Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Innovation and accessibility

I find it fascinating to think about how society can address grand challenges. One common approach appears to be to have a competition. 

In USA, challenge.gov is asking students or others to contribute to different challenges. It's conducted as a competition, and in some cases this also includes accessibility issues.

In Sweden we have a similar approach for accessibility: "Innovation for all" is a competiton where the Swedish Post and Telecom (PTS) authority fund projects that can produce innovations in the area of Accessibility in Information communicaation technology (ICT) and related areas.

We are currently funded by PTS and is contributing to Innovation for all. We are working on a service that will support webdesigners to understand accessibility challenges, and how to work with tools such as Web Content Accessability Guidelines (WCAG). PTS is supporting participants with various workshops to address business modelling and launch of services. Thay also have insight in the design process.

  • On which levels are the solutions that students and others come up with with limited funding?
  • How can we raise the effect that a certain solution gives?
  • How can governments or other stakeholder successfully gather the right competence to solve grand challenges?
  • How are ideas taken up on? Do they become working services?





Friday, March 14, 2014

Discrimination law

In Sweden, there is a proposal of a new law concerning discrimination. This is intented to  adress services that lack accessibility for people with a disability.

The discrimination law proposal


Monday, March 10, 2014

Computer suggesting tastes

Computers can support creativity, also in the kitchen! 
I think this is a great example of how computers can support creativity, and still make creativity something fun and essentially human. Its is like computational music composition that support musicians to try new sounds as a startingpoint for their creativity. Computational support can extend peoples mind and speed up the road to new associations? Distributed cognition it is? :-)



TV and accessibility

Swedish Television is working on various aspects of accessibility on their Play site. We hope that other organisations that communicate with video will follow. One day this will be standard. And there will be lots of use, also useful for people without disabilities.

The video is in swedish.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Service jam in Gothenburg!

48 hours to change the world...
March 7 to March 9, 2014

Its like a jam session with Jazz, but here you do it with services. Create and explore future services for a sustainable society!