System Concepts, hosted open house accessibility testing and a seminar - Navigating the future with GIS

System Concepts, supported by the Department for Transport and the Ergonomics Society, hosted an Open House Accessibility Test followed by a seminar to celebrate World Usability Day 2008.

Open House Accessibility Testing
Our vistors were able to try out some assistive technologies including JAWS (screen reading software) and ZoomText (screen magnification software).

To help our visitors understand some of the problems faced by people with impairments, we provided them with mobility impairment simulation gloves and visual impairment simulation glasses. The gloves demonstrated the effects of weakened strength and minimised range of motion of each finger and thumb. The glasses simulated a number of different visual impairments including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and cataracts.

We also showcased some of the Accessibility work we had done on the Transport Direct website, by showing the site before accessibility testing and demonstrating the improvements once our recommendations had been implemented.

The visitors commented how the simulators really helped them understand the issues that people with impairments had. One developer remarked "I will definitely start thinking about peoples’accessibility needs from the start in my next development project."

Navigating the future with Geographic Information Systems

Over 30 people from 16 different organisations attended our evening seminar which was chaired by System Concepts’ MD Tom Stewart and featured:

Good transport decisions - better mobility - it's a lifestyle thing! Nick Illsley, Managing Director of Transport Direct on how the focus of Transport Direct is changing from transport to location and the opportunities that it bring to users, businesses, operators and administrators.

From Mapping to Innovation - James Brayshaw, Sales and Marketing Director of Ordnance Survey looked at how the development of quality location data and standards is driving innovation.

Geographic Information Systems for People with Disabilities - Dr John Gill, Chief Scientist of the Royal National Institute for the Blind, shared some of his work on the needs of disabled people when using GIS and location-based services.

Leslie Fountain, Director of System Concepts said " It was a really good evening, there were some very interesting presentations and a lively question and answer session, which provided us all with food for thought."

If you would like copies of the presentations or would like to find out more about our services just contact us or phone Leslie Fountain on 020 7240 3388 or email leslie@system-concepts.com

For more details about our services, or to download the presentations in MP4 format, please visit our website www.system-concepts.com