Global Universal Design Educators Online News

Produced and distributed by Elaine Ostroff, through contracts with the Center for Universal Design and the Adaptive Environments Center, in cooperation with the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

Volume 5 Number 3.5, February - March 2004

Contents

• Calendar
• Adding your information, questions to the Online News

CALENDAR

March 15-20, 2004: 19th Annual International Conference "Technology and Persons with Disabilities", at Hilton Los Angeles Airport and Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotels, Los Angeles, CA sponsored by California State University Northridge. The longest-running and largest annual university sponsored conference on technology and persons with disabilities. This annual conference serves as a major training venue for professionals around the world involved in the field of disability and technology. Conference website includes proceeding from previous conferences. 

See: http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf/index.htm

March 16-17, 2004: HEAT 2004 (The Home and Electronic Assistive Technology). University of York, UK.  Electronic Assistive Technology (EAT) can support people with disabilities and the elderly to increase their independence and quality of life, but to do so it must be dependable. The HEAT workshop provides a forum for discussion and debate on issues of dependability as they apply to the different types of EAT in the home. 

See: http://www.gdewsbury.ukideas.com/Heat.html

March 19, 2004: Visual Design for an Aging Population. St. Louis, Missouri, USA. What questions should public policy makers, social service agencies and businesses ask to better meet the changing needs for information of our older population? This conference will address some of the challenges we face as a society in dramatic realignment of demographics toward an older profile. 

See: http://designandaging.org/

March 22-24, 2004: 2nd Cambridge Workshop on Universal Access and Assistive Technology (CWUAAT) (incorporating the 5th Cambridge Workshop on Rehabilitation Robotics) "Designing a More Inclusive World" Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge, UK. This workshop is sponsored by Royal Mail. It is intended that the principal requirements for the successful design of assistive technology shall be addressed. The range of requirements extends from identifying and capturing the needs of the users, through to the development and evaluation of truly usable and accessible systems for users with special needs. Such users include, but are not limited to, those with functional impairments and the elderly. 

See: http://rehab-www.eng.cam.ac.uk/cwuaat/cwuaat04.htm

March 24-26, 2004: Structures for Inclusion 4: Choosing Relevancy, Atlanta, Georgia.  Organized by the Association for Community Design (ACD), a professional support network, and Design Corps, a design service program, this national design conference will explore methods and means for reaching out to underserved populations with professional design assistance. As the need for public interest design work grows, so does the importance of dialog among practitioners who are in the "trenches" of community design service and young designers interested in pursuing similar careers. 

See: http://www.communitydesign.org/main/conference_select.jsp

March 25-27, 2004:  "Challenging Stereotypes: A Celebration of Arts in Community."  Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Presented by Canadian Centre on Disability Studies.  Arts Ability is a two-year pilot project that has initiated and researched programs in the arts for people with disabilities in Manitoba. This event celebrates their accomplishments. Participants, artists, researchers, support staff and administration will showcase the project. The program will include an Art Display from the Arts Ability Visual Arts program over the past two years. Along with presentations, panels and workshops, participants will be able to try their hand alongside professional artists at practical aspects of the arts. 

See:  http://www.disabilitystudies.ca/aabrochure.htm

April 2, 2004: Submission Deadline for W4A 2004 addressing "Accessible Layout - The Tension Between Accessibility and Visual Design," for this workshop which will be held at the Thirteenth International World Wide Web Conference. This workshop will be decidedly cross disciplinary and will bring together users, accessibility experts, graphic designers, and technologists from academia and industry to discuss how accessibility can be supported. We also encourage the participation of users and other interested parties as an additional balance to the discussion. 

See: http://w4a.man.ac.uk/ for more information on this workshop and http://www2004.org/ for information on the conference as a whole.

April 9, 2004: Deadline for submission. "Award for Excellence in Arts Access." This award is sponsored by VSA arts and the MetLife Foundation. Arts organizations in the United States with a facility open to the general public are encouraged to apply. Access is achieved when people of diverse abilities have an equal opportunity to attend, participate in, and enjoy arts programming. An organization can contribute to access by being sensitive and responsive to the needs of people with disabilities through: The design and implementation of a program; The guidelines and policies in place to support the development and implementation of its programs; The means through which the program is communicated to the public; The physical design of the facility used to implement the program; and The materials distributed to implement the program. 

Submitters are encouraged to read: http://www.vsarts.org/resources/general/artsaccess/arts_access_made_easy.pdf
Application and submission guidelines are found at the website listed:  http://www.vsarts.org/programs/metlife/index.cfm. 

April 14-17, 2004: "The Road Ahead, Taking the Journey Together," San Francisco, California, sponsored by The American Society on Aging and the National Council on the Aging. These two organizations are collaborating again to offer the most dynamic educational conference and networking opportunity in North America for professionals in the field of aging. 

See: http://www.agingconference.org/jc04/index.cfm

April 22-24, 2004: Barrier Free 2004 International Trade Fair on Barrier Free Equipments & Rehabilitation for the Elderly & the Disabled organized by the Osaka Prefecture Council on Social Welfare and Television Osaka, Inc.   This show focuses on Japanese healthcare and welfare sectors that are rapidly enlarged in the past decade. The first show was in 1995, and the next BARRIER FREE will be the 10th event in its history. The show provides wide variety of information about equipment, service, and welfare system in the region. 

For more information, see: http://www.itp.gr.jp/bf/english/general.html

April 24-29, 2004: CHI 2004, "Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems," Vienna, Austria, sponsored by ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction. The CHI2004 vision emphasizes connections: between traditional and new forms of interaction, between HCI and many different fields and domains. We are keenly interested in expanding the boundaries of HCI and highlighting its importance and relevance to the world. 

See: http://www.chi2004.org/

April 30, 2004: Abstracts deadline. EBRA 2004, "An Agreeable Spatial Environment for Human Beings." Conference is sponsored by the Environment-Behavior Research Association. Conference to be held October 22-25, 2004. The symposium will explore in-dept how to create a comfortable living environment and the theme is "An Agreeable Spatial Environment for Human Being." Some suggested topics are: Housing and Community Environment, Urban Environment Consciousness and Recognition, History & Culture in the Built-Environment, and Public Space Landscape and Relaxation. See the web site for the full list of suggested topics. Complete information on submission guidelines and important dates available on conference website. 

See: http://ebra2004.go.nease.net/eng/home.htm

May 12, 2004: Universal Design Institute, Going Beyond the ADA: Meeting the Needs of the Emerging 21st Century Demographics and Customers, College of Design, NCSU, Raleigh, NC.  This one-day institute will offer a new look at how to design for a changing client and customer base. Architects and designers in all disciplines are increasingly called upon to develop environments that are more supportive, safer and will foster independence. This seminar will introduce the fundamentals of universal design and raise awareness of how to create aesthetic, efficient, and marketable spaces and buildings that still comply with accessibility codes. 

Details: www.design.ncsu.edu/cont-ed

May 17-22, 2004: WWW 2004, "The 13th World Wide Web Conference," New York City, New York, sponsored by The International World Wide Web Conference Committee (IW3C2) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Beginning with the first international WWW Conference in 1994, this prestigious series, organized by the International World Wide Web Conference Committee (IW3C2), has provided a public forum for the WWW Consortium (W3C) through the annual W3C track. 

See: http://www2004.org/

May 20-24, 2004: Early Childhood Outdoors Design Institute: Design For Active Childhoods, Raleigh, North Carolina, sponsored by the Natural Learning Initiative, College of Design, NC State. The goal of Design for Active Childhoods is to help designers, recreation professionals, and educators bring back the richness of the outdoors as a resource for education and healthy child development. 

See: www.naturalearning.org or  www.design.ncsu.edu/cont-ed

May 23-26, 2004: Transed 2004. Hamamatsu, Japan. "UNIVERSAL TRANSPORTATION AND ROAD DESIGN: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS." The 10th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for the Elderly and Disabled is being organized under the general auspices of the Transportation Research Board.  TRANSED 2004 serves the purpose of enabling international delegates to exchange experiences of strategies. By reporting on successful accessible transportation strategies, plans, and implementations for all, all participants will be able to apply this knowledge to their own country. By bringing out the successful accessible transportation implementation strategies and plans, all participants will be able to apply the knowledge gained in their country. 

See:  http://transed.jp/

May 29-30, 2004: "Confluence and Coalition in Community: Creating Dialogue within Disability Studies." The inaugural meeting of the Canadian Disability Studies Association/ Association Canadienne d'Etudes sur le Handicap at the Congress of the Social Sciences Federation of Canada. Winnipeg, Canada. Papers and panels exploring questions fundamental to disability pedagogy: How can professors mentor students toward becoming disability studies scholars? What issues are at stake when disabled/non-disabled professors teach disability studies classes? What are the strategies for opening up a dialog in disability theory in 'mainstream' classes? How might taking the access requirements for diverse audience members into consideration result in presentation modalities that are new, exciting, and encourage a richer, participatory dialogue? How might imaginative thinking, spurred on by access requirements, pose new possibilities for intellectual discourse? What is the role of new technologies in teaching disability studies? 

Details at: http://www.disabilitystudies.ca/eduproj.htm#call

May 31, 2004: Closing Date for Call for Papers. The 7th International Conference of Human Services Information Technology Applications "Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Social Inclusion," Hong Kong, sponsored by HUSITA (Human Services Information Technology Applications) an international association of information technology (IT) innovators in human services dedicated to promoting ethical and effective use of IT to better serve humanity. The conference, to be held August 24-27, 2004, will revolve around four major sub-themes. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Social Services, ICT in Rehabilitation, IT Education and Training in Human Service Professionals, and ICT in Community and the Information Society. 

See: http://www.hkcss.org.hk/husita7/

June 2-6, 2004: EDRA 35, "Design with Spirit," Albuquerque, New Mexico, sponsored by Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA).  Conference celebrates the awareness, passion, oneness, and surrender to higher influences in our creative processes of conceiving, shaping, and evaluating our built and natural environments. Taken in the broadest of connotations, spirit not only infuses us with enthusiasm, connection, and original thought in our process, but also manifests in our products. As we strive to create holistic habitats of power and peace, we account for body, mind, and spirit in our criteria, intentions, and choices. 

See: http://home.telepath.com/~edra/home.html

June 14-18, 2004:  "Towards full Citizenship".  The 8th International Congress on Including Children and Youth with Disabilities in the Community. Stavanger, Norway. These Congresses have given people from both developing and developed nations the chance to share policies and programs that promote the inclusion of children and youth with disabilities in their everyday lives at their home communities. Congresses have focused on building self-determination and self-reliance at the local level for children and adults of all abilities. 

See: http://www.statped.no/congress2004/

June 16-17, 2004: "The Universal Package: designing packaging for everyone" Lansing, Michigan, sponsored by The School of Packaging.  Welcome to this innovative event, a first for the industry. Pharmaceutical, personal care, consumer goods, food and beverage packages are being held to a similar standard by consumers: they must have great utility. Packages that save time, thinking, and work, making life easier, are in demand. Although improvements that increase utility may add mere "convenience" to the life of an "average" healthy consumer, they can be much more impactful on the lives of the elderly and disabled. We should consider making these people the central concern of designers. 

See: http://www.universalpackage.msu.edu/welcome/welcome.htm

June 19-22, 2004: RESNA 2004, "Technology & Disability: Research, Design, Practice and Policy," Orlando, FL, sponsored by RESNA, Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Association of North America. This year’s conference has seven main topic areas: Computer Access and Communication, Job and Environmental Accommodations, including Ergonomics, Seating and Wheeled Mobility, Technology for Cognitive and Sensory Impairments, Public Policy, Outcomes and Quantitative Measurement, and Other which includes Technology Transfer, Rural Rehab, Robotics, Telerehab and more. 

See: www.resna.org

June 19-22, 2004: Evaluation in Progress: Strategies for Environmental Research and Implementation. Vienna, Austria. Conference organized by The Institute for Spatial Interaction and Simulation. The design and functioning of housing, building and urban environments and their surroundings continues to be increasingly difficult and ambivalent, therefore rendering decision making an unpopular and criticized task. The IAPS membership has the know-how and interdisciplinary competence to act as input specialists, communicators, visualization consultants, and moderators for the negotiation of complex planning projects. This conference is research and practice in progress - it will provide a forum for scientists, professional practitioners, and policy makers to debate ways and means of stimulating new proposals, documenting existing situations and assessing diverse tools and techniques that can promote evaluation and user feedback. 

See: http://info.tuwien.ac.at/iaps2004/

August 24-27, 2004: The 7th International Conference of Human Services Information Technology Applications "Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Social Inclusion," Hong Kong, sponsored by HUSITA (Human Services Information Technology Applications) an international association of information technology (IT) innovators in human services dedicated to promoting ethical and effective use of IT to better serve humanity. The conference will revolve around four major sub-themes. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Social Services,  ICT in Rehabilitation,  IT Education and Training in Human Service Professionals, and ICT in Community and the Information Society. 

See: http://www.hkcss.org.hk/husita7/

August 31-September 3, 2004: CBR (Community Based Rehabilitation) Africa Network Conference "CBR as Part Of Community Development." Conference sponsored by the CBR Africa Network (CAN). CBR Africa Network is a non-government organization, of which the secretariat is based at the Ugandan National Institute of Special Education. CAN was established in 2001 following resolutions made at the previous CBR Africa Regional Conference, "CBR as a participatory strategy in Africa." CAN aims to facilitate the sharing of information about community-based services for persons with disabilities and their families in African countries. 

See: http://www.disabilityworld.org/11-12_03/news/cbrafrica.shtml

September 5 - 8, 2004: 7th IFA Global Conference on Ageing, titled "Global Ageing: Sustaining Development" organized by:  International Federation on Ageing (IFA) & The Singapore Action Group of Elders (SAGE),  in Singapore. A forum for debates on ageing issues, an opportunity for consumers, practitioners and policymakers in the field of ageing to exchange knowledge and information, as well as establish and strengthen friendships and partnerships. This forum is an important occasion to also learn about the impact of ageing policies and programs since the United Nations Second World Assembly on Ageing in 2002 and finalization of The International Plan of Action. Models of leading practice will also be highlighted. 

See: http://www.7ifaconference.com

September 6-9, 2004: "HCI2004, The 18th British HCI Group Annual Conference" Leeds, UK, sponsored by the British HCI Group. Join researchers, practitioners and educators from around the world at HCI2004 where we will be exploring the theme of Design for Life. As designers, evaluators and implementers of interactive systems we have great responsibility. The systems we design impact upon the lives of the people who use them - for good or ill. 

See: http://www.bcs-hci.org.uk/hci2004/

September 8-10, 2004: "DPI World Summit 2004: Diversity Within," Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, sponsored by Disabled Peoples’ International.  DPI’s World Summit will be an opportunity for national assemblies, disability organizations, NGOs, international development agencies, as well as local and national goods and services providers in the disability field to discuss and share information. The purpose of the Summit is to pursue the issues identified at the DPI 6th World Assembly in Sapporo, Japan, to address the issue of diversity, and to prepare for the next World Assembly in South Africa in 2006. 

See: http://www.dpi.org/en/events/world_summit/06-23-03_summit2004.htm

September 28-October 2, 2004: "2nd Symposium on International Issues in Engineering Design (IIED) as part of the 2004 IDETC (International Design Engineering Technical Conference)," Salt Lake City, Utah, sponsored by the International Activities Committee of the Design Engineering Division. The three major overall conference categories are: pan-world collaborative design, management of pan-world project design teams, and international drivers and practice for product life cycle with one focus area being "Design for the elderly and physically challenged." 

See: http://www.detc2004.me.byu.edu/conferences.htm

October 27-29, 2004: Open Space: People Space: An International Conference on Inclusive Environments, Edinburgh, Scotland, sponsored by OPENspace: the research centre for inclusive access to outdoor environments is hosting a three-day conference in Edinburgh to review recent research and debate current issues surrounding good design for open space and social inclusion, spaces and places for the 21st century. The programme will include contributions from an international array of experts covering the major themes of the conference: children and young people; disability and social inclusion; health and restorative environments and tourism and leisure. 

See: www.openspace.eca.ac.uk

November 17-21, 2004: Design Research Society International Conference, Monash University, Melbourne. The theme is 'FUTUREGROUND', and will feature leading edge design research from the international research community. Supporting the central theme will be discourse around design as both cultural activity and production; mapping the discipline's development; and research in an industrial context. Particular emphasis will be on the opportunities this presents for reconsidering the nature of design and an exploration of the scope for future research. 

See: http://www.futureground.monash.edu.au

December 8-12, 2004: "Designing for the 21st Century III: An International Conference on Universal Design, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sponsored by Adaptive Environments and a number of international groups, including Metropolis Magazine. This is an extraordinary moment. We are more diverse now in ability and age than ever before. It is time for design to catch up. There is an urgent need to exchange ideas about the design of places, things, information, policies and programs that demonstrate the power of design to shape a 21st century world that works for all of us. Whatever you call it - universal design, inclusive design, design-for-all, lifespan design - the worldwide movement for human centered design with everyone in mind is gaining momentum. The Designing for the 21st Century III Conference is fueled by that momentum and will offer a platform for the next stage of development. The conference includes a student design competition, charettes within Rio de Janeiro and an Educator’s Forum. 

See:  http://www.designfor21st.org/

July 22-27 2005: HCI International 2005, including: 11th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction jointly with Symposium on Human Interface (Japan) 2005, 6th International Conference on Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics, 3rd International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction, 1st International Conference on Virtual Reality, and 1st International Conference on Usability and Internationalization, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.  The conference objective is to provide an international forum for the dissemination and exchange of scientific information on theoretical, generic, and applied areas of HCI, usability, internationalization, virtual reality, universal access and cognitive ergonomics. 

See: http://www.hci-international.org/

16 to 18 November 2005: World Summit on the Information Society.  Tunis, Tunisia.  The first phase of WSIS took place in Geneva and the second phase will take place in Tunis. A fundamental change from an industrial to information-based society is taking place. This information revolution affects the way people live, learn and work and how governments interact with civil society. Information is a powerful tool for economic and social development and this Summit will provide a unique opportunity for all key players to contribute actively to bridge the digital and knowledge divides. The first phase of the Summit in Geneva adopted a Declaration of principles and a Plan of Action for implementation by governments, institutions and all sectors of civil society to deal with the new challenges of the ever-evolving information society, specifically identifying ways to help close the gap between the "haves" and "have nots" of access to the global information and communication network. Development themes will be a key focus in the second phase in Tunisia and it will assess progress that has been made and adopt any further Action Plan to be taken. 

See:  http://www.itu.int/wsis/

Information from the Online News may be freely copied and quoted as long as the individual author, and/or web site and this source are cited. NOTE: Previous issues of the Online News are available online at the Global Universal Design Education Network website at: http://www.universaldesign.net

Adding your information, questions to the Online News: 

To subscribe to the Online News, send an e-mail message to the same address. Please include your name and email address within the body of the message. There is no charge. 

Elaine Ostroff, Editor
Director, Global Universal Design Educator’s Network; Founding Director, Adaptive Environments Center 

Diane Richard, Editorial Assistant
Center for Universal Design, College of Design, North Carolina State University

The Global Universal Design Educator's Online News is produced and published through contracts with the Center for Universal Design and the Adaptive Environments Center, in cooperation with the National Institute on on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.