Unified (Federated) Listing validation procedure
This page is used to work at the "validation procedure" that will be followed to store information on AT product in the Unified Listing database (also known as Solution Registry). The figure below shows where the validation procedure fits in the connection scheme between EASTIN and the GPII Unified Listing.
Contents
1. Who will do the validation
validation is not completely automatic, it must be done by a human aided by automatic functions. He/she must be an expert in ICT assistive technology products; he/she should have a deep knowledge of the AT products available on the market (ideally have used most of them or have the possibility to test them in a Laboratory)
2. Steps of the validation procedure
the results of the query (i.e. the data retrieved form EASTIN) are analized by the validator that has to:
- decide what products are of interest for GPII unified listing (according to Inclusion/exclusion criteria described below)
- find out duplicated products (aided by automatic functions)
- information of duplicates is merged into one record (automatic procedure) that will include:
- all the commercial names (alias)
- all the manufacturer names (In principle only one manufacturer name should be present for a product. Anyway there might be the case of products whose manufacturer is not easily identifiable (in case of open source software for example)).
- all the ISO codes
- all the images
- all the text descriptions
- the sum of the detailed information
- Validator reads the merged information and, if needed, completes the data
- Validator adds settings for the product (automatically if the product is Cloud4all compliant??)
3. Inclusion/exclusion criteria
In the GPII Unified Listing only part of the product records coming from the EASTIN databases will be included. A proposal for the general inclusion criteria could be the following: ICT based Assistive Technology products that enable accessibility and usability of mainstream ICT products and services by addressing and overcoming deficiencies in the design of ICT that pose barriers for people with a disability. This definition, taken from the EU study: "Deloitte (2010): Inception-Internal market for inclusive and assistive ICT, targeted market analysis and legislative aspects. European Commission Directorate General for Information Society and Media (Study SMART 2008/0067)", excludes the following AT products:
- ICT based AT products for independence in daily life activities not connected to the use of ICT products and services (e.g. a voice output communication aid, an electronic memory aid, a bar code reader with voice output, …)
- ICT Products for training in skills (e.g. software for training in reading or writing).
- "low tech" accessories (e.g. a mounting system for fixing a push button on a wheelchair) or products (e.g. a mouth stick used to type on a keyboard)
It must be noticed anyway that some products can have multiple functionalities and purposes (e.g. the software “the grid 2” manufactured by “sensory software” is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication software that can also be used to simplify access to some of the functions of the computer). Since we want the Unified Listing to be as comprehensive as possible, all products that can also be used as solutions for accessing ICT products and services (even if their main function is different) will be included in the Unified Listing.
The first filter for retrieving only ICT assistive products from the EASTIN databases (that also includes other kinds of assistive technology products such as products for personal mobility, products for personal care, …) will be based on the ISO 9999 classification. The following table is a proposal for ISO 9999 codes to be retrieved:
ISO code |
Title |
Definition |
221224 |
Word processing software |
Software for writing, organizing and storing text, including mathematical and scientific notation, e.g. desktop publishing software, word processing software made for alternative control or accessories for word processors; Included are, e.g., software for using Braille. Included EASTIN subdivisions: Word-processing software; Desktop publishing software |
221821 |
Decoders for videotext and text television |
Devices for translating videotext into artificial speech and decoding spoken output to provide video captions; Excluded are speech recognition systems. Included EASTIN subdivisions:Real time captioning systems; Delayed captioning systems; Captioning services |
222112 |
Face-to-face communication software |
Software for producing messages for direct communication; Included is, e.g., embedded software that facilitates face-to-face communication. |
222406 |
Telephones for mobile networks |
Included are, e.g., car telephones and portable short-range telephones and hands-free models and camera-equipped models. |
222424 |
Telecommunication and telematics software |
Software for verbal and visual communication between computers via the computer network; Included are, e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony (IP) software. Included EASTIN subdivisions: Telecommunication and telematics software; Voice over IP Services |
222715 |
Calendars and timetables |
Devices for storing and organizing data on planned activities; Included are, e.g., special calendar software. Included EASTIN subdivisions: Calendar software; Electronic Calendar |
222724 |
Monitoring and positioning systems |
Devices for observing the status or location of a specific situation or a person; Included are, e.g., global positioning systems (GPS) Included EASTIN subdivisions: Registration of persons without identification; Remote video monitoring systems; Satellite navigation systems |
223003 |
Reading materials with audible output |
Media for storing written data to present it in spoken form Digital documents readers; Digital document reading (text to speech) service |
223021 |
Character-reading machines |
Devices for reading and transforming written text into alternative forms of visual, auditory and tactile communication Included EASTIN subdivisions: Paper documents reading devices; OCR software; Portable scanner with electronic dictionary |
223306 |
Portable computers and personal digital assistants (PDA) |
Computers that can be powered with batteries and thus can be used anywhere; Included are, e.g., computers in combination with mobile phones such as smartphones. |
223312 |
Operating software |
Included EASTIN subdivisions: Software interfaces for computers and mobile devices; Operating systems |
223315 |
Browser software and communication software |
Included are, e.g., software for SMS, WAP and e-mail.; |
223603 |
Keyboards |
Included are, e.g., Braille keyboards.; Included EASTIN subdivisions: Keyboards with a special design; Programmable (concept) Keyboards; Keyboard shields and keyboard gloves; Programmable keyboard configuration tool |
223612 |
Alternate input devices |
Included are, e.g., optical scanners, speech recognition units, touch sensitive boards, data gloves and brain-computer interfaces. Included EASTIN subdivisions: Software for accessing the computer in scanning mode; Eyegaze system; Speech recognition software; Optical scanner, stationary; Optical scanner, hand held; Datagloves; EEG, EOG or EMG controlled input devices |
223615 |
Input accessories |
Devices for linking the input systems with the computer; Included are, e.g., stand-alone word banks and word lists, multiports, cables and boards. Included EASTIN subdivisions: Switch interfaces; Accessories for input devices |
223618 |
Input software |
Included are, e.g., one-finger drivers and screen keyboards.; Included EASTIN subdivisions: On screen keyboard; Mouse control software; Word prediction and word termination software; Software for adjusting input devices response; Software based electronic dictionaries; Computer based sound collections |
223621 |
Assistive products to position screen pointer and to select items on computer display |
Devices used as an alternative to a computer mouse; Included are, e.g., touch pads and computer joysticks. Included EASTIN subdivisions:Touch screens; Trackballs, mousetrappers and touchpads; Traditional mouse devices and pen mouse devices; Joystick mouse device; Switch operated computer mice; Computer and console joysticks; Body movement controlled mice |
223904 |
Visual computer displays and accessories |
Devices that display information from a computer visually and accessories that enlarge or otherwise enhance text and images on a computer monitor; Included are, e.g., large print displays, screen magnifiers and glare reduction screens. |
223905 |
Tactile computer displays |
Devices that display information from a computer tactilely; Included are, e.g., Braille displays and tactile graphic displays. |
223907 |
Audible computer displays |
Devices that display information from a computer audibly through speech or other sound; Included are, e.g., speech synthesizers. |
223912 |
Special output software |
Included are, e.g., software that enlarges the text and graphics displayed on a computer screen, software that reads the display and converts it to speech (screen reader). Included EASTIN subdivisions: Magnifying software; Screen reader software; Software for adjusting color combination and text size; Software to modify the pointer appearance |
240918 |
Switches (on/off or other functions) |
Devices that activate or deactivate an electrical circuit. Included are, e.g., push-buttons for electrical devices. |
241303 |
Environmental control systems |
Systems for operating devices from a distance Included EASTIN subdivisions: remote controller; Receiver unit for environmental control; Switch latches and timers |
241306 |
Personal environmental control software |
|
as described above, the validator will then be responsible of deciding what product should be included in the Unified Listing
Example of validation procedure
The following is just an example ment to generate discussion.
EASTIN sends a set of records each including the following details:
- commercial Name
- image
- ISO codes
- Manufacturer name and country
- insert date
- last update
- Source database
- provider country
- text description
- technical details (multiple fields)
The validator goes through the product list. For each product he/she:
- decides if it should be included in the Unified Listing (according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria).
- If the product is to be included then he/she activates the “similarity function”. Result list is sorted according to the similarity with the selected product (see figure below). The validator then decides on records that represent the same product. Also product records already stored in the Unified Listing must be compared with the list of results.
commercial Name |
image |
ISO codes |
Manufacturer name |
… |
Evaluate similarity | |
ACE CENTRE - SAW 5 |
<image displayed here> |
22.36.18 |
ACE CENTRE |
|
| |
ASSISTIVEWARE - SWITCH XS |
<image displayed here> |
22.36.18 |
ASSISTIVEWARE B.V. |
|
| |
SAW 5 |
<image displayed here> |
22.36.18 |
ACE Centre Advisory Trust |
|
| |
… |
|
|
|
|
|
When the "Select as base for comparison" function is activated the list is sorted according to similarity
commercial Name |
image |
ISO codes |
Manufacturer name |
… |
Automatically evaluated similarity |
Same product? |
ACE CENTRE - SAW 5 |
<image displayed here> |
22.36.18 |
ACE CENTRE |
|
BASE for comparison |
BASE for comparison |
SAW 5 |
<image displayed here> |
22.36.18 |
ACE Centre Advisory Trust |
|
>90% |
YES/NO |
ASSISTIVEWARE - SWITCH XS |
<image displayed here> |
22.36.18 |
ASSISTIVEWARE B.V. |
|
90%<similarity<70% |
YES/NO |
… |
… |
… |
… |
… |
… |
… |
- Merged detailed information on records representing the same product are shown for a final validation. If any relevant information is missing (e.g. a supported operating system for a software) the validator may decide to add the information. If this is done an alert will be sent automatically (by mail) to the information provider(s) that do not have this information included in their record. When the info is complete he/she press “save the record”.
Source: database + country |
SIVA (IT) |
Vlibank (BE) |
DLF (UK) |
Merged information | |
Names |
ACE CENTRE - SAW 5 |
SAW 5 |
Saw5 Lite |
ACE CENTRE - SAW 5; SAW 5; Saw5 Lite
| |
Images |
<image displayed here> |
<image displayed here> |
<image displayed here> |
<All images are shown>
| |
ISO codes |
22.36.18 |
22.36.15 |
22.36.18 |
22.36.18; 22.36.15;
| |
manufacturer names + country |
ACE Centre Advisory Trust (UK) |
ACE CENTRE (UK) |
Ace Centre (UK) |
Ace center; ACE Centre Advisory Trust;
| |
insert date |
21/10/2011 |
21/10/2011 |
21/10/2011 |
<the oldest date is reported > | |
last update |
21/09/2012 |
21/09/2012 |
21/09/2012 |
<the most recent date is reported, if any change is done then current date is reported> | |
text description |
Software for computers running Windows, enabling control by switches, joystick, trackerball or a headpointer…. |
Software for computers running Windows, enabling control by switches, joystick, trackerball or a headpointer…. |
Software for computers running Windows and Mac OS, enabling control by switches, joystick, trackerball or a headpointer…. |
<all description are reported>
| |
technical details (multiple fields) |
INPUT DEVICES |
INPUT ADJUSTMENTS |
- |
<The sum of technical details is reported>
| |
SAVE the Record |
|
Steps 1, 2, 3 are repeated for the next product.
In the first stage this procedure might require some time because many products need to be stored in the Unified Listing. After that initial “bulk storing” the following queries will only return new product records or products that have been updated.
- Detailed settings for the specific product are added….<DRAFT clarification are still needed for this part>