[vicsireland] VICS AGM Draft Minutes for 2005
- From: "Gerry Ellis" <gerry.ellis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 May 2006 21:26:03 +0100
Hi, all,
I have attached the draft minutes of last year's AGM in both WORD and text
format.
I am not sure if this list will allow attachments, so I have also copied the
text version to the bottom of this email.
I look forward to meeting many of you on the night of the 12th of May in the
Royal dublin Hotel or at the AGM the following day in the Irish Computer
society HQ, Mount Street Crescent.
Take care,
Gerry Ellis
Secretary, VICS
Tel (+353-1) 282-7791
Mob (085) 716-8665
email gerry.ellis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
If you don't know where you're going,
How will you know when you get there?
Visually impaired computer society
Annual General Meeting
Draft Minutes
1 Date, Time and Location
Saturday, May 14th, 2005 at 2 p.m.
Irish Computer Society HQ,
Mount Street Crescent,
Dublin 4.
2 Present
Michael Lavin, Chairperson
Gerry Ellis, Deputy Chairperson
Tony Murray, Secretary
Paula Dorrington, Treasurer
Tim Culhane
Gus Dorrington
Albert Browne
Robbie Sandberg
Noel Redmond
Willie FitzGerald
Paul Lynch
Ronan McGuirk
Martin Kelly
Anne Kelly
Suzanne Dowd
Eamonn O'Connor
Ann Burke
Brigid Campbell
Alan Gibson
Philip Doyle
Brigid Gray
Bridie Gregory
Jimmy Murray
Maureen Murray
Martin O'Sullivan
3 Apologies
Tom O'Neill
Stuart Lawler
Michael Meaney
Joananne Brosnan
Cearbhall O Meadhra
Michael Brown
Tom Langan
Tony Sweeney
4 Agenda and Minutes
The Chairperson, Mr. Michael Lavin read the Agenda.
He then welcomed members and noted apologies.
Tony Murray proposed the draft minutes of the 2004 AGM. Gus Dorrington seconded
and they were passed by the meeting.
5 Chairperson's report
Mr. Lavin firstly detailed the members of the Committee.
VICS Committee has held monthly meetings which were well attended by committee
members.
The Committee set up a number of working groups: these covered lobbying, , web
standards and testing, electronic schoolbooks Format and research. He briefly
described the work undertaken by each group. More details from a representative
of
each group are below.
An open day was held on December 4th to mark the international day on
Disability
which falls each year on December 3rd. This was well attended and consisted of
several interesting demonstrations and discussions.
Classes are run by Paula and Gus Dorrington on an on-going basis in Colaiste
Ide to
teach ECDL and similar courses.
Training is also run in Charleville, County Cork by Noreen Maher.
PC Live magazine is regularly distributed on tape and is very useful to VICS
members.
The Ace Project makes training in ECDL and e-business available to people
online in
their own homes. Several VICS members are also members of the Ace project.
InfoVICS was issued on tape several times during the year. It is a very good
tool to
distribute information to members.
The VICS web site is being redeveloped and is being tested for usability by
VICS
members.
The VICS mailing list is an excellent resource for members to share information
and
support each other.
The relationship between VICS and The Irish Computer Society is very strong and
useful. Ronan McGuirk is now a member of the I C S Council.
VICS members have attended large exhibitions in England and the U.S.
Phone Pages, an electronic database of telephone numbers is available to VICS
members for free.
Mr. Lavin concluded by saying that VICS is going from strength to strength.
Mr. Lavin thanked the outgoing committee, the National Council for the Blind,
Liam
Dukes and the Drumcondra project, Eamonn O'Connor for InfoVICS, members of the
working groups, the Irish Computer Society, the Ace Project, Margaret Brown,
Kompass for Phone Pages and Albert Brown for recording the AGM.
6 Reports from Working Groups
6.1 Standards and testing
Tony Murray reported.
he said that they had met with the N C B I to work towards a quality mark which
recognises excellence in design and usability. They also moved towards setting
up a
database of VICS members who would be trained to become testers of web sites.
6.2 Electronic Schoolbooks format
Gus Dorrington reported.
He said that a number of organisations are interested in this area. These are
VICS, the
Dyslexia Association of Ireland, Saint Joseph's and N C B I. Two meetings took
place
with a variable level of attendance by the various organisations.
The group agreed that DAISY is the best format for producing material. Members
of
the group are approaching publishers to get books in Microsoft WORD format with
a
view to converting them to DAISY format.
It is not intended to continue this working group from a VICS point of view as
we feel
we have achieved as much as we can particularly in promoting the DAISY format.
6.3 Lobbying
Tim Culhane reported.
They looked at the accessibility of Dublin bus web site. The site is quite
inaccessible
and the lobbying group has been incontact with Dublin bus with a view to
improving
the situation. Dublin bus have now made a commitment to improving the
accessibility
of their web site. This is on-going.
The group is also looking at the issue of talking ATMs. They were in contact
with
Bank of America who have such devices in use. This work is on-going.
The group worked with Kompass to make the talking phone directory available on
CD for free to VICS members. There is a possibility that Kompass may
discontinue
producing the CD. The group is trying to ensure that it remains available to
VICS
members, even if it is no longer updated.
The group also looked at the accessibility of web sites of some major
supermarkets
like Tesco and Superquinn.
6.4 Web Site Standards and Testing
Gerry Ellis reported.
He said that the current VICS web site is very basic and is being redeveloped.
He described some of the potential uses of a web site like detailing frequently
asked
questions, hosting an online chat system, holding information such as minutes
of
meetings.
We can use our site to show that a site can be aesthetically pleasing and still
fully
accessible. We can then use this to demonstrate to other organisations that
this can be
done.
6.5 Research
Noel Redmond reported.
He said that a previous Research group had disbanded and this new group is now
getting off the ground.
He said that they are looking at various pieces of software to test their
accessibility
and usability. They are open to looking at further selections.
They also looked at the Solaris operating system which runs under Linux. This
includes a built-in voice output system.
7 InfoVICS
Eamonn O'Connor reported.
He said that 4 versions were produced during the year. He detailed some of the
issues
covered.
8 Ace Project
This is not a VICS working group, but is an initiative that is of great
interest to VICS
members.
Paul Lynch described the project. It is an online e-learning tool. He thanked
VICS
members whose input helped with the design of the Ace Web Site.
Training is available online to ECDL level.
Ace is now changing to the SAVI project, which stands for Social Assistance for
or
with people with Visually Impairment. It is aimed at higher level training for
teachers
who are teaching people with visual impairment in mainstream education.
This is a two year project which finishes in October, 2006. The Ace information
will
continue to be available.
9 Treasurer's Report
Paula Dorrington reported.
The report had been circulated in advance.
Balance April 8th, 2004 1,673.12 euros
Total subscription income 1,635 Euros
Interest earned 23 cents.
flights, hotel and accommodation for Sight Village 600 euros
Argos gift voucher 100 Euros
Balance 2,608.35
Paula said that subscriptions included 6 lifetime memberships. These cost 100
Euros
and this was the first time the facility existed.
Philip doyle proposed that the Financial Report be adopted. Gerry ellis
seconded and
it was passed by the meeting.
10 Motions
Tim Culhane proposed a change to Rule 7 of the constitution.
Current constitution states that an election takes place each year for the
positions of
Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and up to 5 members of the
committee. Proposal to elect chairman, Deputy chairman, Treasurer, Secretary
and up
to 3 members to serve on the Committee.
Gerry Ellis suggested that the words Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson replace
Chairman and Vice Chairman. With this amendment he seconded the motion.
21 in favour, 3 against, motion carried
11 Elections
11.1 Committee
After 8 years as Chairperson, Mr. Michael Lavin stood down
Ronan McGuirk proposed Tony Murray as chairperson. , Gerry ellis seconded and
it
was passed by the meeting.
Tony Murray proposed tim Culhane as Deputy chairperson. Noel redmond seconded
and it was passed by the meeting.
Philip Doyle proposed Gerry Ellis as Secretary. Martin Kelly seconded and it
was
passed by the meeting.
Paula Dorrington proposed Joan Kearns as Treasurer. Gus Dorrington seconded and
it
was passed by the meeting.
Paula Dorrington, Brian Dalton and Albert Brown were proposed and seconded to
be
the other members of the Committee and these were passed by the meeting.
11.2 Cheque Signatories
The Constitution says that there are 3 signatories for cheques. These are the
Treasurer
and two others.
Philip Doyle proposed Paula Dorrington. Ann Burke seconded and it was passed by
the meeting.
Philip Doyle proposed Tony Murray. Gus Dorrington seconded and it was passed by
the meeting.
11.3 InfoVICS Editor
Eamonn O'Connor stood down as editor of InfoVICS.
Tony Murray reported that Stuart Lawler and Brian Dalton were interested as
joint
editors and this was agreed by the meeting.
12 Irish Computer Society
Ronan McGuirk gave a rundown on the relationship with the Irish Computer
Society.
I C S have been very helpful and are very interested in VICS.
They have asked VICS to produce a white paper, i.e. a paper stating our vision
of the
information society in general. Ronan will facilitate the development of this
white
paper. Michael Lavin noted that next year is the 20th anniversary of the
setting up of
VICS so the creation of such a white paper would be very appropriate. Gerry
Ellis
reported that he was recently made a Fellow of the I C S which is an indication
of the
esteem in which they hold VICS.
13 Open Forum
Ann Burke asked about talking ATM machines. Would they be inside or outside
banks? This is a question of personal security and the danger of being mugged.
Tim
culhane reported that in the States they could be either inside or outside.
Anne Kelly asked if VICS could organise training or information on jargon
related to
technology. Tony Murray said that the new web site would have a Frequently
Asked
Questions section.
Martin Kelly asked which is the best Broadband provider. Tony Murray gave some
information on what is available from various companies.
A discussion took place as to whether or not a few people hog the VICS email
list.
General agreement was that most people learn from it. Many never ask a question
but
still avidly read answers and learn from them. Philip Doyle, who is the list
moderator,
explained that he has information on how to join the list for anyone who wants
it.
Martin O'Sullivan suggested that VICS should issue a statement that the
Disability
Bill which is currently before the Dail be withdrawn. General agreement was
that
VICS is not a politically oriented group and should not get involved in making
such a
call.
Gus Dorrington suggested that VICS write a submission to ensure that the
Disability
Bill supports the use of the DAISY format.
The meeting paid a special tribute to Mr. Michael Lavin for his outstanding
contribution to the organisation during his 8 years as Chairperson.
End of Meeting
Visually impaired computer society
Annual General Meeting
Draft Minutes
1 Date, Time and Location
Saturday, May 14th, 2005 at 2 p.m.
Irish Computer Society HQ,
Mount Street Crescent,
Dublin 4.
2 Present
Michael Lavin, Chairperson
Gerry Ellis, Deputy Chairperson
Tony Murray, Secretary
Paula Dorrington, Treasurer
Tim Culhane
Gus Dorrington
Albert Browne
Robbie Sandberg
Noel Redmond
Willie FitzGerald
Paul Lynch
Ronan McGuirk
Martin Kelly
Anne Kelly
Suzanne Dowd
Eamonn O'Connor
Ann Burke
Brigid Campbell
Alan Gibson
Philip Doyle
Brigid Gray
Bridie Gregory
Jimmy Murray
Maureen Murray
Martin O'Sullivan
3 Apologies
Tom O'Neill
Stuart Lawler
Michael Meaney
Joananne Brosnan
Cearbhall O Meadhra
Michael Brown
Tom Langan
Tony Sweeney
4 Agenda and Minutes
The Chairperson, Mr. Michael Lavin read the Agenda.
He then welcomed members and noted apologies.
Tony Murray proposed the draft minutes of the 2004 AGM. Gus Dorrington seconded
and they were passed by the meeting.
5 Chairperson's report
Mr. Lavin firstly detailed the members of the Committee.
VICS Committee has held monthly meetings which were well attended by committee
members.
The Committee set up a number of working groups: these covered lobbying, , web
standards and testing, electronic schoolbooks Format and research. He briefly
described the work undertaken by each group. More details from a representative
of
each group are below.
An open day was held on December 4th to mark the international day on
Disability
which falls each year on December 3rd. This was well attended and consisted of
several interesting demonstrations and discussions.
Classes are run by Paula and Gus Dorrington on an on-going basis in Colaiste
Ide to
teach ECDL and similar courses.
Training is also run in Charleville, County Cork by Noreen Maher.
PC Live magazine is regularly distributed on tape and is very useful to VICS
members.
The Ace Project makes training in ECDL and e-business available to people
online in
their own homes. Several VICS members are also members of the Ace project.
InfoVICS was issued on tape several times during the year. It is a very good
tool to
distribute information to members.
The VICS web site is being redeveloped and is being tested for usability by
VICS
members.
The VICS mailing list is an excellent resource for members to share information
and
support each other.
The relationship between VICS and The Irish Computer Society is very strong and
useful. Ronan McGuirk is now a member of the I C S Council.
VICS members have attended large exhibitions in England and the U.S.
Phone Pages, an electronic database of telephone numbers is available to VICS
members for free.
Mr. Lavin concluded by saying that VICS is going from strength to strength.
Mr. Lavin thanked the outgoing committee, the National Council for the Blind,
Liam
Dukes and the Drumcondra project, Eamonn O'Connor for InfoVICS, members of the
working groups, the Irish Computer Society, the Ace Project, Margaret Brown,
Kompass for Phone Pages and Albert Brown for recording the AGM.
6 Reports from Working Groups
6.1 Standards and testing
Tony Murray reported.
he said that they had met with the N C B I to work towards a quality mark which
recognises excellence in design and usability. They also moved towards setting
up a
database of VICS members who would be trained to become testers of web sites.
6.2 Electronic Schoolbooks format
Gus Dorrington reported.
He said that a number of organisations are interested in this area. These are
VICS, the
Dyslexia Association of Ireland, Saint Joseph's and N C B I. Two meetings took
place
with a variable level of attendance by the various organisations.
The group agreed that DAISY is the best format for producing material. Members
of
the group are approaching publishers to get books in Microsoft WORD format with
a
view to converting them to DAISY format.
It is not intended to continue this working group from a VICS point of view as
we feel
we have achieved as much as we can particularly in promoting the DAISY format.
6.3 Lobbying
Tim Culhane reported.
They looked at the accessibility of Dublin bus web site. The site is quite
inaccessible
and the lobbying group has been incontact with Dublin bus with a view to
improving
the situation. Dublin bus have now made a commitment to improving the
accessibility
of their web site. This is on-going.
The group is also looking at the issue of talking ATMs. They were in contact
with
Bank of America who have such devices in use. This work is on-going.
The group worked with Kompass to make the talking phone directory available on
CD for free to VICS members. There is a possibility that Kompass may
discontinue
producing the CD. The group is trying to ensure that it remains available to
VICS
members, even if it is no longer updated.
The group also looked at the accessibility of web sites of some major
supermarkets
like Tesco and Superquinn.
6.4 Web Site Standards and Testing
Gerry Ellis reported.
He said that the current VICS web site is very basic and is being redeveloped.
He described some of the potential uses of a web site like detailing frequently
asked
questions, hosting an online chat system, holding information such as minutes
of
meetings.
We can use our site to show that a site can be aesthetically pleasing and still
fully
accessible. We can then use this to demonstrate to other organisations that
this can be
done.
6.5 Research
Noel Redmond reported.
He said that a previous Research group had disbanded and this new group is now
getting off the ground.
He said that they are looking at various pieces of software to test their
accessibility
and usability. They are open to looking at further selections.
They also looked at the Solaris operating system which runs under Linux. This
includes a built-in voice output system.
7 InfoVICS
Eamonn O'Connor reported.
He said that 4 versions were produced during the year. He detailed some of the
issues
covered.
8 Ace Project
This is not a VICS working group, but is an initiative that is of great
interest to VICS
members.
Paul Lynch described the project. It is an online e-learning tool. He thanked
VICS
members whose input helped with the design of the Ace Web Site.
Training is available online to ECDL level.
Ace is now changing to the SAVI project, which stands for Social Assistance for
or
with people with Visually Impairment. It is aimed at higher level training for
teachers
who are teaching people with visual impairment in mainstream education.
This is a two year project which finishes in October, 2006. The Ace information
will
continue to be available.
9 Treasurer's Report
Paula Dorrington reported.
The report had been circulated in advance.
Balance April 8th, 2004 1,673.12 euros
Total subscription income 1,635 Euros
Interest earned 23 cents.
flights, hotel and accommodation for Sight Village 600 euros
Argos gift voucher 100 Euros
Balance 2,608.35
Paula said that subscriptions included 6 lifetime memberships. These cost 100
Euros
and this was the first time the facility existed.
Philip doyle proposed that the Financial Report be adopted. Gerry ellis
seconded and
it was passed by the meeting.
10 Motions
Tim Culhane proposed a change to Rule 7 of the constitution.
Current constitution states that an election takes place each year for the
positions of
Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and up to 5 members of the
committee. Proposal to elect chairman, Deputy chairman, Treasurer, Secretary
and up
to 3 members to serve on the Committee.
Gerry Ellis suggested that the words Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson replace
Chairman and Vice Chairman. With this amendment he seconded the motion.
21 in favour, 3 against, motion carried
11 Elections
11.1 Committee
After 8 years as Chairperson, Mr. Michael Lavin stood down
Ronan McGuirk proposed Tony Murray as chairperson. , Gerry ellis seconded and
it
was passed by the meeting.
Tony Murray proposed tim Culhane as Deputy chairperson. Noel redmond seconded
and it was passed by the meeting.
Philip Doyle proposed Gerry Ellis as Secretary. Martin Kelly seconded and it
was
passed by the meeting.
Paula Dorrington proposed Joan Kearns as Treasurer. Gus Dorrington seconded and
it
was passed by the meeting.
Paula Dorrington, Brian Dalton and Albert Brown were proposed and seconded to
be
the other members of the Committee and these were passed by the meeting.
11.2 Cheque Signatories
The Constitution says that there are 3 signatories for cheques. These are the
Treasurer
and two others.
Philip Doyle proposed Paula Dorrington. Ann Burke seconded and it was passed by
the meeting.
Philip Doyle proposed Tony Murray. Gus Dorrington seconded and it was passed by
the meeting.
11.3 InfoVICS Editor
Eamonn O'Connor stood down as editor of InfoVICS.
Tony Murray reported that Stuart Lawler and Brian Dalton were interested as
joint
editors and this was agreed by the meeting.
12 Irish Computer Society
Ronan McGuirk gave a rundown on the relationship with the Irish Computer
Society.
I C S have been very helpful and are very interested in VICS.
They have asked VICS to produce a white paper, i.e. a paper stating our vision
of the
information society in general. Ronan will facilitate the development of this
white
paper. Michael Lavin noted that next year is the 20th anniversary of the
setting up of
VICS so the creation of such a white paper would be very appropriate. Gerry
Ellis
reported that he was recently made a Fellow of the I C S which is an indication
of the
esteem in which they hold VICS.
13 Open Forum
Ann Burke asked about talking ATM machines. Would they be inside or outside
banks? This is a question of personal security and the danger of being mugged.
Tim
culhane reported that in the States they could be either inside or outside.
Anne Kelly asked if VICS could organise training or information on jargon
related to
technology. Tony Murray said that the new web site would have a Frequently
Asked
Questions section.
Martin Kelly asked which is the best Broadband provider. Tony Murray gave some
information on what is available from various companies.
A discussion took place as to whether or not a few people hog the VICS email
list.
General agreement was that most people learn from it. Many never ask a question
but
still avidly read answers and learn from them. Philip Doyle, who is the list
moderator,
explained that he has information on how to join the list for anyone who wants
it.
Martin O'Sullivan suggested that VICS should issue a statement that the
Disability
Bill which is currently before the Dail be withdrawn. General agreement was
that
VICS is not a politically oriented group and should not get involved in making
such a
call.
Gus Dorrington suggested that VICS write a submission to ensure that the
Disability
Bill supports the use of the DAISY format.
The meeting paid a special tribute to Mr. Michael Lavin for his outstanding
contribution to the organisation during his 8 years as Chairperson.
End of Meeting
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