Being Deaf is no excuse – if you can’t phone you will lose your benefits

A friend an hour ago posted on facebook that her benefits had been stopped all because she couldn’t phone them to arrange an interview (she’s Deaf). She won’t receive her entitlement on Monday. Pesky People asked if we could do a short blog post to alert others to her situation to see if it could get her help and she agreed. Since when was it possible to stop anyone’s benefits all for the sake of a phone call? This is what... 
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East Coast Trains – a result

Pesky People is pleased to say that East Coast Trains have emailed us today to confirm they are updating their assisted travel booking system after our intervention on Tuesday. They are going to address complaints from David Colley who has found himself booked on diesel trains (which have doors too narrow for him to board) with his electric wheelchair. Unbelievably  it’s all down to 10mm of door space between the old train carriages and... 
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East Coast Rail – putting disabled people in danger yet again!

I’m on the East Coast rail service between London and Newcastle. I’m sitting in the designated space for wheelchair-users. And yet AGAIN the ‘Call For Aid’ button has been switched off by the conductor.   The excuse was the same as the previous times: “People keep pressing it”. I had to insist it was turned back on. What would have happened if I didn’t ask? If the conductor hadn’t gone past? (Like... 
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Go Genie sponsoring October’s Birmingham Social Media Cafe

Tomorrow see’s the October Birmingham Social Media Cafe get together at Birmingham Town Hall. In the lead up to launching Go Genie it’s nice to give something back to the digital and bloggers network that got Pesky People going just over two years ago in September 2009. The first blog The future is not Orange was written that night! Will also be making a wee announcement and need your help. Go Genie is coming to the end of it’s... 
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Ikea and the lost walking stick

are the subject of another blog complaint to Pesky People about failing their disabled customers. David blogged back in May that IKEA don’t like their disabled customers very much. That resulted in Gateshead store installing the proper induction loops and improving disabled access. I was emailed by Mikki McDonald about Ikea Bristol and how she had been waiting nine weeks for them to return her walking stick after leaving it behind after falling... 
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When BT Care fails to care for it’s disabled customers (part 1)

[View the story "When @BTCare doesn't care (about it's disabled customers)" on Storify]  Read More →

National Theatre: Accessibility Experts

I wanted to share another example of how powerful it can be when accessibility is done right… Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to be able to see Frankenstein at the National Theatre. In fact, I was lucky enough to see it twice. The leads, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternated the roles of the Creature and Victor Frankenstein. The National do some great accessibility stuff, signed performances, audio described performances,... 
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When Doctor Who gets it right

Many of you will have read my post about the Doctor Who Experience earlier this year, and people were incredibly supportive. So I really wanted to share when Doctor Who gets it right! As part of Manchester International Festival, Punchdrunk, a company specialising in “immersive theatre experiences”, created an interactive Doctor Who promenade theatre experience, written by Tom MacRae, who wrote the recent (and fantastic) Doctor Who episode... 
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ASE Eyecare acting for the DWP, and a lack of respect

In April, there was a change in the legislation covering Disability Living Allowance (DLA), as it related to visually impaired people. DLA is a benefit which is paid to cover the extra costs incurred as a result of living with a disability. It has two components, the Care Component, which has three levels, and the Mobility Component, which has two. The levels relate to different levels of need, and people may get one or both components. Despite what... 
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SMK Foundation Awards – Pesky People features in Society Guardian article

Would you believe it has been nearly a year since Pesky People was a finalist in the SMK Foundation Awards 2010 (Consumer Action). The day of the awards ceremony I had to run between A11yLDN 2010 and the ceremony across London with a British Sign Language interpreter chasing after me. A lot has happened in that time with Pesky People and today is the 2011 awards ceremony and congratulation must go to all the 2011 finalists and awardees. Everyone deserves recognition and... 
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