IDRC - Celebrating 25 Years

1993 - 2018

Continuing Our Work During COVID-19

Read the letter regarding COVID-19 by IDRC Director, Jutta Treviranus.

Completed Projects

Direct links to Completed Project Websites:

Project Descriptions:

  • Accessibility and VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language)
    How can 3D web interfaces be used by persons with disabilities?
  • A-Prompt
    A-Prompt (Accessibility Prompt) is a software tool that provides HTML authors with prompts, recommendations and solutions to make their Web pages more accessible.
  • AGC (Access Guide Canada)
    An online searchable directory of accessible resources and venues throughout Canada. This community-based site invites visitors to contribute accessible resources to the directory. The ATRC is responsible for the creation of the database architecture and website. The project is sponsored by the Canadian Abilities Foundation.
  • Adding Feeling, Audio and Equal Access to Distance Education
    Adding haptic and multilingual capabilities to VRML.
  • The Audio Look and Feel
    Communicating text, graphics, format or layout on the screen to users who are blind, vision impaired or learning disabled through text-to-speech and non-speech audio.
  • Barrier-Free Broadband Learning Environments
    The Barrier-free project supports educators in creating and repurposing learning content that is accessible to all learners. It provides learners with on-line curriculum that adapts to their individual learning and access needs. The Barrier-free toolset takes a story captured in linear video and links a wealth of information, enhancements and perspectives using a synchronized text track derived from the caption and audio description of the video.
  • Canadian Museum of Human Rights Accessible Kiosk
    IDRC and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights are collaborating on making inclusive, and interactive solutions for the museum.
  • CollectionSpace
    CollectionSpace is an open-source collections management application that meets the needs of museums, historical societies, and other collection-holding organizations. CollectionSpace is designed to be configurable to each organization’s needs, serving as a gateway to digital and physical assets across an institution. The software is freely distributed via open-source licensing, and an active developer community ensures that CollectionSpace is continually improving.
  • CNICE (Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange)
    The Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange is a multi-partner network that has worked together to ensure that Canadian cultural content on-line, and the tools available to participate in creating this content, are accessible to everyone in Canada, including people with disabilities.
  • HTML Authoring Tool Support: "The Best Place to Improve the Web"
    Authoring Tool Support: Offering support for the accessibility of various Authoring Tools.
  • Decapod
    Decapod is a project focused on building a low-cost digitization solution that will allow for rare materials, materials held in collections without large budgets, and other scholarly content to be digitized into a high-quality PDF format. This project is working to incorporate the hardware and software necessary to accomplish this goal.
  • Cascading StyleSheets and Accessiblity
    Enabling web designers to separate "format and style" from "structure and content" resulting in cleaner, more accessible coding.
  • Evaluation of Web Authoring Tools
  • CulturAll Network
    The CulturAll Network was a national multi-sector network that developed innovative approaches, tools and strategies to ensure that everyone in Canada can participate in the Canadian cultural exchange.The CulturAll Network demonstrated that inclusive design can be a naturally integrated component of Canadian cultural production and acts as a catalystfor innovation and creativity. Through pioneering exemplars, the network reaffirmed that advances that benefit people with disabilities, benefit all Canadian.
  • CulturAll 2.0
    Through strategic applied research the CulturAll 2.0 Network will work to make certain that inclusive design becomes a naturally integrated component of Web 2.0 technologies and acts as a catalyst for innovation and creativity.
  • Dojo Accessibility
    The ATRC is making Web 2.0 and the next-generation of web applications accessible. We are working with IBM, SitePen, W3C, the Dojo Foundation, and the open source community to build accessibility into the Dojo toolkit, one of the leading libraries used to build rich, dynamic Web 2.0 applications. This work will enable developers building the next-generation of innovative web applications to build sites that are useable by everyone. Our work has been made possible by grants from the Mozilla Foundation and IBM.
  • Fluid Academic
    Fluid Academic is a project funded by the Mellon foundation to focus on improving user experience in higher-ed open source software applications. The Fluid community grew out of this work as did the Fluid products. Early releases of Fluid Infusion, the Fluid Design Handbook, Fluid OSDPL, and VU Lab were deliverables for this project. These products represent the core of Fluid activities.
  • Fluid Engage
    Fluid Engage is building flexible software with museums and cultural institutions to enhance their visitors' experience. Engage makes it easy for visitors to connect with content, interact with objects, and extend the museum visit.
  • GOK (GNOME Onscreen Keyboard)
    Gnome Onscreen Keyboard (GOK) is open source software that creates advanced alternative input solutions for unix and unix-based environments.
  • Going the Distance: Supporting Educators of Students with Special Needs Through Online Learning (OLT)
    Explored the effectiveness of new, online technologies for provision of just-in-time, customized learning programs to meet their urgent need for information on accommodation of exceptional learners.
  • HoTMetaL 4.0: Accessible HyperText Markup Language (HTML) Authoring System
    Integrated accessibility prompting features to help web designers create accessible pages.
  • ISO/IEC adoption of IMS ACCLIP specification
    The ATRC participates in activities of international standards and specifications organizations aimed at the development and maintenance of accessibility specifications and standards for e-learning. We are currently participating in the International Standards Organization's Joint Technical Council One/Sub-committee 36 (JTC1/SC36) Working Group in order to determine the feasibility of adoption of the IMS accessibility specification, ACCLIP, (Learner Information Package Accessibility for LIP) as an international ISO/IEC standard. Consultation with member countries will be the key factor in achieving the goals of this project.
    The Government of Canada provides funding for this initiative.
  • Inclusive Learning Connection - Development Phase
    A network of Canadian organizations concerned with the learning technology needs of learners who are deaf, deafened, or hard of hearing.
  • The Accessible Information Kiosk Project
    The Robarts Library Information Kiosk is a universally accessible electronic kiosk designed to help users find resources within the Robarts Library
  • Input Optimization Tool for Complex Software (CITO)
    Developing an "adaptive predictive function palette" for accessing submenus in sophisticated software such as Maya by Alias/ Wavefront .
  • ISAAC - Visit the website for the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
  • Leveraging Inclusion and Diversity as Canada’s Advantage Report A research report that investigates insights, evidence, interpretations and effective practices that test and explore the hypothesis, Canada can both address the need for an inclusive digital economy and leverage inclusive design as an economic driver, becoming a world leader in inclusively designed digital technologies, services and content. Partners for this project include The Martin Prosperity Institute, The Adaptech Research Network and the Inclusive Design Research Centre.
  • LDRC (Learning Disabilities Resource Community)
  • Network for Inclusive Distance Education
    Developed Access standards for online education.
  • OpenCaps
    CapScribe is an ever evolving desktop captioning and video description software. CapScribe Desktop supports captioning for Quicktime movies, movies uploads to YouTube, as well as the creation of video description audio tracks. CapScribe Desktop runs on Intel Macs and is available for download and exploration. CapScribe Web is currently in development. The goal behind this project is to give users ready, free access to captioning software that runs as part of a web page
  • PEBBLES
    PEBBLES is a project that allows students who must stay at home or in a hospital to attend a school through a videoconferencing robot.
  • Project Outside In
    Project Outside In will establish a responsive, experiential skills training program tailored to the constraints and needs of youth with episodic and invisible disabilities (including learning disabilities, mental health challenges, and ADHD). Youth who face multiple and complex barriers to employment will gain diverse, incremental skills and expertise in addressing accessibility and inclusive design demands, in part generated by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) in Ontario. Youth will be supported in creating viable service enterprises or pursuing other career-path options that accommodate the personal challenges they face, while addressing the growing demand for inclusively designed products and services.

  • Sign Link Studio
    The Sign Link Studio project has developed a technique that, for the first time, enables sign language based web sites on the Internet. An authoring tool called SignEd creates the webpages by marking up sign language video files with sign language based hyperlinks called "signlinks". The website that makes SignEd available was built using the tool and demonstrates this new web page technique.
  • SoftQuad/ATRC Adapt Able Web Project (old link)
    Integrating an accessibility-toolkit into a commercial software product.
  • Stretch Project
    The Stretch project challenged and stretched perceptions and conventions within the arts so that they are inclusive of people with disabilities. The project site include numerous examples of cultural works that have been "stretched" to inlcude multiple sensory modalites. The site also features a gallery of works on the theme of inclusion. Stretch fosters inclusion by providing tools to new media artists for adding descriptions, captions and alternative video.
  • TILE (The Inclusive Learning Exchange)
    A revolutionary learning object repository service that responds to the individual needs of the learner. TILE provides the authoring tools, repository architecture, and preference schema needed to support this learner-centric transformation. The service is now available as a functioning prototype.
  • Vision Australia Foundation formerly known as the Association For The Blind (AFTB) Services provided by the ATRC to Vision Australia Foundation include training and consultation for Vision Australia Foundation staff in adaptive technology to best meet client's system requirements.
  • Web Based Teaching Tool (WBTT)
    An online resource for teachers of early education. This project promotes early identification of and intervention for learning disabilities. The ATRC is responsible for the creation of the database architecture and website. The project is sponsored by the Learning Disability Association of Ontario (LDAO).
  • Web Browsers and Assistive Technology
    A Press Release regarding the Universal Internet Access Project
  • Web-4-All
    Web-4-All uses smartcard technology to enable Internet interfaces to be customized. Web-4-All enables users to automatically configure multi-user workstations to meet their own personal preferences and access needs. Preferences are stored on a smart card.
  • 10 Accessible HTML Commandments