The Rix Centre is a British

charitable The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion. Etymology The word ''charity'' or ...

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

centre that was founded in 2004. The Centre, based at the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

, explores the uses of

new media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

technology for the benefit of the

learning disability Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficult ...

community. It has developed

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

technologies and courses to support those with learning disabilities and their careers.

Leadership

The Rix Centre is named after Lord

Brian Rix Brian Norman Roger Rix, Baron Rix, (27 January 1924 – 20 August 2016) was an English actor-manager, who produced a record-breaking sequence of long-running farces on the London stage, including ''Dry Rot'', '' Simple Spymen'' and ''One for ...

, the Baron Rix,

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the University, who has campaigned for people with learning difficulties for over 60 years. The Centre is headed by Andy Minnion. Since 2001, Minnion has been conducting research at the UEL on the subject of

accessibility Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

for people with learning disabilities.

Projects

Project @

Project @ was a major

ESRC The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

-funded programme exploring the ways in which people with learning difficulties access and use information and communication technologies. Using observations, interviews and formal usability tests, project researchers built up a multi-layered view of computer use, Internet access and interaction with software among people with learning difficulties. To meet the aim of Project Apple, a multimedia Learning Environment (LE), providing learning resources and tools for self-advocacy, is being developed and tested with young people with learning difficulties, teachers and support-staff. Project @ brought together researchers from a number of academic fields with multimedia producers from small and corporate businesses and the UK's leading learning disability charity,

MENCAP The Royal Mencap Society is a charity based in the United Kingdom that works with people with a learning disability. Its Charity Number is 222377. History Established by Judy Fryd in 1946 as The National Association of Parents of Backwards Chi ...

The Big Tree

The Rix Centre runs The Big Tree, a website devoted to the sharing of ideas and information regarding multimedia and its potential uses in the learning disability community. The site's target users are individuals working with or supporting people with mental disabilities.

Other projects

The Rix Centre has overseen a number of projects involving research, development, and outreach. Some are large collaborative projects; the Rix Living Lab, for instance, was a long-term research and development collaboration with multiple

London borough The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at ...

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

voluntary organisations, individuals with learning disabilities, and their supporters. Other endeavors have had more specific aims, such as a collaborative project in

Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the ...

using easy-build websites, and a

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

-based project focused on the development of a "new media interactive zone" for young people with profound learning disabilities to communicate via video and media technology. The Rix Centre also hosted Inclusive New Media Design, a project aiming to encourage

web designer Web design encompasses many different skills and disciplines in the production and maintenance of websites. The different areas of web design include web graphic design; user interface design (UI design); authoring, including standardised code a ...

s, developers, and editors to build websites and multimedia content accessible to people with learning disabilities.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.rixcentre.org
Inclusive New Media DesignUniversity of East London
Charities based in London Charities for disabled people based in the United Kingdom