Access For All

On 1st of January 2011, the project ViPi (Virtual portal for ImpaiRed Groups Interaction) was launched.
ViPi aims to provide a “one-stop-shop” interactive portal & learning environment that delivers:

• a comprehensive multilingual portal, with;
• an embedded multilingual social community (for VET centres, PwD, ICT training centres, etc.), using the latest social media, facilitating interactive information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration, with access to all;
• an accessible (WCAG 2.0) multilingual Web 2.0 enabled online ICT for learning environment to PwD, their trainers, with an interactive and vast repository of interoperable SCORM compliant learning objects (LOs) that focus on basic ICT literacy to allow PwD to grasp this core skill in order to be able to enter or sustain their employment in the regular labour market, enriched with intuitive mobile Java and Flash Lite based mobile and internet/PC based educational/serious games;
• The final outcome will be an entire set of applications and services that will be streamlined via a blended educational and pedagogical framework, making full usage of the interaction possibilities offered by web 2.0, and localised, tested, piloted and subsequently fine-tuned with GR, BE, LT, UK and CY end-user communities.

The platform will equally act as a “one-stop-shop” for trainer organizations to find and contribute LOs that they can integrate in existing learning environments and practices. Using Open Source Software, ViPi platform extensions can be easily integrated.
ViPi platform will thus be able to support a fully accessible and Open Source based pan-European learning network and community, bringing together key stakeholders and gatekeepers (VET, target groups, umbrella organizations), while offering a vast set of reusable (PC and Mobile) LOs, supported by Web 2.0 social services.

The ViPi KA3 LLL project (511792-LLP-1-2010-1-GR-KA3-KA3NW) has been partially funded under the Lifelong Learning program, subprogramme KA3 ICT.

Following formal ratification, it is the first time in history the EU has become a party to an international human rights treaty – the United Nation’s (UN) Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The Convention aims to ensure that people with disabilities can enjoy their rights on an equal basis with all other citizens. It is the first comprehensive human rights treaty to be ratified by the EU as a whole. It has also been signed by all 27 EU Member States and ratified by 16 of these. The EU becomes the 97th party to this treaty. The Convention sets out minimum standards for protecting and safeguarding a full range of civil, political, social, and economic rights for people with disabilities. It reflects the EU’s broader commitment to building a barrier-free Europe for the estimated 80 million people with disabilities in the EU by 2020, as set out in the European Commission’s disability strategy.
Read the full press release.

Mada, the Qatar Assistive Technology Centre, is launching its inaugural global seminar series on November 8 with an event on ‘Developing an accessible ICT ecosystem in Qatar.’
“As Qatar aspires to build a fully connected society, one of the key issues identified is digital access for people with disabilities,” Mada’s communications head Ahmed Habib said yesterday.
The conference, based on a vision of Information and Communication Technology for All, will feature G3ict’s executive director Axel Leblois.
G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies, a flagship advocacy initiative of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development.
The seminar will also include a panel discussion, featuring key stakeholders, on the roles and responsibilities in building a fully accessible ICT environment within Qatar.
As a public private partnership, Mada is a collaborative effort between key ICT industry partners, Disability Service Providers, and different governmental bodies.
Mada’s directors are Dr Hessa al-Jaber (secretary general, ictQatar, HE Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa al-Thani (former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability), Hassan Ali Bin Ali (chairman, Shafallah Center), Ali Shareef al-Emadi (Group CEO, QNB), Dr Nasser Marafih (CEO, Qtel), Grahame Maher (CEO, Vodafone Qatar), Mohamed Hammoudi (country manager, Microsoft).
Source: Gulf-Times.com

RAate conference takes place on Monday 29th November 2010 in the UK (University of Warwick Conference Centre). RAatE 2010 is a conference focused on the latest innovations and developments in assistive technology.
The conference program has, over the past years, regularly included new technological developments, service innovations, results of formal research projects, service based research and development and a wide range of other stimulating topics.
More info on the event website.

GOET’s concrete aims and objectives are to support the acquisition and use of knowledge skills and qualifications to facilitate Basic Skills, Personal Development and Employment Preparation.

The GOET Project has been funded with support from the European Commission and will support people with learning disabilities in getting and keeping a job. It aims to help people learn, via games-based learning, to live more independently and to help them in their working day. The project also wants to improve how subjects are taught by making them more interesting and enjoyable. It also supports an accessible approach to vocational skills training, and will be adapting and developing a range of games for computers and mobile telephones that are interactive, engaging and fun.

Game on Extra Time has been delivered by the Social Enterprise Greenhat Interactive and funded by the European Commission. The games were designed and developed by Nottingham Trent University, providing a range of talented multimedia developers.

The games are designed across multiple online formats and provide a personalised memory timeline, giving prompts throughout the day to remind the client of important things to do to prepare for leaving the house and throughout the working day.