Project:Possibility

Logo SS12 - Code for a Cause

The 3rd annual SS12:EU coding competition will take place in the 2013-2014 academic year.  University student teams develop prototype assistive technology software and submit it to the competition. The best team from each university shall be invited to the SS12:EU Final Round to be held at ICCHP 2014.

Prospective timeline 2014

Background

In 2012, ICCHP co-operated with the network eAccess+ (supported by the European Commission through its ICTPSP Programme) and with the US-based nonprofit Project:Possibility to set up a students competition in coding for open source AT and eAccessibility solutions for people with disabilities in Europe.

Established in 2007, SS12 is the world's first accessibility-themed software development competition, with international taking place in the United States and Asia. A first competition in Europe was held in 2011/2012 with a final taking place at ICCHP 2012 in Linz, Austria. A second competition took place in Vilamoura, Portugal at AAATE 2013.

The competition 2014 will have its finals at ICCHP 2014 in Paris St.Denis, France.

Aim

Our aim is to inspire students, faculty and other stakeholders in Computer Science/Engineering and related fields to take up accessibility and Assistive Technology as a topic. It

  • introduces the power and the need of eAccessibility to the next generation of software engineers
  • brings students in contact with the eAccessiblity and AT field and in particular with end users
  • contributes to easy and fast solutions of pressing AT and eAccessibility problems outlined and defined by users
  • releases code as open source which facilitates an accelerated path towards products and services.

Thereby a long term impact on the uptake and implementation of accessibility in practice is expected.

Target Groups

  1. University and college students in computer science/engineering and related fields to take part in the SS12.
  2. Faculty staff and administrators to incorporate event into their engineering curricula to involve students in the SS12.
  3. End users and experts to define pressing AT and eAccessibility problems to be solved.
  4. AT and eAccessibility experts to guide and consult student groups as Mentors.
  5. Industry leaders in technology and accessibility to connect students with opportunities within their organisations and support the event as Sponsors.

Format

The “SS12:EU Coding for a Cause” events bring together students in groups of 2 – 4 people, supported by researchers and industry mentors to compete against each other in national qualifying rounds in spring 2014.

Students may work on projects proposed by themselves, their university facilitators or drawn from a pool of ideas generated by the European coordinators. Students will be provided opportunities to connect with end users, eAccessibility experts, industry leaders and others when developing their software.

To generate the largest awareness and impact campuses and faculty are strongly encouraged to include the activities in the standard curricula of the students and accredit their work. Partner universities will thereby identify the best national teams to represent them at the SS12:EU finals.

The finals will be held in July 2014 at ICCHP, where an international judging committee identifies the SS12:EU winners – the team with the best accessible open source software application to help people with disabilities in their daily life.

Examples on former project - highlights can be found following http://projectpossibility.org/projects.php

Call for Participation

We call for expression of interest: If you belong to one of the above groups and want to take part, please get in contact with

at: ss12europe@projectpossibility.org

For detailed information on how a SS12 coding event is organised and what the roles of the different groups are, please refer to the SS12 Website and the SS12 toolkit

Timeline

  • Call for Expression of Interest: till December 15, 2013
  • First introductory Skype - Telco: December 17, 2013, 2PM CET - upon registration until December 15, 2013 at ss12europe@projectpossibility.org

    (Please check the World Clock Map to find out the precise time for your specific location: http://www.timeanddate.com/time/map/ )
  • List of universities which will be involved: January, 2014
  • Call for students open till end of February, 2014
  • List of projects: March 2014
  • National Coding activities: March - End of May 2014
  • Selection of national finalists: June 2014.
  • Refinement of national winner projects, preparing presentation and travel: June 2014
  • European P:P final and judging panel: July 9-11, within the framework of ICCHP in Paris
  • Awarding the European P:P winner: July 11 on the occasion of the ICCHP plenary session.

Sponsors

logo eAccess+ Logo Project:Possibility 

Google Logo Oracle-Logo Logo TPG logo accessible media