Scheduled at 1:45 pm in Colorado I-J on Wednesday, November 13.
#39630Speaker(s)
- John Gardner, Prof., ViewPlus
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format: Lecture
- Expertise Level: Not provided
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
Inclusio is a consortium led by St. Louis University and ViewPlus, with many major partners. It was awarded a $5M Phase II NSF Convergence Accelerator grant in 2024. It will make information more accessible by bringing 'silos' together, establishing a two-sided content marketplace, making better use of AI and developing an extensible metadata spec that can make a single graphics file accessible by description, as a tactile copy, or with audio-haptic, audio-tactile or refreshable tablet displays.
Abstract
Inclusio, spearheaded by St. Louis University, ViewPlus, American Printing House for the Blind, DAISY Consortium, Pearson, HighSoft, Desmos, UNAR Labs, Vital, and others, aims to enhance accessibility for the visually impaired. This consortium is developing an AI-enriched marketplace, focused on metadata specifications that will ensure interoperability across diverse methods of creating and modifying graphical information. When operational, users will be able to search for existing content, upload new content, and find resources for creating or converting content. Planned extensive testing by consortium members, including tests at partner school sites like Francis Howell School District, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Washington State School for the Blind, Alabama School for the Blind, and the Foundation for Blind Children, will validate the platform's utility. Partners such as Benetech and San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind are set to contribute content, ensuring comprehensive solutions. Rooted in collaboration, Inclusio leverages technology and community feedback to refine and expand continually, aiming to set a new standard in accessibility. In this conference , we will provide one of the first looks at our exciting work, showcasing what we have achieved and our plans moving forward.
Keypoints
Disability Areas
Topic Areas
Uncategorized
Speaker Bio(s)
John Gardner
John Gardner received a PhD in physics from the University of Illinois. He has been a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania and Oregon State University. He has also held visiting positions at the Technical University of Munich, University of Warwick, Imperial College, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, University of Stuttgart, and the University of Konstanz. Oregon State was his home for 30 years as an active faculty member and where he has been Professor Emeritus since 2003. He is known as an expert on point defects in solids and several fields of experimental solid state physics. He lost his sight unexpectedly in 1988 and became interested in accessibility of complex information, including math and graphics. In 1996 he founded ViewPlus Technologies, which has grown into a multi-million dollar company producing information-access hardware and software. ViewPlus is the leading manufacturer of tactile graphics and braille embossers in the world. He has received numerous awards and has given invited presentations on both physics and information accessibility at universities and conferences on five continents.