EATT
Equal Access to Technology Training
A project aimed at increasing computer literacy among people with vision impairments.
EATT is part funded under the
EU Leonardo da Vinci Programme
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In connection with the Leonardo project EATT (Equal Access to Technology Training) it is the task of the national partners to produce a literary review of the policies and initiatives in the respective countries for the support of the older blind and visually impaired people (aged 35 - 65) in obtaining training in the field of IT - or ICT, which is the current term (Information and Communication Technology). The age group 35 - 65 years has been chosen because they belong to a population segment which has not met IT during their schooling, and therefore must require particular attention and assistance in order to avoid getting lost behind in the IT world of the future.
Closer studies of the relevant literature reveal no initiatives directed towards the target group mentioned. An examination of this field therefore requires a broader perspective.
The target group is not homogenous but composed of blind and partially sighted people, employed people and persons with a pension, well-educated and poorly educated people. The partially sighted people have a visual function enabling them to utilise IT assisted by screen magnifying programs, whereas the blind persons depend on screen reader programs, which are capable of converting information on the screen to artificial speech.
In this review it has therefore been necessary to investigate the policies and initiatives aimed at creating an IT community for everybody in their capacities as well-educated and poorly-educated, older citizens and employees.
The survey has likewise examined the initiatives and offers developed specifically for the group of blind and partially sighted people in Denmark and in the county of Aarhus, Synscentralen (The County Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired) being situated in the county of Aarhus and being the base of the EATT project in Denmark.
It is our hope that through this effort within the EATT project we will be able to contribute to the improvement of the opportunities for active participation in the future IT communities of Denmark and Europe for the blind and partially sighted people.
According to Statistisk Årbog 2000 the Danish population consists of 5.245.000 persons, of these 640.000 persons in the county of Aarhus. The population in the county of Aarhus is thus distributed:
| Age | % | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20-24 | 7.49 | 23.77 | 23.926 | 47,696 |
| 25-39 | 23.5 | 75.861 | 73.761 | 149,622 |
| 40-59 | 27.3 | 87.957 | 86.127 | 174,084 |
| 60-64 | 4.5 | 14.011 | 14.522 | 28,533 |
| 65+ | 13.2 | 34.921 | 48.999 | 83,920 |
There is no central registration of the number of blind and visually impaired people in Denmark. Accordingly there is no precise knowledge of the total number of visually impaired adults. According to the Danish Videnscenter for synshandicap (Visual Impairment Knowledge Centre) the official estimation is that 0,5% of the adult population are blind (=/< 6/60), corresponding to well over 25.000 people and that the distribution between blind and partially sighted (6/60-6/18) lies between 1:1 and 1:2, i.e. there are between 25.000 and 50.000 partially sighted persons in Denmark.
The total the adult population (+20) in Aarhus is 483.855 persons, corresponding roughly to 2.500 blind adults and between 2.500 and 5.000 partially sighted adults (Danmarks Statistik 2000).
In the year 2000 close to 90% of the population under 55 years had access to a personal computer at home, at work or at their place of education.
For the group of older people (55-74 years) the percentage is only about 50%.
80 % of the group of people under 55 years have a computer at home, whereas 46% of the group of older people have a personal computer in the home.
For the group of older people Internet access rate from the home or from the place of work grew from 29% in 1999 to 35% in 2000.
In 1999 only 17% had access from home compared to 22% in 2000.
The rate of Internet access from work was unchanged 35%, whereas the number of persons in the age group who had no access to the Internet at all fell from 39% in 1999 to 28% in 2000 (Danmarks Statistik 2000).
When one examines the national Danish IT policies during the recent 5-6 years two things leap to the eye:
Addressing the nation January 1, 2001, Prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said that the goal is to make Denmark the leading IT community of the world.
In Netværksredegørelse 2000 (Danish Network Pictures 2000) the Danish IT and Research Minister Birthe Weiss says that, "Denmark is rapidly becoming a network society. Among Danes under 50 years almost three out of four have access to the Internet. And they use it. On the other hand analyses carried out in connection with this review reveal a considerable imbalance in terms of social status and age. One out of six unskilled workers say that they have no idea what the Internet is, and only one out of four Danes over 60 years have access to the Internet. The problem of avoiding social gaps in the network society is thus far from solved." ("Et net af muligheder …")
The issue of disabilities and information technology has played a central part in the Danish political IT strategy ever since the first IT action plan .One of the results is a plan of action for IT utilisation for disabled persons called "Freedom to choose" from August 1996. (Lige muligheder, p. 36).
On the November 2 the prime minister set up "Regeringens tværgående ministerudvalg for handicap-området" ("The Government’s multi-disciplinary committee of ministers in the field of disabilities"). Based on the 22 standard rules of The United Nations for equal opportunities for disabled people and on the objectives of the Government program from 1998 the committee is authorised to co-ordinate the Government’s policies in the field of disabilities and follow up on the initiatives which are launched. The committee is to consider possible barriers for the integration of disabled people in society and proposing priorities for the initiatives. In November 2000 the committee published the report "Lige muligheder for alle -nye indsatsområder" (Equal opportunities for everybody - new initiatives"). (Lige muligheder, p.4)
In the report "Digital Denmark" utilisation of IT among disabled people has not been singled out for special treatment. It is based on the principle of "the network society for everybody". "The responsibility for an IT development which also meets the needs of disabled people has thereby become rooted in the principle of sector responsibility. It is the government’s attitude that co-ordination of the elaboration of accessible solutions is necessary." (Lige muligheder, p. 36)
"Digital Denmark - Conversion to the Network Society" is a contribution to the government’s future IT-political strategy. It is drawn up for the Ministry of Research by the committee for Digital Denmark in 1999. Briefly speaking, "Digital Denmark is about how Denmark can become a leading IT nation while continually developing the best values of our welfare society":
A Net of opportunities - Network review 2000 publishes status and aims of the IT, telecommunications, and research policies and their contributions to a viable Danish network society.
In the development towards a viable network society seven focus areas and initiatives are singled out:
Regeringens IT kreds ("The Government’s IT Circle") was established in February 2001. The Circle is to contribute to the qualitative ambitions and hence to the standards we should use when comparing ourselves to other countries. In September the IT Circle published IT-100, which compiles 100 Danish examples of useful and innovative IT (Den danske IT kreds)
Also in September the Government’s IT Circle published På jagt efte IT-guld til Danmark -vil du med? ("In pursuit of IT gold for Denmark - are you in?"). A contribution to the debate about being the world’s best IT nation describing 12 different Danes who each in their fashion are working with IT. The 12 members present their own visions for the IT future and describe how they use IT in their daily lives. (På jagt efter IT-guld)
Convergence will help bring along the network society. Because a greater number of people will become part of the network society when possession of a personal computer is no longer necessary to get access to the Internet, but access can be gained by means of the TV set, the mobile phone - or perhaps the interactive refrigerator! Today the very physical possibilities put a limit on the number people who can exploit the potential of digital technology. Convergence opens the doors to a development of skills which lends realism to the Government’s ambition of turning Denmark into a leading IT nation. (Konvergens i netværkssamfundet, p. 2)
The Danish "National Action Plan for employment, 2001" emphasises the belief that a crucial condition for economic growth and employment in the future is continued learning across all age groups and trades. A prime component in the Danish strategy for life-long learning takes the constant demand for adult education as its starting point (National Action Plan, p. 6).
The Reform of further training and supplementary education for adults, the VEU Reform, took effect as from January 1st 2001 and is based on the following three objectives:
Action programmes have been framed and initiatives launched in order to improve participation for disabled persons in the educational system of the labour market (AMU) in the form of:
The act contains provisions about
According to § 78 of the act the municipality can grant support to a disabled person for
According to §§ 97 and 98 the municipality can grant support for technical aids which
The county is responsible for granting support for specific IT aids to persons with considerably reduced auditory, oratory, visual or writing functions, in cases where the aid can substantially relieve the effects of the reduced communication ability.
According to §1 of the act any county council must ensure that persons with physical or mental disabilities can obtain education and specialised assistance aimed at relieving or reducing the effects of these disabilities (compensatory instruction). In this connection special courses can be arranged, which are planned with particular consideration for the disabilities of the participants.
The reform of the adult and supplementary education system was launched in order to create a more manageable and coherent system of education for adults. The basic principles behind the new adult and supplementary education system are:
The options of the reform:
The VEU Reform assumed concrete form through a number of laws coming into force as from the 1st of January 2001:
The European Commission launched the eEurope initiative on the 8th of December 1999 when they passed the announcement "eEurope - an information society for everybody". The purpose of the initiative is to boost the adoption of digital technologies all over Europe and to ensure that all Europeans be in possession of the necessary qualifications for the utilisation of the technologies.
The programme contains a number of concrete initiatives in the field of disabilities, e.g. the efforts to bring the WAI format for accessible web design into force for public web sites by the end of 2001.
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/topics/citizens/accessibility/bad/index_en.htm
In Network Review 2000 new initiatives in Denmark concerning the development of the network society are listed. Among these we find new technology in the public sector, experiments with electronic servicing of the citizens, personal access to the Internet, the Internet as a market place etc. (Network review, pp. 6, 7, 9)
In the period from 1999 to 2002 the Danish Government has allocated 33 million Danish Crowns of the budget to the double purpose of clarifying how IT can permit a more flexible withdrawal from the labour market and how educational methods for the promotion of IT skills among the older people can be developed. (Midtvejsevaluering-Ældres brug af informationsteknologi p 3)
The programme "Ældres brug af informationsteknologi" ("Utilisation of IT among the older people") from the Danish Research Agency consists of 11 projects, which can be studied in detail at www.dst.dk/forskpro/aeldre-it/projekt and www.aktive-seniorer.dk
Four of the 11 projects are research projects. Six of the projects are termed local initiatives, i.e. e. projects conducted in a local community with the purpose of instructing the older people in the use of IT with a view to improved self-help in everyday functions. The last project is a distinct communication project, which among other activities monitors the other projects and seeks to spread experience concerning older people and IT through a number TV programs.
During the spring of 2001 a mid-term evaluation of the projects in the programme and of the programme itself was started up. (Midtvejsevaluering, p. 4)
The following projects are of particular interest for the EATT project:
Through "active learning" the project seeks to build up IT competence among older people in active employment in the municipality of Næstved, to create a better connection between professional and private life, and to identify areas in which some of the older people can retain their attachment to the labour market. The project will study work stations in the home and open a senior portal (www.seniorportalen.dk) with a view to e-trade and an electronic senior service including secretary functions etc. (Midtvejsevaluering, p.10)
The project is carried through in a company in which IT is used to document processing skills in individual older employees. The aim is to ensure the company’s access to these skills by connecting the senior employees’ home work stations with the company at the time of their gradual withdrawal from work and transition to a form of consultant status. (Midtvejsevaluering p. 13)
According to the original application the project has the following three aims:
The project seeks to inquire whether IT can and - in case of an affirmative answer - how IT can prevent the older people from getting "old" by preserving and strengthening their identity
Midtvejsevaluering p.17
The project includes older people who do not have IT competence and who cannot use equipment and programs in the normal way because of disabilities. Through analysis and testing the aim is to develop a comprehensive educational project for the generation of IT competence, comprising equipment, installation, programs, educational principles, and teaching instructions and compiling it in a manual (Midtvejsevaluering p. 20).
A contract has been made between a TV company and the Danish Broadcasting Company (DR) to draft 12 programs to be broadcast from the station .The programs will to a large extent be based on interviews with the participants in the projects with the ambition of opening the eyes of the viewers for IT. It is not an advertisement for IT. The idea is to let the older people express themselves and also include older people who are critical about IT (Midtvejsevaluering p.22).
The title of the TV series was "Senior IT" and it was about older people in Denmark and their relationship to information technology particularly focusing on the computer, the Internet and e-mail. The series was broadcast from august 2001 through the following ten weeks.
In 1988 Ældremobiliseringen (an NGO for older people) received a grant of 1.64 million Danish Crowns from the Ministry of Social Affairs for the project "Ældre og teknologi-at bringe ældregenerationen ind i det 21. Århundrede" (Older people and technology - bringing the senior generation into the 21st Century). Owing to the project more than 45 IT cafés have opened across the country. Educational and informative material has been produced, training and guidance for the group of older people has been offered and much more.
The project is described in the report "Datastuer som en ældrepædagogisk succes-fra 2 til 53 datastuer på 3 år" (IT cafés, a successful training project for older people - from 2 to 53 IT cafés in 3 years). (Datastuer som).
Ældremobiliseringen has participated in programmes on this theme before. These programmes are described in the reports "Older people and Technology" and "Older people and IT".
"On the basis of the Action Plan for Disabled Persons’ Utilisation of IT new text telephones have been developed, research and development centres in the field of industrial design have been established, a development project dealing with artificial speech has been launched, a format for governmental net publications and a format for accessible design of homepages in co-operation with the NGOs for disabled people have been elaborated. Financial support has been granted to a number of projects on IT accessibility in the fields of research, development and education." (Lige muligheder, p. 32)
The website of the Center for Ligebehandling af Handicappede www.clh.dk provides access to "Freedom to choose - Danish commitment to accessible information for everybody", which is a lecture on Danish efforts to facilitate disabled persons’ access to electronic information, including web pages. The lecture offers a summary of the achievements with respect to support for people with disabilities since the IT action plan for disabled persons in 1966.
"Guidelines for accessible homepages" can be read on the website of Statens Informationwww.si.dk/netsteder/publ/tilgaeng/
On the website of Center for Ligebehandlinghttp://www.clh.dk/links/webinfo.htm information can be found on how to make homepages accessible, and there are links to homepages on accessible web design, among other things one can learn about a section of the eEurope programme for making web pages in the EU accessible for persons with disabilities.
Information on the development of artificial speech is available on the website of the Ministry of Research http://www.fsk.dk/fsk/div/syntal.html
The artificial speech developed in Denmark can be heard on the homepage of the Research Agency www.fsk.dk
Rapport fra Arbejdsgruppen om Tilgængelighed og Grafiske Brugergrænseflader ("Report from the working committee on accessibility and graphically based computer programs", i.e. Windows), is available on http://www.fsk.dk/cgi-bin/doc-show.cgi?doc_id=11204&leftmenu=PUBLIKATIONER
Rapport fra Arbejdsgruppen om Handicappede og Telearbejde ("Report from the working committee on disabled persons and telework") is available on
http://www.fsk.dk/cgi-bin/doc-show.cgi?doc_id=11206&leftmenu=PUBLIKATIONER
Rapport fra Arbejdsgruppen om Kortteknologi og Handicappede ("Report from the working committee on map technology an disabled persons"), is available on
http://www.fsk.dk/cgi-bin/doc-show.cgi?doc_id=11204&leftmenu=PUBLIKATIONER
Since 1993 specialised support has been available in connection with vocational training. Support can be granted to special education courses, individual instruction, specially elaborated teaching material, technical aids and personal assistance in the form of sign language interpreters, secretaries and assistants.
The Labour Market Agency has set aside funds for a four-year trial period enabling disabled persons to participate in the general AMU (labour market) training programmes. The Trial period runs to the end of year 2002.
Some disabled people need special equipment or special technical aids in order to complete an education on the same conditions as other participants.
AMU Technical Aids Service is handled by The Danish Institute for Technical Aids (Hjælpemiddelinstituttet (HMI). It provides equipment and aids for participants in AMU courses. The HMI must through AMU Technical Aids Service help the AMU centres discover needs and possibilities for equipment and aids, supply, install and adjust the equipment and instruct in the use of the technical aids. Moreover it is the HMI’s responsibility to provide service after the return of the equipment. A pool of technical aids must be built up, so that the equipment and the expenses are exploited as efficiently and rationally as possible.
http://www.ams.dk/handicap/amu/
NetJob in Aarhus has shown through a special education project for unemployed persons with physical disabilities that disabled people have productive resources which the businesses can use. The NetJob educational programme is defined by the businesses’ concrete demands for IT manpower. Alternating between traditional teaching and trainee courses the participants are trained for a particular job function in a particular enterprise. Close to 90 per cent of the participants end up in jobs (Network Review 2000 p.4)).
At the technical school in Fredericia-Middelfart blind and partially sighted persons can now complete a PC user course through distance education http://www.fmts.dk/blind/
The Institute for the Blind and Partially Sighted in Denmark (www.ibos.dk) offers courses specially designed for blind and partially sighted persons.
The courses for the blind are based on Windows 98, Office 97/2000 and the screen reader program JAWS. The following courses are offered:
The courses for the partially sighted are based on Windows 98, Office 97/2000 and the enlargement programs ZoomText, Lunar or Magic. The following courses are offered:
In addition to this the counties offer various courses:
In the county of Aarhus special education for the blind and partially sighted (compensatory instruction) is assigned to Blindes OplysningsForbund BOF ("the Educational Association for the Blind"). Within this framework basic IT training for blind and partially sighted people is offered. Courses are given in word processing (Word), Windows 98 as well as equipment and technologies which compensate for visual impairment (artificial speech and magnifying programs) (Blindes OplysningsForbund).
Synscentralen (The County Resource Centre for the visually Impaired in the County of Aarhus ) offers installation and instruction in the home whenever communication equipment for home use is granted as provided by the Service Act.
When applying for IT equipment as a working tool in accordance with the Active Social Policy Act the municipality is at the same time asked to pay for a few hours of consultancy service for installation and instruction if needed.
Synscentralen, the County of Aarhus has co-operated with a private firm called the PC Group in planning tailor-made IT courses for visually impaired persons (small classes, equipment, teacher support)
At one occasion Synscentralen has supported a visually impaired person’s participation in an ordinary basic IT course within the AMU.
In this connection a model of co-operation with the AMU Technical Aid Service was agreed upon. In addition to placing the necessary equipment at the participants’ disposal (big monitor, CCTV) the IT consultant from Synscentralen was present providing support for the visually impaired participant throughout the course. There was general agreement afterwards that the support was necessary for the person’s ability to take part in the general educational process
Recent years have witnessed a growing effort to speed up the conversion of Denmark into an ICT community. On the basis of this literature review it is our impression that great pains are taken to avoid leaving the weaker segments of the population in the lurch. There are many current initiatives to ensure that the Danish population as a whole be able to function as citizens in the digital society of the future, to function in their places of work and to gain access to life-long learning. The special needs of the older and disabled persons are also given attention in these initiatives. It has not, however, been possible within the scope of this review to find examples of the existing means and measures offering pioneering options to the group of blind and partially sighted as yet.
Blind and partially sighted individuals in Denmark can have compensatory equipment at their disposal in the home and in their place of work. On the other hand there are not many training offers targeted at the blind and partially sighted, particularly not the older members of this group.
Synscentralen offers brief instruction for equipment granted in accordance with the Services Act (Serviceloven), just like Synscentralen - when necessary - applies the municipalities for instruction time in connection with job equipment applications.
IBS offers 3-day courses and compensatory training with the Educational Association for the Blind (Blindes OplysningsForbund). Distance teaching in the use of PCs for the blind and partially sighted is offered by the Technical School of Fredericia-Middelfart.
In co-operation with the PC Group Synscentralen has established short basic IT courses targeted at partially sighted individuals in jobs and financed by the municipality. In a particular case Synscentralen, the AMU and the AMU Technical Aids Service have worked in co-operation on a basic IT course (1 week). There are examples in a few municipalities of experimental co-operation with local evening schools on IT training for blind/partially sighted persons.
Through this literature review we have become alert to the projects in the "IT and Older People Programme" of the Forskningsstyrelsen (the Research Agency), and we believe that several of the projects might become a source of inspiration in the training of blind and partially sighted persons.
It is our impression that many possibilities for creating educational offers for the blind and partially sighted are available within the legislative and experimental framework developed in recent years. Here we are referring to the possibilities for arranging short courses in job retention (Active Social Policies Act - Lov om aktiv socialpolitik). Disabled persons can participate in the educational programmes of the labour market (AMU) but on condition that co-operation with the AMU and the Technical Aids Service of the AMU is established. Apparently there are more possibilities in the VEU Reform (the Adult and Supplementary Education Reform) which should be closer examined.
Education can also become available through the Special Education for Adults Act (Lov om Specialundervisning for Voksne)
Offering IT training to the older blind and partially sighted people implies good co-operative relations to the sectors within which the training can be established in accordance with the legislative framework. It is our impression that the possibilities in the institutions that are in care of the life-long learning initiatives should be subjected to closer examination.
The condition is that co-operation is established and that professional descriptions of the special demands connected with education for the blind and partially sighted are worked out.
It is our hope that the EATT development project can serve as a contribution to this.
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