Network Development Co-ordinator’s Update

We have another bumper edition of our Newsletter for you - thank you to everyone who has contributed! I really hope you enjoy reading about the work going on within our Centres. I am delighted to see more naturally occurring networking going on between centres, and always feel heartened when I hear of the benefits from visits to other Karten Centres, this is exactly what we want to achieve as there is so much expertise to share. We are also working on a more structured and collaborative approach to developments in specific areas. We are developing Special Interest Groups to reflect interests in different areas such as: Digital Design & Manufacture; Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality; Home Controls; Artificial Intelligence. If you are interested in any of these areas please let me know (dawn@karten-network.org.uk) and I will do my best to co-ordinate relevant activities.

We are also working with the Karten Funded TechAbility Assistive Technologists to offer a series of Webinars and Events. If there is anything you would like to find out more about, or indeed if you would like to deliver part of a webinar let me know. We want you to shape the programme so please don't be shy!

The deadline for funding applications for the September Trustees meeting is 12 noon on 13 July. This date has been communicated well in advance through jiscmail and most applications are already well developed. The next opportunity to apply for additional funding will be mid-January 2019.

At a graduation ceremony held in Dundee, our Mobile Technology advisor, Martin Pistorius received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Dundee. During Professor Annalu Waller's Oration she noted Martin’s contribution to computer science, augmentative and alternative communication, research at the University of Dundee and his ability to overcome adversity. Professor Waller said, “Martin reminds us that despite being imprisoned and being subjected to the most harrowing experiences, the ability to forgive and to use your experiences to make a difference in the world, is the mark of someone truly inspirational.” I am sure you will join me in congratulating Martin for this significant achievement! Well done Martin, richly deserved we are delighted for you!

Finally may I take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for a lovely summer, doing all the things you really enjoy. For those of you who will be working in our Karten Centres, maybe you could share what you are up to on Twitter @kartennetwork using the Twitter handle #KartenSummertime

Dawn Green
Karten Network and Development Co-ordinator

Update from Mobile Technology Advisor

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Many centres across the Karten Network have been working hard in preparation for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into force on the 25th of May 2018. As the Karten Network we have done the same – reviewing what personal data we hold, how we use it, how the data is stored and for how long. We have created policies and procedures to ensure the no personal data is collected unnecessarily, without your knowledge and consent, securely stored and erased appropriately.

All the relevant documents can be accessed on the Karten Network website – see links at the bottom of any page.

As a reminder in accordance with the GDPR, you have the right to request to see the data we hold about you/your organisation or have your data removed. Should you have any concerns or queries please contact Dawn Green.

Google & Apple Annual Development conferences

Around this time of year, Apple and Google announce all the latest developments to their mobile technology. The two tech giants seem to have two distinct focuses this year, with Google focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and Apple on augmented reality (AR).

An underlying theme emerging from both Apple and Google is the integration of features to address “screen/smartphone addiction” with both companies making efforts to make users aware of the amount of time spent staring at their mobile device. Whether this is a deliberate attempt to reduce the excess use of mobile devices or a natural, or planned progression to a more “human” way of interacting with technology (e.g. talking to your device), only time will tell.

Google I/O 2018

Some of the major announcements from the Google development conference were:

Android P

Reported to be Google's most ambitious version of the Android operating system with increased use of AI. This intelligence makes it possible to predict which app you are likely to use next based on your location, the time of day and your usage habits.

Your phone may now start to make suggestions, for example if you often call someone at a particular time, you could be asked if you would like to call them, or reminded that you haven’t called them yet.

There have been noticeable changes to the interface in Android P. The traditional three button interface has been reduced to a home and back button. Action such as changing apps can now be done through gestures similar to those found on the iPhone X.

Notifications have been given a fresher look and intelligence – for example if you always dismiss a particular notification, you now may be asked if you wish to continue to see it.

A dashboard has been added which displays how many times you unlocked your phone, which apps you used and for how long. Time limits can also be set for example how long you spend on YouTube or Facebook per-day. This is part of Google’s “digital wellbeing” initiative to reduce the amount of time people spend using their phone. In keeping with this, a new "do not disturb" feature has been included.

AI has been integrated into power management with the Adaptive Battery and Adaptive Brightness features. These learn from your usage and preference to reduce power consumption and improve battery life while still providing you with the apps you typically use when you use them.

Google Lens is now integrated into the camera app allowing explanations for everything you're looking at to be displayed and words and buildings to be recognised. Android P, (rumoured to be named either Pistachio Ice Cream or Pineapple upside-down cake) is currently available in beta and is expected to be officially released later this year.

Google Maps

Google maps is set to receive two major updates. A social media type functionality similar to Yelp and Foursquare that allows you to see restaurants and businesses that are trending among other users. You can then from within Google Maps coordinate with friends in real time to shortlist a place to eat.

Augmented reality, enabling you to point your device’s camera in a direction and have Google Maps display an enhanced turn-by-turn navigation experience, complete with a little fox to keep you on track.

Google Assistant

Google has continued to play “catch-up” to Amazon’s Alexa. However, things seem to be gaining momentum with the announcement of six new voices. The aptly dubbed “Continued Conversation” update that enables you to ask follow up questions rather than saying “Hey Google” each time. This update would also make it possible to have combined queries e.g. “what is the weather in London and Dublin?”.

A new "Pretty Please" mode encourages polite reinforcement with the Google Assistant responding more positively when “Please” and “Thank you" are used.

Perhaps the most impressive feature shown was Google Duplex an AI that enables Google Assistant to make phone calls on your behalf. This happens seamlessly in the background, you don’t even need to hear the call. While this is still in the experimental phase the demonstration is well worth watching. It shows Google assistant making a real phone call to book a hair appointment.

WWDC 2018

The most noteworthy announcements from Apple’s development conference were:

iOS 12

The primary focus of the latest iOS version is on stability and performance, and in particular for older devices. This is welcome news – with the iOS 11 update there was a noticeable degradation of performance and battery life for people using older iOS devices.

It is reported that Apple will make iOS 12 available for all devices that can currently run iOS 11. This means the oldest phone it will work on is the iPhone 5S, and the oldest iPad is the Air 2.

Similar to Google’s “digital wellbeing” initiative Apple’s new iOS will include a section called Screen Time. This is aimed at helping people to limit how much time they spend on their iPhone or iPad. This feature will allow you to see your device usage, including how long you are using each app for, when you're using each app, where the majority of your notifications came from, and how often you unlock your phone.

It will be possible to set time limits on how long you can use each app in a day. Warnings pop-up when you are close to reaching those limits.

Similar to Android P, notifications in iOS 12 have been revamped and can now be grouped by app. The iOS "do not disturb" feature has also been expanded to not show notifications on a device's lock screen at night.

The fun Animojis introduced in iOS 11 have been expanded in iOS 12. As well as adding a new kind of emoji, a Memoji! The Memoji allows you to create a customised emoji that looks (if you like) like you.

Siri has possibly been lagging behind Alexa and Google Assistant receives a much-needed update in iOS 12. Siri has become smarter and will now be capable of suggesting apps based on your location and time of day. Siri can automatically remind you to call someone on their birthday as well as learn routines for example automatically send a message to someone when you leave work.

Several native iOS apps will also get an update in iOS12 including an improved search feature in photos and FaceTime that can now support conversations with up to 32 participants. iOS 12 beta has been made available and is expected to be officially released later this year.

ARKit

Apple appear to have invested a lot more resources into their Augmented reality initiative. Announcing the second version of its augmented reality developer kit – ARKit 2. This new developer kit includes improved face track, better 3D object detection and adds the ability for multiple people to experience the same virtual environment simultaneously, potentially making it possible to be in the same virtual space from different physical locations.

A new app, Measure, is expected to be included with iOS 12. This app enables you to point the camera at and object and calculate its size.

WatchOS

Apple’s WatchOS is receiving similar updates to those included in iOS 12. WatchOS 5 introduces a Walkie-Talkie feature that enables you to send voice messages to your friends.

Apple Watch's fitness features will receive a substantial update too. With new exercise modes, improved tracking, automatically starting an exercise, a rolling mile pace, steps per-minute and custom speed alerts.

As always, I am keen to hear about how you are using mobile technology in your centre. I am also available to support and help where I can.

Martin Pistorius
Karten Network Mobile Technology Advisor

Voiceitt

Karten partner, Voiceitt, announced as winner of Microsoft’s global AI for Good prize

We are excited to share some news about one of our partner organizations! Voiceitt, which is an Israeli startup developing speech recognition software for individuals with impaired or non-standard speech patterns, has recently been awarded Microsoft’s prestigious AI for Good prize! The prize, which is a result of Microsoft Venture’s global startup competition, Innovate.AI, includes $500,000 in funding from M12 (formerly Microsoft Ventures) and up to $500,000 in Microsoft Azure credits, both of which will be used to advance the company’s goal of developing the world’s first speech recognition system designed to understand non-standard speech.
Four percent of the global population has trouble communicating verbally because of a speech, language or vocal problem. Non-standard speech can affect daily communication and it can affect one’s ability to use standard voice recognition software.

In recent years, standard voice recognition technology has progressed immensely. Recognition rates for speech technology are improving every year — with some systems reporting recognition rates surpassing human transcribers. But the world still has a really long way to go.

Current speech recognition systems cannot understand non-standard speech, thus, making this technology inaccessible to millions. Voiceitt’s goal is to contribute to this incredibly transformative and exciting time, and to make speech recognition accessible to the people who need it most.

Partnership

The Kartnen Network is excited to have just kicked off a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program that will enable some of the first wide-scale testing ever done with Voiceitt. The project was announced last year and commenced at the beginning of 2018.

To read more about Voiceitt visit www.voiceitt.com or www.voiceitt.blog.com

Blended Learning Consortium

The Blended Learning Consortium (http://blc-fe.org/) operates out of the Heart of Worcestershire College. It is a consortium of further education colleges that co-develop and build interactive e-learning content for various subjects that can range from literacy and numeracy to catering, animal care and plumbing. All the resources are dictated by a voting system amongst the member colleges.

The consortium usually charge an annual £5,000 subscription fee, which goes towards development costs, but they currently offer it for free to specialist colleges.

Whilst many of resources and courses are aimed at higher skilled students than we have at Young Epilepsy, we have had some success with adapting the consortium’s resources to suit our own needs – the consortium allows individual colleges to download and edit the content in this way. The consortium also offers discount deals on various software packages and learning platforms.

If there are any members of the network who are interested, I’m more than happy to make the necessary introductions.

Nick Tingley (ntingley@youngepilepsy.org.uk)
Information Learning Technologist
Young Epilepsy

Webinars

We have had some great webinars over the past few months:

• Techability – Orcam: OrCam is a lightweight smart camera that instantly reads text aloud and recognizes faces, products, and money notes in real time. This webinar presented by Alexia Ware from OrCam will explain how OrCam can give users greater independence and access.
• Brain in Hand: Brain in Hand gives students access to detailed personalised support, when and where they need it, from their phone or iPad. If additional help is needed the student can request urgent assistance from support staff discretely through the Brain in Hand app. Sarah Todd from Brain in Hand will take you through the features and application of Brain in Hand.

If you weren't able to attend one of our webinars a link to view them can be found on the Karten Network website in the "resources" section.
Note: if you did not register for a webinar, you will be prompted to register before you will be able to view the particular webinar

News from the Karten Centres

Bridge College

Bridge College student council visit David Lewis

Our student council group visited the David Lewis café to get some ideas of running a student controlled café. We looked at the equipment being used, the guidance and instructions set up at each station for the students to follow and sampled their delicious meals.

We are planning to set up our own café at college and it has given us some great ideas to begin with.

The group then visited Yuka and her students at the Edu Printing site in Macclesfield. Students had a fantastic time learning about the different types of printing available, and even having a go at printing their own mugs.

The visit has enabled us to begin planning our own print enterprise, identifying what items we feel we would like to be able to produce and sell, and useful information around what makes it a success – reliable staffing with the knowledge and confidence is key. We are going to use this information gathering visit to put together a bid for funding for the next academic year.

IsrALS

In the last 7 years we have been providing ALS patients in Israel with an Assistive Technology Service.

This unique service includes home visits of Occupational Therapists whose expertise is evaluating and recommending the right technology to each patient.

Currently, in our Assistive Technology project we are working with a team of 4 Occupational Therapists, Debbie Ben-Tal, Hagit Rubin, Orit Grinstein and Dareen Huri.

This wonderful team is covering the entire area of Israel, both in Hebrew and in Arabic.

In 2017, 160 ALS patients have benefitted from our Assistive Technology Service and the team preformed 190 home visits. This year, up until April, 65 visits have already been made.

Thanks to the Karten Fund's generous donation we were able to replace old demonstration equipment and purchase new and updated ones, keeping in touch with the ever improving technologies. Our main purchase, was the Tobii Mini eyegaze system which has replaced the PCEye Go, with its upgraded technology. The other large purchase was the EyeTech TM5 eyegaze system, which replaced the My Gaze camera. Both these cameras are now given by the Health Ministry. Our patients are now able to try out and experience both types of systems during the home visit and the most suitable one according to their ability is selected.

This service is our leading service and has a major impact on our target population. The ability to continue and communicate with family members, friends and medical teams, as well as surfing the Internet and enjoying all different activities on-line, has an immediate and direct impact on the patients' quality of life.

There is no doubt in our minds that the Assistive Technology Service is the main reason why so many ALS patients in Israel use advanced technology for the benefit of communicating and improving their quality of life and that without it they would have stayed with no communication at all.

How I got my life back & regained happiness

It is well known that people who feel grateful towards others, can help others know true happiness. I would like to start, and finish, by expressing my heartfelt gratitude to IsrALS, it’s CEO, Efrat Carmi, Debbie Ben-Tal who channels her considerable energies and knowledge into helping others, Orit Grinstein, whose extensive knowledge and compassion brought me to where I am now, and last but not least, the Karten Network whose vision & generosity has brought so much happiness and accomplishment to so many.

All my life I have been very independent. My parents were both concentration camp survivors. After they married and I was born, we immigrated to the USA. I was brought up to be as self-sufficient and independent as possible. One never knew what new threat lurked around the corner. Being as self-reliant as possible was my ticket to survival as far as my parents were concerned. My Mother, of blessed memory, always stressed the importance of not being a burden on other people. I definitely followed their lead.

Around the age of 60 (I am now 70) I began experiencing fasciculations and a gradual weakening of my left arm. After surgery on my neck (didn’t help), physical therapy (didn’t help), and a lot of tests, I finally received the diagnosis of ALS/MND. Over the last ten years I’ve completely lost the ability for any effective and purposeful movement in both of my arms and legs, I cannot maintain posture without support, my neck can no longer support or turn my head, and my ability to speak has been deteriorating.

Except for the initial diagnosis, the loss of ability to control a mouse, and possibility of loss of speech, made me depressed and, for the first time, I felt panic. With the passage of time, I began to feel more and more depressed. Regularly attending services and study sessions at my local synagogue, has been my primary solace. The only other thing I could do to pass the time at home was watch TV. I had gone from being a highly independent and self-reliant individual, to becoming totally dependent on others for even my most basic needs. I was concerned about the possibility of losing my ability to communicate.

I consulted my social worker at IsrALS, who told me about their project of supplying "communication" computers to people who were prisoners in their own bodies. I became a candidate for one of these technological miracles, and after a short while, received mine.

Within 3 days, I was using my eyes to surf the web, research the latest developments regarding finding cures and new treatments for ALS, use social media, and freed up my email accounts, which were filled to capacity.

I began getting up in the morning and looking forward to the coming day. I was making spreadsheets to help me manage the wages of my 3 caregivers (I kid you not, I really am high maintenance !). I found a web based program to further facilitate payroll and record keeping.

After a month, I completed filing a number of claims for various insurance policies that had been neglected due to my inability to function.

I was even successful in recovering almost a full terabyte of information and documents from a crashed hard disk.

One of the best features of my "communication" computer was connecting my smartphone to the computer and regaining almost full functionality just by using my eyes. I have begun to learn about voice mapping and making the computer talk for me.

I saved the best for last! It is well known that people who feel grateful towards others and can help others know true happiness. I would like to finish by repeating my heartfelt gratitude to IsrALS, it’s CEO, Efrat Carmi, Debbie Ben-Tal who channels her considerable energies and knowledge into helping others, Orit Grinstein whose extensive knowledge and compassion brought me to where I am now, and last but not least, the Karten Network whose vision & generosity has brought so much happiness and accomplishment to so many.

Young Epilepsy

Star Radio

This spring, the entire Young Epilepsy campus has felt a distinct buzz in the air.

Thanks to funding we’ve received from the Karten Trust, St Piers College now has its own, fully-functional, radio station, and every week the students plan and deliver entertaining radio shows to broadcast out to the campus.

The radio station itself is hidden away in a rather unassuming room close to the existing CTEC media suite. With the funds from the Karten Trust, we have purchased a top-of-the-range radio station, specifically designed to be accessible to all our students. The station uses the same systems that all the top radio stations in the country use; the only difference is that it has been reduced and redesigned to avoid overwhelming our students.

The equipment is mainly used by our vocational media groups, who prepare the week’s radio broadcasts before delivering them live to the on-site audience. In addition to this, the Information Learning Technologists have been running one-to-one workshops with individual learners to help develop their confidence, speaking, listening and literacy skills. Outside of the radio station, learners are encouraged to use their literacy and numeracy skills to plan broadcasts to fit within a half-an-hour time frame. We have seen even the least confident students engaging with what they consider to be a rather mundane task in the knowledge that they are working towards the goal of delivering their own broadcast.

And the results so far have been astounding.

In the few short weeks that we have been using the radio station, we have seen some dramatic improvements in the confidence of our learners. Individuals who would normally struggle to deliver any form of vocal presentation have flourished in the safety and security of the radio suite. And – unlike much of the other work they do at St Piers College – they are able to receive instant feedback about their successes; whether it is from listeners calling in to the live broadcast, emailing in to congratulate them, or even expressing their admiration personally when out and about on site.

The radio has made a particular impact on Student A, who has Dyspraxia, Epilepsy, ADHD and Global Developmental Delay. Student A does not like the sound of his own voice, and struggles to keep on task in most classroom activities. When he first entered the radio station, he was naturally unwilling to take part. However, after a single session he proudly returned back to his residential house and declared to his staff that he wanted to be a radio DJ. Since then, his confidence has grown and he can’t wait to take part in the regular live performance. He frequently invites other staff and students to host the shows with him, as well as dropping in to support his fellow students.

The radio station is very much in its early days, and we’re hoping to roll out the radio station to more students in the next academic year. The Karten donation has already made a massive impact for these learners, and has allowed us to offer them an experience that has the potential to open many doors for them in the future.

RNIB College Loughborough

Third Stop Motion Film Festival

On 25th and 27th April we held our third annual Stop Motion Film Festival. We started off with over twenty different groups and Colleges interested in entering a film, including a number of Karten Network members. In the end we had 14 film entries. The films were a wide range of science fiction / comedy, faux documentaries, and action packed escape films. Entries were from National Star College, Portland College, Forest Way School, RNIB College and families and friends of students and staff at RNIB College. The two judges who viewed all the films and awarded the Stoppies were from the film industry.

Alexzandra Jackson works as a British Film Industry Network Talent Executive. Before taking up her current post Alex was Education Manager for Phoenix Cinema and Art Centre where she lead on their education programme from 2010 to 2018 and managed several projects, including Access Cinema, which worked to establish comfortable and enjoyable cinema environments for people with disabilities, Reel India, a programme designed to introduce specialised Indian family cinema to new audiences and for five years, guest lectured at DeMontfort University on second year module Professional Practice in the UK Film Industry. In addition, she serves as Festival Director of Leicester's international short film festival, The Short Cinema, currently in its twelfth year.

Keith Allott is an award winning filmmaker. He has created films which have been shown in film festivals all over the world since 1997 including the BAFTA qualifying Encounters Short Film Festival and Aesthetica. Keith was the winner of the 2003 Silver Award and 2005 Audience Choice Award at the Leicester International Short Film Festival, Film of the Year 2014 with Seven / Five Productions and Best in Festival at The Short Cinema 2016. He is also a producer and has his own production company and a teacher of film theory.

The Awards (Stoppies) included categories such as best use of plasticine, best use of audio, best use of props, best individual film, best team / group film and the most accessible. This year was a year of sequels as well as original films. The films included Dance Wars (a dance version of Star Wars) and the Escape Trilogy (including The Great Eggscape) and the third film in the series How Darth Vader Learned to Love …, as well as Wacky Mania 2 and Heroes Unite 2.

The overall Best in Festival winner was a film by the Media Hub at RNIB College called Seasonal Disaster. The film is a live action film and is about the Grinch who moves all the seasons about so that it snows in summer and so on. The judges were particularly impressed with the standard of acting and really liked the storyline.

As a result of the Stop Motion Film Festival three students with sight loss from RNIB College were interviewed for the RNIB Connect Radio programme and talked about their roles in making the films and what challenges they had faced when filming.

We are planning on running the Stop Motion Film Festival next year, but will be changing it from a competition into a showcase of films and we might also broaden the types of films that are accepted. We hope that this will encourage more participants.

Seashell Trust

Drive Deck

We initially found out about the Drive Deck system over a year ago when we were contacted by Smile Smart Technology. After a sales visit we realised this was a piece of equipment that could greatly benefit our students. We thought of endless possibilities for this track, whether it be as an assessment tool or to promote independence or sports.

The drive deck is a motorised platform that is accessed by individuals who are wheelchair users. They are supported onto the platform in their chair and can either control the drive deck with the use of a switch following a track or free drive using a joystick. Depending on the user, the system can be used to carry out assessments to determine whether or not a wheelchair user could be a candidate for a powered chair. Alternatively, the system can be used to give a wheelchair user a new sense of independence as they propel themselves along without the need of support.

The drive deck uses a reflective strip, laid out on the floor that acts as a track that the platform will follow as it moves along. This allows users to have a sense of freedom without the risk of the drive deck crashing or going off course.

The Karten Trust provided funding for two drive decks, one for the college and one for the school. We have had this piece of equipment for almost a year now and have found it to be invaluable in giving students a real sense of control and fun. We have used it to carry out a number of assessments, it is a fantastic motivator when encouraging students to work on their emerging switch skills.

In May 2018 at our annual inter-college sports day we took along our drive decks and for the first time were able to allow both able bodied and wheelchair user to race against one another. In July the Seashell Trust are hosting an inclusive triathlon event. The drive decks will allow more of our students to take part with greater independence.

With the money funded from the Karten Network this drive deck has given our students with some of the most complex needs independence, motivation and the chance to be involved in something new and exciting.

The Cedar Foundation

Cedar’s Augmented Reality Posters

Over the past year the Cedar Foundation’s Karten CTEC Centre in Belfast has been working with its Inclusion Works participants to create augmented reality video posters based on their own stories. We have worked with approximately 15 individuals with a range of disabilities (including individuals with brain Injury, stroke and autism). We used the HP Reveal app (previously Aurasma) and the work is being accredited through the OCR Life and Living Suite. Below is an example of one of the individual’s stories that we recently used to highlight Brain Injury as part of “Action Brain Injury Week 2018” (http://www.cedar-foundation.org/news/item/860/you-me-and-brain-injury-cedar-celebrates-action-brain-injury-week-with-unique-art-exhibition/) here in Northern Ireland.

To see Chris' story come to life follow these steps.

1) Download the HP Reveal app from the relevant app store (e.g. Play store for Android / App store for iPhone) and sign up for an account.

2) Once you have an account you must follow the Cedar Inclusion Works Participant Stories channel. Search for the "Cedar Inclusion Works Participants' Story".

3) Then follow the channel

4) Now click on the central button  and this will bring up HP Reveal's 7-dotted pulsing view finder...

5) Aim your phone's camera at Chris’ poster (try and include all of the framed picture in the view finder) and when the app detects the "trigger" it will change into a circular pulse.

6) Hold in this position until the image comes to life 😊

Please note this app has been recently purchased by Hewlett Packard and is undergoing some maintenance and upgrading.

Beacon

New Skills Development Opportunities for Beacon Centre Customers

Visually impaired people throughout the Black Country and Staffordshire will have the opportunity to develop new skills in employability, I.T. and digital manufacturing as The Beacon Fab Lab officially opens its doors in July.

Following a very successful soft launch earlier this year, which saw handmade crafts sell out mere days after production, The Beacon Fab Lab will officially open its doors in brand new, purpose-built premises at their Sedgley site, on July 13th.

Part-funded by generous contributions from The 5/344 Transport & General Workers Benevolent Fund of Goodyear Wolverhampton, The Beacon Fab Lab will offer people with visual impairment and other disabilities the opportunity to develop skills linked to digital fabrication and manufacturing including the use of 2D and 3D design software and the latest digital manufacturing equipment. Along the way, beneficiaries will improve generic communication, employability and I.T. skills.

The new workshop boasts state-of-the-art equipment including 3D printers; laser cutters and sublimation presses. The environment has been designed to cater for the needs of the visually-impaired with high-contrast fixtures and fittings, tactile flooring and appropriate technology such as audio-labelling devices, screen-reading software, adapted keyboards and large monitors.

The Beacon Fab Lab is able to manufacture products from a range of materials including wood, plastics, ceramics and glass. To date, goods produced include: keyrings; bookmarks; coffee mugs and coasters; wall plaques; decorative ceramic tiles; table decorations and bird boxes.

The Beacon Fab Lab is managed by Matt Harrison, Beacon’s Technology Innovations Manager. Matt said, "The Beacon Fab Lab provides us with the capability to enable visually-impaired people to develop new skills within a very exciting environment. Not only does The Beacon Fab Lab introduce individuals to cutting-edge technology that they may never have seen before, but it also helps continues the region’s manufacturing legacy. As a visually-impaired technology user myself, I am thrilled that we have an accessible workplace where we can produce high-quality, commercial items."

To find out more about The Beacon Centre or The Beacon Fab Lab please contact Matt Harrison, Technology Innovations Manager, on (01902) 880111 or via email: mharrison@beaconvision.org.

New Bridge

And the winner is...

Wow! What a year we have had!

This summer our Karten-funded enterprise New Bridge Productions have had huge success with the printing and video production enterprises they run. As well as earning over £4000 over the year by producing a range of print and video products the students have won a range of awards. They won the ‘Best Company’ award at the Young Enterprise Oldham finals then went on to win the ‘Best use of IT’ award at the North West finals. The events celebrate the hard work of different enterprises across the country. The event was held at Oldham College’s Grange Theatre and Manchester University respectively. The nights were huge successes for New Bridge and in particular the Young Enterprise company the students have set up, which this year they called ‘UnITe’.

The night began by setting up the trading stand, where fellow entrepreneurs walked around and looked at each other’s products. Then the first of the tests, the judges! 4 business men and women from the local area walked around the trade stands asking questions, scrutinising the students about their products. Mitchell and Lewis have got the gift of the gab though. So they charmed the judges. Stage one – passed! Next there was an interview. Luke and Mitchell went in alone and they returned 10 minutes later looking very dishevelled and felt like it didn’t go well. But they had nothing to worry about, they manage their own finances and that’s what the judges were looking for. Finally, the presentation…this is a 4-minute presentation to over 200 people including teachers, headteachers, business people, fellow students and their parents! Last year we won the ‘Best Presentation’ award, which I didn’t think could be topped. How wrong I was. At the end of the night, there were 5 awards handed out. First was the ‘Best presentation’…it wasn’t us (What! They smashed it I thought). Next, best product, it wasn’t us again (A fix! I could’ve yelled). And once it got to the last award of the evening, the most prestigious award I remember thinking “well, the lads did themselves proud, maybe next year” but then those words were spoken, which I’m sure will live long in the memory of the students and parents... “And the winner is…UnITe!” There were cheers of joy and tears of joy. What an achievement! I am so proud of the four students that represented the enterprise on the night but all the students involved have worked incredibly hard. I cannot thank Karten Network enough for their continued support in funding the enterprises we run. These young adults have achieved so much and move on to their future lives filled with confidence and skills that will help them in whatever they do next.

As well as the awards last night we are in the middle of so many other filming projects (Oldham Coliseum Theatre Performance, Oldham Pledge, New Charter Housing Company, and a range of other school shows). We were even filming the Young Enterprise event as part of year-long documentary. Again, another paid job which the students are earning £500 from. All profits earned goes back to the students as shareholders of their own enterprise. Please watch and enjoy the video of them giving their fantastic presentation and the moment they won their award.

Migdal Or

On the path of including more and more people with disability into the Israeli work force, one of the main challenges for people with blindness and low vision is that the technological environments are not accessible to assistive technology. In order to address this need, Migdal Or, a functional and vocational rehabilitation center for people who are blind or visually impaired in Israel, launched the Accessibility Unit that aims to:

1. Conduct accessibility audits on information systems at work environments.
2. Report the findings to the organizations involved.
3. Initiating a process of remediation that would end with the employment of the candidates.

The Accessibility Unit is a team of 5 assistive technology specialists with blindness or visual impairment (3 of them are using Braille) and Ayelet Avraham, a digital accessibility specialist. The team sets out together to conduct the audits that are targeted for low-vision and blindness. In all audits the core method of work is first establishing a positive rapport with the organization involved, enhancing cooperation and generous exchange of information, time and effort.

The main obstacles they face are complex techno-bureaucratic systems that slow down the remediation process. Also there is a lack of knowledge many times on behalf of the development teams how to configure information systems such as SAP and ORACLE to be more accessible. But where there is willingness there is a path as the following story will reveal.

The case of Bezek, Israel's telephone company, is an example of a successful assimilation. On 2017 The Company wished to hire Haim, a young man with blindness, in their telephone customer service and technological support department. The first initiative stemmed from the simple kindness of a team manager at the production level that wanted to help Haim.

On a time stretch of several months the team conducted audits and made several suggestions for enhancement of the system towards greater accessibility. Finally, on September 2017 both the system and Haim reached a level of synergy and accessibility so that Haim could fully work at the department.

Some of the changes that where made included changing the encoding of the type on billings and telephone lists, adding code labels to form fields and buttons to enhance their accessibility as well as teaching Haim how to use the JAWS cursor so that he could use a Mouse. Also, some of the tasks Haim had to perform where narrowed down, until a fine balance was created between technology and human ability.

This rewarding process included human factors such as persistence, generosity and courage. It was fascinating to see how two large systems such as Bezek and Migdal Or came together to help a single person thrive. The core best practice of it all, beyond the technological knowledge was a great measure of willingness and human care on individual's part. It is a story with many heroes each contributing their unique flare.

Two off the team members: Adi, on the left, with his guiding dog, Dandy, and Ayelet.

Portland College

Portland College AAC and Digital Engagement Team

The AAC team within Portland College have been involved with the setting up and trialling of a new language app, Voiceitt.

Voiceitt is a developing language app that employs speech recognition technology that translates unintelligible sounds to clear recognisable words. The team behind the app have been fabulous to work with and have provided excellent support throughout the process.

The learner involved; Stephen, has been extremely keen to be a part of the trial and has so far demonstrated great use of the app, stating “I love it”.

Stephen and the team will inevitably continue to trial the app and maintain the great communication links between organisations that the trial has created.

It is fantastic the College has been asked to take part in the project and hopefully be a spoke in the wheel of communication development.

Vision North Somerset

Volunteers and learners benefit from The Vision North Somerset’s Karten CTEC Centre

Great News, blind and partially sighted people living in North Somerset continue to benefit from the Karten Project based in the Karten CTEC Centre at Vision North Somerset, Weston super Mare. This successful partnership between Vision North Somerset, RNIB and The KartenTrust started in 2014 when Scott Wood (RNIB) approached Nina Farr (Vision North Somerset) wanting to replicate the Karten centre that he had established in RNIB’s Bristol building. After several months of planning, using the lessons learned at Bristol and a bid to the Karten Trust the rest is history. Now in it’s fourth year 139 visually impaired people from 16 to 87 years old have been introduced to assistive technology and received one to one free teaching from Vision’s visually impaired volunteers.

"Technology continues to be the visually impaired person’s best friend!” Says Scott Wood RNIB’s Technology for Life Team Leader. “So, as we move into a new phase following a generous grant in 2017 from the Karten Trust, we will be looking to support even more blind and partially sighted people in North Somerset and beyond. The introduction of personal assistants such as the Amazon Echo to our toolkit, will give our clients even more independence and access to hitherto inaccessible information, providing greater independence and a superior quality of life."

Nina Farr Vision's Rehabilitation Officer says, "As well as the Amazon echo with the Karten grant we have been able to purchase new ipads, iphones, android devices, upgrade our idesk pc’s, a Jaws and zoomtext fusion USB dongle and refurbish our room which will enable our blind and partially sighted learners to experience the latest technology in a welcoming, accessible and comfortable environment. Our visually impaired volunteer tutors are inspirational for the learners as they are using assistive technology. They empathise with the learners understanding what they want to achieve like managing appointments and diary dates, shopping online, reading daily correspondence, access audio books, being able to find out about local services and information as face to face or telephone contact/support are not so readily available. The volunteers teaching experience and knowledge of assistive technology increases not only the learner’s self- esteem but also their own. One volunteer is now working part time as a visual impairment teaching support worker at Weston College, and continues to teach half a day a week here at Vision."

A core principle of the project is that learners have access and learn how to use inbuilt accessibility features within devices and free software or apps, such as seeing AI and Soundscape which are revolutionising how blind and partially sighted people can access the world around them. If people are unable to purchase an iphone or tablet Nina completes funding applications to enable them to buy the equipment. Scott and the volunteers are then on hand to set up the equipment.

The success of this project is a team effort between funder, partner organisations, volunteers and the learners. And, as one of our volunteers observed: "Witnessing the change in someone going from despair to gaining confidence in IT is both heartwarming and a privilege."

Beit Issie Shapiro

Technology Blog

Beit Issie Shapiro is an influential organization that promotes the rights of people with disabilities, both within Israel and internationally. We are active in many sectors of society providing direct services to individuals and their families, education and training to professionals, we are a key partner in lobbying the government to change disability legislation, and we also have a very active Technology Center promoting, developing, implementing and raising awareness for assistive technology. We share our knowledge throughout Israel, as well as internationally, through research, consultation and training programs.

We are proud to share the launch of our new and updated blog! The new update includes updated recommended app lists, new app categories, and we are now trilingual! Our blog is now available in English, Hebrew, and Arabic!

Enjoy the new look and new info and feel free to share with your colleagues.

• For English
• For Hebrew
• For Arabic

FitzRoy

Volunteering for FitzRoy

Ange Kinder, Senior Business Systems Administrator, volunteers once a week in a cookery session at FitzRoy Trafford Day and Community Service.

She shared what made her want to volunteer.

"I am office based and I travel a lot as part of my role. Because of this, I was finding that I wasn’t spending a lot of time with the people we support and for me it’s really important not to lose sight of what the day-to-day life is like within our services. Volunteering gives me a unique perspective on the challenges a service faces but at the same time is also great fun.

"I help two members of staff support a group of six people in a cookery session. That may mean being involved with prep work, washing up, supporting people to cook, and helping people to make choices."

"In one of my first volunteering sessions about four or five years ago I went to help someone with a knife chopping herbs who then told me he didn’t need help and chopped the herbs like a pro. He had learnt to do it that way because he liked watching Gordon Ramsey. That was my first lesson in trying not to make assumptions about people’s capabilities, which is more difficult than it sounds. It is so easy to assume people can’t do something when really we should be thinking they can."

"Recently I have been trialling an app called “MyChoicePad” which helps communication through Makaton sign language. We have been using it with the people we support and staff to learn the signs for ingredients."

"Two of the group regularly sign and it has been great for me to learn more Makaton and see how pleased they are to have quality communication with me, rather than me guessing at what they are signing which is incredibly frustrating for both of us. One lady in particular has taken great pleasure in showing me the signs and correcting me when her version of the sign is slightly different. The app was built to aid communication for the people we support, but I have learnt a lot from it as a volunteer and feel more confident communicating with people I had difficulty communicating with before.

"Volunteering can be challenging at times but it is great fun and it is lovely watching people develop life skills. I learn something new in every single session. Many of the people we support have much better cookery skills than I do!"

Keeping in touch

You can keep up to date with the activities of the Karten Network in a number of ways:
 
Karten Network website – www.karten-network.org.uk
 
Jiscmail - are you signed up to the jiscmail distribution list?  Let Dawn know if you would like any other members of staff adding to this email group
 
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – search for Karten Network
 

Contact us

Dawn Green:   dawn@karten-network.org.uk     Tel 07821 723941

Angela Hobbs:   kartentrust@aol.com

Martin Pistorius:   martin@karten-network.org.uk

Debbie Ben-Tal:   debbie@karten-network.org.uk