Alt Format Conferences to help with creating Accessible Materials
1st Jun, 2006
An exciting series of one day conferences has been announced, which is designed to help promote best practice in the delivery of accessible learning materials for the visually impaired and print impaired. A partnership consisting of RNIB the BDA, Jisc TechDis and Skill will host three conferences. Starting in the University of East London on June 5th, the conference will move to the University of Warwick on June 6thand from there to Manchester University on June 7th.
With over 25% of children in education affected with a print or visual impairment, finding a solution that makes the learning process easier and offers new hope for these students is a key priority in our schools and universities. Many students are unable to access written materials, and in many cases have to wait extended periods of time whilst alternative format materials are created (such as large print, Braille, audio or DAISY digital talking book). In a truly inclusive environment these alternative format materials would be available at the same time and at the same cost as the written materials.
The alt format conference will focus on the advantages of DAISY and will be of special interest to Disability Officers, Learning Support staff, SENCO's, Assessment Centre staff, Assessors for Assistive Technologies, those supporting students with reading difficulties and professionals from further and higher education including those developing on-line or e-learning materials.
The Conference has been scheduled for three separate venues to make attendance easier. The event has been kindly sponsored by Dolphin, so it will be free to delegates who are lucky enough to gain admission. The full conference schedule is as follows:
June 5th 2006
University of East London
June 6th 2006
Warwick University
June 7th 2006
Manchester University
Richard Orme for RNIB promised “The conferences will focus on DAISY (Digital Accessible Information Systems) and highlight how this is being used currently in the UK. We will also look at what is going on abroad, particularly in the States and Scandinavia”.
The day will comprise part workshop, part conferenceso there will be opportunities to experience a range of solutions in a variety of hands-on sessions throughout the day. Keynote speakers from the US and Scandinavia will give interesting insights on the emergence of DAISY as an exciting alt format option. They will be joined by UK experts who will explain how DAISY works and how it has emerged as a serious option to Braille, audio and large print over the past couple of years.. Carol Youngs of the BDA believes “Although DAISY has been accepted for many years in the visual impaired community, its attraction for people with dyslexia is also very exciting as it allows the electronic text to be synchronised with audio to help people with reading difficulties”.
For further information visit the Altformat conference website at www.AltFormat.com or telephone (local rate) 0845 130 5353 or email info@altformat.com.
