opportunities, and rising demand."
From Melissa Goldatt a stay at home mom in Baltimore Maryland:
"I like this book because it presents fresh new approaches to creating your own employment.It also helps you to evaluate yourself and that's important to mebecause I am seriously thinking of getting into some kind of business to earn some extra income to help out around the house and I don't want to do something new without first examining all of my options."
From Chris Farrell a retired banker in New York:
"I wasn't sure what I would be reading when I bought a copy of this book but I'm sure glad that I did.If anyone is seriously looking to develop a business then this is the book for you.Marquis and Harrison have truly captured the essence of some very important trends and they talk about using these trends to build safe and sound businesses.Something that most of my colleagues should be thinking of before they retire."
From Laura Peterson a professor in business studies in London England:
"I'm glad to see that someone is finally paying attention to women in the business world.After reading this book I am convinced that women can have more than a better chance of being successful in their own businesses."
From Pierre LaPage a recent graduate in Montreal Canada:
"I was just browsing Amazon when I came across "Untapped Wealth Discovered" and the cover looked interesting enough so I bought it because it did not cost too much.It's cool!It has some very interesting techniques.It does not BS you into false hope and the authors don't try to fool you with big terms and cute phrases.No smoke screens here."
The second edition of "Untapped Wealth Discovered" was released on April 28 and the excitement is already building at break neck speed as these two authors have already been booked solid for the next year in promotional appearances across North America, Britain, and Europe.
The second edition comes as a result of tremendous demand from both readers and clients as well as from the American, British, and Canadian governments.The first edition sold over 50,000 copies in just six months and the experts are openly predicting that the second edition will probably sell well over a quarter million copies within the first year.
Mr. Marquis is a motivational speaker and a highly paid consultant to both the U.S and British governments.He has over 20 years of special needs business consulting and is absolutely delighted to be co-authoring "Untapped Wealth Discovered" with Ms Harrison.His time is filled with speaking engagements, consulting, and traveling around the world to help set up new ventures.
Ms Harrison also has over 20 years in the special needs business-consulting field and her expertise is constantly in demand and among other things she works as a consultant to the U.S government, she is a motivational speaker, and she finds time to work on other projects for large corporate clients, small businesses, and even entrepreneurs.
These two are indeed an unbeatable combination and if you'd like them to help you keep up to date with up to the minute news then you should visit www.untappedwealth.com and check out the business desk.There you will find daily postings by Jeff, Kerry, and their fellow consultants and you can view all of this at no charge.
If you are looking for easy ways to keep abreast with news flashes, news from off the wires, and important developments and trends in the business world then the business desk is definitely for you.
Hello there!This month we would like to focus on the topic of removing road blocks to accessibility and with this in mind we would like to publish an article that we found on the Internet a while ago.At a time when so many consumers are screaming o so loudly for websites to be made more accessible we thought that this article would be appropriate.We would like to add our voice to this growing demand for more accessible websites because we cannot reiterate how important it is and how important it is going to continue to be for website owners and developers to make their websites more accessible to meet the demands of not just persons of special needs but also everyone and every consumer as a whole.We hope you find this article of value to you.
Removing road blocks to accessibility
By Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research
IT-Director.com (UK), March 15, 2006
Several recent surveys have shown that the majority of websites are not
fully accessible. This sorry state of affairs can be explained by various
road-blocks in the development process:
Oblivious: most developers and commissioners of web sites are oblivious of
the need to make web sites accessible to people with disabilities. Any web
site developed in this environment is very unlikely to be accessible.
Complaisance: even if people are aware of the issue many will ignore it as
being unimportant or irrelevant to their business.
Complexity: even when people want to commission an accessible site they find
it is complex to define their requirements to ensure that the site will be
accessible and remain so.
Ignorance: website developers have not been trained and do not understand
the accessibility requirements nor do they understand the related standards,
techniques and tools.
User Testing: web sites need to be accessible to people with a wide variety
of disabilities. This makes user testing essential but at the same time
difficult to organise effectively.
Degeneration: even a web site that was accessible when it was first built is
likely to degenerate as new function and content is added. The maintenance
process needs to guard against this trend.
An investigation by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), in the UK,
highlighted the problem. The Commission then decided that the complexity of
commissioning accessible web sites was a major road block.
The British Standards Institution (BSI), in conjunction with the DRC, has
developed 'PAS 78-A Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible
websites'. It should be an essential read for anyone involved with web site
creation and is exceptional value at #30.
The document covers six key areas:
The accessible website process-guidance on building an accessible website
from commissioning and developing it, through to publishing and maintaining
it. This also includes guidance on contracting web design and accessibility
auditing services.
Accessibility policy-its importance and how to define this for the website.
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines-their importance in the
context of accessibility issues, what they mean and which ones to follow.
Involvement of disabled people-in the requirements gathering, conceptual
design and testing processes.
Conformance checking-guidance on adhering to it.
Additional accessibility provisions-elements additional to conformance to
the WAI guidelines that can be useful but should not be considered
essential.
The Bloor Research Accessibility Practice plans to use this document as a
framework for more detailed research covering the standards, practices,
services, technologies and products required to develop and run web sites.
PAS stands for Publicly Available Specification which means that it is a
guide, and not a standard, but that in no way detracts from the importance
or usefulness of the document.
After an organisation has decided to have an accessible site the first
question is how to go about the commissioning. The problem has been that
information about the requirements, standards and development processes have
been spread across multiple organisations and it has been very difficult for
anyone new to the area to feel that they had a complete and coherent
understanding. The PAS puts all the essentials together with cross
references to the detailed sources. To research the area from scratch and
gain the same body of knowledge would take weeks, if not months, and would
still leave the researcher with the nagging feeling they have missed
something.
The PAS was developed by an expert team, led by Julie Howell of the Royal
National Institute of the Blind (RNIB), including representatives of:
Abiltynet, BBC, Cabinet Office, Cxpartners (representing the Usability
Professional Association), IBM, Tesco.com and University College London
(UCL). The quality of this team and the reviewing of the document by over a
hundred other experts ensured that the quality is high. The only caveat is
that it has not been road-tested yet so there will be some improvements,
corrections and additions over time. The plan is that the PAS will be
reviewed formally in two years and the lessons learnt will be incorporated.
This Guide is probably as significant as the W3C Web Accessibility
Initiative that it complements. It is relevant to any website development
anywhere in the world and should have a readership far wider than the shores
Hello there!This month we'd like to focus on a recent survey that asked questions about jobs.This survey was carried out in the United States and here's what we found:
Some of the top jobs listed were software engineer, college professor, financial adviser, human resources adviser, physician's assistant, pharmacist, and psychologist.Some of the factors listed by respondents as to their preference for their ideal job included money, fulfillment, and happiness.
According to the experts we should pay close attention to these types of jobs because if we take the time to analyze them we would see that most of them are jobs that probably don't require persons to be in too stressful a workplace.Many of these jobs are also very people oriented except maybe for the software engineer's job.At a time when stress in the workplace is becoming more and more of a concern many people are making real efforts to shy away from stress and move into jobs that are less stressful.That's not to say that the jobs listed above are not stressful but they are probably much less stressful than many others.
Many Americans are also gravitating towards jobs that will allow them to spend more time with their families as well as have more time for themselves and the jobs listed above would certainly give them more opportunity to do so.A college professor's job would certainly give someone more time off than the regular 9 to 5 job.A financial adviser's job would probably offer more flexibility when it comes to scheduling of work to be done.A software engineer's job would probably offer more fulfillment than most jobs as well as an opportunity to be more creative and imaginative.Here's what the survey revealed re analysis of the jobs listed above.
On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 was highest, 3 neutral, and 5 lowest, here's how most Americans valued these jobs in terms of money, fulfillment, and happiness.
Software engineer -
Money 1
Fulfillment 1
Happiness 2.
College professor -
Money 2
Fulfillment 1
Happiness 1.
Financial adviser -
Money 1
Fulfillment 2
Happiness 2.
Human resources adviser -
Money 1
Fulfillment 1
Happiness 2.
Physician's assistant -
Money 2
Fulfillment 2
Happiness 2.
Pharmacist -
Money 1
Fulfillment 1
Happiness 2.
Psychologist -
Money 1
Fulfillment 1
Happiness 2.
From the soap box
A great potential for the accessibility requiring market in Europe
July 2006
By Scott Savoy
Hello there!Summer is here and the living is easy!I know that many of you are probably either enjoying your summer vacation or getting ready to go off on your vacation.Whatever the case, I would like to bring your attention to a potentially very lucrative market.This market holds all the qualities of great opportunity, it is lucrative, has the potential to grow immensely in consumer demand and consumer growth, and its influence is poised to take a huge spiral for the very foreseeable future.The following article backs up my opinion.
There are several companies who are already taking note of this rapidly growing market and if you want to beat your competitors to the punch then I urge you to pay close attention to this article.
A great potential for the accessibility requiring market in Europe
By Theodore Koumelis
Travel Daily News (UK), April 07, 2006
Research by University of Surrey as part of the OSSATE project demonstrates
that people with accessibility requirements have the desire and the right to
travel like everyone else and to enjoy travel andleisure experiences.
However their travel experiences are still highly restricted by physical
accessibility barriers and information barriers such as a general lack of
information or poorly designed web sites. The reason why disabled people and
generally all people with accessibility requirements are not served
adequately by the travel and tourism industry is a combination of missing
tourism product supply and inadequate or missing information.
The lack of reliable information is regarded as one of the major causes that
prevent disabled people and others with access requirements from going on
holiday. So far the tourism industry has hardly recognised the potential and
the value of barrier-free or inclusive tourism design. As long as the
tourism industry will not realise that barrier-free tourism is an indicator
for quality and competitive advantage, it does not attract the considerable
market-share of the growing customer base comprised of disabled people,
elderly people and all citizens demanding accessibility.
It is estimated that they are around 600 to 900 million citizens with
impairments Worldwide. Looking at the European figures alone, the total
number of the population aged 16 to 64 with long-standing health problems or
disabilities (LSHPD) is estimated to account for more than 45 million
citizens.
However, these numbers do not indicate the total market size. To determine
the actual market size of accessibility, the focus has to be placed on all
types of impairments as well as on the all other groups that have
accessibility requirements. In particular, the elderly population represents
an important market for accessibility as there is a strong and positive
correlation between ageing and disablement.
Given that the elderly population shares many of the access barriers faced
by people with impairments, the accessibility requiring market represents an
enormous segment. Focusing only on the population with impairments and
elderly citizens in Europe, the market analysis conducted by the OSSATE
(One-Stop-Shop for Accessible Tourism in Europe) has revealed that that
there are more than 127 million European citizens that have explicit
accessibility requirements.
In calculating the benefits to be accrued by the tourism industry when
serving this market, the same study took into account that around 70% of the
general demand for accessibility has both the economic and physical
abilities to travel. For estimating the impact of the accessibility
requiring market, it is also important to realise that persons with access
needs seldom travel alone and a multiplier effect of 0.5 has to be applied.
Thus, by ignoring the needs of the accessibility requiring population,
tourism suppliers are very likely to loose the business of their friends and
family members as well. Thus, the potential travel market is expected to
exceed 134 million European citizens, with expected tourism revenues
surpassing 83 billion Euros for European travellers alone.
In addition to people with impairments and the elderly population, it has to
be taken into account that also able-bodied citizens have accessibility
needs that have to be catered for. There is no clear line between those who
are, and those who are not, labelled as 'disabled'. Ability (or level of
disability) exists on a continuum where some people have exceptionally high
ability, others have mid-range ability, and some have very low ability.
Additionally, a person who might have low ability in one area (e.g.
mobility) might have exceptionally high ability in another (e.g.
intelligence or seeing). Often people who have temporary physical
limitations do not see themselves as disabled and lack knowledge and
expertise to cater for their own needs. Not only is there no clear line
between those who do or do not have a disability or limitation, but almost
everyone tends to lose ability as they age or at various times during the
normal course of their life.
Most people, at some point, break a bone and need to use crutches or some
other aid, care for a young child or carry heavy and awkward suitcases. The
"average" person often has "non-average" needs or limitations. In addition
to supporting those who have permanent disabilities or limitations,
inclusive/ universal design can make the transition to being older or having
a temporary injury both easier and more affordable, while offering the
option of living independently. Since everyone has accessibility
requirements, the actual figure of the population demanding accessible
design and consequently information on accessibility is therefore expected
to be higher. Given the spectrum of people requiring accessibility, it can
be seen that the market for accessibility is not homogenous but multifaceted
and wide-ranging.
With the establishment of the OSSATE-project (One-Stop-Shop for Accessible
Tourism in Europe), important steps have been initiated to create a new
pan-European e-service which will allow disabled citizens, their families
and others with accessibility needs to find information about existing and
new tourism products and services throughout Europe that are accessible for
them.
The OSSATE service will implement a multi-platform, multi-lingual, digital
information service providing national and regional content on accessible
tourist venues, sites and accommodation. The service will deliver
information via an accessible (WAI-compliant) Web portal and mobile phone
platforms. The business identifies and employs a common set of protocols and
standards to enable search and retrieval of standardised data on
accessibility of the physical environment, facilities and services offered
by providers.
Tourist organisations and individual providers are invited to input their
own data directly to the system. As could be seen from the market analysis,
making tourist destinations accessible for all visitors is not a 'minority
issue' as persons with varying levels of accessibility requirements
represent a significant part of the population and the demand for accessible
tourism products and services will grow substantially over the next 25 years
due to the ageing population. It will depend on the tourism industry to
respond to this potential with the development of a coherent inclusive
strategy to adequately target this market. While the removal of
environmental barriers represents the greatest challenge to society,
information dissemination about currently accessible destinations appears to
be the most effective immediate solution for opening tourism opportunities
Hello there!This month I'd like to zoom in on an article that I received from Mark Richards in England.I chose this article because it's near and dear to my heart and as a visually impaired person I hope that this article help to spark some interest and action on the part of our web designers and developers.
Thank you Mark.
Web designers still failing disabled people
By John Coutts
The Guardian (UK), March 15, 2006
Broken links, disabled back buttons, the Flash intro - everybody has a web
bugbear. For most net users, trying to navigate a badly designed website
means irritation. For disabled people, particularly those with a visual
impairment or who find it difficult to use a mouse, bad design means many
sites are out of bounds.
New guidance, which came into effect last week, aims to boost social
inclusion for disabled people by ensuring sites are designed with
accessibility in mind. PAS 78 sets out best practice for organisations
commissioning public-facing websites and is the result of a year-long
collaboration between the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and the British
Standards Institution.
"It's easy for designers and commissioners to be seduced by the
opportunities that software provides to create visually stunning designs,
while forgetting about the audience," says Julie Howell, digital policy
development manager for the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) and
technical author of the new guidance. "One of the main principles of PAS 78
is the creation of an accessibility policy. Site commissioners should think
about the audience at the beginning of the design process and should put
into writing a clear policy on who they are trying to reach and how they
intend to ensure that those people are reached."
There are almost 10 million disabled people in the UK and millions more are
affected by impairments brought on by ageing. Some may rely on screen reader
software, which converts web text to speech, or allows it to be read with a
braille display. Others may have trouble using a mouse and depend on the tab
key. But these basic requirements are often overlooked when sites are
designed: screen readers can't handle text displayed as graphics, while
mouse-only navigation rules out the use of keyboard controls.
Involve the community
The World Wide Web Consortium, the international body responsible for
standards, produces guidance through its Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
Basic rules include keeping content and structure separate and providing
documents that can be used even if the user cannot see or hear. The UK
guidance is designed to work with WAI recommendations but it emphasises that
commissioners must understand the need for accessibility and the importance
of involving disabled people in the process.
DRC commissioner Michael Burton says: "PAS 78 provides a route map. A lot of
it is about what developers should do, but an equally important part is what
commissioners should do - ultimately, the legal, moral and commercial
responsibility lies with them."
Making websites accessible is a legal requirement under the Disability
Discrimination Act (DDA), and service providers must ensure that disabled
people can use their sites. This position was clarified by the DRC in 2002.
But little progress has been made. The DRC has found that more than 80% of
websites surveyed failed to uphold basic accessibility requirements, while
research carried out by the Society of IT Management last year showed that
only one in seven English local authorities met the WAI's conformance level
A standard.
Service providers face prosecution if websites are not accessible, although
this has not happened in the UK. The RNIB has brought two actions against
website service providers, both of which were settled out of court. The DRC
has the power to support litigants, but cannot initiate prosecutions.
The new guidance is set to become the de facto standard although using it is
not compulsory. But with web content trickling down to mobile phones,
interactive TV and handheld computers, there are now also commercial reasons
for considering the way sites are designed.
7 If you'd like to comment on any aspect of Technology Guardian, send your
Greetings all!We are now into the summer season and with it comes the many garage sales throughout our neighborhoods.This month I'd like to pass along some tips on how to hold garage sales that can maximize your revenues and minimize your costs.Before starting though you should keep in mind that almost everyone and their brother chooses to hold garage sales during the spring and summer so your objective should be to hold a garage sale that is necessary, is held at the right time, and is well run.Before giving you these tips I'd also like to remind you that when holding a garage sale you need to pay extra attention to those potential identity thieves who use garage sales as a means of gathering info on you.
So now here are the tips:
Do not sell big ticket items as most Americans would prefer to buy these items from reputable stores that can offer guarantees and warrantees.
Do not sell things like cribs and strollers and high chairs as the safety requirements for these types of items are constantly changing.
Do not sell clothes that require the buyer to try on before buying.
Hold your garage sale on weekends or on evenings so as to maximize the number of potential customers who can attend your sale.
Write prices clearly on your items so that they can easily be seen by your potential buyers.
Hole your garage sales at the same time as your neighbors if possible so that your buyers can have more of a variety to choose from and that both you and your neighbors can look out for each other.
There you have it.Happy summer.
Letters to the editor
July 2006
Hi there!This month we have a few letters to publish.
From Dominic Vargos of Miami Florida:
Wow!I just bought the book Untapped Wealth Discovered and I highly recommend that you buy it too.This book is dynamite, explosive, and makes perfect sense to me when it comes to finding those niche markets that are filled with lots of opportunities.
From Ruth Cole of Atlanta:
I'd like to know if there really exists a glass ceiling for women.I say yea, but my hubby says no.
From Chip Gross of Kansas City Missouri:
I'm a writer who wants to know how one goes about publishing a book.I have a book to publish and I'm looking for a ghost writer to help me write it, publish it, and sell the whole thing.
From Lucy Luv in Manchester England:
I'm so happy to see that the staff at this magazine is paying attention to what's going on in Britain.We here are always happy whenever someone in North America picks up our news and views.Jolly good to the staff at STAE!
From Mike Reed in Princeton New Jersey:
I'd like to know how one goes about opening up a translation business.I have a diploma in Spanish translation and I'm looking for someone to show me the ropes.They keep telling me that there are many possibilities but I need help to find them.
From Hans Clingberg in Amsterdam:
I'd like to visit America some day soon but I don't know how to find some travel agency that can help me out as I am in a wheel chair and require special services.Are there any travel agencies out there that specialize in helping persons with special needs?
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Notes
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All submissions are reviewed and you will be notified if yours is chosen.If your submission is chosen we will print it upon receipt of payment.
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Are your customers constantly complaining that your website is either too difficult to navigate or access?Are they saying that they have to wait for such a long time when trying to access your website?Or are your cell phone customers unable to access your website with their cell phones because there are just too many icons or graphics?
If you are looking for ways to improve access to your websites, improve the content of your documents, emails, faxes, letters, and proposals, then visit www.sterlingcreations.ca.
If you are looking for skilled and creative writers to help you craft and write your ideas, proof read and edit your documents then visit www.sterlingcreations.ca and go to the ghostwriters' page and then you will find a variety of services that are designed to help you.
If you are looking for new business ideas for yourself, your kids, or even a friend then visit www.untappedwealth.com and there you will be treated to a collection of free ideas and information and you will have an opportunity to purchase either a hard or electronic copy of "Untapped Wealth Discovered" written by Jeff N Marquis and Kerry J Harrison.You will also find up to the minute information on the business desk page, a list of very informative articles on some really important strategies on the top business strategies page, plus much more.
