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Accessible News #3 — June 1997
Should you be using these old newsletters, please bear in mind that the web addresses were correct when the newsletter was created but that they may not be accurate now. We do not plan to change the back issues of the newsletters.
Contents:
John Manley Retains Industry Portfolio
Prime Minister Chrétien's Cabinet was sworn in on June 11 and the Honourable John Manley remains in his post as Minister of Industry. This is good news for the Assistive Devices industry, as Minister Manley has proven himself to be a strong supporter of this young and growing sector of the economy.
A new Secretary of State, Science, Research and Development has also been appointed. He is the Honourable Ronald Duhamel. In addition to his duties in the Science, Research and Development portfolio, Minister Duhamel, who represents the Manitoba riding of Saint Boniface, is also the Secretary of State for Western Economic Diversification.
Program Funding: New Project Rules
Many of our clients and partners have been anxiously waiting to hear if the Office (ADIO) will have program funding available this year. The answer is yes, but it is much less than we have had in previous years. For this reason, we have revised our funding criteria. If you want a copy of these criteria, please contact us. Our postal and e-mail addresses, phone and fax numbers are at the end of this newsletter.
Do Not Send Any Proposals Until You Have Talked to Us About Your Project Ideas in Light of the New Criteria.
Internal Reorganization Gives A.D. Industry Welcome Recognition
Earlier this spring, the organization to which the ADIO belongs underwent some fairly fundamental changes. Our old Branch, the Communications Development and Planning Branch was reorganized to become the Information and Communications Technologies Branch. In a message to employees, our Assistant Deputy Minister, Michael Binder said, "this Branch will combine all information and telecommunications manufacturing support activities with [primary] responsibilities for investment promotion and international business development activities across the sector" [the Spectrum Information Technology and Telecommunications Sector in Industry Canada.] What this means is that the Assistive Devices industry is gaining recognition, both inside and outside the government, as an industrial sector that is growing in importance to Canada's economy. This is a significant breakthrough for the industry!
Western Entrepreneurs Program Announced
On April 9, the Honourable Jon Gerrard, who was then the Secretary of State for Western Economic Diversification (WD) announced the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program (EDP). WD will provide the Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) up to $18 million in repayable investment contributions to help improve access to capital for people with disabilities looking to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. Currently there are 90 CFDCs in Western Canada that are eligible to receive $200,000 each under this program. In addition, WD will provide each CFDC with a non-repayable amount of $50,000 to support the operation of the program. Additional assistance will also be provided to people with disabilities who are seeking to expand their business horizons through the provision of support and service mechanisms in local communities.
For further information, contact Nadean Langlois,
Alberta Region,
Western Economic Diversification Canada,
9700 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5H 4H7
tel: 403 495-4973/4164 fax: 403 495-4557
Web site: English (http://www.wd.gc.ca) -
French(http://www.deo.gc.ca).
Disability Conference Listings Available Online
ADIO maintains an extensive list of disability-related conferences, both upcoming and ones that have already taken place. This listing is available online at our Web site, which you can get to by accessing the "Businesses by Sector" section of Strategis, call up the Business by Sector list and you'll find it under Assistive Devices, Industry Canada's primary Web site for providing business information, or through the Starling Access Services site(http://www.starlingweb.com/adp/). For those conferences for which we have the proceedings, the listing indicates this fact. Conference proceedings can be loaned to interested parties, via the inter- library loan system. If you have a conference you'd like us to add to the list, get in touch with us at the address listed at the end of this newsletter.
Don't forget: our Web site also carries a complete list of the projects we have funded over the years.
Speaking of Conferences...
Industry Canada's booth at the Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference in Los Angeles was a big hit again this year. This conference is put on every March by California State University at Northridge (CSUN). With us in the CSUN booth this year were five of our industry partners. Converto-Braille showed some of its educational software and products for blind and low-vision people; Compusult had their ScanTell grocery product barcode reader; VisuAide demonstrated Pantographe, their computer mouse that provides sound and vibration feedback to blind users; Tactile Vision had a variety of raised-print maps, charts and textbook text and diagrams on display; and Betacom had their Alex CCTV system. We also gave demonstrations of the Jouse, the mouth mouse designed by the Neil Squire Foundation, which is marketed by Aroga Technologies (and by Prentke-Romich in the US.)
The Canadian Assistive Devices Industry Association has secured exhibit space for next year's CSUN conference.
Making Connections
The "Making Connections" forum, held in Ottawa June 18, was sponsored by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) Library for the Blind. People who make policy decisions for Canada's publicly funded library and information services were invited to attend this session, which was presented in cooperation with the 1997 Canadian Library Association Conference Planning Committee and Library Services for People with Disabilities Interest Group. The forum was designed to raise awareness of what needs to be done to give blind and print disabled library users equal access to information.
The Keynote Address, "No More Handouts", was delivered by Norman Coombs, Ph.D., who is the Chair of EASI: Equal Access to Software and Information at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. There were also three panel presentations held throughout the day. The first, "Getting at the Issues" dealt with such issues as access to information in alternate formats, public policy, funding, copyright, electronic publishing, digitization of information and braille literacy. The second panel was "Blind and Print Disabled Library Users Speak about What Works for Them" and the third was an "International Information Technology Showcase".
Working Together
ADIO will continue its working relationship with the Office for Disability Issues in Human Resources Development Canada. A Federal Strategy for Disability will be developed over the course of this year and joint R&D projects will be undertaken.
China as a Market
ADIO was represented at a meeting with the China National Committee on Aging, the Chinese Government agency dealing with Chinese seniors. This Committee is looking for collaboration with the Canadian Government and with Canadian businesses to deliver services and products to the more than 140 million Chinese over the age of 60. This is a large market for the Canadian AD industry. ADIO, with the Industry Association, will be working on plans for a possible mission to China in cooperation with the Senior's Secretariat of Health Canada. Watch for more on this in the upcoming months.
The Web Accessibility Initiative
On April 6, 1997, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) launched its international Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The Government of Canada was represented at the launch by representatives from ADIO, the Diversity Management Directorate (DMD) of the Public Service Commission and from Statistics Canada.
Since these and other federal departments had expressed an interest in the accessibility of the Information Highway, the decision was taken to coordinate effort and work through the Treasury Board Secretariat's Internet Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee has representatives from most departments and is comprised of working groups looking at a wide range of Internet topics. Accessibility of government Web sites has been a concern of the committee for some time. The Presentation, Style and Accessibility Working Group developed guidelines for government Web site accessibility; however, it was felt that participation in the international WAI project warranted the creation of a separate working group to deal with the issues. The Access Working Group should be in place by the end of June 1997. That timing should coincide with the formal launch of the International Programme Office of the W3C.
The ADIO and the DMD have been in constant contact with the sponsors of the WAI to ensure that Canadian federal government participation is officially recognized.
For more information about the Web Accessibility Initiative, visit the W3C's WAI Web site(http://www.w3.org/WAI/). For more information about the Canadian Government's participation in the WAI, contact Chuck Letourneau (613-820-2272).
The Year 2000 Problem and Computers
As the new millennium approaches, many organizations, including Industry Canada, are beginning to take steps to stop the "Year 2000 problem" from happening. Simply explained, the difficulty is that many information technology systems store dates in a format which uses only two digits instead of four to identify a given year. For example, January 10, 1999 is typically recorded as 01/01/99 rather than 01/01/1999. In most cases, such systems will interpret January 1, 2000 not as the beginning of the 21st century but as January 1, 1900 (01/01/00).
The practice of using two digits to identify the year began decades ago when computer memory and storage was an expensive commodity. It affects programs which calculate age, sort by date, compare dates or perform other tasks associated with a specified year date. It occurs in micro-code, operating systems, software compilers, applications, queries, procedures, databases and data. It affects mainframe, mid-range and desk-top computers alike.
The implications of the Year 2000 problem extend far beyond the computer room. They are likely to affect the full range of business activity. Profitability, communications, process control, security, employee morale and corporate reputation could all suffer if the issue is not adequately addressed. The Year 2000 problem is not simply a technical "glitch", but a fundamental and strategic business issue.
From a technical perspective, fixing the problem is relatively simple. The scope and scale of the work involved, however, is enormous. Literally millions of lines of computer code, some written years ago in programming languages now obsolete, must be checked, re-written and tested.
To find out more about the Year 2000 problem, check out the Year 2000 Homepage on Strategis (http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/year2000 .)
Communications from ADIO
If you would prefer to receive our newsletter on disk or by e-mail, please contact us at the address below.
Where to Find Us
For more information, to discuss a project idea or to get on our mailing list, please contact:
Mary Frances Laughton or Deb Finn
Assistive Devices Industry Office
Industry Canada
P.O. Box 11490 Station H
Ottawa, Ontario
K2H 8S2
Phone: 613-990-4316 or 613-990-4297
Fax: 613-998-5923
Internet: laughton@crc.ca or finn.deb@ic.gc.ca
Posted: July 8, 1997
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