SISCODIS (Communication System for Disabled Users)
Fundación Telefónica has been working for a number of years on a communicating device for people with cerebral palsy. The project, called SICLA, has two versions. Its success demonstrated that, among other things, aiming it at a one particular disability was a limitation. Thus, Fundación Telefónica decided to go one step further and to work on developing a more integrated, universal communicator. This new project, referred to as SISCODIS, is designed for users with any type of disability. The program’s first version (SISCODIS 1.0) was published in 2008, and it is now available for free in the software section on the web portal:
www.siscodis.es
RETADIS Project in Spain
Approval was given in 2008 to continue with the RETADIS project (“territorial network of computers adapted for the disablesd”). RETADIS is part of the Avanza Plan by the Spanish Ministry of Industry and its Secretary of State for Telecommunications and the Information Society. The first phase of the project, which ended in 2007, has subsequently continued, thanks to funding from Fundación Telefónica. The purpose of RETADIS is to set up a territorial network of computers specially adapted for the disabled, installed in the offices of 19 associations, one in each Autonomous Community and in the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla. In order to launch this project, Fundación Telefónica drew from its years of experience in adapting computers to the needs of people with all types of disabilities, such as motor and speech limitations, blindness and visual deficiencies, deafness, learning problems and alternative communication issues.
Among the goals of this new phase: to continue maintaining common elements on the web, such as the Internet portal for technical assistance and the User Assistance Center; to upgrade equipment in the 19 already existing centers and extend this by seven new ones in Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Castile-La Mancha, Castile and Leon, Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia; to add a Training Plan with both face-to-face and on-line courses, supported by Telefónica Volunteers.
More information:
http://www.retadis.es/
New Hope in Venezuela
As part of collaboration agreement between Fundación Telefónica and the Venezuelan ProCura Paralysis Foundation, in 2008 more than 100 wheelchairs were donated for low-income individuals with motor disabilities. Each beneficiary receives a chair appropriate to his physical age, characteristics and particular mobility requirements, following a meticulous study of each case. The handover ceremonies, held in various regions of the country, were attended by countless Telefónica Volunteers. Thanks to this initiative, to date, more than 2,200 wheelchairs have been donated.
