Regional Institute Rittmeyer for the Blind (Italy)

The coordinator of the project. It is an Azienda Pubblica di Servizi alla Persona, a regional public body that provides services for visually impaired people (VIP) with multiple disabilities and give them support to achieve their own best results. We offer services for all age people: from school support till the university one; from the vocational path for specific professions that our government reserves to them till the occupational working places; from the support in the daily life when they stay at home till the support (inside our premises) when they can anymore live alone.

Areas of activity

Linkage with the target group of the project (Persons with Visual Impairment; Professionals working with Persons with Visual Impairment; Experts in Assistive Technologies): Rittmeyer is a leading expert at regional/national level in the field of support of VIP, also in presence of multiple disabilities and older persons. Our team has now consolidated this approach towide-ranging methods and pathways, carefully planning the educational itinerary in the family, collaborating closely with the schools (in the case of youngster), proposing itself as a guide and reference in identifying the most suitable aids and
directing the choice of means, technologies and materials for the users.

Didactic/vocational area: school and extra school services, according to their individual needs: personalized school assistance, afternoon post school assistance, braille transcripts and texts with large fronts, remedial teaching and support with specialized teachers.

Rehabilitation/education area: the Rehabilitation centre for VIP offers services for the recovery and the rehabilitation of people with serious limits or permanent damages to eyesight. Interventions are able to support and rehabilitative VIP of any age on a visual level through sensory substitution, and on a psychological and physical level.

Vocational training: courses are managed by vocational training institutes, financed through regional grants and ESF grants, with organizational/educational assistance from Rittmeyer (courses for call-center operators in school rooms equipped with phone switchboards of the latest generation for the blind and visually impaired, IT courses in school rooms equipped with computers featured with devices for the visually impaired – Braille bar, Vocational synthesis, enlarging programs, graphical environment exploration).

Personalized re-education paths: laboratories which aim is the developing the degree of independence of the person, at stimulating the residual visus/senses other than eyesight (topics’ laboratory: computer literacy, motor educational, music therapy, Braille reading/writing, guidance, orientation&mobility and personal/domestic autonomy).

Multi handicap area: occupational laboratory for VIP with additional disabilities (weaving, ceramic manufacturing, wicker weaving and decoration, other handcraft productions).

Social context is in the first place our Region, Friuli Venezia Giulia and then the all country.

Approximate number of paid/unpaid staff: The size is today of a staff of 53 people and these people represent the multidisciplinary team of experts for all the visually impaired guests (from some months old till more than a century years old).

Website: http://www.istitutorittmeyer.it/

Berufsförderungswerk Düren Gemeinnützige GmbH Zentrum Für Berufliche Bildung Blinder Und Sehbehinderter Menschen (BFW) (Germany)

The Berufsförderungswerk Düren (abbrev.: “BFW Düren”) is a vocational rehabilitation centre for blind and partially sighted adults. The BFW Düren exists since 1978 and carries out several services according the inclusion of people with vision impairment. The training centre with 104 staff members offers training capacity for approx. 160 visually impaired adult students. The organization offers vocational training which provides a professional qualification after a final examination. Furthermore, this organization provides ICT training for the target group. An essential subject in this field is the introduction
into new technologies and assistive devices. As an example, this organisation was one of the first in Germany, which offered courses for 3D printing and Virtual Reality for this target group.

Other services of the organisation are consulting, assessment, application for employment and job placement. The company has a branch office in Hamburg. Since 1998, BFW Düren has realised more than 37 national or EU-funded projects. The section R&D is responsible to canvass and execute the projects. The organisation was responsible for the coordination of 25 of these projects.

The organization is embedded in regional and national networks and umbrella organizations for the target group and can use these connections to disseminate the project. The BFW Düren is a founding member of the “European Network for Vision Impairment Training Education & Research” (ENVITER) and thus well connected on a European level to exchange experiences in the field of vocational training for the target group.

Website:  http://www.bfw-dueren.de/

Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen Österreichs (Austria) 

The Hilfsgemeinschaft (Austrian Association supporting the Blind and Visually Impaired) (short: HG) has existed since 1935 as a secular, non-profit association without affiliations to a political party or group. The goal is to improve the living conditions of visually impaired and blind people. At present we provide support and guidance for about 7,000 members from all over Austria, most of them over the age of 55 years old. Membership is free for visually impaired and blind people, and enables them to access many services free of charge. The Hilfsgemeinschaft has held the Donations Management Quality Seal since 2001. Our donors can be sure that we manage their donations precisely as they intended.

We offer very comprehensive services for our more than 7,000 blind and partially sighted members, e.g. social law advice (care allowance, disability pass, etc.), advice on aids, a wide range of leisure activities on topics such as art and culture, courses and learning, sport and socializing, district groups. We raise awareness via our media channels (printed journals, newsletter, accessible website, social media), we organize events and workshops, we train various target groups in dealing with people with disabilities. We represent their interests in cooperating and networking. We are involved in national and international organizations, committees and projects for people with disabilities, accessibility, accessible web inclusion,
mobility & transportation, aids & new technologies, work as well as standardization and norms. We work with companies and public institutions to improve accessibility in various areas (startups, innovative projects, websites and apps, documents and print products, goods and services, planning & building).

The Hilfsgemeinschaft advises companies, service providers, public institutions and other NPOs on the subject of accessibility and supports in making their products and services accessible. In today’s digital world, accessibility is crucial. An accessible website or app means that it is accessible to all people, regardless of their individual abilities or limitations. People with different disabilities use the internet every day to find information, shop, exchange information on social networks and much more. Digital accessibility ensures that no one is excluded from these opportunities due to physical, cognitive or sensory disabilities.

At Hilfsgemeinschaft, we are experts in the field of digital accessibility and help developers and companies to make their website or app usable for everyone. We analyze products and services and give recommendations for improvement measures. In our tests, we incorporate the applicable technical specifications and laws, such as the guidelines of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Our experts carry out independent accessibility tests in which both visually impaired and blind test persons and accessibility experts apply standardized procedures in accordance with the international WCAG criteria. We check the screen reader suitability, usability and user-friendliness of platforms and provide detailed evaluations as well as concrete suggestions for improvement for existing accessibility deficiencies.

We have 26 full-paid and 30 part time-paid staff and 310 volunteers. We have a well-structured database and communication channel to reach out and disseminate information to our 7,000 members as well as to the general public.

Website: https://www.hilfsgemeinschaft.at/