Wonderful news for 2019!
We are delighted to announce that UCAN has secured 3 years funding from BBC Children in Need to deliver peer led confidence building workshops for blind and partially sighted children and young people in South Wales.
We are looking forward to sharing more information soon!
We are very lucky to have a talented videographer and editor in our team! Jake Sawyers who has been with us since the start has very kindly made a Christmas video for us to share!
Merry Christmas to all of you members and friends, we look forward to catching up in the new year!
UCAN is delighted to announce that after receiving funding from The People’s Health Trust Active Communities Fund, we have been able to provide a technical solution for making Cardiff Central Library Hub more accessible.
The UCAN Team, along with our amazing technical partners Calvium have created an indoor wayfinding App called UCAN GO. Designed by young people who are vision impaired, UCAN GO is a personal guide that helps people to get their bearings and find their way with ease.
The aim of this exciting and innovative two year project is to increase the number of local blind and partially sighted people attending activities and encourage them to make full use of the facilities, such as large print and talking books.
The App provides overviews and route directions. The overviews help the user build a mental map of the building, so that you can prepare for your visit and the routing feature gives you step by step instructions to get you to your chosen destination. It can take you to the nearest toilet or other services within the building. It also offers user-friendly colour contrast options to easily change the look of the App.
The UCAN GO App has been a great success and is currently available in the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, The Hackney Empire, London and the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, however, this exciting new initiative at Cardiff Central Library Hub will be the first time a building other than a theatre has been mapped.
Launched today The UCAN GO App is free to download from the App store here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ucan-go/id923938591?mt=8
UCAN Productions, has received from The People’s Health Trust, Active Communities Fund. This award is to run an exciting new two year project for vision impaired people in Cardiff. Firstly, the grant will provide Cardiff Central Library with the indoor way-finding app, UCAN Go.
Designed by young people who are vision impaired, UCAN GO is a personal guide that will help people to get their bearings and find their way with ease.
Nesta and The Arts Council of Wales co-funded the initial R&D project, which saw UCAN Productions and Bristol Tech company, Calvium, join forces in order to develop something that solves a real issue.
The App provides overviews and route directions. The overviews help the users build a mental map of the building so that they can prepare for their visit. The routing feature gives you step by step instructions to get you to your chosen destination. It can take you to your seat, the nearest toilet, or other services, such as departments or shops within the building. It also offers user-friendly colour contrast options to easily change the look of the app.
The UCAN Go App has been a great success and is currently available in the Wales Millenium Centre, Cardiff, The Torch Theatre, Milford Haven and The Hackney Empire, London. However, this exciting new initiative will be the first time a building other than a theatre has been mapped.
Jane Latham Co-Founder Development Director of UCAN: ‘This grant will help us expand our work with the sight loss community and enable us to support blind and partially sighted people whilst they navigate the building. We are thrilled to announce that we will be holding a wide range of user-led activities over a two year period. Cardiff Library has some fantastic facilities which we are looking forward to making full use of.’
Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Lynda Thorne, said: “I am absolutely delighted that the UCAN Go navigation app is being built for Cardiff Central Library Hub. It is fantastic that technology is being used to improve the accessibility of the wide range of services that are offered in the building. The app will not only help customers who are blind or partially sighted, but it could also assist those living with dementia, dyslexia and mental health conditions.”
John Jume, Chief Executive of People’s Health Trust: ‘This Project brings real value to the health and well being of the local vision impaired community and we are delighted to be supporting it.’
Massive congratulations to Jake Sawyer and Ben Richards for creating a series of films for the RNIB Cymru Project Future Insight. The videos contain the personal opinions of young people with sight loss on a series of topics. You can access the videos from the links below:-
