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Accessible News #39 - Winter 2010
Contents:
- Accessible Procurement Toolkit Gets an
Update
- Transport Canada R&D Project on Mobility
Scooters
- Ontario's Technologies Show Considerable
Promise
- Descriptive Video Industry Standards to be
developed
- A New Vision of India
- NetCentric Releases Full Production Version of PAW
for Microsoft Word
- New Products or Services
- Upcoming Conferences in Canada
- Canadian Companies and Speakers at CSUN
2010
- News Bits
- Our Web Site
- Communications From ISO-AT/AD
- Where To Find Us
Accessible Procurement Toolkit Gets an Update
The Accessible Procurement Toolkit (APT: www.apt.gc.ca) is being updated. When the APT was launched, its requirement clauses reflected the state of the art for mainstream products and workplace technologies. Over the years, much mainstream technology has been expanded and improved to provide users with additional functionality. New standards, such as the Canadian Standards Association's B651.2-07 "Accessible design for self-service interactive devices" have also been completed since the APT was first launched, providing us with further guidance to assist in ensuring that mainstream technology is accessible at purchase or with minimal adaptation. For these reasons, we decided that the time was ripe to take a look at the APT and ensure that it continues to meet your procurement needs.
The APT updates have been undertaken for Industry Canada by Mediac Inc. (www.mediac.ca). Some of the upgraded content has already been added to the APT site and the rest will follow shortly.
Transport Canada R&D Project on Mobility Scooters
The Transportation Development Centre of Transport Canada has contracted Rutenberg Design Inc. to conduct a project to analyze and assess the environment for three- and four-wheeled mobility scooters and to identify future needs in order to help ensure the safety of users.
One of the impacts of the aging population in Canada and in North America is an increasing popularity of scooter usage, especially among baby boomers. Their operation in mixed traffic, in public transit vehicles, and on sidewalks and pathways is causing safety concerns for both users and other traffic participants.
Transport Canada would encourage anyone with information on this subject to send it to Mr. Daniel Blais, Research Officer, at Transport Canada (daniel.blais@tc.gc.ca). The department is especially interested in accidents involving scooters (with pedestrians, cars, bicycles, etc.) and access to public transit vehicles (buses, trains, subway, etc.).
Ontario's Technologies Show Considerable Promise
On January 13, Dr. Morris (Mickey) Milner, President and CEO of The Health Technology Exchange (HTX: www.htx.ca) announced the investment of over $1.7 million towards the development of seven emerging medical technologies.
Now in its fourth round of funding, the Business Investment Program has invested over $4 million towards the program, since the pilot launched in 2006. The program is jointly funded by the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, (www.mri.gov.on.ca) through HTX and the Ontario Centres of Excellence Inc. (www.oce-ontario.org), and the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/irap-pari/index.html). Funding supports business-driven R&D undertaken by a team from a recognized Ontario research institution in collaboration with a partnering company.
"Ontario is proud to support HTX in growing Ontario's health technologies sector. The Business Investment Program matches Ontario's cutting-edge companies with our world-class research institutions, helping open new doors for Ontario's best and brightest entrepreneurs while bringing jobs and leading-edge medical care to Ontarians," said John Milloy, Ontario's Minister of Research and Innovation.
Projects from seven Ontario companies have been selected among a pool of 20 proposals to commercially develop or advance their technologies. The projects span a broad spectrum of medical technologies including imaging, diagnostics, remote monitoring and assistive devices.
Included in this list is Kanata's eSight Corp. (www.esightcorp.com), which has received $500,000 from the province to bring its game-changing "evSpex"™ device to the global market. evSpex™ is a head-worn assistive device for people who experience low vision resulting from disease or trauma. The device consists of a high-resolution video camera and two "micro-displays" to significantly improve the wearer's view of the world by optimizing the use of his or her remaining visual function. The incorporation of gaze tracking technology will enable contextual, local application of image enhancement algorithms based on the wearer's specific point of focus within the device's broader field of view. The technology is being developed in collaboration with the Vision Research Program of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and is expected to go into production later this year.
Also receiving funding is Toronto's Quillsoft (www.wordq.com) for the development of 3G word prediction for its WordQ word prediction software for individuals with learning disabilities. The software offers plug-ins including SpeakQ, which provides speech recognition and keywords in combination with word prediction and speech output. Quillsoft is currently developing new prediction algorithms that will consider contextual information, in collaboration with Bloorview Kids Rehab.
Descriptive Video Industry Standards to be developed
Beverley Milligan, President and CEO of Mediac Inc. has announced the successful creation of a draft Best Practices Guide for Descriptive Video. This guide will be adopted by Media Access Canada, an organization currently being incorporated as a not-for-profit entity, to establish various committees to participate in the development of a broadcast and educational industry standard for live, post production and theatrical descriptions.
"In order to create a standard and best practices guide for the creation of accessible content, be it descriptive video or closed captioning, we need to build
consensus between stakeholders. In this case it means the broadcast, educational and production industries, with strong participation and engagement of consumers of descriptive video and audio description", stated Milligan.
Eight months of international research, interviews, and production systems studies, from four researchers, all of whom are experts in some form of accessible content and research, have compiled the necessary information to create a draft manual which discusses accessible production systems integration, qualitative measures, examples and an overview of the target consumer to whom the accessibility is being provided.
The design of the Best Practices Guide for Descriptive Video will complement the current captioning standards being updated by a captioning working group as part of the CRTC decision 2009-430. "Having accessibility standards for both captioning and description will allow the broadcast community to manage the costs and have a base line for the measurement of good and bad accessible content for CRTC reporting purposes" commented Milligan.
An initial working group will be appointed to review the best practices guide, establish a framework and time frame for finalizing the guide and identify sub-committee work and members. If you are interested in volunteering in the development of the description standards, please contact Mediac at: info@mediac.ca. "At this point", said Milligan, "we are hoping to identify as many people and organizations as possible to contribute, in some way, in consensus building and final publication of the standard".
For more information, visit www.mediac.ca .
A New Vision of India
The President and CEO of Braille Jymico, Mr. Jacques Cote, accompanied the Prime Minister of Quebec, Mr. Jean Charest during a commercial mission to India at the beginning of February.
Braille Jymico specialises in the transcription and production of literary and scientific textbooks for blind and visually impaired students from kindergarten up to the university level. These textbooks and manuals are adapted into Braille, large print, electronic text or into audio format.
During the mission, Mr. Cote's objectives were to evaluate the number of students who are blind and visually impaired in India, to get acquainted with the universities and other educational institutions that teach and offer services to the blind, then to evaluate the needs for adapted scholarly materials. Mr. Cote was also in India to evaluate common interests and to establish possible business partnerships.
As a blind person and after having taught blind and visually impaired students for more than 25 (twenty-five) years, Mr. Cote knows the importance of having accessible textbooks available for these students. During this trip, Mr. Cote visited two establishments dedicated to the education and development of blind girls and women. He mentioned that the living standards of these girls is desperate and that if it weren't for these institutions, the girls would probably be abandoned and on the streets.
The World Health Organization estimates the number of blind and visually impaired people in India at around 9 million. From Mumbai to Bangalore then to New Delhi, Mr. Cote also had the honour of meeting with people from the National Association for the Blind India (NAB), The National Federation for the Blind (NFB) as well as the All India Confederation for the Blind (AICB).
For information about Braille Jymico, visit them on the web at: www.braillejymico.com , call them at 418-624-2105 or toll-free at 1-877-BRAILLE (272-4553) or email them at: jcote@braillejymico.com .
NetCentric Releases Full Production Version of PAW for Microsoft Word
Kanata-based NetCentric Technologies (www.netcentric.com) has completed the beta testing of their PDF Accessibility Wizard (PAW) for Microsoft Word and has released the full production version. Beta testing took place at more than 50 universities, government agencies and corporations.
PAW is a breakthrough technology that makes it possible to create accessible PDF documents directly from Microsoft Office, as well as to make the Word document itself accessible. As easy to use as spell check, PAW does not require any prior knowledge of accessibility concepts or techniques. The program guides the user through accessibility checkpoints using a Wizard-like interface that runs within the Word environment .
"The ability to access and process electronic information has become one of the most important factors in leading a full and productive life in today's knowledge-based society. While steps have been taken to make many websites accessible to people with disabilities, Microsoft Office and PDF files still are lagging behind. PAW puts Accessibility in the hands of the content author where is belongs" said Ferass ElRayes, NetCentric's VP of Product Development.
MS Word users who use PAW will improve the quality of accessible documents, increase the amount of accessible documents and lower the cost of compliance with accessibility standards.
NetCentric has been developing software for web and PDF accessibility since 2000. Their market-leading CommonLook Section 508 for Adobe Acrobat product is the primary tool used to make PDF documents accessible at many US Government agencies, state governments, educational and financial institutions. For further information, visit www.net-centric.com/paw/ on the web or email jhowcroft@net-centric.com .
New Products or Services
Since the last issue of Accessible News, a number of Canadian companies have announced the launch of new products, new versions of existing products or launched new Web sites. Here's a brief summary. The companies have been presented in alphabetical order.
- Vancouver-based Aroga (www.aroga.com) is offering its Canadian customers a trade-in deal on used DAISY talking book disc players. Trade in any DAISY talking book player, even if it's no longer working, for a $100 discount on any of the following DAISY book players: Plextalk PTN2 Disc Player, Plextalk Pocket PTP1 Digital Player or the BookSense XT Digital Player. Trade-in is offered on a one-to-one basis - only one trade-in per new unit purchased. For more information on Aroga's "Smelling Like a DAISY" Trade-in Program, call 1-800-561-6222 ext. 1108.
- The CNIB (www.cnib.ca) is working on the Spring issue of their product catalogue, which is due for an April launch. Geoff FitzGibbon, CNIB's Director of Business Operations, tells Accessible News that this year, they are making changes which they expect to be more desirable for customers and more cost effective for advertisers. Instead of listing all 1,100 products carried by the CNIB, they will focus on the top 100 products in demand with their customers. They will print the catalogue twice a year, in April and September so that new products can be added and discontinued items deleted. The size of each print issue of the CNIB catalogue will also drop from the current 178 to approximately 36 pages. Businesses looking for more information, including advertising rates, should contact Geoff FitzGibbon at: Geoff.FitzGibbon@cnib.ca or call him at 416-486-2500 extension 7484.
- On February 1, HumanWare (www.humanware.ca) announced that Oratio for BlackBerry®) smartphones is now available for purchase. Formally known as Orator for BlackBerry smartphones, Oratio is the first screen reader software solution that enables visually impaired users to access and operate BlackBerry smartphones using state of the art Text-To-Speech technology to convert the visual information displayed on the BlackBerry smartphone screen into a intuitive speech output. This enables its users to use BlackBerry smartphones to increase their independence and productivity in today's competitive world.
- PowerCaptions (www.powercaptions.ca) is a Toronto-based organization formed to meet higher quality and cost-effective captioning needs. The company's aim is to empower audiences to customize their caption preferences leading to greater content interaction. PowerCaptions' goal is to provide the highest level of caption quality at the most competitive price. PowerCaptions, which is a division of ScholarLab (www.scholarlab.ca), has the technology necessary to reuse existing captions from any source, providing the capability to "extract" captions from a broadcast television show and reuse them for DVD, Blu-Ray, Web Media Players, or Hand-held devices such as the iPhone. The company also states that it can help organizations seamlessly and cost-effectively reuse their existing captions at a fraction of the cost so individuals are not limited to one medium. For more information, contact Ricky Shah, Senior Consultant, PowerCaptions at Tel: 416-303-0727 or Toll Free at: 1-877-755-SLAB (7522), Fax: 1-888-864-3388 or by email at: rshah@powercaptions.ca .
Upcoming Conferences in Canada
Here's what's happening in Canada between March 1 and June 30, 2010.
March 10 - 13, 2010
26th
International Seating Symposium
Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA
Contact: Katia Selezeneva
Tel: 604-822-7524
FAX: 604-822-4835
E-mail: ipad@interchange.ubc.ca
WWW: www.interprofessional.ubc.ca/26th_Seating.htm
April 13, 2010
Access Waterloo Region (formerly
Community Connections): Information for Persons with Disabilities, their
Families, Caregivers, and Professionals within Waterloo Region
Kitchener Ontario CANADA
Contact: Val Millen
Tel: 519-578-3660 x 2325
E-mail: info@accesswaterlooregion.ca
WWW: accesswaterlooregion.ca/
May 17-18, 2010
Disability Resource Network of British Columbia
Pathways to Success: The Power of Enquiry, Connections &
Mentorship
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Contact: Deloris Piper, Wayne McNiven
DRNBC
50 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC Canada V6B 2S9
Tel: 604-443-8438
FAX: 604-443-8433
E-mail: delorisgpiper@gmail.com
WWW: www.drnbc.org
May 17-20 2010
Annual College Committee on Disability
Issues Conference
Huntsville, Ontario, CANADA
Contact: Chris Gunnell
Centre for Access and Disability Services Georgian College
1 Georgian Dr.
Barrie, ON L4M 3X9
Tel: 1 705 728 1968 ext. 1231
FAX: 1 705 722 5179
E-mail: cgunnell@georgianc.on.ca
WWW: www.ccdiconference.org
May 27-30, 2010
International Society for Gerontology 7th
World Conference
Vancouver, BC, CANADA
Contact: Dr. Gloria Gutman
ISG2010 Secretariat
Simon Fraser University Gerontology Research Centre
#2800 - 515 W. Hastings St.
Vancouver, BC, V6B 5K3
Tel: 778-782-5063
FAX: 778-782-5066
E-mail: isg2010@sfu.ca
WWW: www.sfu.ca/isg2010
June 2-4, 2010
The 2010 Canadian Disability
Studies Association Conference
Montreal, Quebec, CANADA
E-mail: cdsa.acei@gmail.com
WWW: www.cdsa-acei.ca/conference.html
June 3-6, 2010
CHHA National Conference & Trade
Show "Good Vibrations"
Sudbury, Ontario, CANADA
Contact: Canadian Hard of Hearing Association
2415 Holly Lane, Suite 205
Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 7P2
Tel: 613-526-1584
FAX: 613-526-4718
TTY: 613-526-2692
E-mail: conference@chha.ca
WWW: www.chha.ca/conference
June 8-9, 2010
Aiming for Accessibility -
Meeting standards, making change
Guelph, Ontario, CANADA
Contact: Office of Open Learning
160 Johnston Hall
University of Guelph
Guelph ON N1G 2W1
Tel: 519-767-5000
FAX: 519-767-1114
E-mail: Info@open.uoguelph.ca
WWW: www.accessconf.open.uoguelph.ca
For more conference listings, including what's coming up in other countries, see the "Calendar of Events in Disability, Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology" link on the ISO-AT/AD web site: www.at-links.gc.ca/as/zx20000E.asp . This is also the link you should use to submit your conference (Canadian or international) for inclusion in the listings.
Canadian Companies and Speakers at CSUN 2010
This year marks the 25th year that California State University, Northridge (CSUN: www.csun.edu/cod/conference) will hold its annual International Conference on Assistive Technology and Persons with Disabilities. This year, the conference has moved from Los Angeles to San Diego, California and it will run from March 22 - 27, 2010 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel.
Although Industry Canada no longer exhibits at CSUN, we still want to make sure that those of you who will be attending the conference know where to find the Canadian Exhibitors. We also want you to be aware of the sessions that will be presented entirely or in part by Canadians. Let's start with the exhibitors:
- Compusult Limited Booth 412
- Daedalus Technologies, Inc., Booths 800, 801 and 900
- HumanWare, Booth 213
- Issist Assistive Technologies, Booth 918
- Madentec Limited, Booths 611 and 710
- NetCentric Technologies, Booth 716
- Quillsoft Ltd., Booth 616
- Sight Enhancement Systems, Booth 422
Many Canadians are also giving sessions at the conference. The following list gives you the date, time, place and level of expertise for each of the sessions. All times given are in local (Pacific) time. Please note that CSUN asks you to reserve a seat for sessions you wish to attend. You'll find information on how to do this by visiting the CSUN Conference Sessions page , clicking on the link to "General Sessions" and following the directions from there.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
8:00 - 9:00:
1. Intel Reader: The new face of mobile print readers
Michel Pepin, HumanWare
Beginner
Room: Molly AB
2. Convert It, Read It, Take It with You Part I
Mary Jo Barry, Don Johnston Incorporated, Brenda McBride, HumanWare and
Steve Bennett, Dolphin Computer Access
Intermediate
Madeleine AB PC Lab
3. Designing Accessible & Usable Application User Interfaces for Mobile Phones
Greg Fields, Research In Motion (RIM)
Beginner
Edward AB
8:00 - 8:30:
The POSITIVES Scale: A Method for Assessing Technology Accessibility in Postsecondary Education
Jennison Asuncion, Mai Nguyen, Jillian Budd, Maria Barile, Anthony Tibbs,
and Catherine Fichten, Adaptech Research Network, Chris Gaulin, National
Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) and Rhonda Amsel, McGill
University
Beginner
Del Mar AB
9:20 - 10:20:
Convert It, Read It, Take It with You Part II
Brenda McBride, HumanWare, Steve Bennett, Dolphin Computer Access and
Mary Jo Barry, Don Johnston Incorporated
Intermediate
Madeleine AB PC Lab
1:50 - 2:20:
Tactile Maps of Montreal Subway Stations, an Efficient Tool for Mobility Instructors
Tommy Théberge and Pierre Ferland, Institute Nazareth et
Louis-Braille
Advanced
Betsy C
3:10 - 4:10:
Transitioning to Universal Computer Access for the Workplace and Higher Ed
Randy Marsden, Madentec Limited, Kelly Fonner, Fonner Training &
Consulting and Scott Marfilius, Independent
Intermediate
Madeleine AB PC Lab
Thursday, March 25, 2010
9:20 - 10:20:
Bringing Document Accessibility to the Grassroots: The Promise of Author-Level Tools
Deborah Kaplan, CSU Chancellor's Office and Monir ElRayes, NetCentric
Technologies
Beginner
Emma C
10:40 - 11:40:
Creating Closed Captioned Content for BlackBerry Smartphones
Greg Fields, Research In Motion (RIM)
Beginner
Maggie
3:10 - 4:10:
Mobile Communication Solutions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Dave Dougall, Research in Motion
Beginner
Ford C
Friday, March 26, 2010
10:40 - 11:40:
1. Integrating Accessibility Standards and Practices into a Large International Bank
Pina D'Intino, Bank of Nova Scotia and Dan Shire, IBM Canada
Intermediate
Del Mar AB
2. Preliminary Findings on Social Media Use and Accessibility: A Canadian Perspective
Jennison Asuncion, Jillian Budd, Maria Barile, and Catherine Fichten,
Adaptech Research Network, Chris Gaulin, National Educational Association of
Disabled Students (NEADS) and Rhonda Amsel, McGill University
Beginner
Madeleine AB
3:10 - 4:10:
Orator for BlackBerry Smartphones, Stay Connected to your Life
Michel Pepin, HumanWare and Greg Fields, Research In Motion (RIM)
Beginner
Ford AB
News Bits
- TRANSED 2010, the 12th International Conference on Mobility and Transport
for Elderly and Disabled Persons takes place in Hong Kong from June 2 - 4,
2010. Visit the TRANSED 2010 web site
at www.transed2010.hk for information regarding Applications for Travel
Scholarships, Pre-Conference Workshops, the Post-Conference Technical Tour, the
Best Paper and Best Poster Award, the Announcement on Acceptance of Paper and
Poster, the Updated Conference Programme and the Exhibition Update.
Our Web Site
Our Web site can be found at http://www.at-links.gc.ca/as. 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 Us
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 or to get on our mailing list, please contact:
Deb Finn
Industry Canada
300 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0C8
Tel: 613-990-4297
fax: 613-957-4076
TTY: 613-998-5923
email: deb.finn@ic.gc.ca
