A series of ‘digital health hubs’ are being set up across the UK to teach digital skills and train people to use the internet to improve their knowledge about health, nutrition, wellness and fitness issues. The project is the result of a partnership between the Online Centres Foundation, which manages digital inclusion network UK online [...]

By Brenda O’Mulloy.

I have had a fantastic year as Age UK’s Internet Champion of 2012. First there was the honour of winning, followed by the excitement of being broadcast live on BBC radio, speaking at high profile conferences and events and being interviewed by a variety of newspapers and magazines all with the aim of extolling the virtues of using the internet in later life.

A grassroots digital inclusion project that toured the UK with an internet station in a portable cabin, helping residents increase their computer skills, is looking to start up again during 2013 and has put a call out for host destinations. Our Digital Planet ( http://bit.ly/VICWRV ) was run by social investment body Nominet Trust during 2012. [...]

Research and investment priorities for the digital economy and development of internet services and mobile devices must reflect the needs of disabled and elderly people, a telecommunications expert has warned.

A “change in mind set” on digital inclusion is needed by organisations in all sectors after a general failure to create accessible digital systems – particularly for those with a disability or the elderly – a new report by technology access charity AbilityNet says.

Elderly people who regularly use the internet are less likely to suffer from depression, new research from a US university has found.

The research, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, found that regular internet usage in retired Americans aged 50 and older reduced depression by 20-28% and helped promote mental well-being among this group.

Go ON Gold, a new national campaign to raise awareness about the barriers faced by disabled people in accessing modern technologies, from the internet to smartphones and digital TV, was launched this week by a consortium of partners lead by Headstar, the publisher of E-Access Bulletin.

Running for a year from summer 2012 to summer 2013, Go ON Gold is being launched ahead of the London Paralympics to capitalise on a stronger- than-usual public focus on disability issues.

A new network of 51 specialist organisations across England have been funded to help local computer users with a disability or learning difficulty to get online and use government services.

Today’s technologically-skilled young people are likely to face significant web accessibility problems as they grow older, similar to those faced by elderly computer users today, a professor of computing has said.

Online communities built around popular video games could help build social inclusion for disadvantaged groups including disabled people, a digital games expert involved in a new European research project told E-Access Bulletin.

A plan to create an online “knowledge base” of resources relating to digital inclusion for older people is being drawn up by Age Action Alliance, an umbrella group of companies and charities led by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Judging criteria for a second series of European digital inclusion awards are set to be unveiled by the European Commission, three years after the first international awards were presented at a digital inclusion conference in Vienna. UK winners under the 2008 scheme included Milton Keynes Council and the Welsh Assembly Government. Plans for a new scheme [...]