The ‘Opening Up Technology’ (OUT) project has been funded by SCVO (supported by the Scottish Governement and BT).

It will equip deafblind people with the skills and confidence to maximise the use of assistive technology to support them in their everyday information needs. OUT will increase deafblind people’s capacity to maximise the benefits of assistive technology by providing interactive training sessions on assistive technology (iPads, smart phones etc) through one to one outreach at deafblind people’s homes or location of their choosing ie local library etc. This project will aim to have a focus on deafblind people currently not accessing accessible technology and who have limited or no basic digital skills.

To optimise success, the project will work in tandem with our Connect 2 Support Welfare Rights Programme. The Connect 2 Support (C2S) programme aims to make social welfare and welfare rights more accessible for deafblind, deaf and/or blind adults. A little known fact is that for those applying for Universal Credit have to be able to do this online as there are now no paper forms and no capacity to download it is all electronically completed. The programme maximises the economic environment and rights of individuals so they can have a better quality of life and alleviates poverty and distress. The C2S team will connect their beneficiaries as appropriate to OUT.

There will be a range of accessible digital technology at the Deafblind Scotland Learning and Development Centre for you to come and try out, and learn on. These include; iPad’s, Synaptic Tablets, Orbit Braille Reader, Video Magnifiers, Accessible PC’s (loaded with JAWs, ZoomText and Dolphin software), accesssible mobile phone and other items.

If you would like to try any equipment or if you would like help using your existing equipment, please contact the Project Officer – Ruth Hart:

0141 777 6111

information@dbscotland.org.uk

You can find out more about the Scotland’s Digital Participation Charter here.