Empowering Technologies

RNIB offer over 100 electronic text books for 11-14yr old print impaired students.

RNIB website - Electronic textbooks

"A Department for Education (DfE) project has created electronic versions of over 100 commonly used textbooks which will be available from late September to every learner with a print impairment (including dyslexia and visual impairment).

Schools and local authorities should check the list of books that can be ordered through RNIB before producing textbooks themselves for the 2010/11 school year.

The textbook files are provided in Word 2003 format at the request of schools in the project. They have been deliberately designed to be appropriate and flexible for students with a print impairment. They can be read as they are by the learner using a computer to change the settings (for example the background colour and font size), with access technology, or can be converted by staff or learners into large print, braille or audio.

Many of the books also include descriptions of images including pictures, graphs and diagrams to help learners with sight loss.

These files were created by a year long pilot project funded by the DfE, led by the Dolphin Inclusive Consortium. The project delivered electronic versions of the textbooks needed by around 40 print-impaired learners aged 11-14 in nine schools. One legacy from this project is to make these files available to all print-impaired learners in the UK. "

* Electronic textbooks available from RNIB (Word, 162KB)

Each CD will include a selection of converter and playback tools to help you and your learner use the electronic version.
How much will they cost?

Each textbook title will cost £2.99 (this price is to cover RNIB's distribution costs only) and includes postage.

AAATE 2010 Workshop - "AT technology transfer"

"This is the advance notice of the above free workshop to be held in Sheffield, UK. The workshop is hosted by: Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology team at the University of Sheffield and and KT-EQUAL.
Contact: Dr Peter Cudd at pac.attworkshop@googlemail.com

Theme

The overarching theme of the meeting is 'The social model for Assistive Technology technology transfer (Attt)'. The Attt scope and therefore the likely sessions are expected to cover : 'Contrasting the commercial and social models of Attt', 'Open development', 'Technological development and issues', 'Taking account of service delivery issues', 'Evidence gathering', 'Commercialisation approaches and issues', 'Reaching the AT customer', 'The role of Patient and Public Involvement', and 'How AT information helps technology transfer'. A likely cross cutting theme will be the financing of the processes to meet the social and ethical aspirations of the social model.

Programme

Currently the workshop duration is expected to be 2 full days. Contributions are sought that help the delegates to learn and explore the whole topic of AT-tt. Anyone wanting to propose organising a session or to propose another should contact Dr Peter Cudd or the AAATE secretariat. Workshop Programme update timeline:

The outline programme will be distributed by 30th June.
A detailed draft programme will be distributed by/on 23rd July.
Publication of the final programme; 20th September.

Sponsoring the workshop

Opportunities to exhibit at the event are also possible although only through sponsorship of the event, anyone interested to know more should contact Dr Peter Cudd.

ISAAC 2010 - International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication Conference

The conference programme for ISAAC 2010 with a message from the Presidents:

"We invite you to attend the 14th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) in Barcelona, themed Communicating Worlds. ISAAC focuses on people anywhere in the world who communicate with little or no speech. Thousands of members in 60 countries, with 15 ISAAC Chapters work together so that everyone can communicate.

Each Biennial Conference includes families sharing success stories, exciting breakthroughs, fun social activities, scientific paper presentations, and demonstrations of assistive equipment. During each global gathering, families, therapists, professionals, children and adults with complex communication needs, and researchers from the fields of education, rehabilitation, health sciences, government and industry come and learn the latest information about augmentative and alternative communication.

Granted NGO status in 2006, ISAAC achieved special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Celebrating their 25th Anniversary in 2008, ISAAC supporters continue to advocate for the rights and privileges for all people to communicate and improve their quality of life.

Barcelona is calling all together in 2010 to continue to communicate around the world. We extend a heartfelt welcome for you to join our circle of friends and advocate with us to improve communication for all people with speech difficulties. ISAAC members want everyone in the world to know about AAC.

Please come and share with us,
Sudha Kaul, ISAAC President until December 2008
Mary Blake Huer, ISAAC President since January 2009 ."

Mada, Qatar Assistive Technology Center is seeking to recruit

David Banes has asked us to post this note "Mada, Qatar Assistive Technology Center is seeking to recruit committed and skilled people to help us achieve our vision of a fully accessible Qatar. The Mada center is an Assistive Technology Center, a not-for-profit organization devoted to ensuring that persons with disabilities in Qatar have access to the information and communications technologies that can improve their lives. The Center will serve as a catalyst for research and development of assistive technologies and create public awareness around best practices, while bringing together key industry partners and coordinating existing efforts in Qatar.

We are looking to recruit a number of posts. To apply, click on the links below and download the job descriptions, then send your CV and covering letter explaining your suitability for one or more posts to

jobs@mada.org.qa

Login to humyo in order to learn more about each job.

Administrative Officer
Advice and Information Officer
Assessment Officer
Head of Resource Center
Head of Training
Technical Support Officer
Web Officer

Further details about the recently opened center can be found at www.mada.org.qa (under construction) and at http://www.ict.gov.qa/output/page1984.asp"

The iPhone app that takes the strain out of texting by turning speech into type

This news comes thanks to Jonathan White -

According to the Mail Online article "Dragon Dictation is free to download onto iPhones and has become one of the most popular applications in the U.S.. It is due to be released in the UK this week.

If it is as unreliable as the voice-recognition software that banks, cinema chains and other companies are already fond of, there could be some hilarious - or unfortunate consequences.

Users can dictate messages into the phone which displays what they have said on the screen at the tap of a button

But Nuance, the American firm behind it which pioneered predictive text and provides the in-car voice-activated controls in top-of-the-range BMWs, is confident it works.

This is because it doesn't rely on the phone's relatively small processing power but instead sends the recording to powerful remote servers which check the accuracy and generate the message.

Any mistakes can be corrected by tapping the screen to register an error and choosing from a drop-down list of replacements. And if the worst comes to the worst, you can always delete the word and type in the right one.

Read the rest of the article

QAC Sight Village Annual Exhibition of technologies for people who are blind or visually impaired.

Sight Village has free admission with over 77 companies exhibiting all types of technologies from computer software and hardware to conventional magnifiers and high tech electronic video magnifiers (CCTVs) plus handheld technologies and Global Positioning Systems.

All exhibits will be on the ground floor, there is parking available at the venue which is accessible by road, bus and a short cab ride from New Street, Snow Hill and Moor Street stations

Headline sponsers are ViewPlus and Sight and Sound

Throughout the three days there are seminars and product demonstrations.