Inclusion: 2010 Consumer Electronics Show featuring off the shelf accessibility

I’m a little geeky and get excited each year when the annual Consumer Electronics Show , or CES, starts. However, I’m more excited by two announcements from this year’s CES, currently going on in Las Vegas. Usually, we see technology for people with disabilities launched at annual conferences for that specific market, but this year, two companies are using the CES to announce and demonstrate their products. This fact makes the point that the needs of today’s consumers with disabilities are getting more of an intentional focus. After the paragraphs sharing about these two innovations, I will share why these announcements are so landmark.
(The links are courtesy of
BlindBargains.com.

The first product I will share is the
Ocean Blue
set top cable box which features fully accessible menus and on-screen information for the blind. This information of video programming has been available to sattelite and cable users for many years, and developed into some monstrous remotes, most of whose functions were lost on those who could not see the screen. Not any more, though. (The above link has a Flash video which will launch upon opening, which will give you a full working demonstration of their product.)

In the past, have cable providers thought their customers who are blind didn’t need the same information that their sighted customers had full access to? It doesn’t have to be that way any longer. Ocean Blue collaborated with the UK’s Royal National Institute of Blind People to develop this fine, workable solution that means access for all without people who are blind having to find some other solution to find access to the otherwise freely disseminated on-screen information. And, for the cable companies, they can offer more actual information to their customers, as well.

And, the second product I’ll offer up is the
Blio e-reader.
(This CNET web interview features both text and a Flash video you can launch, which will let you hear or see a demo of the Blio actually in use.)

The Blio is the latest innovation from Ray Kurzweil, a name very familiar in the various disability circles as he is associated with many reading innovations over the past 35 years. Now, Kurzweil is taking the knowledge base he’s accumulated over the years and integrating this into one of the latest technology trends, e-books.

There was quite a buzz at the CES about the many different e-book readers from the various book sellers and tech companies. What sets the Blio apart, though, is that it does what all those others can’t—it makes e-books accessible to all readers, including the blind. And, to top it off, the Blio does for sighted readers what the others also do not—gives them full color presentation and web-integrated abilities.
There are a few facets that set Blio apart from the other e-readers.

First, the Blio is not another hardware device like the other book sellers are hawking, which will almost always be exclusively tied to that one bookseller’s service. Instead, the Blio is computer software. Initially, Blio can be installed on Windows-based computers, as well as the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, and Kurzweil is wanting to make it available on other operating systems.

Secondly, Blio also comes with more than a million books available for free when you install it.

And, finally, is a feature the other e-readers can’t match, the price. The Blio is free.

Now, let me tell you why these two products mentioned above are big announcements for assistive technology, specifically, but, more importantly, in regards to off the shelf accessibility. Why is this off the shelf experience important, one might ask. It is important because nobody should have to pay an additional cost to use the products that he purchased for the same price as everybody else. It would be like selling a bicycle to people, then saying, you have to pay an additional cost to make the wheels unlock and let them roll for you. That bicycle analogy is the way it has been for people with disabilities in the past when they have had to purchase additional software or hardware just to use the off the shelf computer, which they purchased for the same price paid by everybody else. However, because this population has a disability and has an additional need not addressed by the computer, this segment of the population had to pay what basically amounts to a disability tax to purchase the access devices.

Only recently, have companies begun to embrace the idea of off the shelf accessibility. One of the first products I found this way was the Olympus DS 30, DS 40, and DS 50 models of its digital recorders and music players. These voice recorders came out of the box with talking menus already installed, which were activated on startup. The user could turn these off if he didn’t want them. And, one of the biggest leaps into accessibility was the one that Apple made last year when they included Voice Over, their built-in, fully functioning screen reader, in many products from their line of Mac computers, the iPhone, and various models of their, now ubiquitous, iPods.

Now, with the launch of Ocean Blue’s set top box and the Blio, you might hear a loud rumble taking place in thepopulation of people with disabilities. That rumble is chanting, “Hurrah! The digital revolution is here!”

One-armed golfer has powerful drive, even better delivery

What if you were an up and coming golfer, good enough to hang with some peer named Tiger, and then something happened that changes how you look at life, much less your swing and game?

Perhaps, the bigger question is what does a golfer do when he loses an arm?

And, then what does that golfer do when he realizes the bigger lesson and message in his personal loss?

To find out the answers to these questions, check out the Houston Chronicle article about
Larry Alford.

I can personally relate to the painful details of Alford’s story, although the specifics are different, much of his story and mine are the same. Except, I don’t take my message to the golf course. I once read that there are no mistakes in life, only lessons, and that the only mistakes occur when we fail to learn the lessons. It sounds like Alford is taking the lessons and paying them forward, one powerful stroke at a time.

Accessible Event makes meetings and seminars open to all participants, no matter their disability

I’ve been waiting on the following unveiling for a while and am impressed by the results, not to mention, the potential this offers for the future.

The folks at
Serotek
Have rolled out their latest accessibility tool.

As its name implies,
Accessible Event
Makes meetings, seminars, conferences, and other events where participation is contingent on the accessibility to all the participants, truly open to everybody.

You can check out the June 23
press Conference ,
which is, of course, presented as an Accessible Event.


And, if that isn’t enough and you’d like another demonstration of how this neat tool works, check out the Serotek demo of a
staff meeting.

This is a service Serotek is offering to people who have a need to make their program accessible. It is something that I can see a distinct need for for at colleges, universities, and even public schools. There are also the distinct commercial applications at trade shows and conventions. If you’re a presenter and want to sure accessibility, check out Accessible Event. It will provide the ultimate delivery of your message to all audience members.

A web site especially for college-bound teens with disabilities

One of the issues I try to stress most to high school students I work with is how different college will be for them, as opposed to their K-12 experience. So, you can imagine the smile I got when I found a web site designed specifically for college-bound teens with disabilities.

Aptly titled,
Going to College,
The web site (developed by
Virginia Commonwealth University)
proclaims itself “A resource for teens with disabilities.”

The site breaks down into three primary areas of focus:

My Place – where the student will do some self analysis to identify strengths and learning styles to help in goal setting.

Campus Life – describing what the student can expect at the college and what professors will expect, as well as accommodations and assistive technology.

Planning for college – how to proactively prepare today for college tomorrow.

Its great to see something so unique as this put together. Now, all we have to do is spread the word about it.

(A special thanks to the
Disability Studies, Temple U.
blog for this valuable information.)

Two scholarship resources for students with disabilities

This is just a brief post to share scholarship information I recently learned about.

First,
Disaboom
has a irectory with over 125 scholarships for students with disabilities. Check it out and see if there are some that fit your needs.

Secondly, there is also the
Mouse Hole Scholarships sponsored by Blind Mice Mart .
This scholarship Is essay-based and is limited to visually impaired students, or sighted students of visually impaired parents.

Awards for the 2008 Mouse Hole Scholarship Essay Contest -- This year we have $4,198.00 available in the Mouse Hole Scholarship Fund! The two top essays, as selected by our panel of judges, will receive a $1,250.00 Mouse Hole Scholarship! The four top essays, as selected by our panel of judges, will receive a ASUS 1000 H E Net Book Computer from the Mouse Hole Scholarship Program!

I’m sure there are other scholarship resources around for students with disabilities, and will be happy to post about them here, just send me the information. I’ve learned about these two posting in the last week and wanted to share them as soon as I could.

April is Autism Awareness Month

Get ready. I’m going to try and get some posting done.

Because it is after April 1, you know I’m not fooling when I say that April is Autism Awareness month.

For authoratative information and resources about this subject, check out
The National Autism Society
And
Autism Speaks.

Also, for some insightful reflection on what the designation of Autism Awareness Month means to one person, check out the Disaboom post titled,
Can We Get Some Actual Help Here?

As an aside, while on that Disaboom post, go to the comment area at the bottom of that post, and check out the accessible CAPTCHA they offer. The audio is very clear and informative, down to the case of the letters it is asking you to input. It is also missing the bothersome background noise that is too common on other audio CAPTCHAs. I’m not sure if that is working well at screening out spam replies, but I didn’t see any comments posted, so I’ll assume its working. Are you listening to this,
Yahoo?

SeroTalk at ATIA: bringing wide array of assistive technologies together

This information has been out on the web for about a week and I’m a little late writing about it, but the richness of the resources offered makes this worth even a delayed posting.

A week ago, the assistive technology professional trade group ATIA held its annual conference in Orlando. While attending there, Serotek’s
SeroTalk Blog
Set up recording equipment at a table to interview professionals from whichever company wanted to sit down and chat up their latest offerings.

What they put together was a compendium of resources that only rarely occurs—
35 Interviews from ATIA 2009.
Not only are there almost all of the usual big names in blindness-related assistive technology, (one obvious name is missing, see if you can figure out which one) but there were also several others that weren’t as well known. The blindness-related products run the gamut from screen readers to magnifiers, to the latest offerings from APH, and even some federal, state, and regional blindness resources.

What makes this collection stand out even more, though, is that while it was hosted by Serotek, a blindness-related technology company, they also included the following interviews that weren’t necessarily related to blindness:

• * Dynavox discussing their interactive AAC speech generating devices


• * InfoGrip talking to listeners about keyboards, tracballs, and switches


• * Resna.org sharing about assistive technology act programs across the U.S.


• * UltraThera giving a Demo of PointScribe Software for Helping Persons to Improve Handwriting


• * ProxTalker sharing about their AAC devices to help people who can’t speak


• * Quilsoft giving a Demo of WordQ Predictive Text and SpeakQ Speech Recognition software


• * Jim Fruchterman Discussing a Project Called Raising The Floor to Create Universal Access


• * Talker Inc Augmentative Communications Device for the Speech-Impaired

Drive on, Serotek! Keep on bringing the different communities together and making things happen in the world of assistive technology.

Captioned Phone gives people with hearing impairments an accessible phone to use

I just love it when I hear about assistive technology in the mainstream media, not just on those usual online sites where I go to find this information. I mean, when you go to a web site dedicated to assistive technology and its use by people with disabilities, its not really any big surprise to learn about the latest tech innovation.

So, you can imagine my surprise on Sunday night when I heard an ad for a
Captioned Phone
In an ad on one of the local, Houston-area television stations.

Here’s the
ad that played.

Granted, what is being spoken in the ad isn’t a perfect description of everything that is being displayed on the screen, but even a blind dude like me can get the general message of what is going on during that ad. There was some additional print information from the ad that my wife read to me, but the information provided in the audio was pretty evident on describing the product. It basically uses voice recognition and speech-to-text technology to provide a real-time caption to the conversation the user is having.

Ideal for people with some degree of hearing loss, the Captioned Telephone (CapTel) works like any other telephone with one important addition: It displays every word the caller says throughout the conversation. CapTel phone users can listen to the caller, and can also read the written captions in the CapTel's bright display window.

On the web site, CapTel’s Benefits are described as:

• Calls are made in a natural manner, simply dial the telephone number directly for the person you are calling


• Users enjoy natural telephone conversations, and can check the captions for added clarity


• Everyone can use the CapTel phone simply turn off the captions feature to use it as a traditional telephone


• Captions appear nearly simultaneously with the spoken words


• The CapTel phone includes an amplified handset and tone control for clarity

If you’re interested in learning more about this revolutionary phone, check out this
video,
or read the
FAQ page.

While the ad I caught was sponsored by CapTel Texas and
Relay Texas,
There is also a
Availability page
To see where else this program can be found across the United States.

And, for you Texas residents, here’s a great final note:

Texas residents may qualify to receive a free CapTel telephone through the state’s Special Telecommunications Assistance Program (STAP). Or, Texas residents can purchase a CapTel phone directly.

New project lets users share Braille books

It makes sense that people who create something would prefer to see its use maximized and not limited to only one user. It also makes ecological sense that we should recycle where we can.

With those two points in mind, there is now
NFBShareBraille.org,
A web repository for the free exchange of Braille materials, sponsored, obviously enough, by the
National Federation of the Blind

NFB ShareBraille is a free service provided by the National Federation of the Blind to promote the use and vitality of Braille. To trade your Braille books or to request books from other NFB ShareBraille users, simply create a free account and start exploring the available titles.”

Yes, that did say you could request a title as well as offer up what you have. I like that mentality. There’s no need to duplicate the effort if its already done.

And, yes, it did say you have to register for an account, but that’s free and relatively painless.

So, if you have material that is already Brailled and no longer needed, or want to see if a book you need is already available, get on over to the NFBShareBraille site and check it out.

Thanks to the folks at
Blind Bargains
for sharing this useful information.

Ginger Spell on Disability 411

Several years ago, I read a passage that has stuck with me and become my own day-to-day mantra: “There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. It is only when we fail to learn the lesson that a mistake occurs.”

That thought also echoes the adage of, “If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got.”

With those ideas in mind, let me ask a question. What do we learn from proofreading with a spellchecker? When we use most spellcheckers, we get the screen popping up the correct spelling of words, one word at a time, with no real feedback on what we’re doing wrong. If we’re not learning from our mistakes, er lessons, then we are destined to repeat them.

So, how about a spellchecker designed not to look at just the single word and be a preventative measure, like most are today, but instead, looks at the whole sentence and contextual use of the word, and seeks to teach the user where he is making errors?
And, what if this novel idea worked as a plug in for Microsoft Word, easily the most-used word processing program?
And, best yet, what if it were free?

If this sounds like an interesting tool, then check out the latest episode of the
Disability 411 podcast.
In Episode 58, Beth interviews Miki Feldman-Simon of
Ginger Software,
The company which has developed Ginger Spell, the very spellchecker that I just described above. It is marketed for being a “new technology for people with dyslexia.”

It doesn’t correct just spelling mistakes. It also corrects misused words, basically words that are spelled correctly but not in that context. How we do it is we look at the context of the sentence. The software uses breakthrough technology that looks at the context of each sentence and works out what the writer or the user was trying to write according to the context.

At the moment we correct spelling and misused words, but in the beginning of next year we’ll also be correcting grammatical errors which will make a huge difference to people making not just spelling mistakes but say, people for whom English is a second language who make a lot of grammatical errors.

What the software also does by correcting the whole sentence, it’s making the whole way people work a lot more efficient. Instead of going back and looking word by word, it is much faster to correct full sentences. So, if it takes someone an hour to write, and this is the feedback we’re getting from users right now, instead of it taking them a half an hour or an hour to write a few sentences before, it’s very quick and very efficient. you click one button and it corrects all of the mistakes within that sentence. You click another button, it corrects all the misused words and you just continue working.

It’s just a much better way to use the time and the accuracy is a lot higher than any other spell checker. If you really have difficulty writing and you make unusual spelling mistakes, which a lot of people who have learning difficulties or who have dyslexia do, normal spell checkers can’t correct the unusual mistakes that they make. Our software, because it looks at the context of the sentence can correct these unusual mistakes at the sentence level. It’s much more accurate and it’s much faster and easier to use.

The learning of lessons comes in reports that Ginger Spell will generate. This is where Ginger Spell is different by offering lessons, not mistakes. The user can learn where and how he is creating errors and, once these areas are identified, can work to fix these in the future.

To use the Ginger Spell plug in, the user will need to set up a log in account. That lets the program generate the individual report for that particular user, which can make this a very useful tool for university writing labs, or even for student computers operated by the DSO.

Does this sound like an interesting tool? Check out the link above for the D411 show for more of the interview with Miki. Also, go to the Ginger Software page to download and try out Ginger Spell for yourself.

And, remember…, no more mistakes, only lessons.

Blind Planet aims to be one-stop blindness resource

If you’re interested in news, products, and information specific to blindness, you might want to bookmark the
Blind Planet
Web site, which bills itself as, “The best blind community on the net,.”

“Our mission is to provide the world with a one-stop resource for blindness-related information, podcasts, tutorials, mailing lists, web sites, and almost anything else that would be useful to the blind community.”

Welcome to The Blind Planet! The Blind Planet is a rapidly-growing web site that offers a lot of valuable information for the blind community, and / or for those people who are interested in learning about blindness and how blind people go about their daily lives. Regardless of whether you are blind, sighted, a novice or a professional at technology, or are just searching for help and / or information on a particular topic, you will definitely find the Blind Planet to be one of your favorite web sites very quickly.

I first learned about the site because somebody read a blog post here by clicking on a link originating on the Blind Planet site. Intrigued and curious, I checked it out. After perusing the site and its
News Aggregator
I added it to my own RSS feeds.

Besides my own blog feed, the Blind Planet News Aggregator includes feeds from several of my regular favorites, including
Blind Bargains,
Blind Cool Tech Podcast,
Fred’s Head Companion,
The Ranger Station,
Top Tech Tidbits for Thursday,
And
Wayne’s blog.

For me, the News Aggregator does meet its intended mission of being that one-stop resource, at least for reading my favorite blindness related blogs and web sites.
See if it does the same for you.

AccessApps offers free assistive technology applications to run on USB jump drive

(Thanks to the
Fred’s Head Companion
for the following assistive technology resource.)

AccessApps
is a site that has more than 50 assistive technology and learning applications. The beauty of this site is that these titles will all run on any computer, directly from a USB jump drive with no need to install software on the host computer.

The site, based in Scotland, will allow you to select the various software applications and download them in one suite. There are even step-by-step tutorials and video guides on the site’s “Help” page to get you up and running.

AccessApps is an initiative developed by the Scottish JISC Regional Support Centres in cooperation with
JISC TechDis
. It consists of over 50 open source and freeware assistive technology applications which can be entirely used from a USB stick on a Windows computer (

here is a full list of applications on offer).

AccessApps will run without needing to install anything on a computer and provide a range of e-learning solutions to support writing, reading and planning as well as visual and mobility difficulties.

What are you waiting for? Go get ‘em!

Two Resources for Writing College Papers

Here are two useful web sites which should serve as great resources for any student needing to write college papers. Thanks to the fine folks at
Fred’s Head Companion
for these links.

Punctuation Made Simple

First, there’s a great writing tool for all, particularly any student with a writing or cognitive disability, at
Punctuation Made Simple.

The site, hosted by The College of Arts & Sciences at Illinois State University, has links specific to using colons, semicolons, commas, and dashes.

Big Dog's Grammar

The second resource is
Big Dog’s Grammar,
which touts itself as, "Basic English grammar with interactive exercises."

The site has links for MLA style, pronoun use, active/passive voice, and various forms of modifiers, as well as some other nuggets of wisdom.

It also has an option to read the web site in Spanish, an alternative I think would be a great asset for Spanish speakers who are taking English classes.

Blind Bloggers group offers resource for problem solving

This news is not directly related to DSS at colleges and universities, but does relate to issues of web accessibility, and is very particular to myself as a blogger who is blind.

Blind Bloggers
is a new group on
Google Groups,
which is just what its name states, a group for bloggers who are blind.

Boy, does this bring back memories. I recall some issues I used to have when I first began blogging where I needed to ask somebody a question about using Blogger with a screen reader. Thankfully for me, I knew two people, both blind screen reader users, who helped me solve problems as they arose. This group is one of those “slap yourself on the head” kind of ideas, where you say, “Now, why didn’t I think of that?” The group gives a gathering place for those who have some knowledge to share with others who might encounter similar problems. It is yet another resource to reach for.

For background, the Blind Bloggers group spun off a conversation on the
Accessible
Google group.

The question was raised if a group existed for blind bloggers. One of the now 13 members of the Blind Bloggers group was seeking a resource to resolve some problem she was having and it was an issue that might be typical for bloggers who were blind.

Voila! A star was born.

(Thanks to
Tim O'Brien
for starting the group and letting me know about it.)

We now resume our normal blogging day.

A great resource for finding, researching, and downloading books

One of the recent
Fred’s Head Companion
Posts has a very comprehensive listing of resources for finding, researching, and downloading books. It is the digital equivalent of the mini tour school libraries used to give students.

Be warned, this post is long, but there is an incredible amount of information offered up. It is worth your time and effort to check it out. This would be a great reference page to bookmark for any college student, whether they have a disability or not.

Its even a good resource for coordinators of the DSO. How can you teach something if you don't know the resources that exist? This is the perfect site to direct your book-seeking students to, which will empower, not enable, them.

Kudos to Michael McCarty and the fine folks at Fred’s Head Companion for a job well done.

Disability 411 Episode 56 features interview with Kelby Brick

The latest episode of the Disability 411 podcast is hot off the press.

One of the big announcements is that the web site can be reached with an easier to remember address,
http://disability-411.com
.

Please make sure to notice the dash in the site’s address. Some address harvester had taken the even simpler to remember Disability411.com domain already, so it wasn’t available. And, if you have a bookmark for the old address,
http://disability411.jinkle.com,
don’t worry—that domain still works, too. Beth just tried to make it easier for listeners to remember.

And, no, I’m not plugging the show because it has a guest submission by yours truly. There is some fantastic news in
Episode 56
Of particular interest to Deaf consumers.

This show features an interview with Kelby Brick, of
GoAmerica.com,
Who discusses the latest news in Deaf communication, the ability for Deaf consumers to get 10-digit phone numbers.

If that doesn’t make sense, then check out Episode 56 and see why that is really big news. I think you’ll understand why this communication evolution is another technological step for the Deaf community. For further information about this historic breakthrough in videophone relay signing, check out
Kelby's announcement
on the Go America site.

National Federation of the Blind to distribute free, white canes nationwide

The
National Federation of the Blind
is undertaking an “historic initiative …the largest effort ever of its kind to provide white canes to individuals who are blind or have low vision.”

In an action I’ve never heard of before, the NFB is offering
Free white canes across the USA.

It is estimated that 109,000 of the 1.3 million legally blind people in the United States use a white cane. By supplying canes free of charge, this program provides the opportunity for all blind Americans to have a white cane and to participate fully in society.

The National Federation of the Blind will provide a straight, light fiberglass cane to any blind individual in the United States or Puerto Rico who requires the cane for personal use. Canes are available in the following lengths: 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, or 63 inches. Individuals may only request one free cane the cane for personal use. Canes are available in the following lengths: 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, or 63 inches. Individuals may only request one free cane in any six-month period.

Here is the link to
apply for a free NFB cane.

This is also a well-timed campaign to help raise the awareness concerns that come with
White Cane Day,
which is coming up on October 15.

Most blind people have a white cane provided to them by their respective blind rehabilitation agency, but as anybody who has used one of these knows, with use, white canes do get banged up and bent and need to be replaced. This is a good two-fold effort of the NFB to provide a service to their target community and also promote their organization.

Ghotit offers free tool for students with dyslexia

Get it? Ghotit? Good!

The
Ghotit
software is a free application, which is web-based for now, and may be useful for students with dyslexia or related disabilities.

Ghotit offers unique writing and reading online services for people who suffer from dyslexia, dysgraphia or people who are not native-English speakers.

The program appears to be a souped-up spellchecker. The designers are continuing to implement advances under the hood to make the application more robust. Recent additions to the features of this browser-based application include compatibility with Apple’s Safari 3.1 browser and text-to-Speech service. (At this time, the TTS is only availble using the Internet Explorer browser.)

And,
A Ghotit plug-in version,
is coming soon which will let the tool run within the application the student is using, instead of requiring a browser window to be open as well. According to information he’s received from the developer, Lon Thornburg reports that this version will be free as well. (See Lon’s post for more information on how to obtain this future version at no cost.)

When Wikipedia Won't Cut It: 25 Online Sources for Reliable, Researched Facts

There was one other article I found in the library of
CollegeDegree.com
and it is one that just about any college student may find worth noting.

When the title of an article is
When Wikipedia Won’t Cut It: 25 Online Sources for Reliable, Researched Facts,
college students and professors alike should pay attention. I believe this article will be of use to any college student in this digital age, with or without a disability, and also whether they take an online class or not.

I remember very clearly the difficulty I encountered when writing numerous college research papers, trying to find sources that were accessible, and going online was the best and most useful way for me to do this independently. Adding to the conundrum was that professors often limited the number of online sources students were allowed to cite. I would meet with my professors and explained to them the difficulty I had in finding accessible material that was not online, and asked for some leeway in allowing me to use more than their usually allowed number of online sources. I was frank and honest in this request,asking them to trust me to screen out unreliable, uncredible web source material, and holding me accountable on this aspect. I can't remember a time when that request was not granted. However, I also remember that I worked hard to ensure that my sources were credible and valid, and, yest most of their domains ended with ".edu". That seemed to add to my professor's approval.

If you found either this post or the previous post I wrote about another article from the CollegeDegree.com library useful, you may be interested to know that another powerful feature of the library page is the subscription option so that you can sign up for the newest articles whenever they are published.

100 Web Tools for Learning with a Disability

For a good and fairly comprehensive listing of assistive technologies to assist a wide spectrum of disabilities, check out
100 Web Tools for Learning with a Disability.

This rich article includes links for both free and paid software titles in the following categories:

• * Text to speech


• * Alternative formats


• * Math help


• * Physical disabilities


• * Language disabilities


• * Visual disabilities


• * Hearing impairment


• * General disability


• * Concept mapping


• * Web browsing

This is one of several articles posted in the library on
CollegeDegree.com,
a web site that matches users’ fields of interest with accredited, online, college programs. The site reports having 1049 programs and 115 colleges in its database.

I didn’t spend a lot of time looking over the colleges and programs on the home page, but the site has user configurable settings to narrow the search. Spend some time there and check it out if you’re interested. If you do, please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

However, even without anything else, just that one article in the library makes it worthwhile. There are a few others listed on the home page, and a few more on the
Library page.