Handicom
Computer & communication aids for the handicapped
Handicom is a
commercial organisation focusing on development and support of
software and communication tools for handicapped persons. Founded
in 1987, Handicom has been pushing forward the frontier of software
technology, to make Information Technology both accessible and
usable. It's main activities are:
- Development of new
software, mainly for AAC-users and their facilitators. These
products are marketed throughout Europe by Handicom and partner
companies.
- Development of software
components, to be used by third-party developers in their
applications, such as other AAC manufacturers or the KPN, the Dutch
Telecom Company.
- Participation in end-user
focused projects in giving support in (limited) research and
design, bridging theory and practise by assuring technical
feasibility of designs and providing implementations of the
designs.
- Provision of consulting
and technical support on an individual basis to find solutions for
optimising working environments.
Most of the work is focused
on AAC-users and their facilitators. Limitations in written
language, cognitive and/or motor disabilities prevent these persons
from using standard computer software and hardware, keeping modern
Information Technology at bay. Proper symbol language support and
alternatives for input devices such as keyboard and/or mouse offer
huge potentials for these persons.
Research & Development
In the past, Handicom has produced symbol-based word processors,
inter-personal communication programmes, and support tools for
speech therapists and rehabilitation centres. R&D activities
involved symbol access strategies and unified access to symbol
libraries.
Handicom was a consortium partner in two projects in the previous
TIDE phase: Comspec (TP 1169) and SignPS (TP 1202), and has also
been involved in several national projects. Recently, Handicom is
involved in a project with the KPN (the Dutch national telephone
company) in order to establish a virtual community on the web for
symbol users and their peers, including teachers, parents and
friends. In all these projects, Handicom has gained a high level of
expertise in AAC, in software engineering with various hardware and
software platforms, and in project management.
Handicom is an active member of ISAAC, the International Society of
Augmentative and Alternative Communication with many national
chapters around the world.
People working at Handicom have given a number of presentations at
international conferences such as ISAAC, TIDE, RESNA and others.
Software developments are currently mostly done using development
tools such as Delphi (Object Oriented Pascal programming language)
and J-Builder (Java programming language), although C++ and some
assembler is being used if the client so requests.
Using these tools and having a modular approach during most of the
developmental work, many components of one product can be re-used
into other projects, maximising the output for minimal costs.
Sometimes such software components are marketed on their own as
building blocks for third party developers.
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