Applied computing’s digital media access group (DMAG) is a research and consultancy team specialising in the usability and accessibility of digital resources to disabled and elderly people. They advise clients on a variety of issues, including how the Disability Discrimination Act might affect web designers, and how good design techniques can be applied to ensure that a web site is accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of disability. The group are often called upon to run seminars and workshops on accessible design, most recently here in the university.
Uniquely, the group is effectively self-funding. Through the work that they carry out for clients from the commercial, public and academic sectors, three full time researchers are supported: David Sloan, Lorna Gibson and Scott Milne, directed by Dr Peter Gregor. Formed in 1999, the group has built up an impressive client list, including the Scottish Parliament, Standard Life, Bank of Scotland, National Gallery and the British Computer Society, as well as several Universities and colleges. The group maintain close links with others in the field, from charities and organisations such as the Royal National Institute for the Blind and the JISC funded Technology for Disabilities Information Service (TechDIS), to producers of web development technologies, in particular Macromedia.
Two current projects that the group is working on are a web based interviewing system for Fife Council’s education department, and a project with Sheffield University to develop a multi-media resource on accessible multi-media design. This work is under contract to HEFCE.