About us

BE UP2DATE

The UP2DATE Center is the only association in the Republic of Croatia that deals with the development and application of ICT in the daily life of people with disabilities and together we strive to initiate the creation of universal design.

We have established ourselves among the interested public as one of the important factors in the field of information and counseling, organizing and conducting IT education, providing technical support services to users of new technologies, providing visual assistance and sign language interpreters, digital content accessibility, cultural content adaptation, etc.

We regularly employ people with disabilities, and we adapt our activities to the requirements of users and the job market.

The VISION of the UP2DATE Center is to become a regional leader in the implementation of recognizable ICT services and solutions created by universal design. Participating in the design of digital environment with innovative research projects we guarantee education, application of knowledge and support in order to achieve equal opportunities for all social groups with a special emphasis on users with disabilites.

VISION

The MISSION of the UP2DATE Center is to continuously promote new knowledge to enable a higher level of competence, quality inclusion of users on the job market and in various educational processes, but also to facilitate and enrich the daily life of users/members.

MISION

We adapt our activities according to user demand and labor market, and we are particularly proud of:

checking the accessibility of digital content,
adaptation of literature for students,
regular participation in the international ICC camp for visually impaired youth,
designing, organizing and conducting various IT trainings,
designing, organizing and conducting various educational workshops according to the needs of users (learning sign language for children, learning Braille, typing, interactive workshops on tolerance and non-violent conflict resolution, training for potential assistants, etc.),
providing the service of a visual companion to persons with visual impairments,
providing the service of a sign language interpreter / professional communication mediator for deaf and deafblind people,
adaptation of cultural and tourist facilities.

Through many years of work, we have achieved many successful collaborations and partnerships:

cooperation with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) and the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industires (HAKOM) in the field of digital accessibility for people with disabilities,
cooperation with the University of Zadar on the organization, maintenance and promotion of the international ICC camp for visually impaired youth,
cooperation with the Agency for Student Standard Zadar on the organization of nutrition for participants of the international ICC camp for visually impaired youth,
cooperation with the University campus Zadar on the organization of accommodation for participants of the international ICC camp for visually impaired youth,
cooperation with the City of Zadar on the organization and maintenance of the international ICC camp for visually impaired youth,
cooperation with the Roads of Zadar County on the installation of horizontal and vertical sound and tactile signalization for the orientation of visually impaired persons,
cooperation with the Association of Tourist Guides of the City of Zadar “Donat” on conducting customized city tours,
partnership with the Association of the Blind of Primorsko-goranske County on the project “Let’s feel the routes of the Frankopans” with the aim of adapting cultural content to the visually impaired,
partnership with the Association For Rehabilitation And Education Towering Poplars on the EU project RePlast 3D
cooperation with Association For Rehabilitation And Education Towering Poplars; publishing and dissemination of children’s novel that was published simultaneously in all formats (printed book, audio format and in Braille) which was the first ever to happen in Croatia in 2016,
long-term cooperation with the Ribnjak Youth Center on the project “Equal in Culture” (through dance activities, origami workshops, tailoring and sewing courses, online music workshops, thematic lectures, etc.),
cooperation with the Faculty of Croatian Studies on projects for the adaptation of professional literature for students with visual impairments,
cooperation with Atak studio on making relief displays of cultural and tourist sights,
long-term cooperation with the Association for the promotion of quality education of youth with disabilities „IMAGINE” on numerous projects and activities,
cooperation with the Foundation I hear, I believe, I see in many activities related to users with disabilities,
cooperation with the Association of Persons with Disabilities “Sveti Bartolomej” from Knin on activities related to persons with disabilities,
cooperation with the Association of the Blind of Nova Gradiška on numerous activities related to users with disabilities,
cooperation with the Association of the Blind of the Istrian County on activities related to users with disabilities,
collaboration with G.A.D. production and the Office of President Grabar-Kitarović on the adaptation of the new web page predsjednica.hr,
cooperation with the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics on the adaptation of the digital version of the new Croatian orthography in 2013,
in cooperation with the ORYX Center for Safe Driving and the Faculty of Traffic Sciences, we organized safe driving training for people with disabilities,
in collaboration with photographer Siniša Glogoški, we organized an exhibition of relief photographs in the darkroom,
in collaboration with photographer Fran Ožbolt, we organized a photography workshop for the visually impaired and the exhibition “This is how I see the world around me”,
cooperation with the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences in the field of development and application of assistive technology in transport,
cooperation with the Croatian Information Technology Association on the establishment of the first ECDL test center for people with disabilities in our association,
collaboration with POU Algebra on the first adaptation of the ECDL textbook for the visually impaired in 2011

Developing services and activities aimed at raising the quality of life of our customers, we participated in:

at CARNet international conferences,
at CUC international conferences,
at the International Conference on Higher Education for Persons with Disabilities in Innsbruck in 2013,
at the Zajarki Winter Cycling League,
at the traditional Večernjak bicycle race,
at the Terry Fox race.

Achievements, awards and recognitions:

since 2013, we have the status of national coordinator for ICC – International Camp on Communication and Computers, an international summer camp for visually impaired youth hosted in 2018,
we are the winners of the award for the most inclusive project within the Erasmus + program from 2016 to 2018, awarded by the Agency for Mobility and European Union Programs (the MEK project was awarded, the ICC camp we held in Zadar),
our story about the ICC Camp 2018 for visually impaired young people was published in 2020 in the Guide through realized opportunities published by the Agency for Mobility and European Union Programs,
cooperation with FER and HAKOM on the project “Accessible website for people with disabilities” which is the winner of the professional award “Project of the Year” for 2019 awarded by PMI Croatia,
collaboration with students of the Faculty of Transport Sciences and the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences on their work entitled “Development of a smart solution ASCA-8 to increase the mobility of visually impaired people in a smart trade environment for which they received the Rector’s Award in 2020,
acknowledgment for participation in the competition for the BeCROactive award 2020, which is awarded to the most active by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports on the occasion of the European Sports Week,
we have published an IT manual on the use of NVDA screen readers, authored by Danijel Baričević,
we have published an IT manual on using the JAWS for Windows screen reader, authored by Zlatko Sobočan,
we are the winners of the prestigious INFORMATICS plaque awarded to us by the Croatian Information Technology Association for the establishment of the first ECDL test center in our association,
in 2011 the ECDL Foundation in Dublin published an article in Window to the World about our adaptation of the test questions database for the ECDL program

We also try to be creative in our work. We designed, organized and implemented:

“Little Sign School”, interactive sign language learning for lower primary school students,
“Who reads in the dark “, An evening of poetry held on the occasion of the International Literacy Day, cooperation with the Zagreb City Library Tin Ujević, blind people and actors participated: Petra Težak, Robert Kurbaša, Goran Grgić,
Point by point – braille “, interactive workshop on tactile writing for the blind,
Making relief of sights for more accessible tourist and cultural facilities (currently available for Zagreb, Zadar, Šibenik and part of the cultural route Roads of Frankopan),
Driving a car for the blind at the Mičevac test site in cooperation with the Oryx Center for Safe Driving and the Faculty of Traffic Sciences,
Interactive workshops on tolerance and non-violent conflict resolution for students of all grades of primary school,
Training for potential assistants (personal, work, teaching, companions),
Interactive exercises for students of professional occupations related to persons with disabilities