Access For All

The review examined four major LMSes: Blackboard Learn version 9.1 Service Pack 6 and 8, Desire2Learn version 10, Moodle version 2.3, and Sakai version 2.8. Each of these organizations runs an interest group to guide improvements in accessibility of their products. They were also part of previous evaluations done by the same group in 2010 and 2012.

The disabilities tested for encompassed visual, mobility, learning, and cognitive. Testing and evaluation categories covered functional accessibility in nine broad areas:

• Testing and evaluation;
• Login, configuration, and compatibility testing;
• Personalization and customization;
• Navigation;
• Forms;
• Help and documentation;
• Common student-facing modules and tools such as announcements and discussions;
• Authoring tools and content creation, such as the gradebook and multimedia content handling; and
• Features unique to each LMS that affect accessibility.

Final symposium of the ViPi (Basic ICT skills training for people with disabilities) and ATLEC (ICT-based Assistive Technology Learning Through A Unified Curriculum) projects.

Date: 4 December 2013
Venue: VLEVA (Vlaams-Europees verbindingsagentschap vzw), Kortenberglaan 71, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Participants: 100-120
Duration: 9:00 hours – 18:00 hours

Two European lifelong learning projects (ViPi and ATLEC project) will come to an end and the final Symposium will present their outcomes within a wider framework of learning, employment and independent living for people with disabilities.

The two projects are complementary as VIPI focuses on the development of skills in ICT for (young) adults with disabilities and ATLEC on skills and competences in ICT based Assistive Technologies.

The Symposium has a twofold aim: raising awareness among gatekeepers and policy makers on the need for ICT and ICT_AT training and on the other hand providing concrete curricula, methods and tools produced in the project. Highlighting needs and showing material to tackle those needs, is considered a valuable contribution to further equal opportunities and the participation of people with disabilities in learning and employment.

The symposium therefore presents academic and experience-based contributions, while interactivity, dialogue and information exchange is sought in parallel sessions and in the exhibition.

Other relevant projects and experiences are therefore invited to contribute with a paper, a poster or by sending leaflets to enrich the exhibition.

The participation of people with disabilities is incentivised by an accessible venue and by accessible presentations.

Please consult http://www.vipi-project.eu & http://www.atlec-project.eu for more information on the projects and for programme updates.

Registration is now available via http://tinyurl.com/ViPi-ATLEC.

Note that participation is only confirmed after receiving a formal confirmation email from us.

Language of event: English
Target audience: People with disabilities, teachers, trainers, tutors, carers, policy makers, academics, ICT and AT experts and their organisations.

See you there and then!

ViPi and ATLEC project team

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You can find us at:

http://www.vipi-project.eu
http://twitter.com/ViPi_project
http://www.facebook.com/vipiproject

http://atlec-project.eu/
http://twitter.com/ATLEC_project/
http://www.facebook.com/ATLECproject

Implementing the UN Convention: the role of Assistive Technology Centres

Special Session during AAATE 2013 conference, September 19-22nd, 2013. Portugal. – www.aaate2013.eu

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities contains many references to Accessibility, Assistive Technologies and Universal Design. World wide Assistive Technology Centres support people with disabilities in identifying appropriate solutions to enhance their independence, to allow equal opportunities and to access their rights as human beings and citizens. They also promote a “culture of independence” and in many cases support policy making. As such they are important stakeholders and drivers for the implementation of the UN Convention.

Two years ago an international group of leading AT Centres started to meet and to discuss. Although working in different cultural and socio-economic conditions -factors that also impact on the model of service delivery-, the Centres share a common identity and mission. For more information: http://g3ict.org/resource_center/at_centers_leadership_network.

The network, facilitated by the G3ICT initiative and endorsed in Europe by AAATE, is eager to increase the participation of more European AT Centres and proposes therefore a special session during the AAATE 2013 conference on the role of AT Centres in implementing the UN Convention.

The purpose of the session is to come to an exchange regarding issues of specific interest for AT Centres, such as:

• models and methodologies of service delivery;
• the measurement of impact;
• governance;
• the training of staff members;
• the collaboration and networking with end user organisations and other stakeholders.

AT Centres in Europe and around the globe are invited to present in this session, while attending the session is open to all registered conference participants.

Chair of the session: Evert-Jan Hoogerwerf

Evert-Jan Hoogerwerf is Head of the Projects Office of AIAS Bologna onlus and staff member of Emilia Romagna’s Regional Centre for Assistive Technology. He is an active AAATE member (president elect) and part of the group of founding members of the G3ICT Global AT Centres Leadership Network.
Contact: hoogerwerf@ausilioteca.org

An introduction to technology for inclusive education – motivation and key principles of digital resource authoring. This presentation was given on 25 March 2013, as part of the Teach @ Dundee induction event for new teaching staff at Dundee University.

ITAG13: Interactive Technologies and Games -
Education, Health and Disability 2013
The Council House, Nottingham
Thursday 17 – Friday 18 October 2013
http://itag.gamecity.org/

Second call for papers, workshops and posters

The aim of ITAG is to bring together academics, developers, beneficiaries and practitioners to explore interactive technologies and innovate within the areas of Education, Health and Disability. ITAG will consist of 4 strands:

• Academic conference: We have a particular focus on the use of gaming hardware and software to implement accessible solutions, interaction design using new input/output devices and the increasing impact of ubiquitous computing on our everyday well-being. We especially want to bring together practitioners with technical experts, for their mutual benefit; you don’t have to be a technical whizz kid to benefit from this conference! The conference provides an excellent opportunity to showcase practice and to mainstream research ideas and outcomes. It introduces a wider audience to key findings and products from research and illustrates how practice feeds back into and informs research. The conference also creates a forum for two-way communication between the academic and practitioner communities.
• Practical workshops: every afternoon, parallel workshops will be organised addressing following topics: interactive street gaming using mobile gaming applications, robotics in a gaming environment, mobile gaming, immersive gaming and rehabilitation gaming. These workshops will involve the participants in exploring the various games, and creating an interactive experience with the originators/developers.
• Gaming hackathon: several teams consisting of developers, designers and special education trainers will compete with each other to use various technologies (Android based games, Flash Games, Games Mods, XNA) and create an educational game in just 2 days. The winner will take home a £250 prize award.
• Exhibition: An exhibition space will be available for demonstrations and posters, and will be embedded in the conference and workshops area.

If you are interested in any of the above, please contact us: claire.addison@ntu.ac.uk.

We particularly welcome user led presentations and workshops.
ITAG13 is held in partnership with GameCity – the World’s best-loved videogame festival (http://gamecity.org/)

Scope:

As guidance to participants on scope of papers and activities we state that: ‘Education’ includes both compulsory and post-compulsory education; ‘Disability’ includes physical, sensory and cognitive impairment; and the impact of interactive technologies and games on health and well-being is also a focus of this conference. An emphasis is placed on practical applications and guides to where currently available training resources and tools can be found and used. A selection of papers will be published electronically in full, and presentations will be limited to 20 minutes for the key findings, including time for questions from the floor.
As in previous years, the best papers will be published in a special issue of a relevant academic journal. Previous special issues have included:

• Journal of Assistive Technologies – Volume 3, issue 2, June 2009 (ITAG 2008 selected papers)
• Computers and Education – Volume 56, issue 1 (ITAG 2009 selected papers)
• International Journal of Games Based Learning – Volume 1, issue 4, 2011 (ITAG 2010 selected papers)
• Journal of Assistive Technologies – Volume 6 issue 3 (ITAG 2011 selected papers)
• International Journal of Game-Based Learning – (ITAG12 selected papers) – in development

The best papers from ITAG13 will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Assistive Technologies.

Themes and topics: The conference encourages multidisciplinary papers/workshops and examples of themes and topics include (but don’t let this restrict you):

Gaming on the move:

• Streetgaming and the usage of mobile and online game applications
• Blended gaming for educational purposes
• Augmented Reality and mobile games
• Pervasive games for health, sociability and adaptability
• Location-based games and ubiquitous technologies
• Immersive/alternate reality games (ARGs), hybrid reality games (HRG), and mixed reality games (MRG)
• Low cost mobile games based learning
• Inclusive street games

Robotics and education:

• Good practices or innovations in programming
• Autonomous projects: Have you done a cool autonomous project? Show it off and share your ideas!
• Interaction in the context of youth with learning disabilities
• Hardware & software for robotics education: Share your best ideas and innovations to make educational programs more effective.
• Innovative uses of technology: Have you done something unique and creative utilizing new technology in education? Let’s hear about it!
• Robotics competitions & project based activities: Highlight specific classroom and other competitions and activities you utilize in your robotics education program.
• Curriculum for robotics education: Tell us how you design and implement your curriculum in regular classroom or extracurricular activities.
• Informal robotics education: Highlight your best practices and successes while sharing your ideas!

Games Based Learning:

• Social and collaborative aspects of games (e.g., educational aspects of Massively Multiplayer Online Games)
• The efficacy of games based learning
• Self-authored content and personalisation in games
• Learning theory, pedagogy and instructional design in games
• Motivational aspects of games
• Collaboration between Science and Art for more effective learning
• Games to promote the inclusion (e.g., for offenders and people with disabilities, motivation of female gamers)

Game related Technologies:

• Using contemporary games controllers to create new opportunities in health and rehabilitation applications (e.g., applications for Wii Fit, Kinect. Move).
• Brain Computer interfaces to games
• Pervasiveness and mobility of games
• Location based services
• Handheld learning in the classroom

Games, Apps and Artificial Reality for Health:

• Serious games for clinical assessment (e.g. after stroke)
• Serious games for rehabilitation and treatment (e.g. of phobias, ADHA, post-traumatic stress disorders, stroke)
• ‘Modding’ for health
• Art and music rehabilitation in 3D multisensory environments
• Games for children in hospital
• Games to increase physical activity in children
• Apps and AR in assessment and patient wellbeing.

Accessible Game Design:

• Universally accessible games
• Switch controlled games
• Audio games for the blind
• Designing accessible games mods
• Using games controllers as haptic and audio interfaces
• Accessibility guidelines for games

Web based gaming technologies:

• Resources for interactive learning tools and environments, e.g., Flash, podcasts, simulations, mobile games, Web 2.0 tool etc.
• The Internet as a communication medium (e.g. for people with Asperger Syndrome).
• Browser based games and linking into social media channels

Submissions

Those wishing to present papers, or hold a workshop should prepare abstracts, to a maximum of 500 words. For those hoping to exhibit or produce a poster, a 300-word abstract is required. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday 30 April 2013 and should be sent to claire.addison@ntu.ac.uk. Please clearly state what track your submission relates to. Participating in the hackathon is open to all, but expressions of interest will be asked.
Final copies of accepted papers will be required in advance of the Conference.
We aim to keep costs down, and we do offer concessionary* rates. Online booking will be available soon.
*Proof of eligibility for concessionary rates will be requested on arrival at the conference (e.g., student ID card)
Prizes Offered: As in previous years prizes will be awarded!

A new study by the Royal National Institute for the Blind shows that seniors with visual disabilities are missing out on using the Internet for specific reasons. The primary reason (given by 83% of the respondents) was their vision loss, possibly revealing low awareness of assistive technology solutions. Other answers indicated that they are not convinced of the Internet’s value to them, and that the value was not worth the effort to overcome the technological complexity or learning curve. The study offers several recommendations to improve the situation, including simpler technologies and better technological support.
Source: Raising the Floor