Education

June 2013 — The World Intellectual Property Organization met at the end of June to finalize the terms of a treaty, which would legally allow for copyrighted material to be made accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. Currently, less than one percent of all the world’s books are available in accessible formats including Braille, large print or audio recordings.

June 2013 — The Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released Exploring the Digital Nation: America’s Emerging Online Experience, a report describing the adoption and use of broadband in the United States.  According to the report broadband is available to over 90% of Americans, but the percentage who actually use it in the home is about  70%.

June 6, 2013 — U.S.

04.01.12 – The United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Chicago has introduced their new technology program, Infinitec.  Infinitec, which stands for “infinite potential through technology,” acts to “advance independence and promote inclusive opportunities for children and adults through technology.”  The program offers four different service types including training and education, information services, access to technical assistance staff, and equipment services.  Infinitec also provides resources such as online classrooms, webinars, and information about access, education, and ass

04.01.12 – Google Research has issued a notice inviting proposals for the Faculty Research Awards Program.  They are one year awards up to $150,000 for cutting edge research in computer science, engineering and related fields. Google has also asked applicants to categorize their research into one of many research interests including education innovation, human-computer interaction, policy and standards, privacy, security, social networks, and machine learning and data mining.