Access to election campaigns won by deaf and hard of hearing Nova Scotians. (Disability).HALIFAX -- "What am I Supposed to do? Vote for the prettiest face?", is a question that should no longer rise from deaf and hard of hearing Nova Scotians This is a list of notable people from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia: Pre-Confederation people
A human rights complaint by the Deafness Advocacy Association of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia (nō`və skō`shə) [Lat.,=new Scotland], province (2001 pop. 908,007), 21,425 sq mi (55,491 sq km), E Canada. Geography concerning the lack of accessibility to provincial electoral processes brought results. Increased closed-caption television advertising and translation services at public events during provincial election campaigns are among the items agreed upon Adj. 1. agreed upon - constituted or contracted by stipulation or agreement; "stipulatory obligations" stipulatory noncontroversial, uncontroversial - not likely to arouse controversy in a memorandum of understanding A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a legal document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action and may not imply a legal commitment. between Nova Scotia's three political parties and the association. The campaign for change began in 1996 when newly appointed Executive Director of the association, Linda Lelievre, conducted an informal survey to find out how many deaf and hard of hearing people voted. "I was stunned to discover that not one of the people surveyed had ever voted." she told Community Action. Their reasons: * the issues were not clear, * the written information was too difficult to read, * there were no interpreters provided for public meetings, * meetings were held in small halls where the acoustics were poor and there were many visual obstructions making it difficult for people with hearing aids Hearing Aids Definition A hearing aid is a device that can amplify sound waves in order to help a deaf or hard-of-hearing person hear sounds more clearly. and impossible for those who lipread, * the canvassers coming door to door just walked away when they discovered that a deaf person answered the door, * there were no text teletype telephone numbers listed for the parties, * the political advertisements, debates and speeches on television during the election campaigns were not closed captioned. The agreement was facilitated by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. Other items included in the memorandum are more frequent use of audio-loops for election related public meetings, forums and debates, better use of written materials by door-to-door canvassers and provisions for establishing TTY (TeleTYpewriter) See teletypewriter and TDD/TTY. (hardware) tty - /tit'ee/ (ITS pronunciation, but some Unix people say it this way as well; this pronunciation is not considered to have sexual undertones), /T T Y/ 1. teletypewriter. 2. lines in caucus offices and in provincial parties' campaign offices along with support from all parities to amend the Elections Act or regulations to include funding for the accessibility needs of deaf, hard of hearing and late deafened deaf·en v. deaf·ened, deaf·en·ing, deaf·ens v.tr. 1. To make deaf, especially momentarily by a loud noise. 2. To make soundproof. v.intr. Nova Scotians. Editors Note: Linda Lelievre recommends the use of "Deaf, hard of hearing and late deafened persons" instead of "hearing impaired". daans@ns.sympatico.ca |
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