An Information Society for all "Example Projects"

Overview ¦ Example Projects

eInclusion@EU: Active ageing in an e-inclusive society

As Europe’s population ages the ‘active ageing’ debate has highlighted the need for active participation of elderly people in society. How information and communication technologies (ICTs) can contribute to active ageing in work and employment is a question researchers are asking. The answer to this question is one of the focus of the IST programme’s eInclusion@EU project, which supports the view that every citizen should have the chance to take part in and benefit from the information society. This project aims to identify innovative policy approaches and measures that can help accelerate progress towards ensuring that everyone can participate in and benefit from information society developments on an equal footing (e-inclusion). This includes tackling the challenges faced by people with disabilities and many older persons in accessing the information society’s tools and services (e-accessibility).

More: eInclusion projects from the IST programme

VICKIE: Digital library brings books to visually-impaired students

Visually-impaired students are increasingly joining mainstream education, but most cannot instantly access the same books as their sighted classmates. Help is at hand from online transcription tools and a new digital library that offers secure documents that can be quickly transcribed and distributed to those who need them. “We are mainly talking about paper-based books,” says coordinator of the IST project VICKIE, “although sometimes books are also released in digital versions that a computer can read. But of course books first need transcribing into Braille or a digital format, a job undertaken by specialist transcription centres with only limited staff.”

More: eInclusion projects from the IST programme

WAB: A common approach to accessibility for all

To provide equal access and opportunity for everyone, the Web must be accessible. Although technical barriers can be overcome using Web technologies, what is the best approach? To answer this researchers are developing a common approach to evaluating and creating accessible sites. We are developing a harmonised evaluation methodology setting out criteria that will enable Web and software developers to create accessible sites,” says project coordinator of the IST-funded EU Web Accessibility Benchmarking (WAB) Cluster initiative. “We are working on guidelines, checklists and common interfaces for benchmarking tools, evaluation, repair tools and language.”

More: eInclusion projects from the IST programme

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COGAIN: An affordable future for eye tracking in sight

An ambitious five-year project will attempt to make eye-tracking technologies more affordable for people with disabilities and extend the potential use of the devices to enable users to live more independently. Eye tracking technologies could transform the lives of tens of thousands of people across Europe. The most extreme example of how this technology is used is its ability to give voice to people who are 'locked-in', people who can only move their eyes and only communicate with their gaze

More: eInclusion projects from the IST programme

PARK SERVICE: New service supporting people with Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease affects an estimated one in every 500 people in Europe – it is the second most common disease after Alzheimer's. With so many afflicted, one research team is trying to help people with Parkinson’s living at home to overcome the social exclusion its symptoms can cause.

More: eTen Project Database

RoboBraille: Braille converter eases web use

RoboBraille is an e-mail based service capable of translating documents into either contracted Braille or synthetic speech. The primary target group of the service is the visually impaired and other print-impaired readers. The secondary target group includes commercial users from the pharmaceutical, financial and public sector.

More: eTen Project Database

Last Updated March 2007