Digital Competence for Blind People as a Basis for Work and Vocational Training Blind and visually impaired people face huge barriers to learning, vocational training as well as lack of promotion opportunities. Many tasks rely on the use of the computer, and assistive disability software has remained expensive or unaffordable for the unemployed. The e-learning project DICOMP-TRANSFER enables the visually impaired to enter mainstream society and employment by making free screen reading software available.
DICOMP-transfer in the U.K
Screenreader.net have been busy organizing fifty web learning days around England for combined audiences of blind and seeing people. At each learning day, they recruited a Thunder Champion to spread the word locally and encourage other blind people to get connected. All this has given work to three blind certified IT trainers.
In 2010 Screenreader.net attended major exhibitions in the UK promoting Thunder.
News from Spain
In May 2010, Lawton School organized a Round Table on Digital Competences for The Visually Impaired to promote and disseminate the project. The project representatives were accompanied by Sña Belén Fontao Fernández from the ONCE (Spanish National Organization for the Blind) Delegation in Asturias. The round table was attended by VET providers and organizations working with people with special needs. The project objectives were received with a lot of enthusiasm and interest by the participants.
Reception by the Mayoress at Gijon Town Hall
Attendance at the Round Table
Participants in the Round Table
Partners from Bfi Steiermark, Screenreader.net and Lawton School
News from Bulgaria
March 2010 – The DICOMP Transfer project was presented at a meeting in the University for national and world economy in Sofia. The rector of the university was glad to learn about the planned end products and promised full assistance for the implementation of the Thunder screenreader at the university.
The University of national and world economy boasts a fully equipped laboratory with access to computers for blind and visually impaired students.
In November 2010-Assist Net’s team of experts attended a resource teacher training seminar at the National rehabilitation centre for the blind in Plovdiv. A presentation of the Thunder screenreader was held which provoked a lot of questions and interesting discussions regarding the implementation and distribution of the new aid. The response from the people engaged in the vocational training of the blind and visually impaired trainees was full of enthusiasm. Everybody welcomed the idea of the DICOMP Transfer project and expressed their very positive expectations.
Florence
B-BOM Gleisdorf
News from Austria
Bfi Steiermark, was present at the C-E.N.T.E.R conference in Florence “On the wings of Hermes”. The aim of the conference was to find ways of promoting and disseminating EU-projects with the help of new media. The target group were organisations working in the field of EU-projects, educational organisations and organisations from new technologies. Leaflets of Dicomp transfer were presented and experience was exchanged. bfi Steiermark participated in B-BOM Gleisdorf. A regional exhibition for occupational orientation for young people. It was a good chance to present the project to local VET providers, companies and organisations working with young people with special needs. The interest in the project was good and first contact to a school for blind people in Weiz (a city near Graz) was established. Leaflets were provided at the Bfi-steiermark stand.
Meeting with the Mayor Bulent Tanik
News from Turkey
In February 2011 the project was presented to the Mayor of the Cankaya District of Ankara, Bulent Tanik, who expressed interest in the project outcomes. Mr. Tanik said that the project outcomes are in accordance with the policies for social inclusion which his town council is implementing and therefore offered his full support.
Reception in the Çankaya Town Hall
Visit to the Turkey Blind Federation
The partners were invited to the offices of the Turkey Blind Federation. The project co-ordinator Michael Longhino made a presentation of the Dicomp Transfer project to a well attended gathering.
Turkey Blind Federation
3rd Partner Meeting in Ankara
On the 2nd and 3rd February the third translational Dicomp Transfer Project meeting took place in Ankara, Turkey. Partners from Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Spain, Greece and the U.K. were welcomed by their Turkish colleagues. Katerina, Nikos and George, from the School for the Blind of Northern Greece, who have taken over the Greek partnership from e-ISOTIS, were given a special welcome.
Partner meeting
The able leadership of Bfi’s new project manager Michael Longhino made it possible for the partners to get through a very full agenda. Several aspects of the project were clarified and important decisions were taken regarding the organization of the pilot courses which are due to start in each partner country in the immediate future.
Since the meeting took place work has continued on correcting program bugs in some of the languages; all partners have completed translations of additional program files as well as the new updated version of the User Guide.
All the partners considered the meeting to be a great success from a technical stand point and were able to enjoy the transnational cultural exchange and Turkish hospitality.
Update!
Now Thunder users can start to enjoy Internet Explorer mainstream. Thunder has been brought up to date and now works well with Windows 7, both 32 and 64 bit versions as well as WebbIE text.
The Thunder memory stick version is now as responsive as if the software were installed on the machine you are using. You can use Thunder on other machines, without installing anything at all on the host computer.
We will keep you informed about the further developments of the Dicomp Transfer project
and hope to receive your comments and ideas related to this project.
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