Latest Insights from the EngX Community

  • Digital accessibility: what is it and why does it matter?

    Digital accessibility: what is it and why does it matter?

    1.3 billion people worldwide (16% of the total population) experience significant disability. 1 Digital accessibility is about designing and building digital products that can be used by everyone, regardless of ability or impairment, in different environments and on different devices. It's also a legal requirement in many countries (for example in the UK under the Equality Act of 2010). Websites and applications designed with accessibility in mind are measurably easier to use, not only by people with disabilities such as impaired vision, limited mobility or cognitive difficulties, but also by neurodivergent users (e.g. people with dyslexia) and others who could experience difficulties using a digital service in particular situations (e.g. when using a phone in bright sunlight, or in a noisy…

  • Barriers are meant to be broken

    Barriers are meant to be broken

    Each problem can be overcome, because they are our own creation. Discuss… As we have seen in ‘ What do we think about when we think about disability? ’ , disability and other forms of profound dependence are normal, not unusual occurrences. It happens to everybody all the time This can’t be stressed enough. Each of us at some stage of our lives, whether temporary or permanent, will be reliant on others for our health, wellbeing, even our survival. We are dependent upon parents in our infancy; we become dependent on family members during ill health; we become dependent upon carers and health systems, as well as family members, during old age. What are the barriers? People in this situation find themselves facing all sorts of barriers to exercising their own agency within a societal…

  • The internal memo that built the modern world

    The internal memo that built the modern world

    On This Day in (Engineering) History If you want to share a thought or some information you write it in a letter, put that in an envelope and slip it into a post box in the street. Anything bigger, like a box of files or a book, is sent as a parcel carried by couriers, and it all – letter or parcel - travels through a postal system made up of thousands of people delivering everything by hand. Not anymore. On April 30, 1993 - CERN announces that World Wide Web protocols will be free to all. Just to be aware… To clear up a common misunderstanding, one that has entered the language – the World Wide Web (WWW) is not the Internet . The internet - how we got here Like the invention of the wheel, the sail, the motorcar and the coffeemaker, it is hard to imagine how life was before the…

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Latest IET EngX News

  • Reflecting on a week of Designing for Disability

    Reflecting on a week of Designing for Disability

    Over the past week, we have embarked on a thought provoking journey into the realms of designing for disability. With 16% of the world's population experiencing significant disability, inclusive thinking and design is more important than ever. Insights from the community In our Community Insights blog, we were asked What do we think about when we think about disability? and whether a reluctance to find solutions is borne from a culture of stereotypical views. Barriers are meant to be broken listed the barriers experienced by those with a disability and Digital accessibility: what is it and why does it matter? gave us an insight into what we at the IET are doing to support users of our digital platforms. And there’s still time to share your thoughts in our discussion What best practice…

  • Designing for Disability: Empowering Inclusion Through Engineering

    Designing for Disability: Empowering Inclusion Through Engineering

    In today’s world, engineers play a pivotal role in creating technologies that cater to diverse user needs. Designing for disability is an essential aspect of this work, ensuring that everyone can access and benefit from technological advancements. As engineers, we have the power to transform lives and create a world where everyone has equal opportunities. Designing for disability is not just about compliance; it’s about fostering empathy, understanding, and innovation. With an estimated one billion people worldwide living with disabilities, the challenge is immense, but the opportunity is even greater. When engineers design with disability in mind, everyone benefits. From assistive devices to accessible interfaces, our collective efforts can bridge gaps and empower individuals of all abilities…

  • Wrapping up a week of AI Insights!

    Wrapping up a week of AI Insights!

    As the digital landscape evolves, so does our fascination with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Over the past week, we’ve delved into the heart of this transformative field, exploring its impact on our lives, the challenges it poses, and the potential it holds for the future. Let’s recap the highlights from our week of AI coverage: Insights from the Community We had a fantastic selection of thought-provoking blog posts in Community Insights starting with Trusting machines, not as easy as we think? telling us that AI is everywhere and we interact with it more often than we realise! In Big dreams, big data and some minor technical issues… we learnt that Artificial Intelligence and Big Data are not the same, but they are entwined and vital to each other. Kirsten McCormick shared an insight…

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Latest articles from E+T Magazine

  • Ofcom sets out safety proposals to ensure tech firms keep children safe online

    Ofcom sets out safety proposals to ensure tech firms keep children safe online

    Communications regulator Ofcom has laid out practical steps for tech firms to ensure children are better protected online under the Online Safety Act (OSA). Ofcom announced in April that it was preparing to launch a consultation on its draft children’s safety code of practice, under the OSA. This consultation opened today with measures that, according to Ofcom, will deliver a step-change in online safety for children in the UK. “Once these measures are in force we won’t hesitate to use our full range of enforcement powers to hold tech firms to account. That’s a promise we make to children and parents today,” said Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom chief executive. The consultation follows the results of Ofcom’s annual study published in April, which revealed the extent to which young children…

  • Microsoft signs carbon capture deal using controversial technology

    Microsoft signs carbon capture deal using controversial technology

    Microsoft has signed a deal with energy firm Stockholm Exergi to help it meet its ambitions to become a net zero carbon company by 2030 by absorbing emissions from biomass power plants. The deal will see some 3.33 million tonnes of permanent carbon removals from bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) at a plant in Värtan, Stockholm. But scientists have previously expressed doubt that this method of carbon removal is an efficient way to reduce global emissions. A 2018 letter to the European Parliament signed by nearly 800 scientists said that “cutting down trees for bioenergy releases carbon that would otherwise stay locked up in forests, and diverting wood otherwise used for wood products will cause more cutting elsewhere to replace them”. It called on the body to restrict…

  • Boeing’s Starliner crewed space launch postponed for safety check

    Boeing’s Starliner crewed space launch postponed for safety check

    The launch of Boeing’s Starliner, which was heading for the International Space Station (ISS), was called off two hours before lift-off because of a problem with the spacecraft’s rocket. The CST-100 Starliner was scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral in Florida yesterday (6 May), in its first crewed test flight. The two Nasa astronauts – Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams – were heading to the ISS, where the Starliner would dock for around 10 days before returning to Earth. The two astronauts were in position ready for blast-off, but the decision was taken to halt the flight because of a potential issue with an oxygen relief valve in the Atlas rocket, which sits beneath the Starliner. According to the BBC, flight engineers discovered that the valve in the Atlas rocket, which is run…

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