Access For All

ATLEC logo

The ATLEC project is finalised and offers now access to a range of tools to support the knowledge of ICT based Assistive Technology (ICT-AT). It provides a range of training materials, and also a mobile tool for people with disabilities and people working with people with disabilities, such as teachers, but also family and employers.

Below is an overview:

• ATLEC Curriculum and handbook (NL, EN, IT, EL)
• ATLEC Training courses (NL, EN (full, short), IT, EL)
• Mobile (Android) learning application (NL, EN, IT, EL)
• Job profile of ICT-AT (NL, EN, IT, EL) PU

For more information, visit the ATLEC website.

ITAG14: 7th Interactive Technologies and Games – Education, Health and Disability Conference
The Council House, Nottingham
16 – 17 October 2014

Now in its seventh consecutive year, ITAG aims 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: Paper Presentations, Practical Workshops, Hackathon and Exhibition. Submissions are solicited on new research results and detailed interactive expositions related to ITAG, including but not limited to:

Mobile Gaming, Immersive Gaming, Rehabilitation Gaming, Games in Assistive Care, Artificial Intelligence in Games, Robotics in a Gaming Environment, Interactive design with new input/output devices, Ubiquitous computing on our everyday well-being, Interactive street gaming using mobile gaming applications, Gaming Hardware and Software to implement accessible solutions.

Read the call for papers for more information on themes and topics.

Successful paper submissions will be published through IEEE-Xplore^TM and the IEEE Computer Society (CSDL) digital libraries which deliver full text access to the world’s highest quality technical literature in engineering and technology.

What to do next

Prospective authors are invited to submit a maximum of 500 words abstract for a full paper and 300 words for a poster using the ‘ITAG Abstract Submission Form’ attached to mail you send to itag@ntu.ac.uk by Monday 28 April 2014. Full papers in Conference Publishing Services (CPS) format should not exceed 8 pages in length, while posters should not exceed 4 pages in length. The papers will be reviewed for technical merit and content and the accepted papers will appear in the proceedings, to be published by CPS. Accepted publications are submitted for indexing through  IEEE-Xplore^TM and the IEEE Computer Society (CSDL) digital libraries. Publication templates are available for LaTeX and MS Word.

Key Dates

Abstract Due Date: Monday 28 April 2014
Full Paper Submission Due Date: Monday 2 June 2014
Notification: Monday 7 July 2014
Camera-Ready Due Date: Monday 21 July 2014
Submission opening: Tuesday 29 April 2014.

Dear engineer,

There is a lot of ‘innovation potential’ in the social profit sector. That potential does not always emerge today because engineers and the sector do not know each other (well enough). Engineers could contribute significantly to the adequate implementation of existing solutions and services on the market in this sector. Furthermore they could play an important role in regard to topics such as the accessibility of public space, buildings, websites, media,…

That is why KU Leuven is organising a postgraduate course in ‘Community Service Engineering’ in collaboration with Thomas More.

We invite you to ‘the pre-programme’ that wants to show the potential of this domain. It consists of three conferences. The topics are:

• Ageing on April 3 (Leuven)
• Living with a disability on May 21 (Gheel – Geel)
• Poverty on September 4 (Leuven)

Welcome!

You can register for one or more conferences. Participation is free but registration is required and can be done via this website: www.fet.kuleuven.be/events/cse or link.

All details can be found in the invitation that is downloadable here.

Sincerely,
Inge Vervoort
Project Director Community Service Engineering

M-Care project logo

European people with disabilities (especially those with mobility impairments) depend heavily on personal care givers (PCGs). While this assistance is crucial in ensuring a daily quality of life (assisting with basic tasks such as getting dressed, eating, taking a bath/shower), it is still quantitatively and qualitatively a huge problem.

Few PCGs get a proper training, if any, while such formal training hardly exists in EU countries. Most PCGs are low skilled, have to be trained on the field, thus making it a very laborious and at the same time a tricky “adventure” for people with disabilities, but equally for e.g. older people who make use of them.

Raising competence levels of these low-skilled people to be benefit of care recipients is at the core of M-CARE (Mobile Training for Home and Health Caregiver For People with Disabilities and Older People – http://mcare-project.eu). It aims to ensure that VET centres can offer such training anywhere anytime, for low-skilled people (without jobs), or people that want to extend their service provision (independent nurses, caretakers, etc.). Blended training approaches such as simulation both via video and animations, audio, textual training format, including hands-on practicing will be supported by the project.

M-CARE will generate:

• a dedicated PCG curriculum and relevant training material for different disabilities, applicable in every country in the EU and beyond, provided under a creative commons license (so “free”);
• innovative ICT-based Web 2.0 mobile/online learning platforms (PC, smartphone and tablet PC) with multilingual interfaces, developed as Open Source applications (“free”), provided freely to VET centres; supported by a learning methodology;
• piloting with end-users (mainly low skilled people) and beneficiaries (people with disabilities and older people) in Belgium, Germany, Greece and Turkey;
• provision of online portal with dedicated communities, providing access to PCGs learning modules for VET centres.

The impact of this will be pan-European (VET, ICT driven), and immediately measurable in increased PCG employment.

This project (M-Care – 539913-LLP-1-2013-1-TR-LEONARDO-LMP) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

DICE project logo

People with disabilities face significant barriers to access training in digital literacy which is essential for education and employment. Furthermore, the traditional model of delivering digital literacy skills to people with disabilities through the provision of centre-based training is becoming unsustainable, due to a massive increase in the demand for digital skills and rapid changes in online and mobile technologies.

DICE aims to help people with disabilities build digital literacy skillsneeded to transition from VET centre training to mainstream education and employment. DICE will create an online community based on a peer support model, promoted and sustained by Digital Inclusion Champions.

Start date: 01/10/2013

Duration: 24 months

Project website: http://dice-project.eu

This project (DICE – Digital Inclusion Champions in Europe – 2013-1-IE1-LEO05-06094) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The eLeSI project, led by University and association partners, aims to create an e-learning training resource according to age groups on learning disabilities, pervasive developmental disorders (PDD/autistic spectrum conditions) and/or mental health problems.

We would like to hear from you as someone who has experience of working with people who have special needs in regards to the training you feel would enhance knowledge, attitudes and practice for supporting staff.
Thank you in advance for your answers.

To learn more about the projet: http://www.handiplanet-echanges.info/the-network/elesi-project (other languages available)

Click here to participate and answer our survey.

This project is co-financed by the European Commission under its Education and Training Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) – Grundtvig multilateral project) over a period of 2 years (October 1, 2013, to September 30, 2015).