6,822 research outputs found

    The use and usability of accessibility standardization

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    This paper discusses recent research carried out with British Standardizers working in the area of systems and products with user interfaces to identify when and where they considered the needs of older people and people with disabilities. The research was carried out in support of the ISO JTAG TAG activity on the revision of ISO/IEC Guide 71 and was designed to assist the writers of the re-written guide to enable them to target the Guide effectively. The document ISO/IEC Guide 71:2001, Guidelines for standards developers is designed to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities and to ensure that standards which affect the design of user interfaces do not discriminate in their design. It is currently being updated. The work was carried out by a series of online and face to face interviews during Winter 2012/2013. The results indicated that a majority of the standardizers did not routinely consider the needs of older and disabled people. In conclusion it is important for those in the accessibility field to identify effective promotion methods as well as work to create useful, usable, quality standards

    The use of standards for identifying, codifying and transmitting expert ergonomic knowledge

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    Formal technical standards based on ergonomic principles can ensure that products, systems and services are fit for purpose, accessible and useable. The application of these standards should be used to ensure that items of technology meet political requirements for equality by enabling the full range of end users to participate in the digital society. Ergonomists and representatives of consumers participate in the specification and creation of these standards to ensure that their content is relevant, correct and up-to-date. They work to ensure that the standards accurately represent the needs and requirements of end users including amongst others people with disabilities, older people and people with different language and cultural backgrounds. A number of these standards are referenced in law and in procurement contracts. They are not often not used in higher education resulting in knowledge deficit for young technical professionals. The paper is based on the authors experience including working in the area of accessibility standardization and at a University which prides itself on the diversity of its staff and has students from more than 150 nations. The paper ends with a consideration of the way in which more effective use can be made of these standards

    Working internationally to meet the academic needs of accessibility professionals

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    Middlesex University has recently launched a new qualification, the Post Graduate Certificate, Professional Practice in Design for Diversity in Information and Communication Technology. This programme replaces the MSc Digital Inclusion which was launched four years ago and has been withdrawn due to lack of interest from potential students. The aim of this paper is to address the design and management decisions which went into the creation of this new programme and the way in which the academic community can support students who wish to learn about accessibility whilst holding down difficult jobs and working as figureheads in the accessibility field. Both the MSc Digital Inclusion and the Post Graduate Certificate Professional Practice in Design for Diversity in Information and Communication Technology were based on content created from within the EDeAN: European Design for all eAccessibility Network. This on-going collaboration should enable the material to be of a suitable quality, suitable depth and fit for purpose to enable the graduates to practice as accessibility professionals in both Europe and the USA. It will enable the students to understand both the technical and user benefits of solutions such as ambient assisted living as well as the relevant ethical and business case

    Effects of Aluminum Foil Mulch on Parasitism and Fecundity of Apterous \u3ci\u3eMyzus Persicae\u3c/i\u3e (Homoptera: Aphididae)

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    Chinese cabbage plants grown in flats containing either aluminum foil mulch or no mulch cover were uniformly infested with a single apterous adult Myzus persicae (Sulzer) and exposed in a greenhouse to a free-flying population of the parasite Aphidius ervi (Haliday). Aphid fecundity. plant growth, and temperature were greater in reflective mulch plots. Aphid pardSitism was lower over mulched plots until foliage growth obscured the mulch. Later. parasitism was more frequent in mulched plots. The effects upon parasitism, fecundity. and microclimate may explain instances where aluminum mulches have not reduced aphid populations

    Study on risks and opportunities of digitalisation for financial inclusion. The perspective of vulnerable users in Estonia, Italy and UK with a focus on groups covered by the European Accessibility Act

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    The digitalization of financial services presents an unprecedented opportunity to increase the financial autonomy of millions of vulnerable people across the European Union. Implemented carefully, with reference to their needs, digitalization can benefit vulnerable groups, society as a whole, and - not least - the financial services organizations, which stand to gain from attracting more customers. But vulnerable people are not currently benefiting from this digitalization as best practise design and specifications are not always followed. There appears to be a lack of commitment on behalf of the financial institutions to use this opportunity to benefit the most vulnerable in society. This report aims to describe how digitalization, in the form of online banking services, is affecting end-users in vulnerable groups. It was commissioned by the European Commission for the Financial Service User Group (FSUG) and examines the state of financial inclusion of vulnerable people in the United Kingdom, Estonia and Italy. The report deals with view of the end-users, in particular it presents detailed information from the point of view of people with disabilities given the current context of the European Accessibility Act. Relevant responses were received from a range of end-users and organisations of end-users. In particular detailed comments were received from end-users and organisations of people with a sensory impairment. The report focuses on the provision made by the financial sector for accessibility to services, in particular through ticket machines, Point of Sale machines (PoS terminals), Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and personal devices such as mobile phones. The study involved extensive qualitative research with people at risk of digital exclusion, due to the introduction of digital financial systems. We also spoke to representatives of organizations which act on behalf of vulnerable groups. The study also made use of quantitative secondary statistics from existing studies on technology and services. The results present a mixed picture of the current situation to financial inclusion. The results show that many of the respondents (both individual users and representative organisations) reported that some systems were useable but added that if a particular user could not use them a third party would act on their behalf. The use of carers and other intermediaries is problematic as it can both remove the autonomy of the end-user and facilitate financial crime against them. Meanwhile many end-users expressed fear of digital financial systems when they were not accessible and when they did not provide information in the form that the end-user could understand. On a positive side, the report found some reassuring information on how digital financial systems could enable vulnerable end-users to use and access their money in a time and place that was suitable for them. This was particularly true for deaf or hearing-impaired ATM users. The report also highlights that despite there being legislation in all three countries it is adopted in very different ways. This includes access to information provided by government departments' online services and by banking service providers. The use of best practise approaches to assist vulnerable people was found to not be used consistently resulting in different levels of accessibility in all three the countries for different users. The research identified a number of positive examples of alternative practise that enabled safe and practical access to digital financial systems. But the main findings were that there is a lack of knowledge about accessible systems and processes among financial services institutions together with a lack of knowledge of the demand for these systems from users. Knowledge-sharing among institutions and countries could be of great value here to assist in inclusion in financial digital services. Results of the findings suggest that there is further work that can be done in this area for financial inclusion of vulnerable people. The comparison of the three countries in the study found that whilst technology can assist these people, it is often used by the financial sector to provide efficiency in business processes, often at the cost of access to those that are vulnerable. The following recommendations are based on the research findings carried out in the study. 1 The financial sector should consider the impact of change, innovation in technology and access to technology when providing: a. New services b. Amending services c. Curtailing services due to the adoption of technological solutions and efficiency driving measures d. Training for employees administering the services e. The sector should anticipate vulnerable people’s requirements for assistance, training and accessibility. Investment in new innovation should not be at the expense of exclusion of any sector of the population. The advancements in financial services and increasing use of alternate financial systems should be recognised by the regulated sector and provisions be made to assist all users and vulnerable users. This includes the training of employees to anticipate the requirements and difficulties that vulnerable persons may experience. Protection of vulnerable peoples should be at the forefront of those in the financial sector and the consideration of increasing lifespan of people globally means that vulnerability changes over a lifespan. Therefore, a concerted effort should be made for users that are currently vulnerable, those that may become vulnerable by ensuring security measures are safe but do not exclude this user group. This may be achieved developing technology, improving usability methods, recognition and secure measures for third party carer givers. 2 Financial service providers should ensure that technology and services are accessible (online and in person), that they meet local and EU accessibility legislation and best practise criteria and that they adopt the recommendations of organisations such as the W3C. This would ensure all users would experience similar security and autonomy when accessing services. 3 Interest groups that represent vulnerable persons should consider more effective strategies to represent the concerns of the vulnerable at national levels in Estonia and Italy, whereas such groups in the UK have more direct involvement with providers of financial services. Such concerted co-ordination will increase the recognition of how financial service providers should meet their obligation of inclusivity and accessibility. 4 Information on alternative ways of accessing services including the use of talking ATMs should be published by both the financial institutions and local and regional support groups to enable end-users to make informed decisions about their use of digital financial services. 5 Recognition must be given to the use of care givers acting as conduits to financial services. Secure measures must be designed to protect vulnerable persons, care givers and the financial service providers from a. Prospect of financial crime b. Risk in using carers to terms and conditions of these providers Furthermore, consideration needs to be given as to the transparent response mechanisms to be provided and action to be taken if financial crime takes place, that takes into account vulnerabilities of the user

    The effectiveness of a double-stem injection valve in controlling combustion in a compression-ignition engine

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    An investigation was made to determine to what extent the rates of combustion in a compression-ignition engine can be controlled by varying the rates of fuel injection. The tests showed that the double-stem valve operated satisfactorily under all normal injection conditions; the rate of injection has a definite effect on the rate of combustion; the engine performance with the double-stem valve was inferior to that obtained with a single-stem valve; and the control of injection rates permitted by an injection valve of two stages of discharge is not sufficient to effect the desired rates of combustion

    Environmental effects on polymeric matrix composites

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    Current epoxy resins utilized in high performance structural composites absorb moisture from high humidity environments. Such moisture absorption causes plasticization of the resin to occur with concurrent swelling and lowering of the glass transition temperature. Similar effects are observed in composites. Data are presented showing the effects of absorbed moisture on Hercules AS/3501-5 graphite/epoxy composites. Prediction of moisture content and distribution in composites, along with reduction in mechanical properties, are discussed

    Bulk Comptonization spectra in blazars

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    We study the time dependent spectra produced via the bulk Compton process by a cold, relativistic shell of plasma moving (and accelerating) along the jet of a blazar, scattering on external photons emitted by the accretion disc and reprocessed in the broad line region. Bulk Comptonization of disc photons is shown to yield a spectral component contributing in the far UV band, and would then be currently unobservable. On the contrary, the bulk Comptonization of broad line photons may yield a significant feature in the soft X-ray band. Such a feature is time-dependent and transient, and dominates over the non thermal continuum only when: a) the dissipation occurs close to, but within, the broad line region; b) other competing processes, like the synchrotron self-Compton emission, yield a negligible flux in the X-ray band. The presence of a bulk Compton component may account for the X-ray properties of high redshift blazars that show a flattening (and possibly a hump) in the soft X-rays, previously interpreted as due to intrinsic absorption. We discuss why the conditions leading to a detectable bulk Compton feature might be met only occasionally in high redshift blazars, concluding that the absence of such a feature in the spectra of most blazars should not be taken as evidence against matter--dominated relativistic jets. The detection of such a component carries key information on the bulk Lorentz factor and kinetic energy associated to (cold) leptons.Comment: 8 pages; 4 figures; MNRAS, accepte

    Improving ICT accessibility using standards and legislation.

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    The aim of this presentation is to look at the role that standardisation has to play in ensuring that ICT equipment and services are designed in an accessible way and are accessible in use. There has previously been a significant amount of research aimed at removing barriers to participation in the Information Society by disabled and older people. Knowledge gained from this research has been codified into accessibility standards. The standardisation process can promote accessibility in three ways; • As a way of codifying existing best practise to enable non experts to follow. • As a way of setting the level of accessibility for legislation. • As a method for making the most effective use of the limited resources within the accessibility field. Objectives of presentation and benefits for the audience The creation and implementation of accessible ICT depends on the involvement of ICT professionals who; • Understand user requirements for the complete range of users. • Know and are able to use solutions that meet user needs. • Develop new accessibility solutions where required. • Make a commitment to the use of accessibility solutions. The paper will discuss how codifying best practise knowledge into standards can be used to assist the ICT professionals by focusing on the following points; • The potential benefits of accessibility standardisation. • The use of standards to support accessibility legislation. • The use of standards as a way of sharing best practise. • The problems which must be overcome to maximise the effect of relevant standards and legislation
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