Access For All

The http://www.facebook.com/Aegis.Accessible page is the place to be the next 3 days when you want to follow live the progress of the AEGIS Conference and Workshop on 28-29-30 November 2011 in Brussels, Belgium.

The event will bring together both end-users (people with disabilities) as well as platform and application accessibility developers, representative organisations, the Assistive Technology industry, and policy makers.

Since 2008, the AEGIS consortium (comprising companies such as Vodafone Foundation, Research in Motion, Oracle, and research groups from Cambridge University and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, etc.) has been developing an Open Accessibility Framework – comprising open accessibility interfaces, user interface components, developer tools, end-user applications and prototype accessibility solutions for desktops, rich Internet applications and mobile devices.

The workshop on 28 November will focus on the realisations of the AEGIS (Open Accessibility Everywhere: Groundwork, Infrastructure, Standards) project and provide attendees the opportunity to try out all outcomes of the project. The demonstrated products offer barrier-free access to desktop, mobile and web applications, are open source based and will be freely available.

The conference on 29-30 November will gather a wide array of experts and users in the area of Assistive Technology to discuss scientific and policy developments in accessible technology; showcase relevant projects and initiatives in the area of assistive technology.

The event is free of charge, and registration is open for everyone, but space is limited. For that reason, registrations will remain pending until you receive a confirmation.

Both events take place at the Diamant Conference and Business Centre, Boulevard A. Reyerslaan 80, 1030 Brussels.

This event comes ahead of the European Day of People with Disabilities that is marked by the European Commission via a policy conference (1-2 December 2011), in close cooperation with the European Disability Forum (EDF).

The Call for Papers for RAatE 2011 (Recent Advances in Assistive Technology & Engineering) is now open. You are invited to submit papers, case studies or posters on a range of topics, including:

• Services – Aspects of Service Delivery
• Developments & Challenges in Wheelchair Services
• New Service Demands: Commissioning of Re-ablement & AT Services
• Emerging Technologies & Recent Advances in AT
• Case Studies of Innovative AT in Practice

In addition to research papers or new innovations this year RAatE welcomes offers of presentations on how specialist aspects of assistive technology are delivered within services. With an ever expanding range of technology, how do services meet the increasing needs and expectations of their client groups? In particular RAatE welcomes hearing how services provide specialist aspects of assistive technology such as specialist wheelchair controls, integrated access, communication requirements or environmental controls. Challenges and solutions that have worked locally can be presented in the form of case studies or group presentations.
The deadline for the call for papers is 8th July 2011 and submissions can be made via the RAatE website.
RAatE 2011 is being held on Monday 28th November 2011 at the University of Warwick conference centre, and is the only UK conference focused on the latest innovations and developments in assistive technology. This conference will be of interest to everyone who uses, works with, develops or conducts research on assistive technologies.

The WAI-ARIA enabled plugins developed so far (jQuery, Fluid, MooTools) in the context of AEGIS have been uploaded to the official WordPress repository. A list of the 19 plugins can be found there.
They consist of:
JQuery Accessible Tooltip
JQuery Accessible Tooltip is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Tooltip Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Tabs
JQuery Accessible Accordion is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Tabs Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Slider
JQuery Accessible Slider is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Slider Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Progressbar
JQuery Accessible Progressbar is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Progressbar Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Menu
JQuery Accessible Menu is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Menu Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Dialog
JQuery Accessible Dialog is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Dialog Plugin for WordPress.
MooTools Accessible Tooltip
MooTools Accessible Tooltip is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Tooltip Plugin for WordPress.
MooTools Accessible Tabpanel
MooTools Accessible Tabpanel is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Tabpanel Plugin for WordPress.
MooTools Accessible Accordion
MooTools Accessible Accordion is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Accordion Plugin for WordPress.
Fluid Accessible Progressbar
Fluid Accessible Progressbar is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Progressbar Plugin for WordPress.
Fluid Accessible Sorting Portlet
Fluid Accessible Sorting Portlet is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Sorting Portlet Plugin for WordPress.
Fluid Accessible Sorting Grid
Fluid Accessible Sorting Grid is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Sorting Grid Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Tree
JQuery Accessible Tree is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Tree Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Checkbox
JQuery Accessible Checkbox is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Checkbox Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Carousel
JQuery Accessible Carousel is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Carousel Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Button
JQuery Accessible Button is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Button Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Autocomplete
JQuery Accessible Autocomplete is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Autocomplete Plugin for WordPress.
JQuery Accessible Accordion
JQuery Accessible Accordion is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Accordion Plugin for WordPress.
Fluid Accessible Sorting List
Fluid Accessible Sorting List is a WAI-ARIA Enabled Sorting List Plugin for WordPress.

The European Conference “Technology with Disabled and Older People: Business development, Building alliances and Impact assessment” will take place on March 28-29, 2011 at the London School of Economics in collaboration with the BIS, AGE Platform Europe, KTN, TSB, and the EU.
Over 40% of the population are either older or disable the demand for personal care at home and in the community is growing. A pool of experience in early provision of services and technologies for both assisted and independent living and active ageing is being steadily gathered across Europe. Many ideas will be presented. Wider deployment rests upon identification of the business opportunities. Cost effective systems are identified to enable safer and less costly home care and presentations will describe these. The prize being a triple win for People, Governments and Business.
The immediate requirements then are improved communication, understanding and cooperation between the diverse parties.
A range of organisations are working with the London School of
Economics to encourage better working practices. Including the Department of Business, Initiative and Skills, AGE Platform Europe, The Technology Strategy Board, The Knowledge Transfer Network, The Knowledge Tree Group, MonAMi project, with industry, and the
Sasakawa Foundation to organise this event.
Abstract Instructions, registration and hotel details.

As we reported earlier, AEGIS project organises its final Workshop and 2nd International Conference entitled “Accessibility Reaching Everywhere” on 28-30 November 2011 in Brussels, bringing together both end-users (people with disabilities) as well as platform and application accessibility developers, representative organisations, the Assistive Technology industry, and policy makers.
Registration is now open.

This informal workshop, jointly organised in collaboration with BSI (British Standards Institution) and JISC CETIS, takes advantage of the presence in the UK of a number of international standards developers and strategists to foster discussion and exchange between communities around recent and ongoing international and UK work in Accessibility Standards.
This workshop will be held on Monday 28th February, 2011 in London and will include presentations from both the UK and international accessibility communities.
This is a unique opportunity with confirmed speakers from the following organisations: Axelrod Access For All, BBC, BSI, Information Technology Industry Council, Microsoft, UKOLN, and the University of Saskatchewan.
Further information, including registration details, is available here.