Dublin Bus Community Spirit Award
by Shirley Deakin
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Dublin Bus |
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Enable Ireland’s National Assistive Technology (AT) Training Service and third level partners Dublin Institute of Technology have facilitated the collaboration between product design students and Assistive Technology users since 2008, through its Community Design Challenge.
This partnership grew out of the expressed needs of adult AT users who reported frustration with the design of many AT products.
The winner of the 2015 Community Design Challenge was the “Bus Buddy” a concept designed by Evan Markley and Kaitlyn Mast from Purdue University in the US. The Bus Buddy concept was inspired by the difficulties encountered by a team member when navigating the streets of Dublin independently as a blind person.
Dublin Bus have implemented real time information at many bus stops and this has resulted in a vastly improved service for all their users but none more so than those with disabilities.
We are delighted to confirm that we are recipients of a Dublin Bus Community Spirit Award. The funds received from this award will go towards developing The Bus Buddy further, and take Dublin Bus even further ahead in the area of accessibility. Our sincere thanks to all at Dublin Bus for this generous award, to our expert AT users who provide invaluable feedback, and to the Product Design Students at DIT for their collaboration and problem solving skills.
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