Access For All

This workshop will take place on 7 December 2009 in Brussels at DG INFSO, Meeting Room S1, Avenue de Beaulieu 25, 1160 Brussels, Belgium.
Self-service terminals (e.g. ATMs, kiosks in train stations, airports, public kiosks in postal offices etc) are rapidly taking over from humans for the delivery of basic services in today’s daily life, however they can be difficult to access and use for many people, e.g. users with disabilities, those with low ICT competence, elderly users, or simply those not used to this medium. This can be improved by adapting the terminals as to their physical design, software and interfaces. Possible solutions encompass among other use of mobile devices or assistive technologies for man-machine interaction, vocal input / output, software adaptation etc.
The purpose of this meeting is to identify grounds for possible further action at European level, notably with support from the European Commission in various possible ways: policy recommendations, stakeholder dialogue, standardisation activities, funding from EC programs, etc.
Registration is compulsory and free of charge: please send an e-mail to eInclusion@ec.europa.eu. Please confirm full name, job title and organisation when registering. Please specify if you will require special assistance.

Self-service terminals can be difficult to access and use for many people, e.g. users with disabilities, those with low ICT competence, elderly users, or simply those not used to this medium. This can be improved by adapting the terminals as to their physical design, software and interfaces. Possible solutions encompass among other use of mobile devices or assistive technologies for man-machine interaction, vocal input / output, software adaptation etc. The workshop, organised by the ICT for Inclusion unit of the European Commission, will also address the issue of information about and deployment of ICT-related assistive technology in general. The purpose is to identify grounds for possible further action at European level, including funding from EC programs.
The workshop takes place in Brussels, on 7 December 2009 at DG INFSO, Meeting Room S1, Avenue de Beaulieu 25, 1160 Brussels, Belgium.
More information can be found on the event website.

On 27 October 2009, the event “Assistive Technologies: what is their place in the mainstream market?” is organised.
Assistive technologies for older and disabled people have previously been provided through public sector providers such as local authority equipment services and through independent specialist outlets. However current DoH policy is encouraging the mainstreaming of such devices through high street retailers. This significant change presents both opportunities and challenges. The aim of this day is to bring together different stakeholders to discuss and debate the issues.

Event organisers:
Professor Gail Mountain, Director KT-EQUAL, Sheffield University
Ms Verity Smith, Coordinator KT-EQUAL

Venue:
St Mary’s Conference Centre
Bramall Lane
Sheffield
S2 4QZ
England
Tel.: 0114 2230223

More information can be found here.

With inclusion in the information society growing in importance, the Commission has identified the urgent need to clarify ethical issues in order to respect the rights of users and enable thriving markets to develop (June 2007 Commission Communication on Ageing Well in the Information Society and the November 2007 Communication on e-Inclusion). Ethical issues related to inclusion in the information society concern amongst others ICT for healthy and independent living of elderly people, assistive technologies for persons with disabilities, ICT for integration of marginalised young people or migrants. All these themes were discussed in a workshop held in Brussels on 16 March 2009 – the first of a series of three – organised by the eInclusion Unit. Objective of these meetings is to set up criteria for selecting best ethical practices in the field of eInclusion as seen by all stakeholders: industry, research community, civil society, regional authorities, end users. Participation was restricted to speakers and a selected stakeholder and expert panel.

More information here.