This nomination gives visibility to the needs of the DeafBlind community. They, like everyone else, need to be able to access emergency alerts, news, information, and entertainment
WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. (PRWEB) March 23, 2021
Dicapta Foundation’s GoCC4All app has been recognized globally for providing an easy way for users who are DeafBlind to receive emergency alerts and live TV captions. The app was nominated to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2021, after having been selected among 1,270 projects worldwide.
The WSIS Prizes 2021 identifies and showcases success stories that use the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to advance sustainable development. The United Nations (UN) created it to harness the potential of knowledge and technology for promoting the goals of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. WSIS Prizes is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). 2021 is the 10th edition of the Prizes.
The GoCC4All app has been nominated in the category C3 Access to Information and Knowledge. The Prizes Voting deadline is March 31st. 2021, at 6:00 p.m. ET. Instructions to vote are available online at: https://gocc4all.dicaptafoundation.org/blog/33-gocc4all-nominated-to-a-global-award.
Dicapta Foundation’s Board president, Maria-Victoria Diaz, states, “This nomination gives visibility to the needs of the DeafBlind community. They, like everyone else, need to be able to access emergency alerts, news, information, and entertainment. We invite technology creators to take into account the needs of this community by involving them during the early stages of their development process. If developers take into account the needs of people with disabilities, their product will serve everybody else.”
Scott Davert, a braille advocate, accessible technology specialist, and a DeafBlind user states, “The GoCC4All application provides captioning that is both reliable and easy to follow. The emergency information is delivered in a much easier to access format than other sources since the user does not have to navigate into a web page after receiving the alert. The GoCC4All app solves this issue by adding valuable time to respond to an emergency situation.”
Thanks to the GoCC4All app, DeafBlind users can now easily read emergency alerts and live TV captions using their mobile device or braille display therefore reducing the barriers to accessing information.
The GoCC4All app is currently utilized by users with or without disabilities to follow timely emergency alerts provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). During this unique and difficult time, GoCC4All has been instrumental in spreading information about COVID-19 news to the community.
The GoCC4All app was developed by Dicapta Foundation in partnership with the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC) and the University Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M). The Helen Keller National Center (HKNC) facilitated first-hand access to users who are DeafBlind to refine and adjust the technology. GoCC4All development was funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), grant number 90IFDV0004-01-00.
Dicapta Foundation is a woman led Florida-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to ensure equal access to information for people with hearing and/or visual disabilities. This Central Florida organization develops technology for accessibility, makes media accessible to people with sensory disabilities, and creates content about disabilities and related resources, in both English and Spanish.
Users can download GoCC4All from the App Store and the Google Play Store. For more information, about Dicapta Foundation or their GoCC4All App visit online at https://gocc4all.dicaptafoundation.org or call (407) 389-0712.
