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Accessible News #12 — October 2001
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:
Canada's Electronics Manufacturing Services Industry: an Untapped Resource for Assistive Technology Companies?
- by Sandeep Mathur, with input from Deb. FinnCompanies in the Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) sector undertake the manufacturing function for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). The work traditionally has included printed circuit board sub-assembly and box build work. EMS companies are now offering "cradle to grave" services where they work with OEMs from the initial design phase of a product through to the provision of after-market support.
For many assistive technology (AT) developers in Canada, the most difficult step in product development is turning their prototype into production and onto retailers' and distributors' shelves. EMS companies may be the answer to an AT developer's prayers. These companies have the capability to produce goods ranging from low end consumer products to high end communications and military equipment.
There are over 50 firms in the EMS sector that generated an estimated $8 billion in revenue in 2000. The industry employs over 15,000 across Canada, mainly in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta. The Canadian industry strengths lie in low-volume, high mix, high complexity product assembly and new product introduction, thus making EMS companies an attractive prospect for small AT companies without the capital to establish their own manufacturing facilities. What's more, Canadian EMS companies are looking at domestic expansion opportunities.
Most EMS firms are focussing on the high growth ICT sectors such as telecommunications and wireless. Some have carved out their niche in automotive, defence and aerospace, and medical electronics. Could AT be the next sector to which EMS firms turn their attention?
EMS firms enjoy economies of scale, possess expertise in supply chain management, and have capability to quickly ramp up production. Hence these firms may be well positioned to not only provide guidance to AT developers in finding mainstream applications for their products but also to quickly bring these products to market at competitive prices.
A profile of the EMS industry is on Industry Canada's Strategis Web site at strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/it05793e.html and a directory of EMS firms will be put up on the site in the near future.
CNIB Awards 2001 Winston Gordon Award to TECSO INC.
Montreal company TECSO Inc. is this year's recipient of the prestigious Winston Gordon Award, which is given annually by the CNIB. At an award ceremony in Montreal on August 30, TECSO President and CEO Catherine Geoffroy received the prize of a 24-carat gold medal and a cash award of $15,000. The company was recognized for its innovative line of interactive tutorials for Microsoft applications. These tutorials are the first in the world to be designed specifically for people who are blind or visually impaired.
The Award was established in 1988 and first bestowed the following year. It is given in honour of the blind industrialist and entrepreneur, Winston Gordon, who founded the Steel Fabricating and Welding Company Limited in Hamilton, Ontario in the 1930s and later went on to serve on the CNIB's Advisory Board for more than 25 years. Companies and organizations who receive the Award are recognized for the development of technological devices and/or the application of certain technologies or techniques that provide useful benefits to blind and visually impaired persons. Most of the Award's recipients to date have been from outside Canada and have been acknowledged as industry or advocacy leaders in their fields. In addition to being only the second Canadian company to receive the Winston Gordon Award (the other was SynthaVoice in 1996), this is the first time that a company headed by a woman has been so honoured.
TECSO was spun off from the Department of Communications/Industry Canada's Centre for Information Technologies Innovation (CITI) when CITI was being wound up during the Federal Government's downsizing exercise in the early 1990s. It has been successful in developing a variety of products that help blind or visually impaired people navigate Windows environments and the Internet by means of tactile and/or auditory feedback. This includes the Listening to Windows 95 and 98 series, Listening to the Internet and Listening to Word. The tutorials are sold in more than 10 countries worldwide and are available in English, French, Italian and German.
Ms. Geoffroy stated that "we hope that this award will shed more light on the issue of accessibility and that government agencies, employers, schools, rehabilitation and training centres, as well as users themselves will better understand the importance of training to improve access to education, employment, and leisure pursuits."
To find out more about TECSO's innovative products, visit their Web site at www.TECSO.ca
Gold Medal Awarded By CCPE
Dr. Charles Laszlo was awarded the Gold Medal by the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers at their annual meeting in St. Andrews, New Brunswick on May 26. This is the highest honour given by the Council. Dr. Laszlo is the founder of the Institute for Hearing Accessibility Research, at the University of British Columbia, where he is now Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. In 1991, he and a group of his graduate students set up a company, Assistive Listening Device Systems which has been successful in turning the Institute's research into usable products. Dr. Laszlo is also a member of the Minister's Advisory Committee on Assistive Devices and Persons with Disabilities.
Federal Elevator Expands Its Facilities
Brampton, Ontario-based Federal Elevator, a leading manufacturer of residence elevators, handicap lifts and LULA (Limited Usage, Limited Access) elevators announced a large expansion of its manufacturing facilities in August. The expansion was needed to accommodate the increased demand for the 100% Canadian-owned company's products.
Richard Piatti explained that over the past five years his company has seen a steadily growing market for elevators and lifts. He estimates that throughout the accessible elevator sector, there has been a 40% increase in installations in North America since the mid-1990s. One reason for this increase is the aging population.
"Fifteen years ago", he said, "you did not see a lot of elevators installed in single family dwellings. They were seen as something that would reduce the resale value of a house. Now, it's seen more and more as a selling feature. People are discovering that to sell their house and to move into a place that is accessible can cost them more than if they stay in their home and install an elevator or a lift. You can install an elevator in a home", he noted, "for as little as $20,000."
A factor in the growing market for accessible elevators in public buildings and residences other than single family units has been the introduction of such legislation as the Americans with Disabilities Act, which has been instrumental in increasing the demand in the US. An increase in installations has also been seen in Canada, where more and more schools, courthouses, community centres and other public use buildings are also working to better meet the access needs of people with mobility disabilities. Over the past three years, more public money has become available for the installation of accessible elevators and lifts, a welcome turn of events after a period in the mid-90s where such funds were nearly non- existent in Canada. Mr. Piatti said that Ontario has been a leader in such installations, thanks to the building of new schools and the renovations being carried out in existing schools across the province. Other provinces where similar increases in installations are going on are Manitoba, B.C. and Newfoundland.
Mr. Piatti proudly points out that Canada has led the way in North America in the introduction of lifts for people with mobility disabilities and in the development of standards governing them. After the UN declared 1980 the International Year of Disabled Persons, the world's first standard on lifts was developed by the Canadian Standards Association. This standard, B355, "Lifts for Persons With Physical Disabilities" is still in use and was updated as recently as last year. Other standards have also been developed to cover other types of elevators and lift devices for people with disabilities and the CSA's B44 "Safety Code for Elevators" includes sections on wheelchair accessible elevators. The Canadian standard established for LULA elevators is among those that have been harmonized with its American counterpart, an important point, when you consider that Federal Elevator estimates that about 60% of its business is in exports to the United States.
To find out more about Federal Elevator and its products and services, visit their Web site at www.federalelevator.com or call them toll-free at 1-888-785-5438.
Profile: PDG Product Design Group INC.
"Harriet recently moved into Extended Care and brought along her own manually operated tilt wheelchair. The chair did not meet her needs. Due to osteoporosis Harriet had severe kyphosis and fixed neck flexion. In the upright position she could move her wheelchair back and forth, but she could only see the floor. When the wheelchair was tilted she could see, but she could not move. Undertaking a seating assessment, Mary Cho, Occupational Therapist, determined a PDG Stellar with specialty back and seat cushion would best meet Harriet's needs. Harriet needed a low-seat-height manual-tilt wheelchair that could give her a view of her environment and allow her to engage with her surroundings."
Thus begins a recent item in the newsletter produced by PDG Product Design Group Inc. Founded in 1996, this innovative Vancouver company builds and markets manual wheelchairs that meet the needs of some previously underserved segments of the wheelchair market. PDG's President, Phil Mundy, says that his company's focus is on filling some very particular niche markets, rather than on high-volume manufacturing.
He cites the introduction of the Eclipse manual wheelchair, the first wheelchair designed specifically for extra large people as an example of the kinds of small market his company caters for. The Eclipse comes in models with a 350 lb capacity and one that can handle from 600 to 1,000 lbs.
Another specialized product is the Bentley manual tilt wheelchair, a high agitation/high stability wheelchair designed for people who are very hard on equipment. It is used by people who have such disabilities as those associated with brain injury, Huntington's Chorea, athetoid cerebral palsy and by psychiatric/geriatric patients.
Mr. Mundy says that the Stellar manual tilt wheelchair is the product for which his company is seeing the largest increase in demand. "Manual tilt chairs have been around for five or six years, but PDG's is the first one to be independence- oriented. It doesn't require an attendant to adjust the tilt or to propel it. The wheelchair user has independent control of the Stellar." This, he said, helps to maximize the user's independence, increasing the person's self-esteem. He also pointed out that by having the power to make adjustments for comfort and convenience without the assistance of an attendant can, for some people, extend the length of time they are able remain in their chair and reduce the amount of time they must spend in bed. This can also help to enhance their employability.
After working as a rehabilitation consultant for about 20 years, first in Ontario and then in B.C., Mr. Mundy decided to go into the business of developing and marketing what has become a well-regarded line of highly customizable wheelchairs. A program that was in place in the B.C. Ministry of Employment and Investment to help kick start health technology in the province provided an impetus to get started and Phil Mundy hasn't looked back. He likes what he does and says, "it's way more fun to be developing assistive technology than consulting on it."
To find out more about PDG's products, visit their Web site at: www.Prodgroup.Com
Ryerson University and the Liberated Learning Project
In the fall of 1999, Ryerson University was invited by Saint Mary's University to join the Liberated Learning Project as part of a research consortium of university and industry partners including IBM Research, MTT, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Southampton, UK. The Liberated Learning Project team is exploring how speech recognition technology used in the university classroom impacts students with disabilities, faculty members, and non-disabled students.
The Liberated Learning Project originated at the Atlantic Centre of Research, Access and Support for Students with Disabilities at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Funding of over 1.2 million dollars for the Liberated Learning Project was generously provided by the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and is one of the largest research grants in Saint Mary's University history.
In Liberated Learning lectures, instructors use a unique application of speech recognition technology, Via Voice, designed for classroom use that digitizes the spoken lecture and simultaneously displays it as text for the entire class. Students can see and hear the lecture as it is delivered. One goal is to provide students with comprehensive, edited software-generated lecture notes within 48-72 hours of the lecture.
As of September, 2001, three instructors from the Business Faculty at Ryerson, Terry Sulymko, Tina West and Dave Meston will be using speech recognition technology with their students. Next semester, other instructors will be recruited for the project and more curriculum notes will be available to students who can benefit from this service.
Members of the strategic planning committee include: Melanie Panitch, Director of the School of Disability Studies, Karen McCall from Open College in Continuing Education, Ann Thomas - Learning Technology Support for students with Disabilities and Alan Cheong of Communication and Computer Systems.
The main Liberated Learning web site at St. Mary's University can be found at www.liberatedlearning.com or you can contact Maxine Laine, Assistant Director of Student Services at Ryerson University (mlaine@ryerson.ca) for more information.
Mainstream Interest In "NTS" Grows
Sinclair, Nicholson and Associates (SNA) has made available the new "NTS" (Nxicom Text System) LAN-based TTY, accompanied by SNA's specialized consulting formula for ensuring communications access for the Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing. But interest in NTS' mainstream applications has been even stronger than its use as an accessible TTY system.
NTS is a telephone network for communication with employees and the public who use TTYs, the telephone for the Deaf, deafened, and some hard of hearing who cannot use a normal telephone. New developments in the product, however, included the following:
A secure internal Instant Messaging system which resides on the customer's server for added security; and Interactive Website Communications, with "document push". An icon on the website allows users to dial in directly to the contained NTS communications system, while the Call Flow Option in the software allows the client to control what happens to the call. Click on the icon and you can talk to Call Centre staff, talk to an individual staffer, or be directed to sources of program information. The other half of the split screen application allows the client to "push" Web pages to the caller, as required. Such pages can be information circulars, forms, registrations for newsletters, or just about anything that can be dreamed up by the end user applications staff.
"Where our clients are always interested in making services accessible for those with a disability, the mainstream applications of this software are getting the major part of the interest", according to managing partner Rick Sinclair. "We are getting a lot of calls."
For more information, contact Sinclair, Nicholson and Associates, TTY: (613) 599-1246, Voice: (613) 599-1284 or e-mail at: SNA@sympatico.ca
Open College Embraces Barrier Free Design
Open College in Continuing Education at Ryerson university has a new web site look and feel. The best part of this announcement is that the Open College site meets W3C Priority 1 guidelines on accessibility. Open College is busy working on Priority 2 and Priority 3 compliance.
Open College is making a commitment to ensure that courses offered online are as accessible as they can be. Courses that are accessible to students using adaptive technology will be identified with an accessibility symbol. This will allow students to easily recognize these courses.
The staff at Open College is also busy learning the best methods to ensure more accessible online curriculum. They are quite excited about this venture and believe we are pioneering barrier-free E-learning opportunities in Canada. They are currently developing an implementation plan for existing courses and strategies for instructors of new courses. This will only enhance the E-learning experience for everyone.
Visit ce-online.ryerson.ca/de/ for examples of emergent technology that emphasizes inclusion and accessibility.
ICTA Conference Carries On In The Aftermath Of a Disaster
At some level, we all understand the notion that different aspects of our daily lives are interconnected. But do we fully understand what that really means? Can we truly "expect the unexpected"? Can we anticipate the ripple effect a catastrophic event can have on seemingly unrelated events?
Take the case of the International Conference on Technology and Aging (ICTA). This was a major conference, two years in the making and the first of its kind in North America. It was set to begin in Toronto on Wednesday, September 12, its program painstakingly organized, speakers and topics chosen, invitations issued to a number of distinguished people acknowledged to be experts in their fields and sponsorships arranged to make the conference a success.
On Tuesday, September 11, hijacked airplanes were deliberately flown into targets in the US and after arranging for incoming aircraft, including those flights bound for American destinations to land at Canadian airports, all civilian air traffic in North America was halted. Some delegates to the ICTA meeting were already in the air and unsure of where they would land in Canada and how they would make their way to Toronto. It was too late to cancel or postpone the conference and the issues under discussion, the impact of technology on an aging population and the accompanying issue of the changes in ability associated with aging, were too important to be put on hold in any case.
Some work-arounds were needed. Some of the speakers who were unable to get to Toronto e-mailed their presentations and spoke by teleconference. Attendees got the messages these speakers imparted, but there is a world of difference between hearing a message delivered from a remote location and hearing it from a person in the same room. Human communication is not simply the words we say, but how we say them: our tone of voice, our facial expressions, our body language, our proximity to those to whom we are speaking, how we occupy our space. Such subtle cues are not picked up as effectively from an electronic connection, even with videoconferencing. It is when we are without these cues that we realize that communication is not just audio and visual, but spacial as well, a point that is well-known to anyone who communicates using sign language.
There were very real psychological issues confronting attendees. On the one hand, there were some moments of guilt that they should be carrying on with this conference, the day after the American disasters. There was relief that they had made it to Toronto, uncertainty about how and when they would get home again, what the cost of additional hotel and living expenses would do to the small and fragile budgets of some of the organizations that had sponsored their attendance.
In some ways, the feeling of "what do we do now, where do we go from here and how do we get there" was somewhat analogous to suffering a traumatic injury. Mickey Milner, one of the conference organizers, said, "there is an element of disability when something like this happens. It affects every aspect of our lives from increased security, to uncertainty about when we can get home again. We feel cut off and we don't know what to do next. What's our prognosis? There was the steadfast determination not to let the important issues under discussion at ICTA be completely subsumed by shock, grief and anger. Many felt that it was important to carry on with the conference, in spite of the disruptions and the uncertainty."
In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the US, there has been some speculation that more organizations will hold virtual conferences, rather than physical ones. The communications problems outlined above will be an issue that will need to be addressed. There will be the additional problem of making electronic attendees, particularly those connecting with the group for the first time, to feel they are part of the community. It may be interesting to see what new kinds of technology applications will be developed to minimize these distance problems. It will also be interesting to see what electronic attendance will do for people with disabilities. Will it increase their opportunities for participation?
For more information on the conference, visit www.icta.on.ca .
James Sanders to Take Over As President and CEO Of CNIB
James Sanders, Vice-President of Client Services and Technology for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind has been named as the CNIB's new President and Chief Executive Officer. He takes over from outgoing President and CEO, Dr. Euclid Herie, on November 1. The announcement was made this summer by Mrs. Fran Cutler, Chair of the CNIB's National Board of Directors.
Mr. Sanders has worked for the CNIB for more than 30 years. In his role as Vice- President, Client Services and Technology, he has been responsible for government relations as well as the CNIB Library for the Blind. Before moving to National Headquarters in Toronto, he was the manager responsible for government liaison, in the CNIB's Ottawa office. He became blind in his early twenties and is an enthusiastic assistive technology user.
In a press release from the CNIB, Dr. Herie stated, "on behalf of management and staff, I extend good wishes and all possible support to Jim on his appointment Staff and management share the Board's pleasure with this decision. We will seize this opportunity to be part of an exciting future filled with hope and promise for the blind of Canada."
Mr. Sanders has been a member of the Minister of Industry's Advisory Committee on Assistive Devices and Persons with Disabilities since its inception in the early 1990s. He has also been an active participant in a variety of federal and federal/provincial/territorial consultations on disability issues.
News Bits
- In March 2001, Betacom Corporation Inc. (www.betacom.com)
announced the opening of it US Sales Office. They have already
established 27 dealers across the USA, and signed a complementary
distribution agreement with Telesensory Corporation of Sunnyvale,
California. Internationally, Betacom is already shipping units to
8 countries and is in discussions with many more NGOs, Government
Vision Rehabilitation services, dealers and distributors around
the world.
- Compusult Ltd. is now producing two new ScanTELL systems, in
addition to its ScanTELL Talking Bar Code Reader software. The
ScanTELL P100 is a battery-powered and completely portable unit
with a handheld CCD bar code scanner that allows blind and
visually impaired employees to scan bar coded items used at work
and hear the corresponding bar codes spoken to them. With its
optional carrying case, the ScanTELL P100 can be conveniently and
comfortably worn by the user at work. Typical applications are
for product stock picking and confirmation in warehouse and
retail environments. The ScanTELL P100AC is an AC-powered desktop
unit that provides the same capabilities as the ScanTELL P100,
but uses an omni-directional laser bar code scanner so that blind
users can more easily locate the bar code on an item without
needing to know exactly where the bar code is located. Both new
ScanTELL systems were originally designed and developed for the
Travis Association for the Blind in Austin, Texas. For more
information on these and other Compusult Limited assistive
technology products, please call, toll-free, 1-888-388-8180 (U.S.
and Canada), e-mail info@hear-it.com, or visit Compusult's AT web
site at www.hear-it.com.
- Betty Dion has taken over as president of the North American
chapter of the International Commission on Technology and
Accessibility (ICTA-NA). She succeeds Chuck Letourneau, who
stepped down in July. ICTA-NA is a chapter of one of the six
commissions set up under the auspices of Rehabilitation
International, an international not for profit non-governmental
organization. ICTA was established to address areas of
accessibility which include habitat, transportation and
communications in developing countries, as well as access to high
technology and employment in developed countries.
- ADIO has prepared a preliminary summary of provincial
commercialization programs available across Canada to assist in
turning R&D into marketable products. The summary, which does
not include Federal programs, but does make reference to a couple
of for-fee services available in addition to the provincial
government programs, is by no means a comprehensive document and
is intended to direct its users to information sources within
each province. Copies of the summary are available on request
from ADIO.
- Betacom Corporation has been awarded a contract as the
exclusive distributor of Don Johnston Inc. products for the
Canadian market. The deal was announced September 4 and gives
Betacom's Bridges division sole responsibility in Canada for
sales, certified training, support and customer service of Don
Johnston's products, which includes their Co:Writer® word
prediction program, Write:OutLoud® a talking word processor
program and the Discover® Series computer access products
that replace the keyboard and mouse. "We are extremely pleased to
name Betacom Bridges as our exclusive Canadian dealer", said Don
Johnston, founder and CEO of the company that bears his name.
"Our mission is to provide the best literacy solutions so all
students can experience reading and writing success, and Betacom
Bridges has been consistently committed to this goal...Our
exclusive partnership allows us to harness Betacom Bridges'
leadership within Canada in order to bring our industry-leading
assistive technology solutio ns to more students and create more
literacy success."
- The CSA will soon be publishing B659-01, Design for Aging.
This guideline provides the core principles, guiding concepts and
tools applicable to the design and provision of products,
services and environments that are used by seniors and whose
abilities are affected by aging. For more information, e-mail the
CSA at info@csa.ca or call them at (416) 747-2670.
- Madentec Limited has announced a new companion to WISP 2000.
The cheek switch, based on fibre optic technology, provides an
alternative method of clicking to the standard sip/puff headset.
The cheek switch fits over the ears and has a short extension
fitting down the cheek that contains the fibre optics. Use a left
cheek movement, like a wink, to activate a left mouse click.
Similar movements of the right cheek will activate the right
mouse click. For more information, contact Madentec toll-free at
(877) 623-3682 or visit their Web site at www.madentec.com
.
- ADIO has published the Revised List of Canadian R&D
Groups and Referral Centres on its Web site. See the list at
strategis.ic.gc.ca/adio .
- Compusult recently released the latest version of its
Microsoft Windows based FasseTrack Inventory Control System
software, part of the FasseTrack line of automatic identification
and data collection software products, which the company has been
producing for over 5 years. The new FasseTrack Inventory Control
System is directly speech-enabled so that blind, visually
impaired and print impaired users can operate almost all system
functions independently. The accessible version is now being
offered as part of the standard package. With a single key press,
users can select from detailed speech output,
navigation/acknowledgement output only, or no speech output. The
speech-enabled version of the FasseTrack Inventory Control System
was originally developed for Southern Foodservice Management of
Glynco, Georgia. Compusult plans to offer speech-enabled versions
of our other FasseTrack products in the near future.
- Sterling Creations, a company focused on making the Internet
a barrier-free environment, has announced a course offering on
accessibility development. This course will focus on the
importance and benefits of accessibility awareness to both
website owners and Internet users. Part one of the course will
present topics on why we need to make the Internet a barrier-free
environment. Part two of the course will introduce the components
of an accessible website. This course can be presented as a 3
hour presentation, or it can be given as a one day course. For
more information, please contact Sterling Creations at (416)
491-7711, e-mail them at info@sterlingcreations.ca or visit their
Web site at: www.sterlingcreations.ca .
- Another new Microsoft Windows based software product called KeyPrompt will also be released soon by Compusult. It is designed to assist computer users with cognitive and/or learning disabilities. KeyPrompt alerts users with displayed and/or spoken messages when they've pressed a keyboard key for too long and reminds them to stop. It remains in the background and will work with any Microsoft Windows application. KeyPrompt can be configured for the type of displayed and/or spoken message, key repeat duration, and display message duration.
Our Web Site
The ADIO Web site can be found at strategis.ic.gc.ca/adio . At this site are all our old newsletters as well as different listings and links to other sites of interest. 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.
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-mail:laughton@crc.ca or finn.deb@ic.gc.ca
Date last modified: October 2001
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