News

The Trace Research & Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison received a prestigious award at the 13th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs (ICCHP 2012) from the Austrian Computer Society.

The award, known as the Roland Wagner European Award for Computers Helping People with Special Needs, was presented to Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden, director of the Trace Center, at the ICCHP 2012’s Gala Celebration on in Linz, Austria, on July 12th.

Named for Dr. Roland Wagner, a pioneer in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) for people with disabilities, the award has been given out only five times since its inception in 2001. Carrying a monetary prize of 3,000 Euros (approximately 3,670 U.S. Dollars), the award recognizes Trace’s contributions dating back to 1971 and is intended to support incentives as well as future work in the field.

The Trace Center has been a leader in the field of technology and disability for over four decades, and has been at the forefront of developing evidence-based and practical guidelines and patents which remove barriers and increase access to information and communications technology for a wide variety of individuals.

Recent activities of the Trace Center include making advances in touch-screen interfaces, improvements to telecollaboration software, creating a Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure, promoting emergency telephone access for people who are deaf, and improving outcomes for breast cancer survivors in the workplace.

For more information on the award, visit http://www.icchp.org/award.