European Commission Funds Cloud Computing Accessibility Initiative
The Trace Center is one of the leaders in a new coalition that was awarded a $13 million, four-year grant by the European Commission. Titled CLOUD4All, the project launched in Madrid on November 1, 2011, and will be carried out by a coalition of 30 partners, including Microsoft, Mozilla, Phillips, eleven universities and research organizations, six user groups and nonprofit organizations, and nine other companies.
CLOUD4All is an FP7 large-scale integrated project to carry out initial research and development on several of the key components of the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII), which was conceptualized by the Trace Center as part of the Universal Interface and Information Technology RERC funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (grant #H133E080022). The GPII will in effect provide on-demand, personalized interfaces to information and communication technologies of all types, enabling people with disability, literacy, and age-related barriers to fully participate in our rapidly evolving technical society.
Trace Center Director Gregg Vanderheiden and others have created a new nonprofit association in Geneva, Switzerland called Raising the Floor - International, which will serve as the coordinating organization for worldwide efforts to develop the GPII. Funding for the GPII in the United States is included in the 2012 federal budget submitted by the White House.
For more information see http://raisingthefloor.org and http://GPII.net.
Posted at 10:26 PM on November 30, 2011.
Report on 9-1-1 Calling for People With Disabilities
On July 21, 2011, the FCC released the Report on Emergency Calling for Persons With Disabilities: Survey Review and Analysis. This report is the result of a national survey conducted by the Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) during April and May 2011. Trace Center staff provided support for data compilation and graphing of the results, and Gregg Vanderheiden (Trace Center Director) serves on the EAAC.
Survey questions addressed a person's experiences and technology used when calling 9-1-1 today, and then asked for respondents' functional preferences for future Internet-based 9-1-1 calling (referred to as "NG9-1-1"). The survey was completed by 3,149 persons with various disabilities. Data will provide guidance to the EAAC as it develops recommendations to the FCC on technical and policy aspects of NG9-1-1.
Posted at 4:20 PM on July 25, 2011.
Proposals Solicited for White Paper
We are looking for assistive technology funding experts interested in writing a commissioned white paper aimed at understanding whether and how current AT funding programs can support GPII-based AT, including information about the relevant laws, regulations, and typical business methods.
The Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) is a project of Raising the Floor International and the Trace Center. The GPII will extend accessibility to more people with disabilities in more situations by supporting features and functions built directly into the internet. The GPII vision is that each computing or communication device will be able to instantly change to fit users as they encounter the device, rather than requiring users to figure out how to install, adapt, or configure access features they need. For AT and mainstream technology companies, GPII will introduce a system of shared components and services to reduce cost, increase interoperability, and foster innovation.
Those interested in submitting a proposal should email AT_funding@raisingthefloor.org to receive a copy of the RFP.
Posted at 3:36 PM on April 1, 2011.
Klaus Miesenberger is 2011 Catalyst Award Winner
The Trace Center presented the 2011 Harry J. Murphy Catalyst Award to Klaus Miesenberger on March 15, 2011 at the opening session of CSUN's 26th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, in San Diego, California. Dr. Miesenberger is professor of Human-Computer Interaction for People with Disabilities at the University of Linz, Austria. Professor Miesenberger is a classic catalyst, helping others to achieve - both directly and through the many organizations, programs, and new leaders he has helped create. Read more ...
Posted at 5:12 PM on March 23, 2011.
Focus Group Participants Wanted
The RERC on Telecommunication Access will be conducting focus group discussions via conference call in the spring of 2011. All of these discussions will gather consumers' opinions and recommendations regarding what we are calling "telecollaboration," or conference calls that are supported by shared media or other online support for the call. These may be group meetings or webinars.
There will be four Focus Groups - each on a different major disability group and a group that develops telecollaboration software. Flyers with more information are available for download:
- Combination Hearing and Vision Disability Focus Group: (PDF) (DOC)
- Speech Disability Focus Group: (PDF) (DOC)
- Upper Limb Physical Disability Focus Group: (PDF) (DOC)
- Telecollaboration System Developer Focus Group: (PDF) (DOC)
Posted at 4:32 PM on March 23, 2011.
Cell Phone Accessibility Resource
A new resource has been published on the Trace website to provide guidance for consumers and others concerned with making mass market cell phones more usable by people with disabilities and elders. Essentials for Cross-Disability Accessible Cell Phones suggests a minimum set of capabilities that mainstream phones could and should have, given today's technology, to enable a higher degree of accessibility.
This resource is a distillation of the Trace Center's research and development related to cell phone access, and is a product of the Telecommunications Access RERC. Included with this publication is a quick reference list that can be printed and used as a worksheet when assessing the accessibility of a cell phone. Also included is a list of some features that have appeared on mainstream phones and how they improve accessibility and usefulness for people with disabilities.
Posted at 3:29 PM on September 30, 2010.
HFES Poster Session About Trace Experience Lab
Since 2004, the Experience Lab has been conducted as part of the UW-Madison's pre-engineering Introduction to Engineering Design course. This one-hour lab provides an opportunity for each student to personally experience the impact that simple design changes can have on accessibility of everyday technology and other products.
A poster session about the lab, developed by J. Bern Jordan and Gregg Vanderheiden, was presented by Rebecca Perkins at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2010. For more details, see How to Present an Experience Lab.
Posted at 12:37 PM on September 27, 2010.
Vanderheiden Part of White House-FCC-Commerce Event
Trace Center Director Gregg Vanderheiden participated in a joint White House - FCC - Commerce Department brainstorming session held in conjunction with their July 19, 2010 ADA Anniversary Event. Moderated by Aneesh Chopra, White House Chief Technology Officer, an invited group of experts engaged in brainstorming related to Web accessibility and accessible public transportation.
Posted at 10:40 AM on July 21, 2010.
Four Android Applications Developed in Support of Raising the Floor
An accessible Android email reader, an Android-based barcode reader, an Android magnification app, and a fully accessible Web access plug-in for Android mobile devices have been developed and released as free, open source products by IDEAL Group Apps4Android, Inc., as part of Raising the Floor, an international coalition led by the Trace Center.
Read More: Four Android Applications Developed in Support of Raising the Floor
Posted at 1:25 PM on July 16, 2010.
Presentation at NIST Workshop on Health IT
Trace Center Director Gregg Vanderheiden presented on “Creating an Inclusive Infrastructure to Allow Affordable Access across Technologies, Disabilities and Ages†at the NIST workshop on Usability in Health IT, held July 13, 2010. The workshop brought together experts from industry, academia, and government to prioritize, align and coordinate short, medium and long-term technical strategies and tactics to improve the usability of electronic health records.
Posted at 1:19 PM on July 14, 2010.