RSS in Rix Centre http://www.rixcentre.org/ Articles on Rix Centre en-uk Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:45:01 +0000 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:45:01 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The Rixcentre info@rixcentre.org info@rixcentre.org Help do you need any help? 

]]> Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:50:06 +0000 Web Accessibility Workshops The Inclusive New Media Design project has kicked off the year with its first round of workshops on web accessibility for people with intellectual disabilities.

The workshops, held over two days here at The Rix Centre, gave the participants in the research project the opportunity to meet for the first time. There was a lot of enthusiastic discussion on the subject of accessible web design and the best ways to write code and content. The events offered participants a great opportunity to share knowledge with each and the project team. It was a good beginning for everyone involved in the project.

Day 1 began with the participants, practising web designers and developers, getting to know each other and then being introduced to the broader aims and objectives of the project. With the introductions over, it was off to the labs. The lab sessions focused on existing web accessibility guidelines, assistive devices, and accessibility best practice when writing html code.



Most project participants are familiar with web accessibility for people with physical and sensory disabilities, and are participating in the project to find out more about intellectual disability. So Day 2 started with an introduction by Simon Evans, Consultant Researcher, on definitions of learning, cognitive and intellectual disabilities and how these are used. Further activities that day included an audit of websites designed for people with intellectual disabilities, and exercises in re-writing web content for these audiences.

At the end of the day, participants were asked for ideas to work on in the next workshop sessions which would put into practice the accessibility techniques outlined in these two days. Helen Kennedy, project leader said, “the participants have come up with some really great ideas to prototype, most of which would be an incredibly useful contribution to web accessibility for people with intellectual disabilities”.

We will be looking forward to the next workshops in the series, on the 15th & 16th of February. Here, topics covered include: 

  • more on design & development for people with intellectual disabilities
  • implementing best practice
  • issues in user testing with intellectually disabled users.

For more information on the days events, participants and presenters go to the Inclusive New Media Design website.

 

]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:19:09 +0000 Inclusive New Media Design Project update Inclusive New Media Design Project update

Researchers on the Inclusive New Media Design project, based at the Rix Centre have been impressed with the response of Web practitioners to their recruitment drive for participants. More than 30 web designers, developers and editors from a diverse array of creative organisations have signed up to the project’s programme of specialist training workshops to be delivered in the New Year. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the special accessibility issues that people with learning disabilities face by working and learning alongside a group of web users with learning disabilities.

Andy Minnion, R&D Director of The Rix Centre, said "The enthusiasm of web developers to get involved and learn about the accessibility issues for users with learning disabilities is encouraging. It suggests that creative workers are more sensitive to issues about inclusive design than might be expected, this is a great start for this ambitious research programme."

To find out more about this project click here.

]]> Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:46:41 +0000 How to find The Rix Centre

Docklands Connections

The DLR station, Cyprus, is at the entrance to UEL’s Dockland Campus.




 

Travelling from Stratford Via Train
Take the Jubilee Line to Canning Town, and then change onto the DLR for trains to Beckton, alight at Cyprus Station.

Via Bus
Take the 262 bus from Stratford Bus Station/Town Centre to Cyprus DLR station.

Travelling from outer East London
Travel to Stratford (see above) or use Fenchurch St/District Line trains to West Ham, change to Jubilee Line for Canning Town, and change to DLR for trains to Beckton, alight at Cyprus Station.
 
Travelling from Central or West London
Use the DLR direct from Bank or Tower Gateway, travel by Central/Liverpool St Line to Stratford, or by Fenchurch Street/District Line to West Ham (see above).
 
Travelling from North London
Use the Silverlink (North London line) to Stratford, change to Jubilee Line for Canning Town, and change to DLR for trains to Beckton, alight at Cyprus Station.
 
Travelling from South London

Travelling from Lewisham and Greenwich? Use the DLR Network to travel to Poplar or Westferry, from here its only 9 or 10 stops to Cyprus Station.

Walk through the Woolwich foot tunnel under the Thames or use the Woolwich free ferry over the river and take a 101 bus from North Woolwich to the campus (stop in Manor Way off Gallions Roundabout next to the campus road entrance).

For more info check Multimap page.

]]> Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:59:42 +0000 Rix Team The team has come together to promote the mission of the Centre. We are all here because we think it is important that people with learning disablities are able to enjoy using the web, computers and other technologies. The skills, expertise and understanding of our team is enabling us to make real changes for the learning disability community.

Director, Andy Minnion

Andy Minnion has been responsible for the development of research into multimedia for the benefit of the learning disability at the University of East London since 2001 and was subsequently appointed as Director of the Rix Centre in 2004. He has led a series of major research and development programmes from the Rix Centre including Trans-active (with Mencap), ‘Project @pple’ (DTI/ESRC) and ‘Beyond the Road Ahead’ (with the Social Care Institute for Excellence).

He has been responsible for leading-edge research and deployment of the technique of ‘multimedia advocacy’, leading to the successful development of the Mencap ‘Trans-active’ personal multimedia portfolio for children with learning disability in schools.
He is an experienced producer of media in all forms, with a background in programme making for TV and has taught multimedia production over 25 years, in Universities and community-based projects, with a particular emphasis on media advocacy for marginalised and excluded communities.

He has published a range of articles, books, programmes and websites that reflect this specialist way of working, in direct partnership with disadvantaged people.
E-mail: Andy Minnion


Web Projects Manager, Pat Staples

Pat Staples is a web developer and project manager. She is currently managing the SCIE/Living Lab transition portal project and developing the website for the Inclusive New Media Design project.
Email: Pat Staples

 

 

 

 


Community Project Co-ordinator, Rasime Singh

Rasime is working on the SCIE Living Lab Transition Project.Running workshops, co-ordinating the participants and Building the Easy Read Newham Website.
E-mail: Rasime Singh



 

 

 


Web Developer, Elvir Leonard

Elvir has been work with The Rix Centre since  2006. He specialises in the development of accessible content management systems that enable the centre to delivery its web services.
E-mail: Elvir Leonard

 

 


 

Learning @ The Rix Centre Team

Course Leader, Gosia Nowkia
Gosia Nowicka is a lecturer in Multimedia Advocacy. She joined the Rix Centre in 2004. Her work includes theory and practice of Multimedia Advocacy, non-verbal communication, intensive interaction, autism and learning and teaching.
E-mail: Gosia Nowkia



 

 

 

]]> Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:17:43 +0000 Sponsors Through the Charitable arm of the Rix Centre we have secured generous support from a number of Trusts and Corporate Sponsors so that we can maintain and build our work for the learning disabilities community. The Rix Centre values these supporters considerably and works with them to address the areas of opportunity and potential in which they have a particular interest.

We have received generous donations from BP to create the ‘Rix Living Lab’ in East London, where the technologies are proven in practice through community trials.  We are also grateful to the Lundin Family who have sponsored the development of an IT learning database and to the Jack Petchey Foundation whose donation supported the development of tools for transition in conjunction with the London Borough of Newham.  This has allowed people with learning disabilities to grow their abilities to handle life’s challenges.  We have also received a donation from The Baily Thomas Charitable fund to research the use of multimedia CVs, helping people with mild learning disabilities into employment.

 

 

 

 

]]> Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:02:51 +0000 Programme

 

My New Media Life: The Digital Social Care Conference

1st October 2008, The Conference Area, The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG

 

 

Click here to download the pdf version of this programme


09.15
Registration and coffee
 
10.00
Welcoming Address by Lord Rix kt CBE DL
 
10.10
Allan Bowman, Chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence Introduction to the themes of the day
 
10.20
Presentation by people with learning disabilities about the opportunities that new media presents for social care
Including:
 
  • ’Multimedia advocates’ from across the UK - making their own digital portfolios for personal planning and day-to-day communications, organising their own support, preparing for independence, health action planning etc
  • Social Networkers with learning disabilities from Swansea - forging new online support networks with each other to help them lead independent lives
  • Young web developers with learning disabilities in East London - building a new generation of online ’easy-read’ information for themselves and their peers
 
Question, answer and discussion session.
 
11.35
Coffee break
 
12.00

Presentations from social care practitioners about how new media improves professional practice

Charting of the ethical issues of new media use in social care by Steve Barnard, Director of Information, Strategy and Systems, HFT

Question, answer and discussion session.
 
01.00
Lunch break, exhibitions and demonstrations
 
02.10
Lord Rix introduces the afternoon session
 
02.20
Keynote presentation of showcase projects for multimedia advocacy and peer support
 
03.00
The multimedia for learning disabilities Road Map by Andy Minnion, Director of the Rix Centre
 
Plenary chaired by Maureen Piggot OBE, Director of Mencap Northern Ireland
 
Question, answer and discussion session
 
04.00
Close with tea, cakes, exhibitions and demonstrations
 
 
The British Museum closes at 17.30

 

 

 

 

 

This event is co-sponsored by The Rix Centre, Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) and supported by BP

 

]]> Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:25:13 +0000 Rix pickings Ajay Choksi, technical assistant at Rix Centre, explains in an interview to the magazine ’Learning Disability Practice’ how Multimedia Advocacy at Rix Centre helped to change his life and to improve his job skills.

Ajay first came at Rix in 2007. Thanks to his skill and his imagination he got a job in few days. Ajay is responsible for all the technical equipment in the courses run at the centre, for example, digital cameras, microphones and headphones.

He helps people with learning disabilities to use different softwares, digital cameras, recording sound and with scanning images.

Thanks to the competence acquired at the Rix Centre, Ajay has been able to build his own website, using an ’easy-build’ template. You can visit it at http://web.thebigtree.org/ajay.

]]> Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:22:48 +0000 Why we do it People with learning disabilities have both gifts and ambitions.

However, learning disabilities often make it difficult to demonstrate and communicate their talents and desires. This makes it hard to enter the world of work as a young adult or to take part in the community as an active citizen.


There are 1.4 million people with learning disabilities in England. These people face numerous barriers in a society where so much emphasis is placed on appropriate speech, literacy and social skills. Although this is only 2.78% of the population, 17.44% of all families in England are affected (ONS, 2002).

At the Rix Centre, we have seen how people of all ages and with all types of learning disabilities can overcome these barriers by using new multimedia technologies and accessible websites. Utilising digital cameras, microphones, video and computers, both young and old can find new ways to express themselves and showcase their talents to others.

By providing multimedia computer-based tools, accessible websites and suitable training, the Rix Centre helps transcend their difficulties with learning and communication. They can record their achievements more easily than through a text document or conventional curriculum vitae.

They can capture and share their thoughts and insights in ways that we can all understand. They can celebrate achievements and articulate their ambitions.

70% of people with learning disabilities live with their families or in residential care homes. By learning how to use Rix Centre tools and services, they rely less on full time care provision, can live more independently, make choices, and communicate their desires.

 

 

]]> Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:59:48 +0000 How we do it The Rix Centre combines multimedia production and evaluation expertise with a wide understanding of the learning disability field. The Centre works with organisations across commercial, voluntary and educational sectors forging partnerships and pooling knowledge and experience in collaborative projects. The Rix Centre has a unique mission that combines academic excellence with both social and business goals.

The products and services that result will ensure that the learning disability community get the best from the unique set of opportunities presented by these new technologies.

Our Mission is focused on tackling the issues that disabled people in our society with really practical solutions

Our Approach engages with the UK’s key progressive strategies that have been developed to address the challenges of learning disability in the 21st Century

]]> Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:23:34 +0000 Our Community The Rix Centre works within the learning disability community. We work with special education schools and the voluntary sector charities. We have developed a strong working partnership with Newham Local Authority around our research and workshop activity. We also work with service providers, partnership boards and others across the country to support their programmes.

 

]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:45:32 +0000 Research & Development The Rix Centre has developed its own unique way of doing research and development with its partners and beneficiaries. Through an active cross-disciplinary research programme, the Rix Centre maintains its lead in the design and application of new technologies. We can be ‘first on the street’ to test and validate innovative solutions for inclusion and prove the effectiveness of new tools for service providers.


Six approaches to R&D:

Participant Research with people with learning disabilities and their supporters, learning from their knowledge and experience and valuing their contributions;

Practice-based Research where we develop innovative products and trial them to explore new approaches. The ‘iterative’ development of products with users;

Action Research in the ‘real-world’ of our own ‘Living Lab’ with frontline users in the learning disabilities community. This ensures that our products and practices genuinely work for the community which they are designed to serve in the settings where they are actually going to be used;

Market Research that draws on our unique network of connections with statutory and voluntary sectors and the creative industries to ensure that our work complements other products and services that are available in this field;

Multidisciplinary Research that draws on a variety of subject areas to build up a full picture of our field with partners from a range of other Universities that have complementary expertise; and

Accessible Research that can be shared with people with learning disabilities in online formats that use easy-read language with multimedia illustration.


]]> Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:52:06 +0000 Transition Portal Project The Transition Portal Project, is using easy-build Websites with over 40 different small organisations across the London Borough of Newham. Young people with learning disabilities are using these tools to create their own web content to provide information and guidance about life in the community after leaving school for the benefit of other young disabled people. The ‘transition’ into the wider community, the world of work, further education and independence, is an especially difficult experience for young people with learning disabilities.

This Project is exploring the value of web content-generation as a way of establishing accessible and meaningful information through this unique  ‘peer education’ approach. The project is a joint initiative with the Social Care Institute for Excellence and will result in the publication of a detailed report about this pioneering approach to supporting young people through transition. Newham Local Authority is also a partner in this project and has seconded a member of staff to work with the Rix Centre for a full year.

Visit the website developed by young people on this project at www.newhameasyread.org

]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:41:08 +0000 Support our work You can help support our work at the Rix Centre by making a donation.  However large or small, your donation will enable us to help people with learning disabilities exploit the latest multimedia technology.

It can cost £120 for a digital camera that is suitable for person with learning disabilities to use.  We need more computers with special features, like touch screen and switch interfaces to help include all our students in our multimedia advocacy training. These can cost as much as £1,500 to set up.  These are just some examples of the technology our work relies on.

Donations can also help us to extend our training and technologies to reach more people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, alongside their families and supporters. Alternatively a gift can support a particular piece of research and development to enable a further range of people with learning disabilities to participate in the use of new media to improve their daily lives. Some of our R&D ‘microprojects’ cost as little as £2,000 and achieve their aims within small budgets to make a major difference to people’s lives.

You can donate by:



If you are a UK tax payer, the Rix Centre can reclaim you tax on each £1 that you give.  So make sure you tick that box on the donation form.

We have several generous donors already.  For example, The Jack Petchey Foundation recently donated £30,000.  We would like you to join our growing list of donors.  

If you would like to support a particular part of our work, please contact us directly.




One-off donations:
To give a one-off donation by cheque or debt card please complete the donations form and return to the address attached.
Download ’Donations’ form

Gift Aid:
Changes in the tax law mean that for every £1 you give, The Rix Centre can now reclaim the tax on your donation.If you are a UK taxpayer all you have to do is tick the box and the The Rix Centre can reclaim the tax. This can be applied for all donations large or small, regular or one-off, whatever the method of payment.

For all donations recieved we can add 28% to your the amount.

Please note: for donations to be valid for Gift Aid, the donor must have paid an amount of Income or Capital Gains Tax equal to the tax deducted from their donation.
Download ’Gift Aid’ form


Online Donations:
You can make an online donation to The Rix Centre via the Charity Aid Foundation (CAF) website. To donate now Click Here.

Standing Order:
To set up a regular donation to The Rix Centre please complete the ’Standing Order’ and return to the address attached.
Download ’Standing Order’ form


Give as you Earn:
Give as you Earn  - a simple tax free charitable giving direct from your pay. If your Employer runs a Payroll Giving Scheme then donations are deducted before tax so each £1.00 you give will only cost you 80p, and if you’re a higher rate tax payer it will only cost you 60p. Simply obtain the Payroll Giving Form from your HR Department. Our charity number is 1105410.



 

]]> Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:17:44 +0000 Accessibility Statement Technical Info

This site has been developed to comply with WCAG-AA guidelines with the aim to working towards achieving AAA status. Below are some of the accessibility issues that have been considered in the development of this site:

Resolution


This site has been optimised for a screen resolution of 800x600 and above

Structure


This site has been semantically structured using XHTML purely for structure and CSS for visual design. Header elements have been used to convey specific headings to aid in accessibility and search engine ranking.

Text


Text size can be increased using the "readability" drop down menu on the right hand side of every page. Alternatively you can use your web browser to increase (+) and decrease (-) the font size.

  • On Internet Explorer (PC) select: View > Text Size
  • Firefox (PC): Ctrl + or Ctrl -
  • Firefox (Mac): Option + or Option -

Images


Images all contain 'alt' tags that describe the images, and also 'title' tags that enable the user to hover over images and links to find out more information in the form of a tool tip.

Colour


Colours have been chosen to contrast effectively, and colour has not been used exclusively to convey any information or navigation. You can change the contrast of the website by selecting the "high contrast" option in the drop down menu on the right hand side of every page on this site.

Browser Compatibility

  • Internet Explorer 4.x +
  • Netscape Navigator 4.x +
  • Mozilla Firefox 1.0 +
  • Safari 2.0 +
  • (On Windows & Macintosh Platforms)
]]> Tue, 06 Mar 2007 14:52:07 +0000 Copyright The Rix Centre website copyright statement

The content (content being images, text, sound and video files, programs and scripts) of this website is copyright © The Rix Centre. All rights expressly reserved.

The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form (altered including being stretched, compressed, coloured or altered in any way so as to distort content from its original proportions or format) with copyright acknowledged, on a temporary basis for personal study which is not for a direct or indirect commercial use and any non-commercial use. Any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of the British Library, including but not limited to:

  • transmission by any method
  • storage in any medium, system or program
  • display in any form
  • performance
  • hire, lease, rental or loan

Requests for permission to reproduce material from this website should be addressed to:

Email: info@rixcentre.org

The Rix Centre has made every reasonable effort to locate, contact and acknowledge copyright owners and wishes to be informed by any copyright owners who are not properly identified and acknowledged on this website so that we may make any necessary corrections.

Other individuals and organisations wishing to make The Rix Centre's content accessible through their websites are encouraged to create hypertext links to the required content on this website.

]]> Tue, 06 Mar 2007 15:05:01 +0000 About Us The Rix Centre is a Research & Development Centre dedicated to the exploration of new media for the benefit of the learning disability community.
Multimedia can help people with learning disabilities to organise their thoughts, remember, learn and communicate more effectively. This can significantly improve their ability to live independent lives, contribute to the community and fulfil their personal aims and ambitions.

The Rix Centre works with the learning disability community to ensure that the benefits of these technologies are realised. We combine research and development with teaching and learning. We provide a variety of products & services developed with a network of partners, customers and sponsors.

The Centre was established as a Charitable Organisation in 2004.  It grew out of research work at the University of East London (UEL) and is based at the UEL’s London Docklands Campus. The  Rix Centre brings together specialist researchers and new media developers with people with learning disabilities and their supporters.

It is named in honour of Lord Rix, who has campaigned tirelessly for people with learning disabilities for over 60 years and is President of Mencap and Chancellor of UEL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

]]> Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:00:06 +0000 Access & Participation At the heart of all of the Rix Centre’s activity is the principle of improving the access & participation of people with learning disabilities in the world of new digital media. Our experience of working with this community has shown that this can help people to integrate with mainstream society more effectively, engage with the wider community and have a stronger voice. This sums up what we do as a Centre - building and using inclusive new media for the wider social inclusion of people with learning disabilities.

]]> Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:17:43 +0000 Multimedia Advocacy The Rix Centre champions ’Multimedia Advocacy’ as a range of different ways in which people with learning disabilities can have a stronger say in their lives and make their voices heard. Multimedia advocacy enables people to explore and understand their personal options and make informed choices, tell their own stories, plan ahead and communicate day-to-day using cameras, videos, microphones and computers.

Multimedia Advocacy is proving a really effective way to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities... and it can be fun to do for both users and supporters!

The benifits of multimedia advocacy

People with learning disabilities can benefit from the use of multimedia in many ways:

  • They can gain confidence in communication and engage more effectively in shaping their day to day activities
  • They can share their interests and tastes and explain the ways that they like to be supported   
  • They can develop their skills in the use of Computers and in general social interaction and communication
  • They can prepare presentations to highlight their gifts, talents and achievements and so improve their prospect of being active citizens and finding suitable employment
  • They can use multimedia to explore their opportunities and make informed choices and decisions
  • They can use multimedia to record their life stories and their experiences to help others really get to know and understand them.


Those providing care and support can also benefit:

  • Families, professionals and supporters gain additional ways to work and interact with people with learning disabilities by using multimedia
  • It provides an engaging and accessible way to make plans together and produce records that everyone can engage with
  • Working with multimedia provides a great platform for the sharing of ideas and the capturing of subtle communication
  • It gives supporters a way to record all the things that they have learned about the people that they are working with, so that it is not lost but it is handed on by the person themselves in a format that they can understand
  • Supporters develop technical skills and confidence that will help them personally and professionally
  • Professionals who complete these courses will also build more understanding about person centred approaches to care, advocacy, communication, empowerment and inclusion.

 

]]> Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:52:45 +0000 web tools
did the swiss ever make anything useful?

]]> Thu, 08 Mar 2007 10:15:02 +0000 What we do   The Rix Centre researches and develops different ways that multimedia can help to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities and their supporters.   We design and build websites & software tools that are innovative and accessible and we work with people with learning disabilities, their families and professionals to test them out.   We provide web production services, research & consultancy for groups and organisations, sharing our expertise in making content accessible for users with learning disabilities.    
We offer training courses for people with learning disabilities and their supporters including, social care workers, teachers, parents and peers.    
We presentations & publications to demonstrate the value of these technologies for people with learning disabilities and share best practice with practitioners, academics, policy-makers and people with learning disabilities themselves.   We have a website for multimedia & learning disability practitioners called ‘The Big Tree’ that serves as an online home for practitioners who these innovative and uniquely effective ways of improving people’s lives.

 

]]> Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:01:28 +0000 Products & Services Many organisations have benefited from working with the Rix Centre. We have:
• analysed their needs,
• researched the market,
• advised on website, software and interface design, and
• produced bespoke solutions.

We address real-world problems by bringing appropriate technologies to bear.  We develop best practice together with the staff and service-users of commissioning organisations.

The Rix Centre is ideally placed to marry progressive technologies with best-practice techniques. This is because of the multi-disciplined nature of our research and the learning disability community trials we undertake. This has led to the development of an innovative portfolio of products and services. This portfolio is available to help bring new media technologies into the lives of people with learning disabilities.

These include:
• Production services and packages,
• Teaching and learning, and
• Consultancy.

Tailored products and services

These products and services are tailored for educational organisations, new media developers, technologists and other supporters of people with learning disabilities. The Rix Centre services deliver proven benefit to address today’s range of policy-driven initiatives in learning, social care and disability rights. This includes:
• Person-centred planning,
• Transition planning,
• Inclusive education,
• Technology assisted learning,
• Self-directed services and
• Web accessibility compliance.

Rix Centre products and services for learning disabilities are available through sale, license or gift. This is part of our mission to reach as wide a market as possible and be of real value to the learning disability community we serve.

 

]]> Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:28:25 +0000 The Big Tree Helping people with a learning disability to branch out

logoThe Big Tree is a new online community which is set to revolutionise access to the world wide web for people with a learning disability.

The site is intended to be a ‘practitioners’ site where all those involved with the provision and use of technologies, tools and training can share the same forum.  It aims to become the ‘keynote’ vehicle for sharing relevant information and resources.

Its branches are subject areas and its leaves are links to other sites which will be of interest. This is underpinned by the roots, which are the research work behind the site.

As its name suggests, The Big Tree hopes to grow organically, with input added by users of the site. It aims to provide a forum linking people with a learning disability to resources and people with similar interests.  

The Big Tree provides support for client and user networking and already hosts an online community populated by people with a learning disability who are directly generating their own content. Andy Minnion, R&D Director at the Rix Centre says “ICT and multimedia are becoming important tools to support self advocacy for people with a learning disability, a community whose voice is rarely heard. The Big Tree aims to highlight the benefits of using this technology and become a useful resource in its own right as a home page for everyone involved with learning disability”

To see the Big Tree for yourself go to www.thebigtree.org and find out more.

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:54:50 +0000 More on Rix Living Lab The Rix Centre is working in collaboration with Newham Local Authority on a pilot project exploring the potential for provision of accessible information for young people with learning disabilities on the themes of transition to adulthood and support for independent living after school. This programme of work is joint funded by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), BP and the Jack Petchey Foundation.  The Rix Centre leads implementation of the project with a team that includes a full-time staff member seconded from the Local Authority Learning Disability Support Team.

Forty two ‘easy build’ satellite websites are being built by groups and individuals in the London Borough of Newham. Twenty-eight are being developed by people with learning disabilities with the help of their supporters. Professionals in the learning disability field are developing the other fourteen
The first round of initial training is now complete. Each group or individual has had at least one training session and we are now organising further training and support for the web developers as required.

In our workshop programme we encourage the novice web developers to make content around the themes of transition that were identified by young people as being the most important in the Road Ahead report commissioned by SCIE and published in November 2004 – see: http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/tra/index.asp. The transition themes identified in the research are:

  •     Work and work experience
  •     Safety
  •     Being independent
  •     Friends and family
  •     Relationships
  •     Drinking, going out, fun and partying
  •     Shopping
  •     Money
  •     College
  •     Travel


The participants are asked to think about and discuss what happened when they left school in a pre-workshop task. They are asked to brainstorm ideas around these topics and take some photographs to bring to the one-day workshop.

 

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:54:50 +0000 Inclusive New Media Design Inclusive New Media Design is an exciting new project which aims to encourage web designers, developers and editors to build websites accessible to people with intellectual disabilities.
The project will explore effective strategies for encouraging new media designers to produce websites that are accessible to people with learning disabilities, through a series of free workshops, interviews and observations with designers.

The project is being led by Dr Helen Kennedy as part of the AHRC/EPSRC Designing for 21st Century initiative.

For more information visit the Inclusive New Media Design website.

]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:26:33 +0000 Project summary Inclusive New Media Design aims to contribute to the social inclusion of people with disabilities in the WWW. It will do this by exploring the place occupied by guidelines for designing accessible websites in the work practices of new media designers. These guidelines are produced by the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative (W3C WAI), the organisation that governs the technical standards of the web, and, in many countries, including our own, they form the basis of legal documents to which new media designers should adhere. Whilst there is much activity focusing on how to implement and improve the guidelines, and there is growing awareness of them as a result of new policy, more accessible tools and their acceptance by web design gurus, no academic research has been carried out with new media designers themselves to explore how and why accessibility does or does not get taken up. Little is known about the factors within new media design practices which affect designers’ perceptions of accessibility guidelines, or whether other approaches, such as the inclusion of disabled users in the design process, or highlighting exemplary and inspiring accessible design practice, are more effective in persuading designers to subscribe to the accessibility ethos. Furthermore, the guidelines are to be integrated into a process which is thought to be both intuitive and unknowable - creative design. Inclusive New Media Design will bring together these apparently contradictory forces - on the one hand, detailed technical guidelines, and on the other, intuitive design - by exploring the relationship and potential for compatability between the two. The project will thus be framed by current debate in the humanities, in HCI and beyond about new media work, design and creativity.

 

Within the project’s two-year duration, a series of workshops will be run with approximately 30 new media designers with a spectrum of accessibility expertise, followed by work-based observation sessions with the designers. The early workshops will focus on problem-solving - they will be consultative focus group sessions in which examples of accessible web design are examined and accessibility guidelines are applied in the creation of new media design solutions. In later workshops, designers will be introduced to disabled users to compare the effectiveness of integrating users into the design process with guidelines training as a means of achieving accessible web design. In the workshops, participants get free advice and consultancy from the project team, and in return, they agree to the project team carrying out observations in their workplaces, analysing the websites they are working on, and discussing with them their approaches to accessibility within the context of the creative design process.

The research aims to benefit people with disabilities, by identifying effective approaches to their inclusion in the WWW. The findings will be disseminated in academic domains through journal articles, and to new media designers and developers through a project website. They will also be disseminated to the W3C and other standards bodies with the assistance of Adobe’s accessibility team and aim to inform international efforts to enhance web accessibility for people with disabilities. The project will be run from within UEL’s Rix Centre for Innovation and Learning Disability, which has a track record of managing research and development within this field. The project will address the accessibility needs of people with physical and cognitive disabilities, with particular attention to the latter, a group acknowledged internationally as historically absent from web accessibility efforts. The findings will be significant for 21 st century design as they will contribute to the inclusion of people with disabilities, especially cognitive, in the WWW, and to socially inclusive new media design.

]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:26:33 +0000 Aims & objectives

The overall aims of Inclusive New Media Design are:

  • To examine ways in which socially inclusive new media might be designed for disabled communities, particularly cognitively disabled communities;
  • To contribute towards the social inclusion of people with disabilities in new media such as the WWW.

The specific objectives are:

  • To explore the place of web accessibility guidelines within the practices of new media designers and within creative design processes;
  • To explore the factors which affect the take up of accessibility guidelines and the accessibility ethos (for example, clients' priorities and interests);
  • To examine the effectiveness of guidelines as a way of achieving accessible web design;
  • To examine the effectiveness of approaches other than guidelines as a way of achieving accessible web design (for example, the inclusion of disabled users in the design process, or demonstrations of exemplary accessible web design);
  • To disseminate findings amongst relevant academics, new media designers and developers and key international bodies such as W3C.
]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:26:33 +0000 Research questions There is increasingly widespread commitment amongst governing and legislative bodies and campaign organisations to ensure that the WWW is socially inclusive of everyone, regardless of ability, but how can this be achieved? The W3C WAI establishes accessibility guidelines in an attempt to achieve such social inclusion, but how effective are they as a way of achieving inclusion? These research problems are addressed in the project through the following questions:

 

  • How might the social inclusion of people with disabilities in new media like the WWW be achieved?
  • How effective are web accessibility guidelines as a means of achieving such social inclusion?
  • What factors affect the take up and application of the accessibility ethos and guidelines in the web design practices of new media designers?
  • What is the relationship between accessibility guidelines and the creative design process?
  • How effective are other approaches (such as the inclusion of disabled users in the design process or highlighting exemplary practice) in achieving accessible web design?
]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:26:33 +0000 Accessiible Web Production Accessible Web Development

At the Rix Centre we specialise in developing accessible websites for people with learning disabilities or for organisations working in this community. We like to work in partnership with our clients to ensure that their message is reaching the largest possible audience.

Accessible web development is a very important part of what we are about. Its influence is felt across the board in our production services. In print, digital video and interactive design, accessibility is the key to making it right for our audience. We also offer advice in this area to make other web development projects as successful as our own. You can't under estimate the simplicity and clarity that designing with accessibility in mind can give to your project and the message you want to get out there. We believe that a clear and easy to understand message is the key to good communication.

 

 

]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:26:26 +0000 Digital Video Production The Rix Centre offers a range of services for digital video. Several members of our team have experience in video production for the professional and public sectors. In today's world video is not just confined to television or cinema it has been given a new lease of life by the Internet and mobile phone technology.

The Rix Centre is able to take advantage of expertise to make any production suitable for the diversity of platforms out there. We can help with your ideas and storyboards to bring clarity to your message.

The centre also has access to the latest post-production technology for digital video and is able to provide clients with quality production techniques. We have a strong creative element to our production process that makes our video projects stand out from the rest.

]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:26:26 +0000 Design for Print The Rix Centre operates as a small graphic design agency that can deliver contemporary design for print across a range of products.

For the learning disability community we are able to enhance your organisation's public profile, develop a range of printed material from business cards to large format printing that will have a unique quaility and look.

If you would like to know more about how we can help with your printing needs then please feel free to contact us.

 

]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:26:26 +0000 Multimedia Design The team here at the Centre all have experience in developing professional interactive products.

We believe that interactivity is the key to making digital communication accessible for the learning disability community. It can provide information in a variety of different formats, such as audio, video or motion graphics using text, that will give the user an interactive experience but also deliver the intended message.

Our background in working with interactive media gives us the understanding to know how people with or without learning disablities use digital media. We use this to our advantage to develop either games that help with learning or software interfaces that deliver all types of content.

 

]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:26:26 +0000 Video: Multimedia advocacy Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:52:45 +0000 Video: Introduction Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:52:45 +0000 Video:Products & Services Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:58:07 +0000 Teaching & Learning From its base at the University of East London, the Rix Centre provides a wide range of teaching and learning packages on the use of ICT and multimedia with people with learning disabilities. These cover themes ranging from Web design and development to ‘Multimedia Advocacy’ and provide best-practice training as well as in-depth study of the values and issues that sit behind these new ways of working. Training and support is packaged in various formats to suit the full spectrum of learner needs tailored both for people with learning disabilities, their supporters and managers. Wherever possible we encourage students of different abilities to work together and learn from each other in ‘inclusive learning’ settings.

The Centre’s package of teaching and learning includes:

  • Workshops and seminars  - introduce new ways of working, provide introductory training, highlight issues and provoke debate
  • Courses – range from inclusive 4 week ‘day-release’ short courses to full under-graduate and post graduate modules
  • Bespoke packages – are provided for Web teams and  service provider organisations with specialist training developed for both staff and clients
  • Support – blends with the training that we can provide for staff, service-users and organisations deploying all sorts of multimedia use with and for people with learning disabilities
]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:58:07 +0000 Recent clients Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability

SCLD is made up of 13 Partner Organisations who have joined together with funding from the Scottish Executive to become the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability. SCLD choose The Rix Centre’s web production service because of our specialist work on accessiblity and making the web more user-friendly for people with learning disabilites.

"It’s your breadth of experience that won the bid"
Ruth Murphy, Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability (SCLD)


Transistion Information Network (TIN)




The Transition Information Network (TIN) is an alliance of organisations and individuals who come together with a common aim: to improve the experience of disabled young people’s transition to adulthood. TIN is a source of information and good practice for disabled young people, families and professionals.


Home Farm Trust (HFT)

HFT was established 45 years ago and we have grown and developed into a progressive organisation pioneering many areas of research and service provision so people with learning disabilities receive the highest possible level of social inclusion.

"In 2006 HFT started working with the Rix Centre to develop an accessible website to W3C standard. From the initial brief they have worked with care, professionalism and imagination and have created a finished product with which we are delighted. The site is now live and the back office is easy to use, reliable and intuitive. The Rix Centre have been very responsive to enquiries and changes requested and have a good understanding of accessibility issues. I would recommend them to anyone wishing to create an interesting, modern and accessible site."
Suzi Walton - Marketing Manager, HFT


Outward Housing

Outward Housing is a registered charity committed to providing quality support and care services which have a direct impact on people’s lives, enabling them to enjoy greater independence, make more choices and reach their potential.

"I have worked with another web design company when building our original website and there is no comparison in terms of the excellent service I have received from the team at the Rix Centre."
David Radley, Office Manager - Outward.

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:06:22 +0000 1 Day Workshops These workshops are designed to enable professionals working in the field of learning disabilities in the community, public and voluntary sectors, to work more effectively with clients using multimedia tools. The course is designed to be easy to understand, and it concentrates on the practicalities of multimedia advocacy as a tool for communication

The objective of the course is that students should be able to return to their organisations and make immediate use of the material covered in the course, therefore a complimentary pack is included.

Learning Outcomes

Following this course, trainees will be able to:

  1. Understand the principles of Person Centred Planning
  2. Understand the basics of Multimedia Advocacy
  3. Know how to make the best use of resources that are already available
  4. Know how to take digital images, and upload them on to a PC
  5. Know how to use a scanner for scanning images and objects
  6. Know how to incorporate these materials into a digital form

Venue and Duration

Multimedia Advocacy 1 Day Workshops are held at the Docklands Campus of the University of East London, 4 - 6 University Way, Silvertown, London, E16 2RD. The sessions run from 10:00 - 17:00.

Cost

Individuals: £75

Organisations: £1500 (max 30 trainees)

What is included?

The cost of the course includes course materials, lunch and refreshments during the day

How to book?

To book your place please download application and send completed to:

Gosia Nowicka or Mary Newman
Rix Centre
University of East London
4-6 University Way
London E16 2RD

Or e-mail to: g.m.nowicka@uel.ac.uk or m.newman@uel.ac.u

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:58:07 +0000 Latest Course Info We are pleased to offer the following short courses:

’My Photo Story!’ - Introduction to Multimedia Advocacy (MA 101)

Students are introduced to Multimedia Advocacy approach and its underlying principles. They have an opportunity to explore examples of Multimedia Advocacy portfolios produced by people with learning disabilities and their supporters. Students do not require any previous experience in using multimedia tools.

’My Personal Plan!’ - Multimedia for Person Centred work with people with learning disabilities (MA 102 )

Students will explore Person Centred Planning (PCP) process and its key principles. During this course each person with a learning disability will work with their supporter and together they will use MS Power Point to create a Multimedia Advocacy Portfolio. Students will require some previous experience of using multimedia tools and would have completed MA101.


’Hear my voice!’ - Using Sound and Multimedia to help with Communication (MA 103)

Students will be introduced to the fundamental principles of communication. We will look at tools to support communication. Students will build on their existing Multimedia Advocacy portfolios produced during MA102. Students will require some previous experience of using multimedia tools and would have completed MA102.

’Having a say!’ - Using Video and multimedia for advocacy (MA 104)

Students will be introduced to using digital video as an advocacy tool. We will look at skills that are required for effective multimedia advocacy. In the workshop session we will explore the use of video and its advantages as an advocacy tool. Students will require previous experience of using multimedia tools and will have to have completed at least one other course.

’Sharing my Gifts!’ – Multimedia CV for inclusion and employability (MA 105)

Students will be introduced to using digital video as an advocacy tool. We will look at skills that are required for effective multimedia advocacy. In the workshop session we will explore the use of video and its advantages as an advocacy tool. Students will require previous experience of using multimedia tools and will have to have completed at least one other course.

‘Sharing My Story’ - Making DVDs with multimedia (MA 106)

Students will be introduced to issues around accessibility. In the practical session people with learning disabilities will work together with their supporters to plan and develop their multimedia profile as a DVD. Students will require previous experience of using multimedia tools and to have completed at least one other course.

Multimedia Health Action Plans (MA 107)

The Multimedia Health Action Plan (HAP) course is intended for students who have basic IT skills. The goal of this course is to help students to discover the power of multimedia tools and their useful application in the process of making a health action plan. Students do not require any previous experience in using multimedia tools.

If you would like more information on courses for 2008 contact:

Gosia Nowicka, Course Leader
Tel: 020 8223 7632
e-mail: g.m.nowicka@uel.ac.uk

]]> Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:06:49 +0000 Lee's story Lee has a mild learning disability and was a volunteer with his local Learning Disability Partnership Board. He had never had paid work, but was at college studying graphics and the web.

During a Rix Centre workshop on ‘easy-build’ websites, Lee astounded everyone. Before the first training session was half way through, Lee piped up and said, “is this what you mean?” He had created a genuinely accessible web page.

The good news didn’t stop there. When the Rix Centre trainers returned a few months later, they were pleased to find Lee working for the Partnership Board as an information officer. Lee now has realistic ambitions to progress to a job in mainstream web development, graphics and information management.

]]> Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:54:59 +0000 Customers A wide range of different individuals and organisations use the Rix Centre’s services.
 
Over a thousand different professionals working in social care, education and information services have attended our teaching and training courses. Significantly our students also include more and more people with learning disabilities themselves, supported by care organisations to attend Rix Centre training to gain multimedia skills.

Our work locally in East London and across the UK on various projects brings us into contact with schools, colleges and care organisations from voluntary and business sectors as well as the spectrum of local government and health service groups with special interest in the needs of the learning disability community.

Several national policy and service-provider organisations engage our production, research, training and workshop event services and we gain considerably from working with them to explore innovative uses of our products to meet the needs of their clients and staff.

Rix Centre customers since our launch in 2004 have included: HFT, Mencap, Scottish Consortium for Learning Disabilities (SCLD), BBC, Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), BECTA, etc.

 

]]> Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:23:38 +0000 Ajay's story Ajay is a young man with a learning disability from Newham in East London who works part-time at the Rix Centre. To show prospective employers what he has to offer, he produced a multimedia CV, using the Rix Centre’s ‘easy-build’ website templates. He went on to produce a personal website to share the skills that he has learned about getting into work with other young people with learning disabilities. This uses photos to talk about job seeking, independent travel, and handling money – all useful knowledge for his peers.

The Rix Centre runs a number of projects that enable young people with learning disabilities to share their knowledge, experience and insights with others, using multimedia for ‘peer to peer’ learning and support.

]]> Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:37:30 +0000 Alima's story Alima is at school; she has severe learning disabilities and people have problems understanding her. Alima took part in the Trans-active programme developed by the Rix Centre for Mencap, where she made a multimedia ‘passport’ to prepare for her transition from school to adulthood.

By building and shaping her multimedia ‘passport’, Alima learned about the choices available to her in adult life. Without it, important decisions about her future would have been made ‘on her behalf’ rather than by her.

Through this process, Alima gained key life-skills like road-safety and using money. This enabled her to make an independent visit to the local corner shop to buy a snack and a comic. This simple task represented a real break-through for Alima, “I would like to do that again one day”, she said at the end of the Project.

]]> Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:19:49 +0000 Anand's story Anand has been seeing his girlfriend regularly for over thirty years. The trouble is, they are always accompanied by a relative who stays with them until it’s time for Anand to go home. Anand came with his support worker to take part in a Rix Centre multimedia advocacy course.

As a result of creating a multimedia ‘route map’ which he can use on a mobile phone, Anand has been able to convince his family that he can travel safely without them. He can now be alone with his girlfriend for the first time in all those years.

It is a significant change in his quality of life; he also feels more confident in speaking up for himself. The whole experience of saying what he wants through the use of multimedia has given him more personal freedom.

]]> Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:37:30 +0000 The Rix Centre Trustees Rudi Mueller CBE, Chairman of Trustees
Rudolf G Mueller, a Swiss citizen, is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Rix
Centre.
Graduating from the University of Geneva with a degree equivalent to an MBA, he
held numerous senior management positions in Switzerland, the Far East and London during a career with the Union Bank of Switzerland. He was Chief Executive and Chairman of the UBS in London and a Member of the Banks Group Executive Board until 1998. He has held Board Directorships in a variety of international companies, among them the London Stock Exchange and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

In recognition of his work in the financial services industry he was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1997 and, through his work with the Rix
Centre, was awarded a Doctor of Business Administration (honoris causa) from the
University of East London in 2005. He is committed to helping the Rix Centre achieve its aim of ensuring that those with learning disabilities can lead more independent lives through the use of the latest IT and multi-media technology.

Brain Baldock CBE, Trustee
After working as a director for a number of blue-chip companies, he joined the main board of Guinness plc in 1986, retiring in 1996 as Group Managing Director and Deputy Chairman. He was awarded the CBE in the 1997 Birthday Honours List.
He was a director of Marks & Spencer plc from October 1996 and Chairman from
June 1999 to February 2000. He is a past Chairman of Lord Taverners (1992 to
1994). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Companion of the British Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Since becoming Chairman of Mencap in December 1998, he has ensured that people with a learning disability are now at the heart of everything that Mencap does. Brian has been one of the first to acknowledge the potential for innovative technology to improve communication for people with a learning disability, and steered the establishment of the Rix Centre at the University of East London, dedicated to the use of technology to support those with disabilities.

Jonathan Rix, Trustee
Jonathan Rix represents the Rix family on the board of Trustees and has personal
experience of learning disabilities as a parent, sibling and practitioner. He is a lecturer in Inclusion, Curriculum and Learning at the Open University. He researches and writes on inclusive pedagogies and policies, parental perspectives and issues of access for people with learning disabilities, and has been an advisor for the Departments for Education and Skills and Department of Health Early Support programme.

He has worked in education in many different settings. He spent 13 years as a
support teacher in a Hackney Secondary School, as well as working in theatre-in-education, as a writer-in-residence in prisons, and with community arts groups in different parts of the UK. He has won awards as a novelist, playwright, and author of audio tour guides, as well as being a contributor to two books on theatre history, and the academic advisor on two Open University - BBC series, ‘School Day’ and ‘Nobody’s Normal’.

Mitzi Wyman, Trustee
Mitzi Wyman is a solicitor by qualification who in recent years has focused on elearning, training and development. A former Head of Practice Management at the Law Society, she has also been a Non-Executive Director in the NHS with a particular interest in mental health issues.
In 2004 she established the Intelligent Learning Network to advise business on talent management and retention strategies. During the last ten years she has also written and produced a wide range of TV and e-learning programmes for professional service audiences. She brings this experience to her work with the Rix Centre. Mitzi also enjoys working with young people and is a Coach to youngsters at risk of being excluded from schools in South-East London.

John Alderson, Trustee
John works for a range of charities as trustee and as consultant on business
development and handling major projects. He was introduced to the Rix Centre
project from work for Mencap on Trans-active and other initiatives. He has been
interim Chief Executive for Trust Thamesmead and interim Director of Strategy and
Planning for British Red Cross, and is Chair of Bromley Welcare. In his earlier career in the corporate sector, he worked for PA Consulting in management development, strategy and marketing, and in senior international marketing and sales roles for GEC Medical, General Electric, Boosey and Hawkes, and EMI Medical.

Anthony McClellan, Trustee
Tony McClellan has had a successful corporate career first with Ferranti Limited, as
marketing research manager, and then with Geo. Bassett & Co. Ltd, as group
industrial engineer with responsibility for five group factories. He then worked as
regional general manager and Marketing Director for Carryfast Ltd, then a division of Unilever. He led an MBO of Carryfast, purchasing it from Unilever to build it into the largest ambulance manufacturer in the UK, when it was sold to UBS. After leaving Carryfast in 1997, he became part owner and director of Gifa SA, the leading manufacturer of ambulances in France. He is, a Member of the British Institute of Management, a Member of the Institute of Logistics and Fellow of the Institute of Directors, Member of the Board of Management of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Member of the Board of the Foundation of the Academy of American Ophthamolgy.

He has had a long interest in the development and use of modern communication
methods and technologies in assisting people with learning disabilities to flourish in
today’s world. This interest stems from tackling the problems of his own daughter,
who is a Downs Syndrome child. The great opportunity to become a Trustee of the
Rix Centre allows him to support in a very tangible way this very important work

]]> Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:49:25 +0000 Inclusive New Media Design Team


Project Director, Dr Helen Kennedy
Helen Kennedy is leading the project, overseeing the project’s progression and participating in all aspects of the research. She has experience of the management of new media projects, of research into new media work and disability, and has published widely in new media and cyberculture studies. 


Simon Evans, Consultant Researcher
Simon Evans is consultant researcher on the project, with over 10 years experience of web development, training and consultancy in new media and disability R&D. Throughout this period he has developed software, elearning resources, websites and other interactive media for adults and children with complex disabilties. Since 2001 he has worked on many commercial and research projects with both The Rix Centre and UEL.

Siobhan Thomas, Research Fellow
Siobhan Thomas will join the project in September 2007 to carry out the bulk of the research. She has experience of new media research, for example at the Institute of Education and Southbank University, as well as being an experienced new media designer with knowledge of web accessibility issues.
E-mail: Siobhan Thomas

Web Project Manager, Pat Staples
Pat Staples co-ordinates input from The Rix Centre’s web development team in the development and maintainance of the project’s website. The website will recruit and communicate with participants, demonstrate case studies of good practice and disseminate findings.


Project Administrator, Pippa Sweeney
Pippa Sweeney is undertaking the project’s administrative functions and is responsible for organising the workshops. She has a range of administrative experience, and has also worked in education as a learning support assistant with students with disabilities.

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]]> Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:16:35 +0000 sub sub sub page 3 Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:29:58 +0000 The Rix Living Lab At the heart of the Rix Centre’s approach to research and development methodology is the ‘Rix Centre Living Lab’ in which the Rix Centre works with people with learning disabilities, their families and supporters in a project call ’Rix Living Lab’. There are a number of ‘Living Lab’ projects run by different organisations in various parts of the world.

A ‘Living Lab’ is a technology research and development programme that grows directly within in the type of setting that it is designed for, in partnership with a sample of the type of people that the project is intended to serve. In the Rix Living Lab, which is based in East London, we develop and trial software products, training and support with the very people that we aim to help, in their homes, schools and places of work, in other words the ‘real-world’ settings in which we want our work to make a difference.

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:54:50 +0000 Partners The Rix Centre’s Research and development work is carried out in partnership with numerous partner organisations whose expertise complements our own so that we are able to explore a wide range of issues and develop solutions in effective collaborations.

Our academic partners include: University College London (UCL), London City University, University of Central England, Kings College London, University of Dundee, The Royal College of Medicine, The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy

Similarly the Rix Centre collaborates with Businesses to share our research knowledge and work together to achieve viable models for putting our findings into practice for the benefit of people with learning disabilities.

Business partners have included: Macromedia (now Adobe), East Living, Xtensis, XOR, Outward Care, Tribal-CTec

The Rix Living Lab brings us into working partnership with the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Redbridge and Barking and Dagenham. We also have special collaborative relationships with local schools, especially Newham’s JFK 16+ School with whom we have a valuable and expanding work programme.

 

]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:48:31 +0000 Projects The Rix Centre’s research and development work has grown around a series of pioneering Projects that explore different technologies with people with learning disabilities and supporters in various learning and social care contexts.
Since 2006 we have established the Rix Living Lab as a specialist focus for our project work and we currently have two significant Projects in process in this unique R&D setting.

Current research projects include:

The Rix Living Lab – A collaboration with Newham Local Authority to explore the potential to provide accessible information for young people with learning disabilities on the themes of transition to adulthood and support for independent living after school.

Inclusive New Media Design – The project aims to encourage web designers, developers and editors to build websites and multimedia content accessible to people with learning disabilities.

Transition Portal Project – is using easy-build Websites with over 40 different small organisations across the London Borough of Newham.

Interactive Environments – We have created an interactive zone for young people with learning disabilities to communicate via video and media technology, the project is based in Tower Hamlets, East London.

The Big Tree – a new online community which is set to revolutionise access to the world wide web for people with a learning disability.

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:54:50 +0000 Our Mission Our mission is:
To help people tackle real world problems. People with learning disabilities need support to organise their thoughts, harness their memories and communicate and socialise effectively.

To support people with all kinds and ‘levels’ of learning disability.

To provide a professional community service with a proven track record of successful pilot projects, trials and testimonials.

To directly address key government guidance for ‘valuing people’ and to supplement person-centred support with technologies tailored for the user.

To manage the user’s engagement with the Internet by providing tools and services.  These make the Internet accessible for people with learning disabilities, bringing information to them and encouraging safe and rewarding contact with other people.

To combine academic rigour in researching technologies and training with practical experience of developing and delivering services in the community. This provides a ‘virtuous circle’ of innovation with feedback from the field.

To help people with learning disabilities to have a ‘voice’ through tools and support services, providing a route for them to communicate with others and take more control of their lives.

 

]]> Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:15:03 +0000 Our Approach This is how we approach our work at the Rix Centre:

Valuing People – we stress the need to shape everything we provide for people with learning disabilities with them.  We support them to voice their wishes, listen to what they communicate and shape our response accordingly.

Personalisation of services – our accessible information development and facilitation of self-advocacy helps service-users express their needs and preferences.  We help them explore their options and make informed choices to genuinely ‘self-direct’ the service package that they need to participate in the wider community.

Person-centred practice – we provide tools and training which make this achievable and easier to realise, even with people who have complex communication difficulties.

Transition support - our product packages, training workshops and models of good practice tackle the special challenges faced by people with learning disabilities in their lives, especially through the difficult transition into adult life in the wider community post school.

Technology-Assisted Learning – we research technology-assisted learning with people with learning disabilities.  We include their teachers, managers, assistants and the other parties involved in shaping E learning platforms, virtual learning environments and e folios. We raise issues and develop solutions, making tools for truly effective inclusive learning enabled by the latest technologies.

Web accessibility – we have developed a specialist understanding of the Web accessibility requirements of people with learning disabilities and explored a number of creative and technical approaches to address these issues. We provide advice and services for organisations seeking to get Web accessibility right for this community.  We demonstrate best practice in compliance with standards and legal directives.

Participatory research – our development and evaluation actively involves people with learning disabilities alongside researchers as well as families and professional carers.

Knowledge Transfer – we constantly broker between academic and technical expertise of Rix Centre staff and research partners and the users, practitioners, suppliers and policymakers.

]]> Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:14:18 +0000 My New Media Life The My New Media Life conference, co-sponsored by the Rix Centre and SCIE, will focus on the revolutionary changes people with learning disabilities achieve using multimedia.

They use computers, mobile phones, the Internet and cameras to help them: Advocate for themselves; Develop their support networks; and Enhance their social inclusion.

The Rix Centre is inviting some of the people with learning disabilities who use these new tools and practices to demonstrate their work at My New Media Life on 1st October 2008 at the British Museum.

The Rix Centre is supporting them to prepare for the event with a series of ‘New Media Champions’ workshops. People of all ages who have been using new media in life-changing ways in partnership with various organisations across the country will be helped to showcase their work and make effective presentations, mount displays and participate in workshops at the conference.

My New Media Life aims to inform social care directors and managers in the UK on the revolution in social care that can be achieved with multimedia.

 

 

This event is co-sponsored by Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) and supported by BP.

 

]]> Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:04:05 +0000 Latest News Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:19:09 +0000 Production

The Rix Centre provides both online and offline multimedia production services for clients working with the learning disability community. This includes:

-    Web Production
-    Software development
-    Offline media production
-    Information and support


We have an experienced production team that will design and build bespoke products in partnership with customers and users to create the best possible solutions. We can provide consultancy for developers and commissioners of all sorts of new media, as well as user testing and training for users with learning disabilities and staff to ensure that you get the best from our products.

The Rix Centre’s web production services:

  • provide bespoke and ‘off the peg’ accessible websites to target and include users with learning disabilities
  • address Web Accessibility Standards and comply with Disability Discrimination Act compliance.
  • deliver ‘corporate’ Websites with state of the art Content Management Systems (CMS) for easy moderation and maintenance by clients
  • design sites combining professional online communication with various inclusive features for the audience with learning disabilities
  • create participant Websites that enable users with learning disabilities to generate their own web content


The Rix Centre’s software development has specialised in the development of E Folios to enable the storage, retrieval and display of user-generated content by people with learning disabilities. E Folios can do so much more for people with learning disabilities than simply provide them with a store for their multimedia assets. At the Rix Centre we have developed their application to assist in a range of different aspects of the day to day lives of people with learning disabilities including; assisting communication, recording achievement, making ‘person-centred plans’, self-advocacy and social networking.

The Rix Centre’s offline media production services include video and DVD production, audio and display media for any situation. Our team will script and produce complete multimedia packages or single components applying our specialist skills in providing for the learning disability audience and engaging them as the work is undertaken to ensure best possible inclusion and accessibility.

The Rix Centre provides information and support online about multimedia production for people with learning disabilities through our practitioner’s website, The Big Tree. This site has been developed by the Rix Centre as an online home for everyone involved with the use of ICT and multimedia with the learning disability community. This large Website presents guidance material, instruction, review and commentary in a format that is accessible for users with learning disabilities with easy-read text and rich media, alongside more in-depth material for those wanting to read more. The Big Tree’s Research section describes recent developments in the multimedia and learning disability field from the Centre and our partners. The ‘Lundin Learning Zone’ section houses our growing repository of learning materials developed for people with learning disabilities to use.  

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:03:04 +0000 Content Management Solutions The Rix Centre’s ‘off the peg’ Website products that range from simple easy build flexible website packages for user generated content, to corporate content managed sites for a large organisation to grow its online presence while providing design and for people with learning disabilities.

Learning Disablity Partnership Boards
The West Midlands Learning Disability Partnership Board Website uses a simple and accessible content managment system (CMS). The website was created in collaboration the Partnership Board’s communication team. The communication team includes people who have a learining disability. The website’s CMS enables easy uploading of content for effective accessible communication for all members of the team. To find out more about the people involved see ’Lee’s Story’ or the visit the website click here.

More Examples

Easy Build Websites provide a flexible means of creating simple and accessible online information for a learning disabled audience – with people with learning disabilities themselves. The accessible content management system behind this site has been developed with people with learning disabilities in the Rix Living Lab to make it easy for them to be active content developers and editors of these uniquely easy to use websites. Training is available for users of all ability levels to participate in the population and moderation of these specialist websites.

To see some of the website visit the ’Growing up’ portal site.

Satellite & portal combinations have been developed to enable organisations to develop multiple websites to include their clients with learning disabilities as contributors to the web communications of their organisations. This is another tried and tested package developed by the Rix Centre in the Living Lab to enable people with learning disabilities to be included online. Satellite sites can be offered to small local groups or even individuals to use as their own sites or ‘Blogs’ with use of the portal to moderate, sieve, sort and present the resulting content that is developed according whatever themes or other criteria the organisation wishes to present. The Rix Centre has a complete Training Package to support this unque form of accessible and inclusive Website production.

To find out more visit the Newham Easy-read website.

Websites templates based on sophisticated Content Management Systems are available in standard formats that will suit small or large organisations with ambition to address accessibility and participation for people with learning disabilities. See recent client list for more info.

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:04:01 +0000 E Foliios E folios provide a format for the storage, retrieval and display of user-generated content and those developed by the Rix Centre enable people with learning disabilities to use these innovative new tools themselves. E Folios can do so much more for people with learning disabilities than simply provide them with a store for their multimedia assets. At the Rix Centre we have developed their application for assisting communication, recording achievement, person-centred planning, self-advocacy and social networking – and we are frequently discovering other ways in which e folios can be a valuable piece of assitive technology for users with learning disabilities.

]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:26:26 +0000 Learning & Support Materials The Big Tree Website has been developed by the Rix Centre as an online home for everyone involved with the use of ICT and multimedia with the learning disability community. This large Website presents guidance material, instruction, review and commentary in a format that is accessible for users with learning disabilities with easy-read text and rich media, alongside more in-depth material for those wanting to read more.

The Big Tree’s Research ‘roots’ describe the very latest developments in the multimedia and learning disability field from the Centre and our partners with a catalogue of links designed to provide the visitor with a comprehensive account of this dynamic and diverse subject.

The Big Tree also houses the Rix Centre’s growing repository of learning materials developed for people with learning disabilities to use in the Lundin Learning Zone.  This is a resource for teachers and learners with a special focus on usability for learners with intellectual disabilities.

In addition the Rix Centre is developing some small applications or ‘widgets’ to address the special obstacles that the learning disabilities user might encounter in their routine use of ICT. The first of these is a device that helps you to makes mouse use less confusing by turning off the right click function.

The Big Tree’s learning and support services can be complemented with our teaching & learning services.

]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:26:26 +0000 Seminars & Workshops The Rix Centre offers ‘one-off’ seminars and workshops to introduce the use of multimedia and ICT with people with learning disabilities to all sorts of audiences. We run Seminars with presentations to illustrate different ways of working and their benefits for both service-users and service provider organisations. Some of these are tailored for those in education, others focus on social care applications and some are creative and recreational in their approach.  

Workshops are particularly valuable for hands-on experience of various uses of new technology with people with learning disabilities. The University provides suites of computers with cameras, microphones and video that enable people to experience first hand the practical approaches and the benefits that they can bring for this community. We also take equipment out into the community to share the flexible ways in which multimedia and ICT can work for people in all sorts of situations Practical workshops are usually more inclusive so people with learning disabilities and supporters get a taste of the spectrum of different ways that these tools can be used to improve lives. Practical workshops often result in production of instant Websites in ways that demonstrate to all just how easy some of these processes can be using our easy-build websites and ‘no-fuss’ ways of working with new media.

The Rix Centre teaching team run a range of Seminars and Worshops at UEL and in various Centres across East London. We also take these sessions to conferences and networking meetings in places all around the world as part of our dissemination of these innovative approaches to supporting the learning disabilities community.

Click here for the Seminars and Workshops currently available and view some of our Workshop outlines and the Websites that have been made in them by clicking on these links.

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:58:07 +0000 Short Course themes The Rix Centre offers professional training courses with a difference for social carers, education and multimedia production professionals and family supporters. The unique aspect of our Short Courses is that they have places for people with learning disabilities alongside professionals and family members so that everyone can learn things from each other. Typical courses combine lectures with seminars and technical training.

Themes covered in Rix Centre Short Courses include:

  • Multimedia Advocacy for life-story telling, person-centred planning, health action planning, assistive communication etc
  • Web Accessibility for users with learning disabilities
  • Effective ICT support for inclusive e learning

Typical Short Courses are offered in 4 week module that involve one full day per week of teaching as well as required field- or home-work.

]]> Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:04:19 +0000 Graduate Course The Rix Centre offers modules, specialist seminars and lectures at both under-graduate and post-graduate levels.

Undergraduate modules: Introduction to Multimedia Advocacy, Level 0 – this module gives students the opportunity to learn and develop some practical skills and theoretical understanding of multimedia advocacy for people with learning disabilities. During the module students are introduced to some of the technologies that can be used to support person centred planning and working in general.  

For more info see module specification


Multimedia Advocacy Theory and Practice, Level 1 – this module focuses on the use of multimedia technologies as a tool for advocacy. Students build on the skills and knowledge acquired through their work practices and other courses to study different approaches to person centred planning. The emphases are on developing technical knowledge and skills as well as acquiring the theoretical knowledge that will help them to understand the people with learning disabilities, their barriers to communication and independence.

This module attempts to bridge the inclusion and the skills and knowledge divide constructed between service users and professionals. Students learn new ways in which they can include people with learning disabilities more and create ”Multimedia Advocacy Portfolio” that reflects the needs and wishes of individuals.

For more info see module specification

People with Learning Difficulties/Learning Disabilities: Policy and Practice A Social Perspective, Level 3

This module aims to develop a critical perspective on the development of theory, policy, practice and service provision for people with learning difficulties/disabilities. The module focuses on raising students’ awareness of factors and changes which shape contemporary social policy and social work practice regarding people with learning disabilities.

The Multimedia Advocacy component focuses on a critical perspective of the development of service provision for people with leaning disabilities. The module will help students to acquire research, practical multimedia advocacy and group work skills.
As part of this module students work in groups organising an information event for young people with learning disabilities. The aim of the event is to inform young people and their carers about the choices and opportunities that exist for the young people in the local boroughs after they leave secondary education.

For more info see module specification

Postgraduate modules

Master level - Law and Social Justice

This module aims to identify the social justice principles and legal context in which social work takes place. It promotes an understanding of the legal rights of service users and carers, the powers and duties of local authorities, other social work agencies, and of social work practitioners. It introduces students to notions of empowerment, anti-oppressive practice, the anti discrimination principles and their relationship to the social work role and the legal system. The module also introduces students to advocacy skills, and in particular to multimedia advocacy.

During this module student work closely with a young person who have a learning disability and together they construct a Multimedia Advocacy Portfolio that focuses on communication, skills, abilities, likes and dislikes of the young person.

For more info see module specification

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:58:07 +0000 Participants Around 145,000 adults in England have severe learning disabilities (0.28% of the total population) and a further 1.25 million people (2.5% of the total population) have mild and moderate learning disabilities. (‘Valuing People’ 2001).

It is estimated that over 17% of all families in England are affected by learning disability.
Adults with learning disabilities live:

  •   Hospital 1%
  •   With parents 50%2
  •   With other relatives 12%
  •   Alone 4%
  •   With partner 3%
  •   With supporting people 11%
  •   In residential care 19%

 

It is estimated that around 30,000 adults with learning disabilities in the UK live with their parents. For every person with a learning disability, there are over four other people affected within the family – parents, siblings and members of the extended family.

Nearly 20% of pupils in English schools have some form of identified Special Educational Needs (SEN), with nearly quarter of a million having a statement allocating funds to their support. A recent Times Educational Supplement Survey revealed that 37% of teachers had no initial teacher training in working with pupils with SEN, and 23% had only had a day or less.

Only 17% of people with learning disabilities of working age are in paid employment compared to 80% of non-disabled people.

A disproportionate number of people from South Asian, black and minority ethnic communities suffer from learning disabilities.

]]> Mon, 19 May 2008 12:43:38 +0000 Consultancy The Rix Centre provides a range of Consultancy and ‘Best Practice Services’ in partnership with practitioners and colleagues with learning disabilities and supporters with whom we work to make up a uniquely inclusive specialist service. These services includes accessibility and usability evaluation of web products, specialist market research and our unique capacity to trial or pilot products to order for clients in our very own ‘Living Lab’.

]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:58:07 +0000 Evaluation The best way to test whether the online communications that you devise for your