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• Forum for the Information Society - Web Accessibility

  The Web Content Accessibility for citizens with special needs was discussed at a session of the Forum for the Information Society held on the 5th of May 5 of 2011, at the Auditorium of SIBS, organized jointly by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), and the Association for the Promotion and Development of Information Society (APDSI).

  This session of the Forum discussed the new Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) approved by the W3C – World Wide Web Consortium in December 2008, which were published in Portuguese by UMIC on the 25th of February of 2009 (see Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) of the W3C Published in Portuguese). Portuguese was the 3rd language in the world in which the new accessibility guidelines were published, only after the original English publication and an Hungarian translation published a few weeks before the Portuguese.

• Portugal Rated 2nd in the UN on Government Websites Accessibility

  An article published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of Information Technology & Politics, under the title "Global Web Accessibility Analysis of National Government Portals and Ministry Web Sites" presented the first comprehensive analysis of the Web accessibility of 192 Member States of the United Nations (UN).

  Portugal is ranked 2nd in the accessibility of government websites in the study, with a value of 97.57% of Web accessibility, surpassed only by Germany which has a value of 98.72% of web accessibility.

• AccessMonitor - Automatic Evaluator Developed by UMIC for the W3C Web Accessibility Guidelines

  On February 2, 2011, the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) made publicly available the beta version of AccessMonitor (text in Portuguese), the automatic evaluator developed by UMIC for the WCAG 2.0 – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 approved by the W3C – World Wide Web Consortium on December 11, 2008, after a process of more than 8 years of open collaborative development of standards adopted by W3C and after the publication of 15 working versions before the final version. This new tool for assessing compliance with standards of accessibility of websites content, publicly available at no cost, results from the evolution of the tools developed and applied since 2005 by UMIC for the WCAG1.0. In fact, it builds up on the accessibility evaluation tool eXaminator (text in Portuguese) which was developed by UMIC for the WCAG1.0 and is freely available at no charge since December 2005.

• 1st Regional Meeting of the Internet Spaces Network - Setúbal District

  The 1st Regional Meeting of the Internet Spaces Network was held in the Auditorium of the Municipal Library of Palmela on 9 June 2010. It was targeted at the monitors and all those responsible for the 51 Internet Spaces in the Setúbal District. Organized by The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), in collaboration with the Palmela Municipal Council, more than 50 people attended the meeting, with 27 Internet Spaces represented (text in Portuguese) from 11 of the 13 Municipalities in the Setúbal District (see Meeting Programme - text in Portuguese).

• Information Session on the 3rd Call for Proposals for the Joint AAL Programme

  On 4 June 2010, from 14:00 to 17:30, an Information Session was held on the 3rd Call for Proposals for the Joint AAL – Ambient Assisted Living Programme at LNEC – the National Civil Engineering Laboratory, Av. do Brasil, Lisbon, in the Small Auditorium alongside FCCN – the Foundation for National Scientific Computation. This session was organized by The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), with the collaboration of FCCN (see programme (text in Portuguese) which contains links to the presentations).

  Participation at this informative session was free. However, given logistical requirements and the limited number of places available, those interested had to establish contact by 2 June, stating their interest in attending the session, by sending an email to the International Relations Department of UMIC at ri@umic.pt, and indicating both name and institutional affiliation.

  The first announcement of this call for proposals was published on 23 April 2010. It stated that the Call for Proposals would remain open until 30 June 2010, up to 16:00 GMT. The second announcement was published on 20 May, and stated that the funds available for this 3rd Call were 54 million euro.

• "Infoday" in Brussels on the 3rd Call for Proposals for the AAL Joint Programme

  On 31 May 2010 in Brussels, at the Marriott Hotel, Rue A Orts 3-7, an Infoday was held between 10:30 and 18:00 on the 3rd Call for Proposals for the Joint AAL – Ambient Assisted Living Programme, organised by the AAL Association, with a programme aimed at companies, R&D institutions and session for public administration bodies of the participating countries as part of the aforementioned Programme. Taking part in the Infoday was free, but required advanced registration by email as explained in the programme.

  The first announcement of the 3rd Call for Proposals for the Joint AAL – Ambient Assisted Living Programme was published on 23 April 2010. It stated that the Call for Proposals would remain open until 30 June 2010, up to 16:00 GMT. The second announcement was published on 20 May, and stated that the funds available for this 3rd Call were 54 million euro.

• World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2010

  The UN - United Nations declared 17th May World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. This initiative aims to promote awareness-raising schemes among the general public as to the benefits of Internet use. The topic chosen for 2010 is "better city, better life with ICT’s". Its aim is to highlight the important role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as drivers for advancing people's quality of life, society and the economy.

  As the public body mandated with coordinating Information Society policies in Portugal, The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) is supporting this initiative through a national World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. In this way, just as with previous initiatives, the Internet Spaces Network was encouraged to develop and deploy awareness-raising actions promoting Internet and ICT use under the "better city, better life with ICT’s" theme up to the end of May.  The specific actions included in this initiative can be seen on the news posted at the Internet Spaces Network portal: World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2010: List of Internet Spaces Network activities (text in Portuguese)

• 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.

• 22 Paedriatic Hospital Units Now Covered by the "Paedriatic ICT" Initiative

  The Paediatric ICT (site in Portuguese) project, promoted by the Foundation for Disseminating Information Technologies (FDTI), aims to make technological 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.

  The project has been in various stages of implementation since 2005 and by August 2009 had been instituted in 22 hospital units. Portuguese Oncology Institute in Porto, Paediatric Hospital of Coimbra, Dona Estefânia Hospital in Lisbon, Reynaldo dos Santos Hospital in Vila Franca de Xira, Infante D. Pedro Hospital in Aveiro, São Marcos Hospital in Braga, Divino Espírito Santo Hospital in Ponta Delgada, Hospital Centre for the Lower Alentejo in Beja, District Hospital of Faro, Hospital Centre of Funchal, Hospital Centre of the Northeast– Bragança, Hospital Centre of Alto do Ave in Guimarães, Santa Maria Maior Hospital in Barcelos, Garcia de Orta Hospital in Almada, Hospital Centre in Cova da Beira da Covilhã, Amato Lusitano Hospital in Castelo Branco, Hospital Centre of Barlavento Algarvio in Portimão, Hospital Centre of the Upper Minho in Viana do Castelo, São João Hospital in Porto, Sousa Martins Hospital in Guarda, S. Teotónio Hospital in Viseu, Santo André Hospital in Leiria.

• Applications Open for the Post of Executive Director of the AAL Association

  The AAL Association on the Internet on 31 July 2009 posted a vacancy on its website for an Executive Directory of the Central Management Unit of the AAL Association (Vacancy for an Executive Director of the Central Management Unit of the AAL Association), located in Brussels. This site also provides the respective application form.

  Applications for the post should be received by 14 August 2009.

• Adaptative Technologies, New Paradigm for Inclusion and Quality of Life

  The session “Communication: Adaptive Technologies, New Paradigm for Inclusion and Quality of Life/ Universalization of Digital Content”, held as part of the Seminar “Ability to Communicate and Interact: a New Paradigm for the Right of Handicapped People to Socially Participate”, was held on 11 July 2009, at the Lusófona University, at Campo Grande, Lisbon. As part of this, the President of The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) gave a talk on “Digital Inclusion and Accessibility” (text in Portuguese).

  This session also included talks by Jorge Fernandes, from UMIC’s Access Programme, and Professor Francisco Godinho, Coordinator of CERTIC – the Engineering Centre for Rehabilitation and Accessibility at UTAD –  the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, who in 1999 directed the setting up of the Access Unit – Accessibility to the Information Society of Citizens with Special Needs, of the Ministry of Science & Technology, which later became incorporated into UMIC. The Access Unit was set up after the Council of Ministers approved the National Initiative for Citizens with Special Needs in the Information Society in August 1999 and stipulated that the websites of public bodies had to satisfy accessibility requirements for citizens with special needs. Portugal was the first European country and the fourth worldwide to adopt this type of accessibility rules.

• UTAD Tests the Usability of the Magalhães Computer with Senior Citizens

  During the month of June UTAD – the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro and CERTIC – the Engineering Centre for Rehabilitation and Accessibility, invited around 50 senior citizens to try out the Magalhães computer for emailing purposes. In addition, 50 final year undergraduate students from the degrees in "Communication and Multimedia" and "Information and Communications Technologies" also participated as observers and experimental rapporteurs. The tests took place in the Universities and at locations usually frequented by the senior citizens.

  The aim of this activity was to evaluate how easy and satisfying it was for senior citizens to make use of the Magalhães computer for emailing.

• Meeting of the AAL General Assembly in Budapest

  On 15 June 2009 a meeting of the General Assembly of the AAL Association, in which Portugal is a founder member and represented by The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), took place in Budapest The meeting included representatives from 18 member countries as well as observers from the European Commission and the Secretariat of the AAL Association.

• UMIC Facilitates Use of Internet Spaces by Universities of the Third Age

  

  In the scope of the official commemorations for the National Day of the Universities of the Third Age, RUTIS - Universities of the Third Age Association Network and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) signed a Cooperation protocol on 21st May 2009 at Fundão Universidade Sénior, located next to the Fundão Pavilhão Multiusos. This protocol foresees UMIC’s support for the bodies responsible for Internet Spaces so that Universities of the Third Age may use these spaces to hold Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) classes on a timetable to be arranged in each case, and for spaces with access to computers and the Internet to be included in Universities of the Third Age that meet the conditions set out in the Internet Spaces Network.

• Benefitting from the Internet Safely: actions promoted by UMIC in Portugal

  The UN – United Nations declared 17th May as World Telecommunications and the Information Society Day and decided that this year would be dedicated to the topic of young people surfing the Internet safely.

  Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), as the public body with the task of coordinating Information Society policies in Portugal, decided to extend the commemorations for the World Telecommunications and the Information Society Day to all strata of the population and it put on public awareness raising actions on the benefits of and safe use of the Internet for the whole week starting on 17th May and continuing until 22nd May 2009.

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) of the W3C 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.

• Meeting of the Working Group to discuss the Contents of the AAL Programme 2nd Call

  On 11 and 12 September 2008, The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) ensured the organisation in Lisbon of a meeting of the Working Group to draw up the 2nd call for proposals for the AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) Programme, at the request of the Executive Commission of the AAL Association. This meeting brought together 19 experts from 17 countries.

  A final version of the proposal prepared by the meeting will now be drawn up by a smaller working group and then distributed to national representatives of the States which participate in the Programme, and it is foreseen that the final version will be approved at the next General Meeting of the AAL Association, which is to be held in Bonn on 20-21 October 2008.

• Public Consultation concerning Internet access and other e-Acessibility Matters

  The European Commission has opened a public consultation process into Internet access and other e-Accessibility Matters, which is open until 27 August 2008, with the aim of receiving opinions and reaching common ground on questions concerning Internet accessibility.

  E-Accessibility respects the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for disabled persons or those with limited capabilities. The general level of e-Accessibility in the European Union is relatively low, despite various initiatives to improve it.

• 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.

• Iberoamerican Journey of Technologies for the Support of Impaired Persons

  The Iberoamerican Journey of Technologies for the Support of Impaired Persons 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.

• Riga Ministerial Conference - "ICT for an Inclusive Society"

  The Riga Ministerial Conference - "ICT for an Inclusive Society" was held between 11-13 June 2006, in Riga, Latvia (see Riga Ministerial Conference - "ICT for an Inclusive Society"). This conference was approved by a Ministerial Declaration (Ministerial Declaration on the Occasion of the Ministerial Conference "ICT for an Inclusive Society") and The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) was involved in its preparation. On the 12th the Portuguese delegation was chaired by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, and on the other days by the President of UMIC, Luis Magalhães. Other members of the Portuguese delegation were: Rui Marques, High Commissioner for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities; Graça Simões, Member of the Board of Directors of UMIC; Francisco Godinho, Professor at UTAD; Jorge Fernandes and Cláudia Cardoso from UMIC.

• Promoting Cybersecurity

  The United Nations set 17th May as World Information Society Day and decided that the 2006 day would be dedicated to Promoting Cybersecurity. The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and the FCCN - Foundation for National Scientific Computation (site in Portuguese) answered the United Nations’ call by organising the Promoting Cybersecurity meeting on 17th May 2006 from 3 pm to 5 pm at the FCCN, on the LNEC – National Civil Engineering Laboratory campus. The opening session will be chaired by the Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education.

• "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.