Osaka IT Station

History

Osaka IT Station (henceforth referred to as IT Station) was established in September 2004 with the aim of bridging the digital divide for individuals with disabilities. However, the role of IT Station was revised in The Fourth Osaka Plan for People with Disabilities formulated in March of 2012 and was started as the Employment and Support Base for Individuals with Disabilities to support both individuals with disabilities seeking employment and companies considering hiring these people by providing employment support consultation and job training to enable these people to work using IT. Since June 2020, the Osaka Association for Services and Support for Persons with Disabilities (henceforth referred to as Daishokyo), a social welfare corporation, has been operating the facility as a designated manager as one of the functions of the Osaka Prefectural Welfare Information and Communication Center.

Daishokyo has conducted demonstrational experiments with IT support for severely disabled people at home for three years since 2015 as an independent project of Daishokyo, with the aim of establishing a system to help severely disabled individuals at home overcome the digital divide and work at home by utilizing welfare-oriented information and assistive devices, etc. Since 2018, this support has been continued as an IT support project for people with severe disabilities as a commissioned project by Osaka Prefecture.

Business Details

The IT station focuses on two main projects: First, employment support for individuals with disabilities who aim to acquire IT skills to get a job, and "IT support" for other individuals with disabilities who have difficulty communicating using IT.

In the area of employment support, as many jobs require the use of a computer for work, we conduct Employment Support IT Training and help individuals with disabilities who are seeking employment to acquire IT skills such as Japanese word processing, spreadsheets, PowerPoint, website creation, and skills for beginning to try to find employment.

Employment Support IT Training is conducted according to the characteristics of each disability. Text-to-Speech (Speechreading) software is used in training for the visually impaired, and sign language and voice conversion software are used in training for the hearing impaired to facilitate communication. In training for the visually impaired and the hearing impaired, a trainer, who is also a consultant with the same disabilities acts as a peer trainer and provides guidance and employment consultations to the participants.

IT supporters are indispensable for these training courses. They are PC volunteers who attended an IT supporter training course and are registered as Osaka IT supporters for people with disabilities after the training. They are mainly engaged in activities such as instruction and individual guidance at IT stations and community workshops that consider the characteristics of disabilities, and guidance on the operation of assistive devices for individuals with severe disabilities at home. In order to support such activities, the IT Station also conducts in-service training aimed at improving the quality of IT supporters and acquiring the necessary knowledge as trainers.

IT support is mainly provided to those who are unable to use information and communication technology due to severe disabilities and those who are able to communicate through the use of assistive devices. We propose assistive devices and software according to the characteristic of individual disabilities and provide hands-on experience with such devices. After the experience, the device is rented out to the individual for a certain period of time so that the user and the supporter can decide whether the device is suitable for them.

As an example, we assisted a person with a cervical spine injury, who was unable to move at all from the neck down, to operate a computer by inputting information by sight, and to operate home appliances and tablets with voice-activation devices.

This individual spent the following 10 years after his injury listening to the radio and spending the next several years watching movies on a DVD player but was completely unable to do anything completely on his own. Now that he can operate computers imputing information by sight, he can enjoy movies he wants to watch and books he wants to read anytime without having to ask anyone. It was impressive hearing him say things like, "The world has changed dramatically. I've always been saying ‘thank you all my life for things people have done for me, but now that I can do many things, I wish that I could finally be the one to be thanked."

In the case of a person with a speech impairment who has difficulty moving her upper and lower limbs freely, we assisted her in operating a computer using switches.

However, it became difficult for her to enter characters with the switches that had been used until now and when we received a consultation, we confirmed her thoughts and her supporters and concluded that they would like to communicate not only by typing but also by e-mail.

Therefore, after enabling the new switches for text input, the IT supporter's operational guidance was utilized on emails, SNS, and internet searches.

Since operating a computer using the switches is different from the general usage of a mouse, there are restrictions on the operation method and a single operation may take a long time, but she learned by repeating it over and over again. Now, she can do various things by herself, such as learning how to use SNS, listening to her favorite songs, and searching for what she wants on the internet.

Instead of passively waiting in this way to do things, we often hear people say, “I want to send out messages myself, even if only a little,” or “I want to do what I can do myself.”

However, not all consultations can be completed as desired. After being consulted, some people have to give up because they could not find a collaborator (such as someone to prepare the device). The presence of a collaborator is important and indispensable.

The current IT support for individuals with severe disabilities focuses on communication support, but when these individuals become able to successfully use a personal computer as a result of this support, it is not uncommon for the client to say, "I want to work." We also are sometimes asked, “If there is anything I can do?” However, even with the development of assistive devices that make it possible to operate a computer, only a limited number of people with severe disabilities are able to go out, and even if they are able to do so, they are limited in time and require assistance. Therefore, it is difficult for them to go to work for a company.

In recent years, the number of companies that allow telecommuting from home has increased, but even if individuals with severe disabilities wish to work from home, it is difficult for them to do so immediately due to restrictions such as not being able to receive disability welfare services while engaged in economic activities.

In October 2020, the Special Project for Employment Support for Persons with Severe Disabilities, etc. in Cooperation with Employment Policies was started, and in Osaka Prefecture, it was applied on a trial basis in Osaka City and Sakai City. This has made it possible for individuals with severe disabilities to receive the support they need in their daily lives even while they are working, but it still seems to be limited to only some municipalities. Also, it is currently very difficult for them to connect with companies even if they actually wish to work.

Compared to seven years ago when we started employment support as an independent project, technology has developed significantly, and the possibility of employment using computers, tablets, and other peripheral devices has expanded, even for bedridden people. It is also expected to develop further in the future.

The IT station is an Employment and Support Base for Individuals with Disabilities that supports both people with disabilities seeking employment and companies that are considering hiring these people. The current employment support at the IT station is only for those who are able to come to our office, so it is not possible to support people with severe disabilities who are at home and have difficulty going out. We think that our future challenge is to explore the possibilities of employment support while taking advantage of technological advances and coordinating with employment policies.

Photo(Left) Man inputting by sight
Photo(Right) Woman making switch input with left foot