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The Digital Images and Graphic Resources for Accessible Materials (DIAGRAM) Center http://www.diagramcenter.org/ is a U.S. Department of Education-funded project, conducted by Benetech, in collaboration with the US Fund for DAISY and the WGBH National Center for Accessible Media.

DIAGRAM is conducting a brief survey to track trends in how people with print disabilities obtain and access reading materials electronically.
Your answers will help to focus the research and development efforts on the reading tools and digital reading materials. Please take a few minutes to visit the link below and give us your input. The survey closes on March 8, 2012.

Link to survey:

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/786454/DIAGRAM-Reading-Technology-Survey

The Digital Images and Graphic Resources for Accessible Materials (DIAGRAM) Center http://www.diagramcenter.org/ is a U.S. Department of Education-funded project, conducted by Benetech, in collaboration with the US Fund for DAISY and the WGBH National Center for Accessible Media.

DIAGRAM is conducting a brief survey to track trends in how people with print disabilities obtain and access reading materials electronically.
Your answers will help to focus the research and development efforts on the reading tools and digital reading materials. Please take a few minutes to visit the link below and give us your input. The survey closes on March 8, 2012.

Link to survey:

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/786454/DIAGRAM-Reading-Technology-Survey

The W4A 2012 Organizing Committee has announced that two awards, each of up to US$1200 (including registration), are available to support students to enable them to attend W4A 2012.  Application deadline is February 28, 2012.

Students with interests related to this year’s topic Web of Data and Accessibility are encouraged but it is certainly not a requirement as all students with an interest in accessibility and assistive technologies are welcome to apply.

This award is open to any student in a postgraduate position (part time or full time Masters students and above – however, we would mainly expect Doctoral candidates) at a University or other Higher Education institution, AND who is carrying out research that is directly relevant to the field of web accessibility. Organizers particularly encourage applicants from under-represented parts of the world. More information is provided on the W4A 2012 Conference website.

The W4A 2012 Organizing Committee has announced that two awards, each of up to US$1200 (including registration), are available to support students to enable them to attend W4A 2012.  Application deadline is February 28, 2012.

Students with interests related to this year’s topic Web of Data and Accessibility are encouraged but it is certainly not a requirement as all students with an interest in accessibility and assistive technologies are welcome to apply.

This award is open to any student in a postgraduate position (part time or full time Masters students and above – however, we would mainly expect Doctoral candidates) at a University or other Higher Education institution, AND who is carrying out research that is directly relevant to the field of web accessibility. Organizers particularly encourage applicants from under-represented parts of the world. More information is provided on the W4A 2012 Conference website.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is holding a hearing on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 2:30-4:00 pm EST, The Promise of Accessible Technology: Challenges and Opportunities, Dirksen Senate Building Room G-50. The hearing will focus on the importance of accessible technology and how this issue is impacting K-12 and higher education.

Witnesses include:

• Panel I with Eve Hill, Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice
• Panel II with Mark Riccobono, Executive Director, Jernigan Institute, National Federation of the Blind
• Dr. John B. Quick, Superintendent, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation in Columbus, Indiana
• Mark Turner, Director, Center for Accessible Media, Accessible Technology Initiative, California State University.

The hearing will be broadcasted live online at www.help.senate.gov. Real time captioning and sign language interpreters will be provided at the hearing.

Discover Dolphin assistive technology for people who are blind or low vision at the India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi on 6th and 7th February 2012.

Crystal clear magnification, human-sounding voices plus refreshable Braille make SuperNova the ultimate solution for visually impaired people accessing laptop or desktop computers.

SuperNova includes beautifully smooth magnification (up to 60-times). Displays applications using colours and contrast suitable for many different eye conditions. Highlighting options to easily see mouse pointers and cursors; magnify with multiple monitors for: multitasking, collaborating, training or presentations.

Fully localised for Hindi speakers, SuperNova includes the high-quality human-sounding voices 'Sangeeta' for accented Indian English and 'Lekha' for Hindi language support. Other SuperNova features:

• Speaks characters and words while you type.
• Adjust voice settings.
• Hear font style and formatting information.
• Automatically announce text under the mouse pointer.
• List document elements such as links and headings.
• Use the Dolphin Cursor for browsing the web with the keyboard.

SuperNova supports organisations catering for every visual impairment. SuperNova enables schools, libraries and employers to meet their legal accessibility obligations under the Indian 'Persons With Disabilities Act, 1995.

For an affordable way to carry SuperNova between computers, ask about the SightSavers Dolphin Pen available in developing countries.

Never used a computer and losing your sight? Try Dolphin Guide & soon you'll be:

• Emailing friends and family.
• Scanning and reading printed documents.
• Surfing the web and listening to podcasts.
• Having fun with: chat, games, reading books and much more!

Dolphin Guide provides step-by-step choices that guide you through to guaranteed computer success.

Meet Dolphin's Steve Bennett at TechShare India and try our tools for: screen magnification, screen reading and producing Alternative Formats. Join Dolphin in the exhibition area or attend one of our presentations:

Dolphin Bookshelf: Integrating web services into assistive technology.
Day 1: 6th February, 2012. 3 pm to 3:40 pm.
Track 2: Assistive Technology.

Simple talking computing for blind seniors – A Real Life Journey.
Day 2: 7th February 2012. 2 pm to 2:40 pm.
Track 2: Assistive Technology.

Techshare India 2012 will build awareness, identify needs, and provide solutions and implementation strategies to create an inclusive environment for people with disabilities. Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) and BarrierBreak Technologies are organizing Techshare in New Delhi on 6-7th February 2012.

Visit the Techshare website (external link) for more details.

HIMS announced the release of Sense Notetaker Version 6.2. This release features support for NLS content, the ability to read / write documents in Spanish, and support for the optional “Sense Dictionary”. Please see the Release Notes for a complete list of features, changes, and fixes in this release.

Special notice to Braille Sense OnHand, Braille Sense PLUS, Braille Sense PLUS QWERTY, and Voice Sense QWERTY users:

After upgrading to Version 6.2, you must reformat your flash disk due to the creation of a partition for housing the NLS key. Please make sure to back up your data before formatting. Voice Sense and Braille Sense Classic users do not need to reformat as NLS content playback cannot be supported on these models due to the limited size of the internal flash disk.

Please visit the HIMS resource center to access Release Notes, download Version 6.2 Firmware and user manual from the corresponding link for each product.

Thursday, March 1 is Adobe Day at the CSUN 2012 Conference. Five sessions have been lined up, all in Elizabeth C (2nd floor):

• Acrobat X, with Greg Pisocky and Pete De Vasto, 9:20am
• Accessible e-books with Adobe Digital Editions with Kiran Kaja, 10:40am
• HTML Accessibility with Adobe Software with Michael Jordan and Matt May, 12pm
• Video and CVAA Compliance with Adobe Tools with Andrew Kirkpatrick, 3:10pm
• Adobe Town Hall with the whole Adobe Accessibility team, 4:20pm

Mark your calendars. We’ll see you in San Diego.

This Webinar will provide an overview of present capabilities on both mobile and PC-based readers, cover e-text formats and future developments. With the emergence of the Kindle, the Nook, and other commercial products, the availability of electronic books and reading devices has exploded.

Date and time: February 9th at 11 AM Pacific, noon Mountain, 1 PM Central and 2 PM Eastern

Presenter: Ken Petri from Ohio State University

As we know, the accessibility of some e-reader devices has been poor, resulting in complaints and law suits. Seeing a large new market being closed to them, vendors and publishers have begun to make their products at least partially accessible. This Webinar will provide an overview of the current status of e-reader accessibility and point to some activities toward improving these technologies.

Follow the link to register for the February 9th Free Webinar.

Baltimore, Maryland (January 24, 2012): The National Federation of the Blind today announced that applications are now being accepted for the 2012 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program. Each year the National Federation of the Blind presents cash awards to individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions toward achieving the full integration of the blind into society on a basis of equality.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Dr. Jacob Bolotin was a pioneer who overcame low expectations and discrimination to become a renowned member of the medical profession without the benefit of the support services and civil rights protections available to blind people today. He was also a fierce advocate for greater opportunity for the blind in his time, and doubtless would have been a leader in the organized blind movement had he lived to see it come into being. The Jacob Bolotin Award Program celebrates his pioneering spirit by recognizing and supporting outstanding programs, technologies, and individual efforts that promote independence and opportunity for blind Americans. Our previous winners have been a distinguished lot and we look forward to honoring more trailblazers this year.”

Recipients of the 2012 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards will be determined by the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee of the National Federation of the Blind. Online applications are due by March 31, 2012. Individuals or organizations are encouraged to apply on behalf of themselves or others. The award recipients will be announced at the 2012 National Federation of the Blind Convention in Dallas. More information is provided on the National Federation of the Blind website.

Experience Dolphin's full range of innovative software products designed for people who are low vision or blind, at the 2012 Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) conference). Caribe Royale All-Suites, Resort & Convention Centre in Orlando Florida (Jan 26-28).

Get a demo of Dolphin Guide, easy computing for seniors. Now supporting digital books from NLS's BARD service.

Never used a computer and losing your sight? Get started with Dolphin Guide & soon you'll be:

• Emailing friends and family
• Scanning and reading printed documents.
• Surfing the web and listening to podcasts.
• Having fun with: chat, games, reading books and much more!

Dolphin Guide provides step by step choices that guide you through to guaranteed computer success.

Seeing the difference with SuperNova Magnifier - perfect for people with low vision.

One click and everything on screen is instantly magnified. Zoom in and change colors for crystal clear detail. Simply enlarge or add speech output as needs change.

• Now truly: multitask, collaborate, train or present with SuperNova's multiple monitor support.
• View each magnified application on its own monitor.
• View different parts of the same application on different monitors.
• Switch screens with a simple keystroke and SuperNova remembers your place.
• Never lose the pointer with Supernova's Mouse Buffer.
• Applications including Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 displayed in high definition using SuperNova's beautiful True Font technology.

Meet the friendly Dolphin Computer Access team at ATIA and try our tools for: screen magnification, screen reading and producing alternative formats. Join Dolphin in the exhibition hall at booth 1108 or attend one of the following presentations:

Simple Talking Computing for Blind Seniors - A Real Life Journey
Friday, January 27
1:15 PM - 2:15 in Boniare 8

Dolphin Bookshelf: Integrating Cloud Services into Assistive Technology
Thursday, January 26
12:30 PM - 12:50 PM in the Product Demo Centre

Since 1986 Dolphin products have enabled hundreds of thousands of customers to enjoy the same level of independence as peers. Dolphin develop and deliver the widest variety of software products for people with print and visual impairments. With offices in: US, UK, Sweden and Norway, Dolphin export to more than thirty countries worldwide:
http://www.yourdolphin.com

The Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) serves as the collective industry voice aiming to deliver the best products and services for people with disabilities.
http://www.atia.org

ICCHP organizers invite you to participate in the International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs (ICCHP) Special Thematic Session (STS) on Creative Design for Inclusion to be held in July 2012 in Linz, Austria: http://www.icchp.org/node/360.

Presentation proposals are due Wednesday, February 1st, 2012.

Papers are encouraged on the following topics but please feel free to make other suggestions and contact the STS Chair david.crombie(at)kmt.hku.nl if you have any questions.

• Approaches to human-centered innovation
• Creative approaches to providing accessible information
• Encouraging Inclusive Design Processes
• Mainstreaming creative and inclusive solutions
• Creative partnerships between key stakeholders
• Shaping inclusion policy and framework conditions
• Establishing communities and centres of interest
• Motivating institutions to demand specific solutions (creative pull)
• Teaching students to start thinking from use cases to technological solutions
• Helping institutions to combine both creative and technological educational cultures (such as science & interactive design or applied art & computing).

For general conference information, see the ICCHP Conference website.

The 'Accessible Resources Pilot Project' ran throughout the 2009/2010 school year working with both dyslexic and visually impaired students and was led by Dolphin Computer Access following a successful Department for Education tender. Funded by the same UK Government Department, the project tested a new model for providing textbooks and other curriculum materials as Microsoft Word files. Teaching professionals at the schools also used the same Word files to create Braille, large print, DAISY and MP3 editions of the 130 textbooks.

40 pupils from 9 different schools across the North West of England were involved in the trials. 20 of the pupils were dyslexic, and 20 had a visual impairment, being either blind or partially sighted.

Alongside Dolphin's experience in the world of assistive technology and alternative format provision, their success in the 'Accessible Resources Pilot Project' enables them to make recommendations that have been tried and tested with proven results. Download the full project report including the project's findings from the Dolphin Computer Access: My Accessible School website.

The open source validator tool EPUBCheck 3.0 Beta for validating EPUB 2 and EPUB 3 content is now available at validator.idpf.org. The EPUBCheck contributors and DAISY Consortium technical team members coordinated the hosted deployment. Users creating commercial EPUB files in volume must install EPUBCheck instead of using this site.

New Designs Unlimited, LLC is a manufacturer of assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired. Their mission is to make technology more accessible by increasing affordability, while reducing complexity. They also developed the Darwin Reader - accessible e-book reader app for Android. The Darwin Reader supports DAISY formatted audio and text books. Users can transfer their DAISY books to their phone or tablet from a computer, or download books directly from within the app by connecting to the Bookshare library. More information is provided in the member entry on the DAISY Consortium website.

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has announced the 2012 winners of the Migel Medals, the highest honor in the blindness field. The 2012 recipients are George Kerscher, Ph.D. and Kathleen Mary Huebner, Ph.D.

"It is an honor to present these medals to George and Kathleen for their outstanding achievements in the blindness and low vision field," said Carl R. Augusto, AFB president and CEO. "In dedicating their professional lives to ensuring that people with vision loss can live healthy and independent lives, the 2012 Migel Medal awardees are truly worthy of this special recognition."

The AFB Migel Medal was established in 1937 by the late M.C. Migel, AFB's first chairman, to honor professionals and volunteers whose dedication and achievements improve the lives of people who are blind or visually impaired.

The Migel Medals will be presented to the recipients at the 2012 AFB National Leadership Conference at St. Petersburg Beach, Florida, in early May.

More information about the Awardees is provided in the AFB press release.

Olympia, London - Wednesday 11th January 2012; BETT 2012, the education technology show, today marked the launch of a new proven approach to raising student achievement. Focussing on learners with dyslexia, low literacy and English as an additional language, My Accessible School also supports any student that would benefit from extra support with their reading and writing.

Developed off the back of the Accessible Resources Pilot project, a Department for Education pilot lead by Dolphin Computer Access, My Accessible School draws on the project's exciting findings.

"The results of the pilot were way beyond our expectations. 71% of dyslexic pupils demonstrated an improvement in their writing and their reading skills." explains Noel Duffy, Project Lead for the Accessible Resources Pilot project & Dolphin's Managing Director.

"We now have concrete proof that accessible learning materials AND assistive technology have a huge positive impact on the education, inclusion and self-esteem of students with dyslexia."

Becoming an accessible school equips schools with best practices, staff training and guidance, as well as the tools schools need to enable all their students to reach their full potential. Uniquely for the My Accessible School framework, every student in the school is able to benefit, and its accessible approach to the curriculum is not restricted to students with statements or School Action Plus.

Providing access to both accessible learning materials and the latest innovative assistive technology for school and home, the My Accessible School is a flexible framework that is individually tailored to each school.

"My Accessible School is not a one-size fits all approach" explains Sarah Smye-Rumsby, Dolphin's Education Consultant and a former teacher.

"Every school in the UK and every one of their students have different requirements to access the curriculum. Working in partnership with the school's head, teaching and support staff, we start by carrying out a free onsite accessibility assessment. Together we look at everything from simple adjustments for students with Irlen Syndrome; through to the latest best practice on reading and writing technology for students with dyslexia. Schools find the school accessibility report and its recommendations, a practical framework around which a school can debate, agree and implement their chosen approach to accessibility."

My Accessible School also includes a menu of onsite training courses for SENCOs, teachers, teaching assistants and IT technicians; as well as providing unlimited access to interactive webinar training sessions. New innovative reading and writing software for every student in the school is also included, as well as '@ home' access to the same software for homework completion. Ongoing support, guidance and advice from the school Education Consultant is also provided.

Schools looking to book their free onsite accessibility assessment call Maggie McCarthy on 01905 754 577 or Sarah Smye-Rumsby on 07972 220727.

Alternatively Dolphin is offering a fortnightly email with tips, advice and latest best practice on school accessibility, dyslexia and technology. To sign up, visit the My Accessible School website.

CSUN 2012 Conference Attendee Registration is open and the early bird rate of $455.00 will remain in effect through January 12, 2012. The conference’s Session Schedule is posted online.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Keynote and Welcome Reception on February 28th at this year’s conference. You can “RSVP” for this event when you register. More information can be found on the CSUN 2012 Conference website.

Accessibility conference and exhibition "Techshare India 2012 - Bridging the Barriers" will be held on February 6th and 7th, 2012 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, India. Techshare India 2012 will build awareness, identify needs, and provide solutions and implementation strategies to create an inclusive environment for people with disabilities. To register, please fill in the Techshare India 2012 Conference Registration form.