Ö÷²¥´óÐã

Brian Smith wrote to the Ouch inbox, telling us about his blog called .
He says, "we are a group of collaborators looking for ways by which we can foster a culture of belonging and thereby affect a social revolution to end the isolation and loneliness of people with disabilities."

The blog is fairly Canada based, but reading through the posts, there is a good amount of generic information and it features enough stories of interest to make the weblog worth a look.

As time goes by, I'd like to think that the world is slowly coming to the realisation that making things as accessible as possible works for all. Obviously, having a building physically accessible isn't just good for those with a mobility impairment, but for those with pushchairs, trolleys, and older members of society. Now, has recognised that making something extensively visual into an audiodescribed podcast, won't just keep blind people happy, but also those who might not have time to sit in front of their TVs and want to "watch" it while cleaning the house or driving their car. Hurrah for

Wouldn't it be just peachy if they would do the same thing with EastEnders?

We've got news of a new campaign being organised by Shape Arts, which aims to improve access to the arts across London. The "" campaign is being launched on the 21st September at the Unicorn Theatre and Shape Arts have certainly got some big names behind the project; it's being launched by Michael Lynch, the Chief Executive of the South Bank Centre.

Also being launched on Thursday is - an accessible booking service for arts events across the city. Some of the benefits of membership, which costs £25 per year include:

• Reduced price tickets at theatres and concert venues
• Teams of volunteer assistants to help overcome transport obstacles getting to events
• Assistance in booking the right seat - for example, an aisle seat or one with level access

In addition, Shape are also organising training for venues who want to put all this into practice. They're running training courses for front of house staff, box office staff, marketing staff who want to make sure their communications are accessible, and HR staff for theatres and concert venues employing disabled members of staff.

If you want to know more about membership of Shape Tickets, visit or email bookings@shapearts.org.uk. Venues wanting to know more about which training courses are relevant for them can contact Gerry on geraldine@shapearts.org

Tonight sees part one of the much-trailed and anticipated Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the... Manic Depressive.

Stephen was diagnosed as having manic depression - also known as bipolar disorder - eleven years ago. Follow him as he takes an emotional yet entertaining journey to help us understand the condition which drives those who have it from extreme highs to crippling and often suicidal lows.

Follow the above link to find related content on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's health site including personal diaries and films from people with bipolar. Also, why not check out Ouch's stories from Electroboy and our monthly columns from Liz Main - both of whom have personal experience of the condition.

As a certain contestant from this year's Big Brother might say, "Who IS she?". PAMELA isn't a person, though: it's an acronym. It stands for the Pedestrian Accessibility and Movement LAboratory at the University College London.

describe PAMELA as follows:

"As well as studying how accessible and user friendly a pedestrian environment is for people with different capabilities, the laboratory can be used to pinpoint exactly how and why an environment may become difficult or confusing, for example, a railway station subject to noises from different sources, strange lighting effects caused by shadows and arches, moving people and machines, changing floor surfaces and levels, etc."

The scientifically-minded among you can find out more how the laboratory works at this link:

PAMELA is just part of the work being done by University College's larger , whose stated approach is

"We believe that the world should be designed to be accessible. This includes buildings and infrastructure, vehicles, planning and operating systems, network design, information, training and the way in which people interact with each other.

Our research interests include issues such as infrastructure design, pedestrian manoeuvrability, specification and design of accessible vehicles, rural public transport, urban public transport micronetworks, community development, information systems for people with learning difficulties, transport problems for people with mental health problems, co-ordination of transport resources, manoeuvrability of wheelchairs in restricted spaces, development of video mapping devices, ethics, social inclusion and access to justice in planning processes."

So, a big shout out to the Accessibility Research Group from the Ouch massive there, then, surely? Do follow the links through. There is far more information of interest on the UCL site than Crippled Monkey will permit Lady Bracknell to quote here at length.

What would the world of literature be without all its mad writers? A pretty dull place full of Catherine Cookson, according to the Mad Book Fair, which is taking place on the 10th October in London.

The aim of the bookfair is to celebrate 'mad creativity', but it also carries a serious message - to break down the misunderstanding that still surrounds the idea of madness.

The launch of two new 'mad' boooks - 'Am I Still Laughing?' and 'How to be Mad' will also take place at the event at the South London Gallery, 65 Peckham Road, London.

There's lots of other things going on at the event too including a poetry competition launch, art installations - and free food! To find out more, visit

This Thursday and Friday, the 14th and 15th of September, Radio 4's The World Tonight will broadcast two reports on disability rights. The question posed will be, 'Have Disability Rights gone too far?'

One report will be a day in the life of Jim Kelly, a wheelchair user in Aylesbury as he attempts to go about his daily life and the difficulties he faces i.e accessing a cash machine that doesn't make room for his wheelchair, trying to find a disabled loo etc.

The other report is with Michael Binyon, a journalist from the Times Newspaper who thinks disability rights have become a sort of 'disability mafia'. He speaks to small businesses who can't afford to make alterations to their facilities such as installing a disabled toilet, a journalist from railway magazine on train stations that have been asked to make costly renovations and an employer who let go an employee who went blind from an accident. The employee in turn won a landmark case. Friday's report will conclude with a discussion between Michael Binyon, and Caroline Gooding from the

The world tonight broadcasts on week nights between 10 and 10.45 PM.

Barrie Ellis is looking for disabled gamers, testers and reviewers. Here's his plea for help from the Game Accessibility forum:

"The Retro Remakes 2006 Competition closes tonight. As I speak 60+ games have been uploaded to - Now it's time to play!

It would be very arrogant of me to say whether or not these games are accessible or not without consulting disabled gamers and others interested in this field.

So... As the games become available from tomorrow, I would love to hear people's thoughts.

Please feel free to post on or e-mail me at barrie.ellis@oneswitch.org.uk or to e-mail the IGDA's Game Accessibility SIG e-mail list at games_access[at]igda.org."

Next week sees the start of Sense & Sensuality 2006 at the Bankside Gallery, London

The exhibition is organised by BlindArt, a charity that 'promotes artistic excellence, regardless of visual ability'. It's the result of a nationwide competition to create works of art that are accessible to all, including those with visual impairments.

Sense & Sensuality 2006 runs from the 14 September until the 8 October.

More information and directions are available from the website.

If you're currently on the hunt for gainful employment, we'd like your input for a new feature on the site.

Ouch is looking for five disabled job seekers to contribute to our new Jobs Blog, in which we'll be following your bids to find a job, from beginning to end.

If you'd like to take part, visit the Ouch Jobs Guide for more details and fill in the form to contact us.