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Accessible News #17 — June 2003
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:
Are You Export Ready?
ADIO is conducting research to identify Canadian AT companies that are currently exporting their products, systems and services or are ready to do so. The purpose is to make sure these companies are included when invitations go out to take part in government-sponsored trade missions to other countries and to ensure that AT firms are also brought to the attention of incoming missions from overseas.
Over the summer and fall, there will be a review of AT companies on the Canadian Company Capabilities database (CCC) to find out which companies are already engaged in export activities. If your company is not listed on CCC, now is the time to register. There's no charge to register and you are able to maintain the information on your own listing. If you register on CCC through the ADIO Web site (http://www.at-links.gc.ca/as/zx20000e.asp) and click on the menu choice, "Register, Update or View Canadian Assistive Device Companies", you will automatically show up in our listing of AT companies.
The next step will be to get in touch with those Canadian AT companies we have on our distribution list (the one used to send out this newsletter) and find out if they are exporters. Of course, we will also do our best to encourage them to list with CCC too.
When we have completed this research, we will forward a contact list to our colleagues in the International Business Development Group here at Industry Canada so that they can include these companies when trade opportunities arise, just as they do now for other high-tech industries.
World Summit On The Information Society (WSIS)
Industry Canada, through the Spectrum, Information Technology and Telecommunications sector, has been co-chairing with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) Canadian preparations for the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The WSIS will be the first Summit to examine the Information Society and, in particular, the enabling effect of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on social and economic development.
The WSIS will be held in two phases with the first Phase taking place in Geneva, December 10-12, 2003 and the second Phase, in Tunis, November 16-18, 2005. Heads of State, as well as senior representatives from the Private Sector and Civil Society, will participate in this UN Summit which will be held under the patronage of Kofi Annan. As is usually the case for Summits, the WSIS will adopt a Declaration of Principles and a Plan of Action with a view to influencing the global agenda in this area. Negotiations on these two documents are in progress.
The Summit is seeking to build on the results of important initiatives, including the G8 DOT Force, the UN ICT Task Force and the New Economic Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD), to develop a broad consensus and cooperative way forward in building a truly inclusive Information Society.
The main objective is to ensure that isolated areas and developing nations, most notably those in Africa, have access to a modern ICT infrastructure to support their efforts towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals related to health, education, poverty alleviation and sustainable economic development.
The various themes discussed at the WSIS will focus on the
following key challenges for building a global Information
Society:
- The need to develop international frameworks in areas such as trade, Internet governance, Intellectual Property Rights, standards, and cyber-security;
- The use of ICTs to help bridge digital divides worldwide. Related themes will include infrastructure, access and connectivity, capacity-building, as well as local content and entrepreneurship.
In keeping with the main themes of the WSIS Plan of Action, Canada will be looking to promote/announce specific initiatives that build on programs/projects with international partners either already underway or about to be launched. Canada's experience and expertise in implementing an Information Society will also be showcased during the Summit via our participation in a number of side events, and through a Canadian Pavillion and a "Compendium" of Canadian success stories and best practices to be released during the Summit.
Industry Canada, in partnership with many other departments (the Canadian Coordinating Committee or CCC) including DFAIT, the International Development Research Centre, the Canadian International Development Agency, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Canadian Heritage, Status of Women Canada and the Privy Council Office, will be launching shortly a public consultation on the WSIS. Our main goal is to make key groups of stakeholders aware of the Summit. We are also seeking to gather Canadian experiences and best practices involving ICTs as tools for development to be highlighted in the Compendium. To this end, a public consultation KIT was developed and will be sent to stakeholders, most likely by the end of June. The KIT will also be available on the Government of Canada Website for the Summit (www.wsis-smsi.gc.ca). Members of the CCC identified a list of key stakeholders to be consulted on the WSIS. To date, our list of stakeholders is comprised of 282 organizations representing youth, women, aboriginals and academia. Private sector consultations are primarily being carried out on a bilateral basis and through industry associations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Council for International Business.
How Can Canadian Companies Participate?
Participation can be through the Canadian delegation, through the Canadian Chamber of Commerce which is associated with the International Chamber of Commerce, or on an independent basis with the Summit organizers or the ICT4D Platform.
For further information contact: Michael Tiger,
Senior Policy Advisor, International Telecommunications,
Industry Canada,
300 Slater St., Ottawa K1A 0C8
Tel. (613) 990-4242; Fax (613) 998-4530; E-mail: Tiger.Michael@ic.gc.ca
For Canadian information: (www.wsis-smsi.gc.ca)
For the main ITU site: (www.itu.int/wsis)
For the ICT4D Platform: (www.ict-4d.org)
ADIO Report On CSUN 2003
For the 9th year, Industry Canada, through the Assistive Devices Industry Office, hosted the Canada booth at the CSUN conference in Los Angeles. As always, the Maple Leaf was the meeting place for Canadians and those wanting information on Canada and its AT industry.
The booth was staffed by Mary Frances Laughton and Deb Finn with help from Heather Christy and Ed Carey of Canadian Heritage and Bill Shackleton, a TBS consultant. The ADIO booth provided space for 23 companies to display their brochures. Some of these companies had not been aware of the existence of CSUN until they received our invitation to display their product literature. The range of products represented in our booth was far greater than we have ever had before, including ergonomic kitchen cabinetry, wheelchair lifts for motor vehicles, one-touch cellphone, braille producers, accessibility (physical and electronic) consultants, researchers, devices for blind and partially sighted people, and software developers to name a few. Some of these companies were among the 13 Canadian booths on the showfloor.
Besides brochures and some information on Web-4-All, we also demonstrated AT-Links, the APT and the newly-launched Health Technologies Exchange (HTX) website, a partnership between MEDEC, ORTC, AOMM and Industry Canada.
The conference launched with its customary International reception. There were over 38 countries represented at the Conference. A number of first time Canadian attendees were at both the reception and the conference.
The keynote speaker on the first day was Ray Kurzweil, a visionary inventor and leader in the field of AT. An audience of over 1500 sat riveted as he talked about the exponential growth of technologies and the potential impact on people with disabilities.
We found the conference to be a bit less exciting than years
past. This could have been a result of the economic downturn or
the beginning of the War.
There were no major announcements at this year's conference,
either by Canadian companies or others. Canada's technologies
were well regarded and the booths were steady with traffic.
We were not able to get to any of the papers presented but we did hear mixed reviews on the presentations from our colleagues. Some were excellent, some blatant product sales and some ho-hum. In several sessions, Canadian technology was referenced as being worldclass.
The kinds of questions fielded at the booth ranged from taxation, immigration, repatriation, AT policy to human rights rules. There was also a slight increase in the number of foreign companies seeking advice on locating Canadian distributors for their products. A number of people have been added to the Accessible News database and all promised information and contacts have been forwarded.
Information, including some suggestions for new adaptations
and uses for established products, has been forwarded to some of
the companies who placed their product literature in our
booth.
Booth 336 has been booked for the 2004 CSUN.
Ottawa Web Consultant an IT Hero
Chuck Letourneau, President of Starling Access Services, has been chosen as one of this year's local IT Heroes. This honour was bestowed by the Information Technology Association of Canada during Canada's Information Technology Week, May 2-11. Mary Carman, the Associate Assistant Deputy Minister for Spectrum, Information Technology and Telecommunications, made the presentation representing the Honourable Allan Rock.
Chuck has been a tireless contributor to the development of web accessibility standards, including the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium, work that has made it possible for people with disabilities around the world to enjoy more equitable access to the Web.
In addition to his professional activities, Chuck has also contributed his expertise to the Parent Resource Centre and Citizen Advocacy Ottawa.
UofT Wins Open Source Award in France
A dynamic on-screen keyboard for UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems has won first place in the Accessibility category at the first-ever Trophées du Libre, at the "Concours Internationale du Logiciel Libre" (International Free Software Competition). The system, called GOK (GNOME On-screen Keyboard) was developed by a team from the University of Toronto. The award was made at a ceremony in Soissons, France on May 23.
GOK allows the user to launch applications using a keyboard
specified in XML and to dynamically create keyboards that can be
adapted to a user's current needs. The user can set key width,
height and spacing, along with visual and auditory feedback on
highlighting and selection.
For more information on GOK, visit (www.gok.ca) .
BRYTECH Launches Color Teller
Ottawa-based Brytech (www.brytech.com) has launched a hand-held device that distinguishes 42 different colours. Called the Color Teller, it will help people who are blind or have a colour vision impairment to determine the colour of materials and objects, thereby enabling them to more easily match clothes, enjoy the pleasures of their gardens and homes, color code products for easy identification and much more.
Color Teller is only 6 inches long and weighs 3 oz, making it very portable. It provides information in the user's choice of English, French or Spanish and has an adjustable volume. It's also designed to be affordable, with a price tag of $250. To find out more about Color Teller or other Brytech products such as their talking bank note reader, Note Teller, visit their Web site or contact the company at (613) 731-5800, e-mail them at (inquiries@brytech.com) or write to them at 600 Peter Morand Crescent, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 5Z3.
News Bits
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Carl Raskin, the former Executive Director of GLADNET is now associated with a UK-based consultancy, Article 13.net Ltd (www.article13.net).) The company deals with anti-discrimination measures in the European Union. Dr. Morris (Mickey) Milner, Director of the Ontario Rehabilitation Technology Consortium (ORTC) is pleased to announce that Mr. Peter Goodhand will be joining its management team. Mr. Goodhand's significant contributions in medical technologies coupled with his leadership positions in this area are expected to be an enormous asset to the ORTC as it moves forward to widen its capacity for advancing the medical and assistive technologies sector in Ontario. Mr. Goodhand's most recent position was President of MEDEC. Mr. Goodhand's involvement in the medical device and technology industry spans over 20 years. Prior to his appointment as President of MEDEC, Mr. Goodhand held numerous positions for leading medical device companies, both domestically and internationally. Mr. Goodhand's position will commence July 1, 2003.
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A team from Natural Resources Canada won the 2003 Leadership in Service Innovation award from the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada. The group developed a system called MVI (Mapping for the Visually Impaired) that incorporates Tactile Vision's superb tactile graphics with NRCan's Atlas of Canada, providing Web-based maps that can be converted to tactile form. MVI was launched as a Government On-Line initiative last year and features the only Web-based tactile and audio-tactile maps in the world. The maps can be printed on a conventional printer using special coated paper and a thermal image enhancer produces raised lines and textual information. The maps can also be used interactively with a touch pad. As part of the Web-4-All project, the technology is being made available in various CAP sites across the country.
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Mary Frances Laughton presented "Reviewing Best Practices and Experience in Canada with some references to the USA" at the EU sponsored "Towards an Inclusive Information Society in Europe" held in Crete on April 11-12. Mary Frances was the only non-European at this symposium. A scanning of the local press indicated some coverage of the conference in specialised (ICT) columns, focusing on: e-Accessibility for all -- a basic target of the "eEurope" project; emerging technologies -- New Technologies support e-integration and should develop in such a way as to limit obstacles and facilitate accessibility; the value of broadband infrastructure; and commitment and continuous progress monitoring are necessary. The URL for the Ministerial Declaration from the summit: (www.eu2003.gr/en/articles/2003/4/11/2502/)
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The Information Society Division of UNESCO is sponsoring a very interesting site and discussion forum on ICTs and Persons with Disabilities. It can be found at (www.unesco.org/webworld/index.shtml). ADIO hopes that this site will link to our AT-Links site which can be found at (www.at-links.gc.ca) .
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A mailing list has been established on web page testing by visually impaired users. The main purpose of this mailing list is to facilitate communication between web page developers and visually impaired users. Some of the goals include helping each group understand the other group better; identifying problems and exploring possible solutions based on the knowledge, experience and background of each of the groups; sharing new information as it is discovered; and providing a place where web page developers can ask for volunteers to test their web pages. (Currently, any web page developer can ask for volunteers, but this might change in the future as the group evolves.) If you wish to subscribe, send e-mail to: uvip-web-test-subscribe@egroups.com .
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The International Commission on Technology and Accessibility - North America Region (ICTA-NA) is growing. Joining the executive - chair Betty Dion and regional vice chairs Carl Raskin (English Canada), Catherine Roy (French Canada) and Kate Seelman (U.S.A.) - are Ilene Zeitzer and Elaine Ostroff from the United States and Andres Balcazar from Mexico. ICTA-NA has recently been accredited as ICTA-Global's representative to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) (www.itu.int/wsis/) . To learn more about ICTA-NA, or to join, you can visit their Web site (www.starlingweb.com/ictana/) . Membership is free and includes a subscription to a quarterly newsletter.
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The second IST call of the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 17. Activities in this round include work on communications, computing and software technologies; addressing cmposability, scalability, reliability and robustness as well as autonomous self-adapation; and open development platforms for software and services. Visit (http://fp6.cordis.lu/fp6/calls_activity.cfm?ID_ACTIVITY=124) to find out more.
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Memorial University of Newfoundland, the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie University have launched a joint program in health services research for masters level students. The program opens up the possibility of having some bright students do theses looking at medical and rehab technology and the way those services are provided. The students have to do a practicum in the summer term in the middle of their degree. Anyone able to place such a student should contact Dr. Edmund Biden, Associate Dean, School of Graduate Studies, University of New Brunswick, tel: 506-458-7154, e-mail: biden@unb.ca . Sponsors will be expected to pay the students they hire for this four-month term.
More information on the program can be found on the Web at: (www.artc-hsr.ca) . -
The CNIB Library awarded Microsoft Canada president Frank Clegg with the Dr. Dayton M. Forman Memorial Award, recognizing his extraordinary commitment to creating access to information for Canadians who are blind. Mr. Clegg received the award at an evening reception on June 20 hosted by The CNIB Library during the Canadian Library Association/American Library Association conference. Less than 5% of information in Canada ever makes it into formats such as braille or audio, and more than 600,000 blind or visually impaired Canadians depend on what little there is. Since 2001, Clegg has led the creation of the CNIB's new digital library, which will provide critical access to information. "Mr. Clegg's personal commitment and vigorous participation in the creation of the digital library for people who are blind or visually impaired are truly laudable," said Margaret McGrory, executive director of the CNIB Library. "We could not have asked for a better chair." "What a privilege to receive this honour," said Clegg. "I am truly humbled to receive an award that pays tribute to such an accomplished individual as Dr. Forman. Personally, I have learned more from my experience with the CNIB than any other in my career. I have been inspired by those whom I have met in the blind community and so grateful for this opportunity." Established in 1996 by the CNIB Library board of directors, the Dr. Dayton M. Forman Memorial Award recognizes outstanding leadership by individuals or organizations in the advancement of library and information services for Canadians who are blind or visually impaired. Past winners include The Alberta Library and Industry Canada.
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Pulse Data International is this year's winner of the CNIB's Winston Gordon Award. The company was singled out for its BrailleNote device, which provides blind and low vision users with laptop and PDA functions. The BrailleNote line of devices also includes models that give users Web access and GPS navigation is also available. The award, which consists of a 24-carat gold medal and $15,000, was named in honour of Winston Gordon, an industrialist who lost his vision in early childhood and was a life-long supporter of the CNIB.
Our Web Site
Our Web site can be found at (http://www.at-links.gc.ca/as/zx20000e.asp ) . 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 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
Tel: 613-990-4316 or 613-990-4297
fax: 613-998-5923
TTY: 613-998-3288
Internet: adio@crc.ca
Return to the ADIO home page
