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News
- CGD Web Portal Fully Accessible and adopts UMIC Accessibility Certification
The Web portal of CGD – Caixa Geral de Depósitos (http://www.cgd.pt) has been completely remodeled and now fully complies with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG1.0) established by the W3C – World Wide Web Consortium. The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) helped the CGD services to assure compliance with the accessibility guidelines through its team ACCESS, and CGD used the automatic validation tool of evaluation of the satisfaction of accessibility guidelines developed that UMIC – the eXaminator (text in portuguese) – and adopted the Dynamic Accessibility Certification Logo of UMIC (text in Portuguese) that provides an updated diagnostic of the accessibility of the whole portal.
- Accessibility Guidelines for Web 2.0 (WCAG 2.0 of the W3C) Content Published in Portuguese
The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) took the initiative to commission a Portuguese translation of the Accessibility Guidelines for Web 2.0 Content (text in Portuguese) and made it available on the Internet (WCAG 2.0 – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines of the W3C – World Wide Web Consortium), which were approved on 11th December 2008 after they had been prepared through an open process with wide-ranging global participation over the course of several years.
Portuguese was the third language the new guidelines were translated into in the world on 25th February 2009, following only English (the original) and Hungarian.
- Call for tenders for Ambient Assisted Living for the Elderly Projects
The 2nd call for tenders in the scope of the AAL – Ambient Assisted Living Programme was launched on 11th February 2009, for R&D projects in Information and Communication Technologies Solutions for Advancing Social Interaction for the Elderly, which closed on 5th May 2009.
The Meeting of the Working Party on the Content of the 2nd Call for Tenders for the AAL Programme (text in Portuguese), which was organised on 11th – 12th September 2008 by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), helped define the terms of reference for this call for tenders.
- Ministerial e-Inclusion Conference 2008
A Ministerial e-Inclusion Conference was held on 30th November to 2nd December 2008 in Vienna, following on from the Ministerial Meeting on European e-Inclusion Policy held in Lisbon on 2nd – 3rd December 2007 in the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union.
The main themes of the Ministerial Conference were: e-Accessibility in Europe, Ageing Well in the Information Society, e-Literacy, Investment in e-Inclusion and the Future of e-Inclusion Policies.
- Council of EU IS Ministers meeting approves e-Inclusion Conclusions
The Council of the European Union met on 29th November 2007 in Brussels and, acting on the Portuguese Presidency of the EU’s proposal, approved conclusions regarding e-inclusion for the elderly (Ageing Well in the Information Society). The Commission presented its European i2010 initiative on e-Inclusion - to be part of the information society to the Council on 8th November 2007. The Portuguese Presidency informed the Council of the e-Inclusion Ministerial Debate being held in Lisbon on 2nd and 3rd December 2007, which is the first opportunity for Ministers to have a preliminary discussion of the Commission’s publication.
- Ministerial Meeting on European e-Inclusion Policy
In the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, the e-Inclusion Ministerial Debateis being held on 2nd-3rd December 2007 at the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon. It is being jointly organised by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Information Society & Media. The Conference Handbook contains information on speakers and the exhibition of projects, which is running in parallel to the conference, as well as the schedule for the corresponding workshops.
This meeting will be chaired by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago and the Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, and 20 ministers or secretaries of state from the EU’s other Member States will be present.
- Iberian-American Days on Support Technologies for Disabled People
The Iberian-American Days on Support Technologies for Disabled People and the Iberoeka Mini-Forum on the same topic will be held on 26th-27th November 2007 at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon. The Instituto Superior Técnico’s Analysis and Signal Processing Centre is organising these events in conjunction with the Innovation Agency and with the support of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and other national and international bodies.
- Workshop on Technologies, Contents and Services for Social Inclusion
As part of the Lisbon Research and Policy Workshops on Science, Technology and Social Change (text in Portuguese), organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, a Workshop on Technologies, Contents and Services for Social Inclusion: Facing the digital divide and the emergence of ambient assisted living will be held on 29th-30th October 2007 at the Fundação das Comunicações, Lisbon.
This workshop is being prepared in conjunction with the UT Austin – Portugal Programme, which was approved as part of the Partnerships for the Future project.
- Accessibility of Government and Central Government Internet sites
A Council of Ministers Resolution (text in Portuguese) was approved on 27th September 2007 laying down guidelines for accessibility of Government and Central Administration services and public bodies’ websites for citizens with special needs. The technical requirements that need to be satisfied are clearly defined and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s guidelines on levels of conformity for the accessibility of Internet content have been adopted.
For merely informative content sites, the target is for “A” conformity within three months, while for sites that incorporate the provision of services to citizens on a transactional basis, the goal is for “AA” conformity as per the aforementioned guidelines within six months.
- Portugal in the Ambient Assisted Living Association set up in Brussels
The Ambient Assisted Living Association was set up in Brussels on 19th September 2007 to manage European R&D projects in the area of intelligent ambient assisted living based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which shall be co-funded under the European Union’s Research Framework Programme.
Portugal is represented in the new association by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), which joins as one of the founding members. The association includes founding members from the following countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Ireland, Israel; Italy; Portugal and Sweden. Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom and Switzerland plan to join the association at a later date.
- New Degree Course in Rehabilitation Engineering and Human Accessibility
The Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) is opening a new Degree Course in Rehabilitation Engineering and Human Accessibility for the 2007/08 academic year. This Bologna-compliant degree course lasts three years and aims to train the first graduates in Europe with this type of basic training for 2010.
Several other Portuguese higher education establishments have introduced these subjects on their curricula, namely on different Biomedical, Biomechanical and Ergonomic Engineering courses, as well as on courses on Informatics and Information and Communication Technologies regarding people-computer interface accessibility.
- "e-Inclusion: Presentation of Project Outcomes" Conference
The "e-Inclusion: Presentation of Project Outcomes” Conference (text in Portuguese) will be held at the Escola Superior de Educação de Leiria/Instituto Superior Politécnico de Leiria on 2nd April 2007 between 10 am and 5 pm.
This conference will cover 48 projects involving more than 250 professionals belonging to dozens of institutions: universities, research and development centres, state bodies working on behalf of the disabled, companies, municipal councils, institutions for and of the disabled. As well as presenting the outcomes achieved, it will also be possible to see some of the products and services that have been created in the exhibition space, which shall be open throughout the event.
- International Day of Disabled People
The United Nations Organisation (UNO) declared 3rd December 2006 as International Day of Disabled People. The topic chosen for this day is access to the Internet and norms to improve accessibility conditions. The UNO organised two events on 4th December 2006, a conference on eAccessibility and the first meeting of the Global Initiative for Inclusive Technology and released the “Global Audit of Web Accessibility” report the following day. A group of citizens in Portugal is launching the Petition for Portuguese Electronic Accessibility (in Portuguese) to be handed to the Portuguese Parliament in a similar process to that of 1998, which led to Council of Ministers Resolution nº 97/99 (text in Portuguese), of 26th August, which was an initial milestone for the topic of accessibility on Web pages in Portugal.
- Internet Spaces Network Meeting
Get to know Portugal’s Internet Spaces – visit, use, learn and interact
The Internet Spaces Network Meeting is being held on 3rd and 4th November 2006 in Pavilion 1 of the Lisbon Trade Fair in Parque das Nações in Lisbon. The Pavilion will open from 11 am to 9 pm on the two days and entrance is free.
Internet Spaces are free public access points where computers and the Internet are regularly available, backed up by their own staff (monitors), to help people use these technologies. Many of these spaces meet accessibility criteria for citizens with special needs.
- 2006 Engineer Jaime Filipe Prize Competition
The competition for the 2006 version of the Engineer Jaime Filipe Prize runs until 31st July. This initiative aims to reward innovative concepts preventing and promoting autonomy for people in situations of dependency.
As well as aiming to make a contribution to the emergence of innovative concepts promoting autonomy and humanisation of care, this prize in tribute to the founder of the Innovation Centre for the Disabled (CIDEF) also seeks to promote the development of instruments and technologies that optimise and prolong physical, mental and social abilities and guarantee better quality of life. It also aims to stimulate the adoption of reparatory measures for lost abilities, raising awareness of society in general and the industry sector, in particular regarding the emergence of a little-explored niche market, as well as the need to encourage the marketing of innovative lower cost pro-mobility means and to stimulate creativity in the technological and design field in this little-developed domain.
- "NET on Wheels" Entre Douro e Vouga
The Entre Douro e Vouga Digital (site in Portuguese) project will present the NET on Wheels initiative at a session chaired by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education in Arouca on the premises of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia Home, accompanied by the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).
NET on Wheels is an itinerant scheme dedicated to raising awareness and mobilizing people vis-à-vis Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The object is to fight e-exclusion. Two vehicles equipped with laptops with wireless Internet connections and enabled for citizens with special needs will travel around the five municipalities covered by the project ((Arouca, Oliveira de Azeméis, São João da Madeira, Santa Maria da Feira and Vale de Cambra) to train citizens on how to use the facilities. The two monitor staff accompanying each truck shall help familiarise people with ICTs and the Internet in retirement homes, associations, schools, companies and other locations.
- Paediatrics ICT Project
The Paediatrics ICT (site in Portuguese) project, promoted by the Foundation for Disseminating Information Technologies (FDTI), aims to make technology resources available to children hospitalised in paediatric wards, enabling them to relax and be in contact with their families, school and friends via web cams, personal computers and small family blogs.
- Suggested conclusions from the SIDAR Foundation's IX Days - Universal Access
The suggested conclusions from the IX SIDAR (site in Spanish) Days are intended to help towards digital inclusion and accessibility of digital content and you can subscribe to them at http://www.jornadas.sidar.org/2005/formad.php.en.