News and Events
AbilityNet Launch
Nigel Lewis, Chief Executive of AbilityNet was delighted to be at the official launch of 2 exciting new projects that provide equipment and software to enable everyone with a disability or special need to use IT and access the Internet. AbilityNet was established in 1998 from the merger of The Computability Centre and the Foundation for Communication for the Disabled and is widely regarded as the foremost authority in the UK on disabled people using Information and Communication Technology.
The 2 projects that are being delivered across Wales are ‘Switched on Communities’ and ‘Wales Remote Assessment Project’. The projects are set up so that users can either self assess their own needs or they can be assessed remotely by experienced staff. The official launch was held at White Rose Information and Resource Centre on 13 February 2009.
Wayne David MP, Digital Inclusion Minister acknowledged the excellent work being carried out by Caerphilly County Borough Council. Mr David said: ‘There are around 17 million people in the UK still unable to access the Internet, and it is one of my duties as Digital Inclusion Minister to ensure that the benefits of digital technology are available to all’. ‘Caerphilly is at the cutting edge and this is a marvellous example of partnership working to improve the lives of people living in their communities. I would like to congratulate you all for this achievement’.
Caerphilly is one of the first local authorities in Wales to sign up to these 2 projects and leads the way in Wales in making all of its libraries accessible to IT users with a disability or difficulty.
Sandra Watkins, a student of Rhymney College and recently enrolled on an IT class at White Rose Information and Resource Centre is delighted with her progress. Richard Phillips of AbilityNet who carried out Sandra’s assessment said ‘We slowed down the key repeat, applied sticky keys and used a joy stick mouse with a large rubber grip and this has helped Sandra enormously’
said Richard. ‘Sandra is progressing well and the equipment and the software has enabled her to steer the mouse around the screen and operate the button clicks with ease’
he added.
Project Newsletter
The Projects Newsletter aims to keep all our partner organisations informed, enlightened and sometimes entertained.
- December 2008 project newsletter (PDF 210 Kb)
- September 2008 project newsletter (PDF 118 Kb)
- June 2008 project newsletter (PDF 493 Kb)
Downloading documents
All our PDFs are made to be as accessible as possible.
Download Adobe Reader to read the above files
Visit the online conversion tools for Adobe PDF documents page which allows you to convert PDF documents into HTML or text formats
Funding for Individuals
Several Centres have asked for information on funding for computer systems for individuals.
You can download the “Funding for an adapted computer" factsheet from the factsheet section on the AbilityNet website and print this for individuals.
AbilityNet Training
Case study
As well as the Wales Remote Assessment Project covering the whole of Wales, AbilityNet also runs remote assessment projects in Scotland and London. Here is a short selection of some of the case studies which have come out of our work in these areas, providing an insight into what changes are possible.
Jan came to do some computer training with **** Community Resource Centre after she had retired from her job in insurance. Her eyesight had been failing for several years and she had recently been diagnosed with Macular Degeneration.
When she began with us we did know about her problem and thought she just needed thick glasses. However, as luck would have it, we were in the process of becoming a RAPS centre and various bits of kit were being installed in our computing suite.
When we started using stickers on the keyboard, Jan’s life turned around! She was so impressed with the difference the high visibility stickers made to her ability to read the keys that she had to order a set for her own computer.
She still attends courses here from time to time, depending on the topics we have on offer, but she is now able to explore the world of computing from the comfort of her own living room at anytime of day or night without having to turn on all the lights so she can see read the keys!
Beth suffers from a condition which causes her hands to continually tremor and shake. Her computing experience was very limited because she could not easily operate a traditional mouse.
She came along to a digital photography class with us after her friend told her we had a tracker ball attached to one of our PCs.
Within minutes of sitting down at the computer, Beth found that the stable platform offered by the Kensington Mouse helped her control the screen cursor more accurately than she had ever managed before.
The following week she brought her husband along to the class to see the tracker ball. He was very sceptical at first, especially when it could potentially cost him money! However, after using the tracker ball for a few minutes himself he was won over and wanted to know where he could purchase the equipment.
A few days later Beth phoned to tell us about her Kensington Mouse and thanked **** Community Resource Centre and the RAPS project profusely for the difference it was making to her personal confidence and computing skills.