Access For All

This year, for the first time ever, the Ambient Assisted Living Forum (AAL Forum) 2010 will be preceded by an Investment Forum. Ambient Assisted Living products and services are ICT-based solutions, such as in-home monitoring devices or telemedicine systems, which help seniors remain independent, active and socially connected for a longer time. The AAL Investment Forum aims to stimulate more innovation and investment in AAL by bringing together innovative ICT enterprises in the Ageing Well market with potential public and private investors. A key activity will be a matchmaking session where innovators can pitch their smart solutions to potential investors.
Source: http://www.aal-invest.eu/

The 2nd Pan-European Workshop/User Forum and the 1st International ÆGIS Conference entitled “Access for All in the desktop, web and mobile field: an end-user and developer perspective” will take place in Seville, Spain on 6 and 7-8 October 2010 respectively. All events are organised by the ÆGIS IP initiative (Open Accessibility Everywhere: Groundwork, Infrastructure, Standards – www.aegis-project.eu), partially funded under FP7 (Theme: ICT‐2007.7.1; ICT & Ageing).
Detailed info and registration about the 1st International AEGIS Conference is available through www.aegis-conference.eu. Registration is now open.

On 3-4 November 2010, the WSC will organize an international workshop in the premises of the World Meteorological Organization, in Geneva, Switzerland, on “Accessibility and the contribution of International Standards”.
Accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, service, environment or facility is usable by as many people as possible, including by persons with disabilities. Its importance is signified by the fact that the number of persons with disabilities, either congenital, acquired or as a result of age is estimated to be around 650 million worldwide.
International standardization can be a powerful tool for strengthening accessibility in all these areas by setting the same standards around the world for accessible products, devices, services, environments and facilities.
The World Standards Cooperation (WSC) brings together the three leading international standards bodies, namely the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The workshop takes up the topic of the 2010 World Standards Day, celebrated each year on 14 October, which is “Accessibility”.
Workshop structure and expected outcome
The workshop will address three key subject areas:

• accessibility in the field of everyday products
• accessibility and buildings
• eAccessibility and eInclusion (in Information and Communication Technologies)

In a combination of plenary and break-out group meetings these three subject areas will be discussed and the potential of standardization – and in particular international standardization – to contribute to strengthening accessibility aspects in the design of products, services, environments and facilities will be addressed.
Key stakeholder groups participating in the workshop will include disability organizations, governments and regulators, product designers and manufacturers faced with accessibility requirements, consumers and standards developers from around the world. Under discussion will be the current and future needs in the field of accessibility as well as the possible contributions international standardization can make in facilitating the development of accessible solutions around the world.
The expected outcome of the workshop is a better understanding of both the work on accessibility issues in standardization in the various areas and the needs of those most concerned. It is hoped that the groundwork will be laid and a road map drawn up for future standardization initiatives with the involvement of the key stakeholders.

More information at the event website.

The International Conference on Translation and Accessibility in Video Games and Virtual Worlds will take place on 2-3rd December 2010 at the TransMedia Catalonia Research Group, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
The International Conference on Translation and Accessibility in Video Games and Virtual Worlds aims to be an interdisciplinary meeting point for all those interested in the fields of game localisation and accessibility, as well as accessibility and the role of translation in virtual worlds. This pioneering conference aims at laying the foundations for future studies in these areas, become a discussion forum where industry and academia meet and promote interdisciplinary research.
More information at the conference website.

ACCESSIBLE consortium is proud to announce the realisation of their first Project Workshop on 13 July 2010, in the context of the ICCHP conference in Vienna.
During the ACCESSIBLE workshop the innovative results of the project, related to the accessibility assessment and simulation technologies, will be presented accompanied with the developed tools, which will be interactively tested from the participants.
The participation is fully free of charge.

Include 2011 takes place on 18–20 April 2011 at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU, UK. The sixth International conference on Inclusive Design seeks papers on all inclusive design aspects that catalyse social innovation. The deadline for submission of a 300 word abstract is 15 June 2010.
The Role of Inclusive Design in Making Social Innovation Happen
As a concept, social innovation has growing currency in society, government, academia and business. It manifests itself in many different ways in different contexts. Its meanings extend from public service and policy innovation to initiatives in assistive technology and to aspects of civic participation and creative entrepreneurship.
In all of these areas, design has a key role to play. It can make policy visible and participation possible.
In particular, inclusive design can deliver innovations of social value to communities and markets.
Details for submission of abstracts for paper and poster presentation, and information on the Include conference event can be found on the dedicate web page.