Guide Dogs for the Blind Opens up the Workplace for Visually Impaired Staff

Civica's Portal system delivers centralised information access

2 April 2003, London…The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (Guide Dogs) has launched an interactive portal to improve operational efficiency. Created by Civica, one of the UK's most experienced specialist providers of public sector software and services, the Guide Dogs Interactive (GDI) portal acts as a front-end to the organisation's disparate back-office systems. By using speech technology to read information on computer screens, GDI is also helping Guide Dogs' visually-impaired staff get as equally involved as their able-bodied colleagues in the breeding, training and care of the UK's 5000 guide dogs.

Guide Dogs annually breeds over 1000 puppies to train as guide dogs as well as providing mobility and other rehabilitation services to the visually impaired community. It is supported by thousands of volunteers from breeders to fundraisers. Access to the vast stores of information held on computer is vital in managing the successful progress from puppy to guide dog. By focusing on the integration of existing data and systems around Guide Dogs' own processes, Civica's solution is designed to improve efficiency. For example, Guide Dogs can monitor behaviour patterns to ensure that dogs are intelligent, good-natured and comfortable in different environments and that the most appropriate dog is matched with each owner. The organisation can also determine when dogs are due to retire (typically after seven working years) and that a suitable replacement is ready for the owner. In the Guide Dogs Training function, the time taken to provide information has dropped from one hour using the previous process to five minutes using the portal.

Civica designed GDI to the Bobby standard, a framework developed to help Web designers identify and remove barriers to technology access by individuals with disabilities.
Marjory Hughes, Braille secretary at Guide Dogs said, "Being able to access dog records and information without sighted help enables me to be fully independent in sourcing information for other staff members. Guide Dogs Interactive is easy to use with adequate prompts given at the appropriate time. As the system is web page-based this makes it easier to use with no difficult or complicated key strokes required. As it develops, Guide Dogs Interactive will enable visually impaired members of staff to carry out their job functions on an equal footing with their sighted colleagues." In addition to making information available more easily to a wider range of staff, Guide Dogs recognised the efficiencies that could be achieved through an integrated browser-based system accessed through a single entry point, whether via intranet, extranet or the Internet. A key feature of GDI is the 'My Dogs' desktop used by trainers and managers. Paul Simpson, Managing Director, Public Sector UK, Civica said, "An integrated IT system ensures everyone in the organisation has access to the same information, at the same time, thereby improving efficiency. However, creating a fully integrated solution can be costly and time consuming, as old systems are removed and new ones installed. Civica's portal eliminates the expense and upheaval associated with a change in infrastructure - it simply brings the existing systems together under a web-based front end - ensuring that the benefits of cross departmental integration can be achieved quickly and cost effectively." More information on The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association can be found at www.guidedogs.org.uk. More information on Bobby can be found at www.cast.org/bobby/.

ENDS

Accompanying Photography: High-resolution photos of working guide dogs available

About The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association was founded in 1934 to provide welfare for blind and partially sighted people, including the training and provision of guide dogs. Guide Dogs' mission today is to provide guide dogs, mobility and other rehabilitation services that meet the needs of blind and partially sighted people. Guide Dogs relies entirely on voluntary donations and legacies from the public.

About Civica Ltd
Civica is one of the UK's most experienced specialist providers of software and services to the public sector. Formed in April 2002 from the Sanderson Group's principal public sector serving businesses, the company has an 18-year history of delivering effective software solutions in the UK and Australia, to local authorities, police forces, healthcare, criminal justice and education organisations, and major commercial firms. Civica Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, is an approved Prime Contractor for software in the UK Government's GCat procurement catalogue. For more information on Civica, please visit www.civica.co.uk