Assistive abilities in latest Act
The Disability Discrimination Act has been in force for 15 years, but the channel opportunities remain largely unexplored. Sam Trendall looks at efforts to raise awareness of assistive technology
“An act to make it unlawful to discriminate against disabled persons in connection with employment, the provision of goods, facilities and services or the disposal or management of premises; to make provision about the employment of disabled persons; and to establish a National Disability Council.”
The premise of the Disability Discrimination Act would seem to hold little particular significance for the channel, beyond the usual employer obligations. It rarely gets mentioned alongside virtualisation, desktop hosting or, dare we say it, cloud computing as a potential source of new and lucrative revenue streams.
But the implications for the provision of IT, in both the public and private sectors, could be massive. And many of us, in most cases without even knowing it, are already using assistive technology in our daily lives.
Increasing awareness
Awareness of the idea of assistive technology and its connotations is far from broad. And among those with at least a passing appreciation of the concept, the assumption may be that these technologies apply endemically to people with severe physical disability.
But as far back as 1999, the term has been given a much wider remit – one that could apply to relatively mainstream technologies such as speech recognition and note-taking software.
The report of the Royal Commission on Long-Term Care for the Elderly defines assistive technology as: “Any device or system that allows an individual to perform a task they would otherwise be unable to do, or increases the ease and safety with which the task can be performed.”
This definition – something that increases the ease and safety with which everyday tasks can be undertaken – is one that can seemingly be applied to every piece of technology, from the wheel to the iPhone 4. And yet the idea of assistive technology is still a new one to many users and channel firms.
But the need to make provisions for disabled employees has been enshrined in law for 15 years, and nowadays large public sector tenders or procurement frameworks will address the legal obligations of the Disability Discrimination Act. Many large enterprise projects will also cover the need to provide technology to facilitate the work of disabled staff.
Home Access
Assistive technology was in the spotlight six weeks ago with the launch of the final leg of Becta’s Home Access scheme. The programme, which comes to an end later this year, contained funding to provide 270,000 PCs with internet connections to children from low-income families. Within the scheme’s budget was a ring-fenced allowance for the provision of 12,000 assistive technology grants.
Jo Chart, Becta’s marketing co-ordinator for assisted technology on the Home Access scheme, said awareness was the watchword as Becta and its suppliers seek to award the remaining grants before the project’s expiration date.
“We are promoting awareness now and encouraging people to apply,” she says. “Parents can sit with their child and work. It is a way for the child to connect with the family and access all the online resources that really will help them.”
Chart added that the assistive technology leg of the scheme – the contract for which was awarded to reseller XMA and specialist tech supplier Iansyst – had required careful assessment of the capabilities of suppliers.
“We need to make sure the companies involved can support these children’s needs,” she explained.
Elaine Needham, XMA’s head of marketing, agreed that expertise was key to fulfilling such a specialised project. “We need to ensure we deliver the right level of service at the front end,” she said.
The assistive technology grants continue to be handed out, with about half still up for grabs. About a third have already been fulfilled, and those wishing to take advantage of the scheme have until December to apply.
The Home Access project makes it clear that channel firms dabbling in assistive technology can provide a valuable service for disabled people – and find valuable new revenue streams for themselves in the process. But incorporating the kit into your portfolio is not quite as easy as getting in touch with your local Cisco, HP or IBM distributor.
Ian Litterick, chairman at Iansyst, said this is why Iansyst is the first assistive technology specialist to court the channel in a dedicated and meaningful way. He adds that the firm has already worked with a variety of top-level VARs and integrators – including XMA – and is eager to establish deeper and more formalised relationships.
“We have just done a knowledge event for VARs and given them a catalogue and an explanation document outlining where we can help,” he said. “Your average VAR is not going to know much about assistive technology. The large ones will, to an extent, as it is becoming more mainstream.”
Most public sector framework agreements require suppliers to be able to supply assistive technology, he says. “That is where we come in – we can make sure the pitch is correct.”
Going mobile
Iansyst’s product set covers hardware, software and peripherals addressing a wide range of disability needs, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, loss of sight or hearing and mobility problems. One of the jewels of the portfolio is text-to-speech conversion software CapturaTalk.
Having long been available on desktops and laptops, Iansyst claims CapturaTalk is the first such application available for mobile phones. Its aim is to help students with cognitive, physical and sensory impairments.
The company says it can help resellers in dealing with the incorporation of assistive technology during the tendering process, right through to pre-sales, consultancy and installation, and can also offer second-line support.
“We will go in and help with the assessment and with advising the client, and not just on the IT side,” says Litterick. “We will also do one-on-one or group training with the reseller.”
The exact implications of the Disability Discrimination Act will differ from company to company, but the legislation applies equally to employers of all shapes and sizes. Litterick said that many organisations in both the public and commercial sector are increasingly aware of their obligations.
“It has taken some time, but people have become aware of the implications for recruitment. But they may be less aware of the implications for making reasonable adjustments [for disabled employees],” he explains.
“The public sector has been a little bit quicker to take on the implications of the act – particularly in the education sector. But it does apply to everybody. We are seeing the large companies getting quite [aware of] their obligations, but we need to see this happening on a more local scale with smaller companies.
“IT is particularly important, not just for specialist companies such as ours, but also for VARs and computer shops.”
Iansyst has often worked directly with customers, but Litterick stressed that his firm is eager to work with channel firms. Developing and maintaining assistive technology skills of their own would be too onerous for most businesses in the channel, he adds.
“There is a lot going on and it is a fairly obvious area to look for a specialist to support you, rather than try to do things in-house,” says Litterick. “I think we are the first among our competitors to go out and take a broad look at the channel. We are looking for long-term relationships."