State of the Art on INVAT Activities

In the two-year period 2021-2022, the work of the Istituto Nazionale di Valutazione Ausili e Tecnologie (National Institute of Aids and Technology Assessment) has been consolidated on several fronts. Given the compulsory regulatory deadlines concerning the accessibility of IT platforms, there has been an increase in the evaluation and validation of Web portals. INVAT has in fact been asked for advice in this regard by major entities, such as credit institutions, public administrations, and private companies. Collaborations include, but are not limited to: Banca MPS, Banca BPER and Banca Intesa Sanpaolo; the City of Bologna, the City of Vinovo through the ePublic company, and Poste Italiane in synergy with Auticon, an organization that deals specifically with cognitive disabilities (autism); CNOP (National Council of the Association of Psychologists), Namirial (company providing digital trust services in the business sector), Collegio Geometri Bologna, MOBY (Italian maritime navigation company) and Logotel (company providing digital services for various organizations). 

INVAT has undertaken relevant avenues for the accessibility and usability of household appliances: a collaboration was established with SMEG, a company with which a feasibility study was carried out for the complete usability of the induction hobs. Important contacts are also underway with UNI (the Italian standardization body in the industrial, commercial, and service sectors) for the establishment of a permanent working table for the drafting of universal guidelines towards the design of devices that are accessible and usable by people living with vision loss. Work on the DARE project (Devices Aids REgister) also continued with much success, with important results such as the organization of a few conferences, as well as the very recent publication of the first data on the characteristics of visually impaired adult users assisted by the centres participating in the study. INVAT offered its support for the development of two projects initiated by the national leadership of the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted: the project LETIsmart (www.letismart.it), a system for the independent mobility of people living with vision loss, and U.I.C.I. – SmartyPBX (www.evoseed.io), a project to support agile working for blind and visually impaired telephone operators. In addition, dissemination activities continue, again for the benefit of people living with vision loss, in the field of technology and independent living through various channels: the Orizzonti Multimediali column broadcast on Slash Radio Web of the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted, the publication of the ICT News magazine on the pages of the INVAT website (www.invat.info) and the production of several popular videos and podcasts published on our Institute’s YouTube channel.

In collaboration with I.Ri.Fo.R and the Italian Union of Blind and Partially Sighted People, INVAT is working on the introduction of Edico, a software programme distributed free of charge in Italy, expressly aimed at the study of scientific disciplines throughout the school curriculum, from primary school to university. It was produced by ONCE in collaboration with the Complutense University of Madrid. To conclude this overview, it can be said that INVAT is finding its place and identity within the framework of the activities proposed by the Italian Union of Blind and Partially Sighted People, in cooperation with the institutes for the blind in Milan and Bologna, I.Ri.Fo.R and typhlotechnical consulting centres.

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