ECO was founded as an on-line knowledge base in 2006, in order to provide research resources, information and a gallery about blindness in the arts. It has now expanded, however, to include information about blindness in information technology and computing as well. Its aim is to introduce these subjects as fields of study.
ECO is a webpage for educators and practitioners of the arts or information technology, or simply people who have an intellectual interest in touch arts, computer programming, IT, access or disability. It is an electronic resource to introduce you to the ideas behind this topic. It is also the beginnings of an on-line library on this subject.
Most importantly, as an electronic resource ECO is accessible to people with disabilities. It is practical and academic, but at the same time it aims to be non-elitist.
ECO links to significant resources in its fields. This material represents some of the best contributions and networks from Europe, North America, Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and Australasia. However, we also need links to other organisations who research, produce works of art or computer programs, or who make the arts or information technology accessible, in order to improve this resource. Thank you in advance if you can donate such links. We hope this site proves useful to you.
ECO has made a good start. We have been given permission by writers and academics such as John Hull, John Kennedy, Oliver Sacks, Thomas Nagel and Charles Spence to link to relevant papers and their websites. We have also been given permission to link to news events from Lisa Yayla’s Accessible Images web list.
In addition we would like to distribute more academic papers, essays about personal experiences, reproductions of art designed for blind and visually impaired people (particularly sound art), audio descriptions, information about computer programs, graphics and photographs. Please email copies of such articles or resources - as PDFs or MP3s only, please, as long as they are in copyright - to the editor at the email address below.
We are also looking for reviewers for articles and audio-describers - preferably experienced in the field of psychology, education or the arts. Again, if you would like to volunteer to review articles, please email the address above.
Simon Hayhoe, Editor of ECO
Please contact us with contributions, questions and views. Email: editor@blindnessandarts.com
We are based in the UK and UAE
© 2012 ECO: On blindness, technology & arts. All rights reserved