BART receives California Digital Inclusion Award
Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) is among the winners of this year’s California Digital Inclusion Awards, which celebrate companies and organizations that are making their websites accessible to people with disabilities.
"Websites are the virtual ‘front door’ for most businesses and organizations today," said Dmitri Belser, Executive Director of the Center for Accessible Technology. "Making websites accessible is a logical step in the inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of society, including the digital revolution."
The Center for Accessible Technology in Berkeley developed the California Digital Inclusion Celebration as a way of bringing together companies and organizations that are working on improving access to websites. The Center provides consulting on website accessibility, and works to enhance awareness of the issue of website accessibility.
"Practical website accessibility is ongoing work," said Timothy Moore, BART’s website manager. "Accessibility standards and automated evaluation tools only go so far. So we’re grateful to have experts like the Center for Accessible Technology helping us, and receiving this recognition is truly an honor."
"We’re proud to sponsor the California Digital Inclusion Celebration" said Susan Walters, Senior Vice President of the California Emerging Technology Fund. "This event recognizes people with disabilities are still at risk of being left behind and technology access is the number one issue for this community in the twenty-first century." The California Emerging Technology Fund has underwritten the entire cost of the Program, which culminates in an awards ceremony that will take place Thursday, November 19th in Berkeley.
This year’s winners are:
• TechSoup Global, for Accessible Multimedia Content
• Intel Corporation, for The Intel® Reader Website
• San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), for Low Vision and Screen Reader Accessibility
About the Center for Accessible Technology
The Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) provides access to assistive technology solutions for children and adults with disabilities. CforAT works directly with clients; consults with school districts on accommodations for children with disabilities; provides job accommodations for adults with disabilities; and offers consulting services on accessible websites, user testing by people with disabilities and product testing services.
About the California Emerging Technology Fund
The mission of the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) is to close the Digital Divide and ensure that California is a global leader in the use of broadband technology (high-speed access to the Internet). The California Public Utilities Commission directed the establishment of CETF in approving the mergers of SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI in 2005. AT&T and Verizon are contributing a total of $60 million in seed capital to advance broadband deployment and adoption. CETF is a non-profit public-benefit corporation.