Scientific and technological reports
Newsletter No. 2, May 1996
COST 219bis
The present COST 219 project has been going for nearly ten years and will finish in September. However a new project will start in the autumn with the title "telecommunications: Access for Disabled and Elderly People". The COST administration in Brussels have agreed that the new project can be called COST 219bis.
Informatics Opportunities Forum for Blind People
At a symposium on "Technology to Assist the Blind and Visually Handicapped"
run recently at Grasmere, Kelvin Currie (Technical Manager of BT’s
Age and Disability Unit, and COST 219 UK representative) gave a paper
on the way forward in telecommunications.
He pointed out that, in the past two years, an unprecedented change has taken place in telecommunications, away from information collection to information distribution. Electronic newspapers, home shopping and banking, remote medical diagnosis, even distributed virtual reality, are all here now and as the "informatics revolution" is based on visualisation, many of those who are visually disabled may get left behind.
He said that the challenge for BT is to find ways of harnessing technologies to the benefit of blind and partially sighted people. To achieve this there must be co-ordination of telecommunications access and technologies centrally.
But as there is not one central co-ordinating body that represents the interests of all blind people, BT would like to assist by announcing the formation and initial sponsorship of the "Informatics Opportunities Forum" for blind people. This forum which will exist to co-ordinate everyone’s views as to how informatics opportunities can be harnessed for blind people from a telecommunications perspective. Kelvin said that BT will start the forum and hope it should be able to sustain its own momentum.
The inaugural meeting of the informatics opportunities forum for blind people is planned to take place at BT headquarters this summer. Please contact Kelvin Currie (Tel: +44 20 7728 8727; Fax: +44 20 7728 8589; Email: curriek@prc4wc.igw.bt.co.uk) if you are interested in participating.
WGHI Disbanded
On the 27th March, without any prior warning, members of Oftel’s Working Group on telecommunications for the Hearing Impaired (WGHI) were informed that their group was to be disbanded. This summary dismissal of a group that had been in operation for more than ten years was reported to be due to an 11% cut by the Government in Oftel’s budget. Oftel’s expenditure is some nine million pounds with an income from licence and other fees which, in 1995, produced a surplus of over a third of a million pounds.
The WGHI was originally set up by the DTI and transferred to Oftel and consists of experts from organisations concerned with deafness, telecoms operators, telecoms manufacturers, the Department of Health and independent consultants in the fields of disability and telecommunications. Members of the group receive no remuneration from Oftel and no payment towards their travelling costs; Oftel staff provide a secretarial service and meeting rooms. WGHI is a technical committee and provides an input into Oftel’s statutory advisory committee on disabled and elderly people (DIEL).
The group has led Europe in producing an effective network of expertise which has been used by a wide range of organisations who were not aware of the problems faced by hearing impaired people and the implications of current and future technology. The group has produced standards for inductive and electrical coupling of hearing aids to telephones, amplified telephones, text telephones which have been taken up by the European telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the International tele-communications Union (ITU). It has organised research into the coupling of hearing aids to the telephone and has played a major part in producing the new V.18 standard for text telephones.
In the light of extensive interest in Universal Service and the implications of Oftel’s consultative document on this, it is difficult to understand why this moment has been chosen to disband an internationally recognised group with unique experience. Oftel has given no indication as to how in the future it will determine the technical needs and views of deaf, deafblind, deafened and hard of hearing people when they have no such expertise in their own organisation.
Cash Dispenser
An experimental cash dispenser will be installed in the RNIB Resource Centre in Great Portland Street, London W1 in May. This prototype permits the user to select their preferred character size on the screen, screen colours, speech prompts and time outs; these preferences can be stored on the user’s card. In addition, this cash dispenser can be operated by placing the card in any orientation on the facia rather than inserting it in a slot. One thing this prototype will not do is to issue real money.
European Institute for Design and Disability
EIDD is an Irish-based non-profit organisation with a membership through-out the European Union. It promotes interest in design as a response to disability and undertakes research, consultancy, training and design projects. Further information from EIDD, National College of Art & Design, 100 Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland (Tel: +353 1 671 1377; Fax: +353 1 671 1748).
Forthcoming Seminars
Standardisation: This seminar will concentrate on the policy issues relating to how the needs of disabled people can be incorporated into the standardisation
process. A particular problem relates to technical standards where the authors may not be aware of the effects their proposed standards will have on the lives of disabled people.
The seminar is being organised in collaboration with British Standards Institution. It will take place on Thursday 6th June at BSI Headquarters in London. Further information from Dr John Gill (Fax: +44 20 8438 9094; Email: john.gill@rnib.org.uk).
The programme is:
Opening by Sir Neville Purvis, Chief Executive of BSI
The Standardisation Process - Dr Stephen Harbron, BSI
European Legislation - Tony Shipley, Consultant on Rehabilitation Technology
Feedback from Disabled People: The Awful Lesson from the Built Environment - John Mitchell, Sheffield Hallam University
Approving Telecommunications Equipment - Alan Binks, BABT
BSI Involving Consumers in the Standardisation Process - Nicholas Pope, BSI
Workshops on:
1. How do you access the system?
2. Obtaining training and expertise.
3. Resources required to participate.
4. How do you set priorities?
USO: The Universal Service Obligation requires telecommunication operators to provide various essential services, eg to those in rural communities. However some people feel it would be desirable for this obligation to be extended to cover more specifically the needs of disabled customers. The seminar will be held on Wednesday 18th September in Portland Place, London W1. Further information from Dr John Gill (Fax: +44 20 8438 9094; Email: john.gill@rnib.org.uk).
Unified Access: The seminar will cover recent developments in the design of computer interfaces which are adaptable to the needs of various groups of disabled users. These developments include methods for accessing hypermedia applications by blind persons, and communication aids for speech-motor and language-cognitive disabled users.
The seminar is suitable for people providing services to disabled people (eg teachers, employment advisers) as well as disabled computer users. There will be demonstrations of the new systems. The venue is wheelchair accessible; guide dogs are welcome. The seminar will take place on 2nd October 1996 at Portland Place, London W1. Further information can be obtained from Dr John Gill (Fax: 020 8438 9094; Email: john.gill@rnib.org.uk).
Virtual Reality
The first European Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies will take place in Maidenhead from 8th to 10th July 1996.The purpose of this conference is to provide a forum for international experts and researchers to present and review how advances in the general area of virtual reality can be used to assist people with disability. Further information can be obtained from Dr Paul Sharkey (Email: ecdvrat96-request@cyber .reading.ac.uk).
HFT ’97
The 16th International Symposium on Human Factors in telecommunications will take place in Oslo on 12th-16th May 1997. These symposia are held every two or three years to provide a forum for human factors experts to exchange information, views and experiences in research and application for human factors principles in tele-communications products, equipment and services. Further information Ms Elisabeth Christensen (Tel: +47 22 82 46 00; Fax: +47 22 82 47 20; Email: hft97oslo@nta.Telemax.no).
New Publication
"Services for Independent Living" is the proceedings of a seminar which was a dialogue between industry, research and users concerning the application of new technology to help disabled and elderly people live independently. Copies of this publication can be obtained, free of charge, from COST 219 (Fax: +358 0 3967 2054).
INCLUDE
The Include project aims to influence those developing new telecommunication
and Telematic systems and services to take into account the needs of disabled
and elderly users. It is a European project with partners in Finland,
Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Greece, France, Norway
and UK. It will be working in collaboration with COST 219. Further information
is available from Dr Jan Ekberg (Fax: +358 0 3967 2054).
European Standardisation
A meeting was held in Amsterdam on 25th & 26th April to discuss how the needs of disabled and elderly people could be incorporated in the standardisation process for information and communication technologies.
The main recommendations were:
1. User organisations to be involved at the planning stage for new standardisation work items, and people with expertise in technology and disability to participate in the writing of the standard; these were seen as separate activities.
2. The European Commission should provide funding so that user organisations can be actively involved in the standardisation process.
3. The European standardisation organisations (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI) should establish reference groups to monitor proposed standards which might affect disabled and elderly people.
4. Standardisation organisations should make available information about ongoing work and existing standards at low cost and in accessible media (eg on the World Wide Web).
5. To prevent de facto standards creating new barriers, industry and service operators should "design for all".
6. Legislation in Europe along the lines of the Americans with Disabilities Act is recommended.
For further information, contact Åse Brandt (Fax: +45 86 78 37 30; Email: a.brandt@daniscen.dk).
Distribution List
If you would like to be added to the circulation list for future publications in this area, please write to:
Dr John Gill
COST 219 UK Liaison Group
RNIB
105 Judd Street
London WC1H 9NE
Tel: +44 20 7391 2244
Fax: +44 20 7391 2318
Email: john.gill@rnib.org.uk
Last updated: 12.03.2008 © Copyright reserved
