[Irl-dean] Centre for Excellence

[Mark Magennis]

Good one Hugh. Given that there is a lot of valuable work that could be
done on Universal Design of electronic systems in Ireland and relatively
few people doing it at the moment, perhaps one way for us to think about
this is if we all ask ourselves:

What is not being done (and not likely to be done) that this Centre
could do?

What could this Centre do that would support me in my own eAccessibiltiy
work?

One answer I could give to the first question is: Promote Design for All
in education. Although we are doing this ourselves to some extent
through the Irl-DeAN Design for All curriculum subgroup, this is a huge
area and one which, I think, would benefit from some serious dedicated
resources that a Centre could provide. I would love to see this Centre
building on whatever curriculum we develop and promoting it vigorously.
Perhaps even running courses aimed at designers in various areas.
There's never enough you can do to educate young designers in the basic
principles.

Mark

> -----Original Message-----
> From: irl-dean-admin at list.eeng.dcu.ie 
> [mailto:irl-dean-admin at list.eeng.dcu.ie] On Behalf Of Hugh O'Neill
> Sent: 09 November 2005 14:23
> To: Irl-dean (E-mail)
> Subject: [Irl-dean] Centre for Excellence
> 
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> As you may be aware, Part 6 of the Disability Act 2005 
> outlines the establishment of a Centre for Excellence in 
> Universal Design which will be based in the National 
> Disability Authority. 
> 
> The purpose of the Centre will be to facilitate the 
> achievement of excellence in universal design by contributing 
> to the development and promulgation of standards.
> 
> The Disability Act mentions three specific areas regarding Universal 
> Design:
> 
> 1.      Electronic systems;
> 2.      Education and training courses;
> 3.      Inclusive environments and awareness raising of same
> 
> The Commencement Date for the establishment of a Centre for 
> Excellence in Universal Design is 1 January 2007. 
> 
> The NDA has recently commissioned Scientific Generics Ltd 
> (http://www.generics.co.uk/) to develop a proposal for the 
> establishment of this Centre. As part of their work, the 
> consultants are interested in consulting with as many 
> interested individuals, companies, organisations, Government 
> Departments and public bodies as possible.
> 
> The NDA are seeking the views of members of the Irl-Dean 
> mailing list in relation to the role, functions, mission and 
> vision of the Centre.  
> 
> I propose a discussion on the mailing list in the first 
> instance to establish people's interest in this issue, and 
> also to gather ideas. We can then collate these. 
> 
> We will be able to get some feedback from Scientific Generics 
> on our submission at a later date.
> 
> This is a great opportunity to have an input into the shape 
> that the Centre of Excellence will take when it is 
> established in 2007, so all inputs are very welcome.
> 
> Please find attached a background document on the Centre for 
> Excellence, that also includes some information on Scientific 
> Generics Ltd. 
> 
> 
> All the best,
> 
> Hugh O'Neill
>  <<Background document Centre for Excellence ek 1210051.doc>> 
> Project Co-ordinator,
> Central Remedial Clinic.
> 
> ph: +353 1 8057587
> email:honeill at crc.ie
> 
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