A taskforce for making ATMs accessible for blind and visually impaired people has been recently set up in Austria in order to define the technical guidelines for making ATMs accessible to the blind and visually impaired.

ATLEC (Assistive Technology Learning through a Unified Curriculum) is currently conducting a European survey on the training and usage of assistive technologies (AT).

The story of a visually impaired Czech ECDL Tester, Marek Sikora, has been recognised at EU level, as he has been selected as a finalist for the category ‘I Am Part of IT Award’ of the European ‘eInclusion Awards 2012’.

ECDL Foundation celebrated, on 12 May 2012, the ‘Festival of Europe’ with the European Commission at ‘European Institutions Open Day’ to mark the increasing need for digital skills to support Europe’s growth. 

ECDL Foundation partnered, on 27 April 2012, with AGE Platform Europe to promote older people’s digital inclusion during the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations and launched an updated ICT Training programme adapted to older people’s needs.

European eSkills Week 2012, the information campaign aimed to develop Information Society, promote eSkills and the ICT professions throughout Latvia, took place from the 26 to 30 March 2012 with more than 36 000 participants.

On 11 March 2012, the VERITAS project  presented its first two videos on accessible design, introducing simulation based and virtual reality testing at all stages of product design and development in the automotive and smart living spaces, the workplace and eHealth and infotainment applications areas.

A consortium of researchers and user organisations from across Europe is investigating the accessibility of Web 2.0 applications for disabled and older people, as announced by the relevant I2Web project responsible on 26 October 2011. The consortium will then create new tools to help developers produce applications that are more accessible to these groups.

European Commission Vice-President and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) addressed, on 14 October 2011, delegates at the ECDL Foundation Forum on the key role that digital skills have to play in driving economic growth, and in reducing the risk of digital exclusion faced by individuals without the skills in their effort to access technology.