Database publisher strives to exceed Section 508 with its web offerings

It is inspiring to see a corporation take on the role of ensuring not only meeting the accessibility demands of Section 508, but strive to exceed them across the board in their services.

The company I am speaking of is
EBSCO Publishing
Which “according to their web site, has been serving libraries and organizations worldwide for more than 60 years,” providing periodical acquisition. Translated, that means they are a research database supplier.

The above linked press release announces how the company partnered with the
Illinois Center for Instructional Technology Accessibility
at the University of Illinois at Urbana/ Champaign to move EBSCO beyond just meeting the web standards.

Changes that were noted in the upgrade were:
• Elimination of most tables to improve searching with screen readers or keyboard controls
• Descriptive page titles, section header tags and selected link labels
• Redesigned form controls for easier tab navigation
• Streamlined code for simpler page structures
• Access keys which support international keyboard functionality across multiple browsers
• Detailed alternative text image descriptions
• Visually and physically impaired users can perform searches independently most of the time
• Decreased page size mean shorter download times for all users

What I really liked was that they found the re-design of the web content that was originally done to assist disabled users was useful to everybody, regardless of disability. Because the pages are now shorter, they consequently download quicker, thus helping all users who may be using a slower internet connection, such as dial-up.

Ah! Universal design truly is a beautiful thing.

From the
EBSCO web site,
here is what the company is all about:
“EBSCO Publishing is the world's premier database aggregator, offering a suite of more than 200 full-text and secondary research databases. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals, magazines, books, monographs, reports and various other publication types from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). The company's product lines include proprietary databases such as Academic Search™, Business Source®, CINAHL®, DynaMed™, Literary Reference Center™, MasterFILE™, NoveList®, SocINDEX™ and SPORTDiscus™ as well as dozens of leading licensed databases such as ATLA Religion Database™, EconLit, MEDLINE®, MLA International Bibliography, PsycARTICLES® and PsycINFO®.”

Useful web site for job seekers with disabilities

There is a good posting on the American Printing House for the Blind’s
Fred’s Head Companion
Web site that deals with job hunting and interview preparation.

Some of the tips are specifically directed towards blind job seekers, but many of these would apply to anybody with a disability. It is one that is worth sharing with any of your students who may be looking to break into the job market soon. What makes this web site valuable is that there is an extensive list of resources including links to several job search engines, all gathered on this one site.

From the sounds of the post, it is one that may also be updated later, so bookmark that page and check back later.

Finally, if you have any resources to offer, hit the email link near the bottom of that page and send in your suggestions.

Irish web sites employing built-in assistive technology

There is an interesting bit of assistive technology news discussed in a news article on the Irish Developers Network web site. What I think makes it interesting is that the assistive technology is being promoted to be employed by the developers of the web content, instead of on the users’ computers.

According to the article, an Irish retail banking institution is employing
Browsealoud technology
on its web site.

The Browsealoud technology reads the web content aloud while also highlighting the word that is being read. This technology is being targeted towards users who have learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, as well as people who have mild vision impairments. The article also mentioned how those who spoke other languages could benefit from the software.

Additionally, the article also mentions other entities aside from the bank who have begun employing this particular software, which means it is not a unique quirk of implementation.

Some of the latest features this software allows the webmaster to consider:
• Dual Colour Highlighting making it easier for web users to read and interact online, thereby, improving comprehension.
• High Quality Voices, customisable by the webmaster and adjustable reading speeds to suit individual requirements.
• Online dictionary allowing Users to look up the definitions of words.
• Ability to save online content and listen to it offline through the MP3 facility
• Ability to have selected text magnified and read aloud to them.
• continuous reading option allows Whole pages read aloud at a time.
• Hyperlinks, HTML, Java and PDF documents can also be read with the technology.

There was also a strong statement about web accessibility which was made in the article, but was not attributed to any individual, so I’ll assume it was the opinion of the article’s author. It is a quote worth repeating.
“Website accessibility should be a concern for everyone, from public establishments to big and small corporations. Making sure that website visitors can access all information which has been carefully written and selected for an organisation’s website is of key importance in order to ensure that customers and clients are fully informed and receive the correct messages.”

I am an advocate for web accessibility and will speak up in whatever forums I need to do so to bring awareness to others. While the assistive technology this software employs is not new, and is not the first time I’ve heard of it being employed by the producer of a web site, it is the first time I have seen its employment on a large scale project. Maybe they have the right idea here. Make the content accessible in the first place. Granted, this software makes only the one web site accessible, but if all sites employed such insight, the entire web could be accessible.

Finally, while this software would bring access to the web, it would not make other assistive technology obsolete. There would still be a need to use magnifiers and screen readers to access other programs aside from the web browser. Still, it is a good innovation to see.

Research paper about accessibility of instructional web sites

There is a recent research paper dealing with web accessibility I want to inform you about today.

The paper is titled, simply enough,
Accessibility of Instructional Web Sites in Higher Education.
This is the academic paper written about a project undertaken at the University of Texas at Austin, a university which has been noted for their accessible and Section 508 compliant web sites.

I think the title says a lot, but perhaps it should have read “Inaccessibility” instead of “Accessibility.” According to the report:

“The student team evaluated 99 Web sites, of which 12 (12.1 percent) met all of the Section 508 standards and thus were considered accessible. The remaining 87 sites (87.88 percent) had documented areas of noncompliance with between one and 11 of the 16 standards and thus failed to comply with Section 508.”

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not knocking the report, but quite the contrary. While the results show a poor reflection of accessible instructional sites, it does identify the deficiencies. Like the old saying goes, “How can you fix something, if you don’t know what’s broke?”

The report is an honest effort to evaluate accessibility at a flagship university. The information gained is useful as it gives valid and reliable feedback to the UT departments who participated in the study. From these results, they can redesign as indicated.

Actually, I believe the project UT took on is a good one for other universities to emulate. Perhaps this would make a good student or team research project on your campus. Maybe all it takes is somebody planting the seed for this project with the right professor or student group. It would be win-win. The results will give good feedback to the school about the accessibility of their web offerings and also give legitimate research experience to the students.

By the way, that paper is posted on-line by

EDUCAUSE,
which, according to their home page, is “a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology,” and whose “Membership is open to institutions of higher education, corporations serving the higher education information technology market, and other related associations.”

Disapedia.com offers promise as disability resource

I came across the following through a news alert on assistive technology. It is a relatively new web site, but if web traffic is any indication, then the site is getting more and more popular.

Disapedia.com
Has been on line for only seven months and has already had more than 7,000 visitors.

The Disapedia site seems to be a good and solid beginning foundation of a web site that could evolve into a good, one-stop resource. I don’t think the achievement of an end-all, be-all site is a true reality, but this could definitely find its place in the resource toolbox as one is putting together pieces of a larger puzzle.

I see good promise here, especially in the area of site updates, letting the reader see the ten latest updated articles on the home page. Disapedia on a whole is a noble effort that will take work to maintain. I wish them well as they pursue this endeavor and will be watching their progress.

ADA Restoration Act of 2007 is introduced

In case you missed it, this past Thursday was July 26, the 17th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Since that act was signed into law, there have been a litany of court cases where people have claimed they had been discriminated against, most often by employers. Too often, though, the claimants have been struck down in the judicial process, basically stating that they weren’t disabled enough to qualify for protection under the ADA. These were usually cases where people had a disability, but were either taking medication or using a prosthetic device or hearing aid to help manage the disability’s impact on their lives. Basically, the employers said the person was too disabled to have the job and this was compounded by the court saying they were not disabled enough to qualify as a covered party under the ADA.

For some time now, people have been pushing for a redefining of the ADA and it is finally happening. On Thursday, not coincidentally, U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced the
ADA Restoration Act of 2007
In the House of Representatives, while a similar measure was also introduced in the Senate.

This update will tweak the original wording of the ADA to hopefully correct the overly narrow interpretation that the Supreme Court has wrought in many cases. In Rep. Sensenbrenner’s own words, “The ADA Restoration Act will force courts to focus on whether a person has experienced discrimination “on the basis of disability,” rather than require individuals to demonstrate that they fall within the scope of the law’s protection at all… The legislation will finally enable Americans with disabilities to shine a light on the discrimination they have experienced.”

In a promising demonstration of bipartisanship, Rep. Sensenbrenner Introduced the legislation at a press conference with the
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer and Sen. Tom Harkin.

I believe Rep. Hoyer’s words rang true for many when he said, “"Let me be clear: This is not what Congress intended when it passed the ADA. We intended a broad application of this law. Simply put, the point of the ADA is not disability, it is the prevention of wrongful and unlawful discrimination.”

You might want to check out the latest edition of
Government Technology,
An on-line magazine for Information Technology professionals, for an article about the ADA Restoration Act. It is interesting to note the ironic twists of interaction that Tony Coelho has had with the original ADA and its interpretation by the judicial system.

Assistive technology lets blind students independently participate in chemistry labs

Again, I am humbled by the advances in assistive technology.

By no means, do I claim to be the all knowing swami of assistive technology, nor do I have an over-inflated ego and really believe that people consider me to be such. However, I do my best to stay abreast of the latest assistive technologies particular to those with low vision and blindness, and learn what I can about other types of AT out on the market.

So, I now sit here in awe of the technologies that have evolved to allow
blind students to participate in chemistry labs
at both the high school and college levels.

Besides not knowing the degree of doctorate level blind people in the world of chemistry mentioned in the article, I had no idea that such tools existed that would let blind and low vision students know what their sighted classmates know. These include a tooll that lets the blind student know when a solution changes colors, indicating a reaction has occurred. Also, there is another electronic sensor that aids in determining the color of solutions.

It appears that the key for access is the screen reader program scripts that have been written specifically for the software applications that are used in the classroom, similar to those used by JAWS and the like with other computer applications.

The article also discusses some low tech solutions the teachers have employed. Some of these, like the notched pipettes, seem like common sense. Others like the pie tin used with a drop counter to give a blind student the same information audiotorally that his sighted classmates get visually, demonstrate the instructors’ will to innovate.

Finally, the article also mentions by name some resources for finding adaptive devices. It also has links to other outlets for news about students with disabilities and assistive technology information.

What technological access and personal ability can accomplish

I’ve always thought that I am pretty keen on seeing the assistive technology applications of various advances in electronic devices. However, I must admit to being humbled when I read about the incorporation of technologies in the following Baltimore Sun article.


Steering Clear of Limits
is a most apt title for this insightful news article about the convergence of the technology John Hudson uses, but also about his approach to life. When reading it, I couldn’t help but marvel at Hudson and his upbeat and "can do" attitude.

For example, despite the fact that he has no arms and only one leg, which is shorter than normal and has only four toes, Hudson types 42 words per minute and bowls with a 138 average score. Oh yes, he also drives his modified van.

This article highlights both the advances in technology and the achievements one can accomplish when his abilities outweigh his disabilities. It is inspiring to see both of these.

For those seeking some statistical data, about 400,000 vehicles which have been modified with adaptive equipment were on the roads of the U.S. in 2005, according to the article. Additionally, this number has grown by 10-15% annually over the last few years. The reason for this growth in demand for modified vehicles is multi-fold: better informed consumers with disabilities; advances in technology; and growing numbers of seniors, people with disabilities, and wounded veterans.

However, more than the technological advances, the article highlights the most important evolution that is occurring—independence. That is in large part due to individual attitudes, such as Hudson’s, and augmentation by electronic devices that make possible the desires of people with disabilities to have their lives be as normal as possible.

Yahoo continues to employ CAPTCHA without accessible alternative

If somebody says the word” CAPTCHA ,” many people do not recognize it. However, when those same people go on-line and use a web site where they submit something to the site, then are asked to verify that the user is human by typing in the distorted text in a picture, they know what that is, but don’t know what it is called.

These two things are one and the same and CAPTCHA without an accessible alternative is a curse to screen reading programs, which see the image as just another graphic on the page. The blind computer user relying on the screen reader is unable to read the text because the screen reading software sees the image as a graphic, not text, and is unable to discern any text characters from the graphic.

Some people have tagged CAPTCHA without audio, or other accessible workarounds, as a “No Blind People Allowed” sign, a statement that is true in its meaning, even though the host site may have been unintentional in denying access, because the web designer just didn’t even think about denying access when trying to screen out automated, computer generated responses. However, the end result of web inaccessibility is still the same.

It wasn’t that long ago that Google presented this same CAPTCHA problem and one man began an on-line petition to bring the innaccessability of the screening technology to Google’s attention. Google now employs an audio option for its web pages when they employ CAPTCHA.

There are a few other notable web sites which have also made their CAPTCHA accessible, but one giant and globally recognized web site has not—the search engine Yahoo!, which offers a cursory solution to the inaccessibility that many blind users claim does not work. Yahoo! Has employed a policy of “email us your phone number and a Yahoo! Rep will call you,” but the reps apparently do not follow up with their calls. I can personally attest to twice having tried this method, only to have my request ignored by whichever rep received them. I was only able to proceed in what I was doing when I sought sighted assistance, losing both time and productivity.

If a person using a screen reader wants to do something as simple as set up a Yahoo! email account or subscribe to a Yahoo! group, they have to get past this inaccessible CAPTCHA. If the Yahoo! reps are supposed to call these users after they submit their phone numbers, but don't, then the site is simply inaccessible.

Like the previous effort directed at Google, there is now an on-line petition for blind computer users to sign, which is an attempt to bring Yahoo! Into the fold of web accessibility. The web domain
BlindWebAccess.com
Has been set up as an easy to remember web site to help blind computer users get to the petition. (The petition is actually hosted on another site, but this URL will automatically redirect users to the petition.)

As Google and other web sites have demonstrated, accessible alternatives exist that still provide the security the web sites need. This doesn’t have to be expensive, either. There is one solution that is “donationware,” called
FormShield for .NET 2.0

A few years ago, in an honor society newsletter, I read something that truly applies in this case. The quote was “efficiency is doing the thing right, but effectiveness is doing the right thing.” It is time for Yahoo! To step up and do the right thing.

If you know somebody who is a blind computer user, please direct them to the web site above to sign the petition. The web is a wonderful tool and one that should be free of access barriers such as inaccessible CAPTCHA.

Videophones and broadband connections are base of new Welsh product for the deaf

Here’s some assistive technology news from across the pond.

SignWales
has launched a video telephony project which has, on its surface, some interesting appeal for the approximately 2,400 Welsh people who are deaf and use sign language.

According to the article linked above, the product will use videophones that “will allow deaf people to communicate with each other in sign language at a distance and also to talk with the hearing community through the use of online interpreters.”

The project uses the strength and speed of broadband internet technology, aspiring to link the hearing and deaf world.

Additionally, the article states, “SignWales also offers daily news in sign language at the touch of a button, through a special server which makes the connections for the users.”

This promising project embraces sign language as the preferred communication tool of the deaf community. The primary cost that I can see will be for the videophones and the connection the service will require up front, as well as the on-going cost of the interpreters who will be what appear to be intermediaries when users communicate with hearing parties.

This is a very interesting project and only time will tell how it grows.

Lifestyle management service offers promise as assistive technology as well

While going through my daily technology reading yesterday, I came across a service that seems like it might offer some good application for assistive technology, even though it is not marketed specifically in that realm.

On its web site,
Jott.com
pitches itself as “mobile note taking and hands-free messaging.”I think there is some value of this technology by people with disabilities, but am not sure what all of this might include.

On the surface, Jott is about lifestyle management. It lets users send text message as a voice message, which is transcribed and sent on to its destination. Another application lets users send themselves an audio reminder about tasks that need to be done. Users can even print out the text of their voice message when they get home, such as a list of chores their children need to do. One of the strengths the web site touts is the ability to organize and manage one’s life. It puts the power of dictation in the hands of drivers during their commute, letting them send out information in messages up to 30-second intervals. There is even an option to send the message to a designated group of recipients.

With Jott, I can see where a blind person could send a text message to somebody without even having assistive technology to give him access to the text messaging on his own phone. Ditto for somebody who has physical limitations with their hands, they could use voice dialing to call into Jott and then dictate the text message to send out.

All it takes to use Jott is a cell phone and a few minutes to set up an account. Use of the service costs nothing at this time as it is in beta phase. The FAQ suggests that the service will eventually move to either an ad supported web site or offer the service on a subscription basis.

Anybody else have suggestions for assistive applications of this technology?

Other interesting Jott related links:
The Jott Blog
Jott FAQ

Technology lets folks turn on TV by twitching eyebrows

There is an interesting assistive technology device being fine tuned in Singapore.

When this device is finished being refined, it will let users
Switch on the TV by twitching their eyebrows.
(Note: I am having problems making the link work, but if you do a right mouse click on the link, select "copy shortcut," and copy this into the "Open" command or address bar of your web browser without the final / at the end, it will open the article.)

This device is newsworthy, because of the pricing approach of the students who created the product to aid elderly people and those with a disability that makes hand operation of a remote control impossible.

The following passage was published on the Singapore News web article linked above:
“The device works by detecting muscle movements of the eyebrows to trigger the required function.
A band with sensors is held together by a velcro strip and is wrapped as close to the eyebrow level as possible. This strip is wired to a control pad which has indicator lights flashing on the function - either to change channels or increase volume and to trigger an alarm bell. The person just has to wait for the light to jump to the desired function on the pad before raising his eyebrows to trigger the change in channels or volume.
The infrared signal from the device can be picked up within a 5m-radius of the equipment.
For example, one of the paralysed patients who tried the device could only blink his eyes but it was enough to make the device work.”


While there are other assistive technology products on the market that can do similar operations, the goal of the three final-year electrical engineering students at Ngee Ann Polytechnic who have developed this device is to make it affordable. While related products sell for $1,000 to $7,000, according to one of the students, they plan to make their product available for under $100. Assistive technology that is designed with the full intention to help people with disabilities and not set out to make the developers lots of cash is news indeed.

The developers are also not limiting their vision for the application of the device. While their professor's original idea for the project was something that could ultimately be used to help operate the wheelchair, the students went beyond that. They also hope to make it do more than just operate a television. They want to make it function as a remote control for fans and lights as well.

Keep pushing, folks. I’m sure there are other applications that it can be used for.

Options abound for making accessible web video

I just read a good recounting of available captioning options for
making web video accessible.

For the uninformed, there are captioning options available for videos using both the Microsoft Media Player and the Real Player. (I must admit that the uninformed included myself before this article was published.) Additionally, according to the above linked article, there has also been a text captioning option in Apple’s QuickTime player available for some time now.

So, if your professors insist on incorporating web videos as part of their curriculum, please know that the tools exist across the three main formats to make these accessible.

iPhone may be cool, but lacks accessibility

Today is June 29, the day of the highly-touted release of the Apple iPhone.

A lot of the hype is about the
iPhone’s touch screen,
which is being promoted as the beginning wave of coming technology.

As for that wave of coming technologies, I certainly hope not. While the iPhone may look sleek, cool, and all of those other promotional buzz words, it lacks basic accessibility for those who are unable to see the touch pad.

Maybe the new
Hitachi brain interface
is the key to giving access to the blind. While I suggest this a bit feceitiously, this interface is actually a pretty cool innovation which has great potential for applications in assistive technology.

A recent request in the Houston Chronicle wanted readers to write one of the newspaper’s business reporters and tell whether you would be standing in line to get one of these new Apple play-pretty’s today.

Here is what I wrote:

I was reading Dwight’s Techblog and saw that you were inquiring whether people were going to stand in line to get an iPhone.

I will not be and will tell you why.

I am totally blind and the iPhone’s touch screen, while packing all the reputed Apple coolness, is just a blank technological slate to somebody who can’t see it.

I use a computer at home with a screen reading program and it reads text great in many forms such as web pages, emails, word documents, and many other applications. I do things on my computer by the keyboard and without using the mouse or monitor that many sighted folks have no idea how to do, even when they're looking at the monitor with mouse in hand.

The reason I explain about the computer and screen reader is that I also have a screen reader on my Nokia 6620 cell phone that reads the screen to me, including the various folders and their contents, the display screen of the number I am dialing, and also reads aloud the caller ID. This software even reads text messages. While I don't text, I do have blind friends who text using their 6620 and later model Nokia phones and this software. While my 6620 is over two years old, it is still functioning well and giving me what I need.

In essence, the iPhone would give me less functionality than the old analog cell phones I used to use before the technology advanced to where I could use a screen reader. On those old phones, I could at least feel the buttons, figure out the number I wanted to dial, and hit send. From what I’m reading, with the iPhone, I couldn’t even feel the number buttons to dial somebody, rendering it totally useless to me.

So, as I’ve explained, the IPhone has nothing that gives me the access I have on my Nokia and would be about as useful as a stone for me. One day, there may be a screen reader that works for the iPhone. Really, though, why would I want the iPhone? For coolness? I’m 45 years old and my idea of being cool is spending time with my wife and 5-year old son. Give me the practical functionality of my Nokia and I’m happy.

I know this might have been more than you were asking for, but cell phone users come in many forms. Blind folks use them too, but we need access to the information we are using. I figured I would share a side of the cell phone consumer picture most people don’t even think about.

(I did receive a prompt reply from the reporter, in which he acknowledged my thoughts and said he had never even thought about people who couldn’t see the touch pad.)

Serotek unveils breakthrough in assistive technology

Wouldn’t it be nice if a blind computer user could walk up to any computer just like any sighted person and begin using it?

That is now a reality with the latest offering from
Serotek,
As long as that computer has internet access and sound.

That’s it. There is no need for any other screen reading software. Serotek's System Access To Go, or SATOGO, does it all for you.

To make it even a sweeter deal, this landmark breakthrough in assistive technology is absolutely free, at least for now.

When sitting down at any computer, all that the blind person needs to do is open the “Run” command by pressing the Windows key+R. At this, the person will type in www.satogo.com and within seconds, Serotek’s System Access To Go will launch and begin speaking. This allows the blind computer user to use virtually any public computer.

There has been a lot of chatter on blind technology web sites over the last few days, saying that Serotek had a breakthrough technology to unveil. The announcement was made last night on the Main Menu program on
ACB Radio.
I usually spend most evenings off the computer and with my family, but last night I made it a point to have ACB Radio tuned in, specifically to find out what this announcement was.

I must admit, I am pretty floored with what the folks at Serotek are offering. I think this innovative application opens a lot of doors, because for now, the program is in a Beta launch and Serotek is making the use of this web technology available free of cost.

There is a registration process to gain access to the application. This gives the user access to the SATOGO program, but also includes 30 days of access to the full features of Serotek’s System Access, one of their flagship offerings. When that 30 day period concludes and you can no longer use their full System Access suite, the continued use of SATOGO will continue free for some time to come. In the future, this will most likely go to a subscription plan, but it is free in the Beta phase.

However, if you are just curious and want to check it out, go to
www.satogo.com
and type in the word “demo” in the password field. This will give you 10 minutes of access to the program. Take it for a test ride and see what you think.

You don't have to be a geek to benefit from the Blind Geek Zone

If you or one of your students is a JAWS user and you have tried to use new programs in the past, only to find yourself stifled, then here is a site that may be of assistance.

The Blind Geek Zone
Offers audio tutorials on how to use many popular applications with JAWS as well as several other tech goodies. The audio tutorials are free for individual use and discuss applications such as the new Vista operating system, Spybot, Windows Defender, Outlook Express, and the Goldwave audio editing program. There are also many more free mp3 downloads on the site, so check it out for yourself and see what there is that might be of help to you.

If you don’t consider yourself a geek, its okay. Don’t be scared off by the name of the site. It offers lots of information and tools for anybody who uses JAWS.

However, be warned...have a little time on your hands when you go there as you will be there a while going through the virtual treasure trove of information.

The Blind Geek Zone is also a good resource for staying up on assistive technology news and information. To give the site credibility, it is run by a JAWS user.

Oh yeah, another thing the site offers is a link to the
Blind Geek Zone blog.

Auditory nerve implant a breakthrough for people who are deaf

There is news on the horizon for those who are profoundly or severely deaf.

Several years ago, the cochlea implant was heralded as breakthrough and innovative. However, the promise of this procedure also had limitations.

Overcoming these limitations is exactly what is being heralded in the latest progress in auditory nerve implants. Read the full report in WebWire at:
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=38547

This latest news is being reported by scientists at the University of Michigan’s Kresge Hearing Research Institute. They recently announced that they have successfully implanted an ultra-thin electrode array in the auditory nerves of animals. The implants have been successful in transmitting a wide spectrum of sounds to the animals’ brains. The next logical step is to do more animal testing, as well as with people who are deaf.

One researcher said that the new implants work better than cochlear implants, in nearly “every measure.”

According to the WebWire article linked above, if the procedure proves successful in subsequent tests, “profoundly and severely deaf people would have another option that could allow them to hear low-pitched sounds common in speech, converse in a noisy room, identify high and low voices, and appreciate music — areas where cochlea implants, though a boon, have significant limitations.”

The article also states that, “The possible auditory nerve implants likely would be suitable for the same people who are candidates today for cochlear implants: the profoundly deaf, who can’t hear at all, and the severely deaf, whose hearing ability is greatly reduced. Also, the animal studies suggest that implantation of the devices has little impact on normal hearing, offering the possibility of restoring sensitivity to high frequencies while preserving remaining low-frequency hearing.”

Nova Scotia college says "Assistive technology for all!"

The forward-thinking folks at Nova Scotia Community College are setting a new precedent in assistive technology.

Instead of having a special pathway, the use of particular assistive technology being made exclusively available to only students with disabilities, they are
making assistive technology available to all NSCC students.
After limiting use of the Premiere Assistive Key to Access software to only students with disabilities this past academic year, NSCC will be allowing access to the software to all students in the coming 2007-08 school year.

According to the article linked above, “With this new technology, students can order books in digital format, have software pick out the main points in a text and read it, and create audio study guides so they can learn on the go.”

Maybe, just maybe, people are coming to understand that there are a variety of learning styles and that this is true in the general population of students, not only those with disabilities.

I don’t know about you, but I sort of like this reverse application of universal design. Instead of making the mainstream classroom accessible, they are realizing the broader application of assistive technology, and letting it be used by the whole population. Instead of assistive technology being a special-use on-ramp for information, that ramp is now open to the public.

Census Bureau informational statistics about Americans with disabilities

In case you have missed it, the U.S. Census Bureau has released an updated set of
Informational statistics about Americans with disabilities.

So, if you are conducting research or preparing a report needing the latest general statistics on Americans with disabilities, it is now available.

FYI, that report claims that, as of the 2003-04 school year, there were 2.2 million undergraduates with a disability, representing 11 percent of all undergrads.

Good article about Disability Service and Mental Health professionals

In the days following the shootings at Virginia Tech, I found myself trying to compose some thoughts on the matter to post here. However, each time, I felt intrusive on the survivors of that tragedy and my words were not near as clear as they were in my mind. As a result, I deleted each attempt, feeling inadequate to express the words that needed to be said.

The compulsion to write about that subject was prompted by the shooter in that event reminding me of the type of students Disability Support Service professionals are periodically alerted to, either as one of the students on their caseload, or one which a faculty member inquires about. I've met a couple of these types and recall the gut response from many of the involved staff and faculty.

Many who have served in the DSS role for any reasonable amount of time have known at least one of these incidents. It prompts a spectrum of emotions and reactions ranging from sincere concern to a hyperactive fear. Striking the proper response is the key.

There is a good piece on this very subject written by a clinical psychologist in the Times Community Newspapers, titled
Are you Seung-Hui Cho's keeper?

Being that the article is written by a mental health professional, it is presented with a good understanding of the ADA and HIPPA and the restraints these laws have on universities.

Without spoiling the body of this well written article, I’d like to share the two closing paragraphs.

“Am I my brother's or sister's keeper? Is it my business if I notice that a fellow human being is having difficulty coping with life? Intruding in one's personal affairs is not always the easiest or wisest thing to do.”

“Nothing in life is guaranteed. We might ask ourselves, however, if there was the slightest possibility that having done so might not only have saved Cho's life, but the life of over 30 others as well.”

The article magnifies the positive alliances that can be achieved when the DSS office maintains open lines of communication with trained mental health professionals. I urge you to click the above link and read the entire piece. It says a lot, the meat of which I had been attempting to grasp and put into words.

Welcome back and another accessibility roundup

Last you read here, Access Ability was going into stealth mode while I took a few days to examine a university web site for accessibility. Unfortunately, that task ran longer than I had anticipated and hence, it has been more than two weeks since I’ve posted anything here.

Well, to quote an old cliché…”I’m back!”

I feel that it would also be most appropriate to toss out some related links to the very subject that was the cause for my absence, web accessibility. Maybe it was coincidence or just plain karma, but there was an abundance of accessibility related news in the last two weeks. Go figure.

In an interesting undertaking, a digital instructional design professional at Kansas State University is taking a first-hand look at using assistive technology to access technology dependent classes. In the
Instructional Design Open Studio blog,
on the May 17 post titled Accessibility in eLearning, this person writes that (s)he is taking two versions of the same class, one will be online and the other on-campus, but both are mediated via technology, which the user is going to access with assistive technology and blog the experience.

I hope the site’s author will try to use JAWS to access the information and see the navigation headaches that the blog's employed Flash feature creates. With JAWS, they might also notice the indication of headings on each and every line of the posts in that Flash presentation. It is just a guess, but I don’t think that the user intended each line to be noted as a heading.

Nonetheless, the effort to take the classes with assistive technology by somebody who is not usually an AT user is a good and worthwhile effort and I commend the undertaking. I’ll be interested to see what the findings are.

In another recent finding, I noticed that on
Duff Johnson’s PDF Perspective,
A blog targeting the production of pdf documents, there was the May 14 post about the recent AGI Acrobat PDF Conference. In it, the writer discusses how he worked to make accessible pdf production interesting. He also offers a download of his presentation. Of course, it is in pdf format!

I have read a previous post by Duff Johnson on that blog concerning accessibility and have it bookmarked as a site for research. It is good to see professionals in the production world continue to take note of the importance of accessibility.

If you are interacting with a web developer about accessibility and the discussion of web applications versus web pages has ever come up, you may be interested in what
Christian Heilmann wrote in his May 20 post, titled How to Make Your Web Applications Accessible – The Human Way.

In that piece, Heilmann shoots down what is apparently a common developer’s defense that what they have created is a web application, not a web page. Heilmann asserts that “web applications should be more accessible than web sites.”

I like the logic in that statement. Now, if we can just get the developers to buy into it. Keep pushing, Christian!

Finally, in keeping with my personal philosophy of not griping without offering solution, I present the following information for authoring accessible web content. There is a review of
Immediacy CMS
on the latest pages of
IT-Director.com

In this review, Peter Abrahams says that Immediacy is an easy to use content creation tool which creates both accessible content and compliant code.

He adds that, “Immediacy provide a variety of plug-ins to provide specific website functionality; one of these is an accessibility plug-in. This plug-in enables a user to change the overall text size and the background-foreground colour combinations these changes can be important to people with visual impairments or dyslexia.”

He presents a specific list of qualities that the software gives that makes content creation sound easy to do.

Additionally, the IT-Director.com site also has other helpful and informative links concerning accessibility. In particular, there is a link on the latest update on the review of web accessibility 2.0.

Now that I’m back, I’ll soon be posting more regularly. Thanks to all of you that have maintained a vigil on this site.

Web Accessibility: Its two, two, two posts in one

As promised, I’m back with more on web accessibility. However, I’m combining the two posts I mentioned into this one today, as the common theme is web accessibility.

Let me begin by saying up front that I readily admit that I am not a geek. While I believe I am somewhat computer savvy, I cannot wear the badge of geek. I know the difference between accessible and inaccessible web sites and software, very often, only by personal experience. I know the particular mechanics of what makes the web page accessible no better than I know what makes the mechanics of a garbage disposal operate. However, I do not have to know what makes them work to understand when they are not working for me.

However, Jeremy Keith is a web developer in Brighton, England, and I think he would fit whatever the criteria is to be a geek. (Mr. Keith, I use the term “geek” with all due reverence. Web developers know and do things I cannot even dream of.)
On his,
Adactio Journal,
Mr. Keith recently penned a very good post about
The Language of Accessibility,
Where he reflects upon a recent conference he attended in Germany.


His discussion takes us down the path of what accessibility means. In some pretty good layman’s language, he talks about things like markup language, which non-techies like myself may not know much about, but the results of which we know very well. His words in the two paragraphs below say a lot.

“Far from being something that is added to a site, accessibility is something we need to ensure isn’t removed. From that perspective, the phrase “making a site accessible” isn’t accurate.”

“Just as “progressive enhancement” sounds better than “graceful degradation”, talking about accessibility as something that needs to be added onto a website isn’t doing us any favours. Accessibility is not a plug-in. It’s not something that can be bolted onto a site after the fact.”

Mr. Keith goes on to suggest that web designers follow his new understanding: he will talk about keeping a site accessible rather than talking about making a site accessible”

That truly does sound like the language of accessibility. Thanks for sharing it with us, Mr. Keith.

I have only offered a bit of Mr. Keith's words and insight here. Do check out his post and also check out the speech made by the speaker at the conference he attended. Those words are the foundation for the piece and will ring just as true with you.

And, for today’s second feature presentation, I offer this posting from the
FinaBlog,
Titled The State of the Art of Interactive Design.

The piece starts with a simple, but fairly accurate assessment of the progression of the internet, finishing up with a projection with where it may lead. It then weaves in the need for accessibility as an essential element, stating, “Accessibility has become one of the driving forces in web design.”

Hmmm. I’m not sure that I totally agree with that statement, but it is a nice thought.

And, maybe the writer of that piece doesn’t totally agree with that thought either, because he soon follows it by saying, “Unfortunately, most websites have accessibility barriers that make it difficult or impossible for people with disabilities to use the Web.”

Then, when he begins to speak to web developers and what they can do to make web content accessible, he also begins to use the techie lingo I’m not fully fluent in, but understand what they mean to accessibility. These include the need for developers to use XHTML and CSS. He further adds further incentive for developers to use these techniques as they aid in optimizing the site for search engines. If somebody is going to create web content, it makes sense that they would want the search engines to be able to find it.

As with Mr. Keith’s post, I have only presented a small portion of what the writer presents. This one is truly worth investing the time to read the full post. And, also like Mr. Keith’s post, worth sharing with your colleagues in web development.

Like I said earlier, I don’t have to understand what these web development techniques are to understand their impact. Describing inaccessible web content for me is much like that one judge said about pornography, I may not be able to tell you exactly what it is, but I know it when I see it. Being I’m totally blind, maybe the more accurate way of wording that phrase would be to say, “I know it when I don’t see it.”

Request for feedback

I have a request of any of the readers who are willing to take a moment and share your thoughts with me.

The Access Ability blog has been in operation since late July, 2006 and I have personally written and posted 118 posts here. In all that, I have received minimal feedback on what is posted here. Specifically, I have received, minus the several spam replies, less than five comments to these posts.

I seek feedback from you, the readers that I know are out there. I understand that the comment method here on Blogger is not the most user-friendly way to share your thoughts. In that light, I am asking for you to
Email me your comments.

Please share your thoughts with me concerning this blog. I would like to know what types of news or resources you have found most helpful or would like to see more of. I can’t read your mind, so hit that link above and it will instantly bring up an email message ready for you to fill out. I promise that I will not share your email information with anybody.

I sincerely appreciate the readership that has grown steadily since I first launched this blog just over nine months ago. I am working in a vacuum, though, and am only writing about those things I believe might interest you. Take a moment and let me know how to better serve you.

Thanks,
RG

Web access: Head's up on time-consuming project and GAID initiative

I will be meeting with a colleague and the head of his university’s web site portal in the coming days. In preparation for this meeting, I will be examining the university’s web content. This will include examining the least prefered design route the university has taken, offering text-only pages, which were recently offered as an accessible alternative to meet the letter of the law in Section 508 compliance...Grrr. Additionally, I will also be looking at web sites being offered by other school’s in the same university system.

My reason for telling you this is to give you a head’s up that posting may be a little on the light side here at Access Ability for the next few days, due to the time commitment I will need to review the large amount of web pages.

I’m not one to leave you hanging high and dry, though. Below is a recent news item related to this very subject of accessibility to web content for people with disabilities who use assistive technology. I will also follow up this with a couple more posts related to this subject before knuckling down on the research for my pending project.

An interesting article in
EContentMag
Reports on the latest efforts of the United Nations’
Global alliance working to bridge the information divide.

This article informs readers about the goals of the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID),which has global players from academia, governments, the private sector, and civil society. A strong demonstration of the commitment from the technological industry can be sensed just by noting that the current GAID chairman is Craig Barrett, the chairman of Intel.

GAID’s primary objectives span a wide spectrum, but two areas of the groups interest are discussed in the article; gaining more saturated broadband penetration in Africa and developing better technology solutions to assist people with disabilities in information access.

Explaining the group’s methodology, Sarbuland Khan, GAID's executive coordinator, said, "The goal is not that we, the UN, do it, but we try to get the partners to do it themselves and show that the UN can catalyze. We don't have the resources or the expertise, but we can convene the right people around the right table to work on these issues.”


Another source cited in the article is Daniel Aghion, executive director and co-founder of the Wireless Internet Institute (W2i), which has been working with GAID since its days as the UN’s ICT Task Force, the predecessor to GAID. In December, 2006, the United Nations adopted a convention protecting the rights of people with disabilities to education, health, labor, and other needs. The UN has encouraged all 192 of its member states to ratify this convention, because, according to Aghion, approximately ten percent of the global population has some impairment keeping them from accessing information technology.

As for the United States, Aghion says, "In the U.S., some policies have been set to address that community and are embedded in the Americans with Disabilities Act, but—as far as information technology is concerned—they have not been very actively enforced."

This goes back to the adage about laws only being as good as their enforcement. If things work as planned, the proposals GAID has set out offer some teeth for accountability towards the end of enforcement.

Again, as I’ve posted previously, the United States has yet to sign this UN convention. Please take an active role and contact the White House and your legislators, encouraging our country to sign off on this potential powerful tool for accessibility.

May is Better Speech and Hearing Month

May 1 is often referred to as May Day. This is not to be confused with a mayday distress call or the fictional Sam “Mayday” Malone character from the TV sitcom Cheers.

May 1 is also the beginning of Better Speech and Hearing Month, according to an audiologist who wrote a letter in April to the newspaper columnist

Hints from Heloise.

While she doesn’t cite her source, this audiologist gives a figure that, if true, we should all pay attention to: about 30 million Americans have hearing loss.

Additionally, while she shares with Heloise these five low-tech tips for those who use hearing aids, they give some good guidance for all. Everybody can learn to be more aware when dealing with people who use hearing aids.

1. Listening in noisy environments is difficult. Move closer, and turn off the TV or radio before talking. (Hearing in noisy environments is the No. 1 complaint of those with hearing loss/hearing aids.)

2. Get attention. Make sure your face is visible, and avoid talking from another room.

3. Practice clear speech. Speak in a natural way, pronouncing each syllable. This automatically slows your speech and gives the listener more time to process your information.

4. Avoid cross talk when in a group. In restaurants, request that background music be turned down or off.

5. Teach children to use their "big girl/boy" voices. Lower-pitched voices are easier to hear.

Disability service professionals work with people who have a variety of disabilities including hearing loss. We should set the example and be aware of these things that make for better communication. Share these with your faculty and students.

Got any more to add to this list?

Interesting diversion: Assistive Technology trainer reports on adventures in Ghana

I offer a slight diversion today, kind of. Instead of offering information or resources, I want to share an on-going profile of a person who is providing disability services. However, this person is not working in DSS at a postsecondary institution. Instead, she is traveling around the African countryside near Ghana, where she is conducting assistive technology training and other related activities promoting individual advancement with blind residents and reporting her adventures on her blog.

On the pages of the
Ghana 2006-2007 Blog,
Akuwa reports on her interactions with locals as her travels take her to different points of interest.

Akuwa‘s writings are smart and intelligently written, but most of all they are interesting, particularly the April 27 post titled “The Last Few Months,” in which she tells about her most recent adventures. There are several pictures also posted on the same date individually above that post. For sighted readers, these may prove informative and interesting, especially the voodoo chief’s palace or the motorcycle driver’s voodoo paraphernalia.

I know, this is a little stretch of serving the needs of postsecondary disability support services, but it is definitely an interesting sidestreet to venture down. I’ll soon return with more of the standard fare.

Article offers good information about managing dyslexia

There was a recent New York Times article about dyslexia which clearly illustrated the plight of a child struggling through, and ultimately learning the resources and tools to manage this disability. It also emphasized a point I’ve often cited, that a person with a disability does not function in a vacuum. In this case, the parents of the young lady with dyslexia were also impacted, having to learn the limitations of her disability and assist her, as she grew into an understanding and acceptance of her dyslexia and what it would take to succeed despite the dyslexia.

Aptly titled
A family’s experience with dyslexia,
The article aemphasizes some statistics about dyslexia and specific tools that this family used to manage the limitations.

Some of the statistics highlighted:

*Studies have shown that dyslexic students have significantly more academic and behavioral problems than children without learning disabilities.

*One 1996 study found that 2 percent of those with learning disabilities go on to a four-year college.

*Studies have also found that adult dyslexics have a lower satisfaction with health and friends, and exhibit more psychiatric problems than non-dyslexics.

*Fewer are employed and, even if employed, hold jobs that are part-time, minimum wage and unskilled.


Some of the tools discussed for managing dyslexia included the traditional electronic speller and word processer. However, the article also praised the use of tools such as recorded textbooks from
Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic
And also using the
Write:OutLoud
Computer Program.

Aside from providing a good discussion of the progression of understanding dyslexia and what it would take for the young lady to manage it, the article paints a clear picture of what advances the skills and tools brought her in terms of comprehension and the decrease of time needed to complete her reading and writing projects.

The article offers a good general discussion on dyslexia and research currently underway to understand the cognitive functioning that goes on during reading. It also shows what a strong will and determination can bring when augmented with the right tools.

Personal footnote:
I believe the PDF Equalizer I wrote about yesterday would be another great tool to put in the tool box for a person with dyslexia. This program’s ability to convert pdf files into mp3 files would serve the same function for a student reading pdf documents as those served by the RFB&D textbooks. There seems to be a growing use of pdf documents, especially for official government reports and the like, and this would only empower students’ when researching information for class projects and papers.

Web site is rich resource for assistive technology

In one of my news alerts today, I found a good general listing of assistive technology. The link I've created doesn't open the page correctly, but the web site's URL is
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/assistive_tech.htm,
so copy it and check it out as it is a rich on-line resource of assistive technology.

Even though the web site’s name indicates that the targeted audience is disability service folks in the elementary and secondary school sector, the resources are useful for those serving the postsecondary student population as well.

The listed resources are useful for students with a wide variety of disabilities, including visual, hearing and learning disabilities. Make sure you have some time when you go to this site as it is brimming over with information and you’ll need that time just to look over the list, much less check out some of the linked web sites.

PDF Equalizer makes Google Books accessible

You’ve got to hand it to the folks at
Premiere Assistive Technology
as they’ve made inroads for accessibility once again.

According to a press release for PDF Equalizer, it is easy to understand the powerful functionality of this latest offering from Premiere Assistive Technology.


From the press release:
“PDF Equalizer is a tool that can open and read aloud PDF Files in their original format without any required file conversion. It is designed so that individuals who use electronic documents can have the true "equal access" to those who use the printed version, plus a few extras. PDF Equalizer allows individuals to select and control what is being read aloud as simply as using your mouse to select the text to be read. If listening to audio of the text is beneficial to you, PDF Equalizer can also turn a PDF Document into MP3 files that individuals can listen to on their MP3/MP4 players. PDF Equalizer can convert each PDF page into a separate MP3 file so it is easy to navigate or create a playlist of the pages you want to hear.”

“PDF Equalizer is a "must have" tool for those who take distant learning classes. The superior note taking capability in PDF Equalizer is unmatched. Notes are automatically synchronized with the PDF page to help keep them organized. At any time, the user can extract all notes into a single Microsoft Word document. If you have too much to read and need to condense the amount of material, use the powerful built-in "content summarization" feature. You can summarize a single topic or an entire book. If you can't find a publication in your native language, don't worry, the translation feature built into PDF Equalizer can translate text on the fly. You can also imbed hyperlinks for direct access to the Internet and there is an integrated dictionary that allows you to immediately lookup definitions.”


This useful piece of assistive technology does more than just make access to pdf documents easy. It also makes
Google Books
Accessible. This feature alone makes the PDF Equalizer's functionality stand out alone in the field of assistive technology. No other pdf reader on the market that I am aware of does this.

If you’re not already familiar with it, check out Google Books and see what a powerful research tool it can be for students.

Google Books has been around for a little while, letting users read passages of print books on their computers, yet also protecting the publisher’s copyrights by not allowing the screen to be printed. In the past, however, it has been completely inaccessible to those who could not read the picture of the text displayed on the screen.

Now, with PDF Equalizer, all those who have been previously excluded from this rich resource can now read the print material via the web…without having to purchase the whole book.

And, like so many other titles from Premiere Assistive, PDF Equalizer is available for free as a fully functional demo so you can try it out. I’m guessing that if you try it, you’ll make that purchase. The price, like so many others from Premiere Assistive, is also reasonable—only $89.95.

If you want more information on this product, check out the official
PDF Equalizer page
On Premiere Assistive’s web site.

Finally, also from that press release, I gleaned an interesting statistic from
the National Institute for Literacy--
nearly 42 million Americans struggle with literacy.

I’m just curious how many of these people are going to college and have a diagnosis of some type of disability. My guess would be a good number of them. Even if just one percent of these were college students, that is still more than 400,000 people. And, this is yet one more tool to help provide access to material which has been previously inaccessible.

Resource explaining Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

A good primer on universal design for learning (UDL) is available as a podcast from the
Texas Assistive Technology Regional Conference 2006 Blog.

While this blog appears targeted towards special education professionals in the public school system, the offered information can be applied to a broader audience to include postsecondary education. The fundamentals of universal design are very well outlined in the
April 20 podcast.
If one changes the setting to postsecondary education, the basics of universal design can still be applied very aptly. The podcast would make a good resource to share with faculty members, especially those who want to maximally assist their students with disabilities. It also makes a sound argument the DSS staff can make to those faculty members who are a bit resistant to embracing alternative format, either delivering handouts to students in alternative methods or by accepting modifications to what expectations would constitute reasonable accommodations in the work the students submit.

The concept of universal design is one that our society as a whole can learn to embrace much better. Having this podcast as a guide supporting this argument only serves to broaden minds.

Check out the blog and see if there is any other information that you can apply to your school. There are other podcasts, including one for meeting math needs for students with a variety of learning styles. Now, I know that’s something DSS professionals can definitely relate to.

Ebiblio Collection -- Another accessible research resource tool

I have previously posted about accessible texts available on-line. I want to add to this today by providing another resource for on-line research material that is also accessible.

Today, I want to tell you about the
Ebiblio Collection.
It is a searchable database which claims to be “the public’s library and digital archive.”

It is a collaboration of the Center for the Public Domain and the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Material on this site can be located by using search terms or by categorically perusing the site’s offerings by the Universal Decimal Classification. The material the site locates is then made available by a link.

What it actually offers up is a gathering of websites that offer resources, such as the
Library of Southern Literature
and
Project Gutenberg,
Among several other sources under the American Literature heading.

I randomly explored several of the scores of headings to see what was offered on each linked page. I found from as few as three linked listings to more than ten. There was something under each heading that I checked. If that holds true for the entire site, they have indeed done some serious work in putting this site together.

This site has a solid foundation in place that gives it the potential to grow into a very strong resource for on-line research. It will be interesting to watch it grow over time.

Free conference--United Spinal Association

How about a free professional conference?

Well, let me restate, it is free if you preregister.

The United Spinal Association is offering that great deal for the upcoming
2007 North American Spinal Cord Injury Conference & Disability Expo,
, which will take place August 27-29 in Orlando.

Granted, this conference is for a particular target audience, but this may be of interest to some readers specifically. And, can’t we all stand to expand our horizons?

If you are not interested, or are not able to attend, but know somebody who may be, please share this information with them.

The conference will be featuring the following organizations and the programs listed:

*American Paraplegia Society
53RD Annual Conference -

* American Association of Spinal Cord Injury Nurses
Embracing New Horizons In SCI Nursing -

*American Association of Spinal Cord Injury Psychologists & Social Workers
21ST Annual Conference -

* Therapy Leadership Council In Spinal Cord Injury
Reaching New Heights In SCI Therapy -

For more information on the participating organizations , or to preregister, go to the web site linked above.

Updated: Attitudes towards people with disabilities-- Like We're Not Even Here

There is an interesting article in the
Government Technology magazine,
titled
Like We’re Not Even Here.
In it, the writer discusses the attitude of some people towards others who have visible disabilities—they talk about us like “we’re not even here.”

I think the article speaks clearly about a particular group of people, unfortunately found too often in the service industry such as cab drivers, wait staff at restaurants or hotel desk clerks. This aggravating and disrespectful attitude is displayed when the service person does not speak to the person with a disability, instead talking to the person who happens to be with him or her.

People in service professions still routinely ask the accompanying person questions such as, What would he like to drink?” or “Will she need anything special for her guide dog?” It is the unspoken attitude that the person with a disability is not capable of speaking for himself.

Whether the attitude is intentional or if it is being subconsciously voiced doesn’t really matter. It still exists.

The heart of the matter is to recognize that it exists. Only then can we change attitudes.

As a footnote to this post, when I attempted to leave a comment on the publication’s web site regarding the attitude expressed in the article, I was unable to do so. The site, like many others employs a screening technology called Captcha to filter spam from reader replies. Captcha uses a graphical image to show letters and numbers that the reader must enter into an edit field to demonstrate it is an actual person, not a spam bot, that is posting to the site. Unfortunately, screen readers, such as JAWS, do not decipher any letters or numbers. Screen readers only see a graphical image—a picture – instead of text.

Isn’t it ironic that a magazine targeted towards government technology workers, who one would think would be fully cognizant of the requirements of Section 508, has a web site that does not allow access to blind readers?

Like we're not even here.

UPDATE: 04/19/07

I emailed Gina Scott, the writer of that article and received a prompt and professional response later that same day. She acknowledged the accessibility concerns and was clear that she did not want to come across as hypocritical. It was her hope that, despite the accessibility concerns, by raising the issue, she would get the word out to "those in government who were not even aware of the issues"

No problem, Ms. Scott. I don't believe you came across as hypocritical in any manner. Enlightenment is a wonderful thing.

She was also forwarding my concerns and suggested solutions to her IT department for consideration as they are in the process of updating their web site. Here's hoping that the IT folks follow up!

I thank Ms. Scott for her time, concern, and insight.

Lastly, I received a comment that the link to the story does not work, so here is the URL to read that story:
www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=104996

(I Have tried to correct the link, but am still unable to make it work, but provide the complete URL so that readers can read Ms. Scott's meaningful article. Copy the address and paste it into your web browser. The article will then load correctly.)

Job interview tips for soon to be graduates

In today’s Houston Chronicle, there is an Associated Press story titled
How to interview like a champ.

The target audience of this article, and the book it references, is soon-to-be college graduates entering the job market. The book, New Rules at Work: 79 Etiquette Tips, Tools and Techniques to Get Ahead and Stay Ahead, by Barbara Pachter, gives advice for preparing for that all-important interview.

While I have not read the book itself, I would venture to guess that it does not address people with disabilities and the additional steps they might need to address. However, the following techniques mentioned in the article are good, practical advice for all job seekers, whether they have a disability or not.

• Be prepared. Know how to relate your relevant experience.

• Make a strong first impression. "It's more than just clothes. Do you look the person in the eye? Do you shake hands?"

• Fake it until you feel it. Behave confidently even if your knees are knocking; your interviewer won't know the difference.

• Send a thank-you note. Even a small touch can set you apart.

Those first three tips should be magnified for anybody with a disability, especially if it is a visible one.

Now, to that short list, I would like to add the following suggestions.

The first impression is so important. The emphasis on conveying confidence at that point is critical. You are asking this person to believe in you enough to select you as the most qualified candidate. If you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect the interviewer to do that?

Dress for success. It is much better to overdress for an interview than to underdress. Even if the job’s dress code is office casual, nobody will fault you if you interview in a sharp, pressed suit.

If your disability keeps you from doing something during the interview, such as shaking hands, don’t feel awkward about it. The interviewer may be a little uncomfortable at first, and that is when your confidence in handling these situations must be conveyed. Use your confidence as a catalyst to put the interviewer at ease.

Posture can not be overstated. Stand and sit upright, as much as your disability allows.

Be aware of any nervous habits you have and avoid these during an interview. Do not sit there picking at your nails fingers, or other areas, no matter how insignificant you think that behavior is. The interviewer is watching you to see not only what you say, but also how you respond under stress.

Visual impairments have their own unique challenges and being proactive in planning how to deal with these will give you more confidence in handling what could otherwise be awkward moments.

When you first introduce yourself to the interviewer, extend your hand to shake (if you are able). The interviewer will reach to meet your hand. This keeps the interviewer from trying to figure out how you will know his hand is extended, waiting to shake.

Eye contact is important, even if you can’t see. If a person has a visual disability, directing one’s gaze in the direction of the interviewer is still important to the interviewer.

Hand in hand with the above comment about eye contact, remember that facial expressions accompany that eye contact. It is okay to show facial expressions as you interact with the interviewer. It is okay to laugh at appropriate times. These expressions can help the interviewer look beyond the obvious and see the person, not the disability.

Finally, the last tip cited in the article-- yes, the one about sending a thank you note – applies to interviewees with disabilities as well. That can help you make an even stronger and lasting, final impression on the interviewer. Don’t delay in doing this, either. If possible, do it the evening of the day of the interview. If you need somebody to help write the note, then do it. Whatever it takes, get that final point made.

Texas student wins battle over accessible dorm room

A recent article on the
Campus Progress
Web site Titled
Separate but Unequal Dorms
tells about the victory of a Texas State University student who uses a wheelchair after she had to pay higher costs than other first-year students just so she could live in an accessible dorm room.

Bailey Gosda is a sophomore at TSU who uses a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy. She has been in a nearly two-year fight with the university, in which she has contended that the university overcharged her several thousands of dollars so that she could live in a dorm room with wheelchair access. This would be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities ACT (ADA).

In 2005, Ms. Gosda visited the campus and Residence Life told her they did not know where to house her. She asked to live in Smith Building, the traditional and most affordable dorm, but there were no rooms in the building that were wheelchair accessible. The university moved her to a single room in a more expensive dorm, explaining that she and her equipment would foreclude the possibility of having a roommate. The result was that she paid more than twice what most first-year students did.

With the assistance of an attorney from
Advocacy Inc.,
a non-profit disability rights organization based in Austin, Ms. Gosda began to take on the university.

In the article, her attorney stated that, “under the ADA, Gosda should only have to pay for what she requested—a dormitory room in a traditional building with a roommate—even if there was not a wheelchair accessible room available that fit that description.” Her attorney asked the school to repay Ms. Gosda the difference.”

This seems like a no-brainer, doesn't it? It was not that simple, though, as Texas State officials drug out their opposition. Read the article linked above to understand the battles this young lady had to undertake to be proven right.

Last month, Ms. Gosda was vindicated in her battle when the euniversity offered to refund the $6,000 it had overcharged her.

Hopefully, the university administration has learned a legal lesson on providing access. That was a cheap way out for them. Had she taken this matter to court and been successful, the university could have faced more severe financial penalties.

We often sit back and naively believe we are living in enlightened times when cases such as this are no longer taking place. It is a reflection of attitude towards the law and that is as subjective as any individual. The case of Ms. Gosda could have happened at any college or university. All it takes is the right situation, such as the lack of accessible rooms in the traditional dorm, and the subsequent boneheaded ignorance taken by somebody withing the university to not see the right thing to do, in this case it was to give her the accessible room at the rate of the traditional dorm room.

It is the responsibility of all DSS professionals to educate and enlighten. I would hope that the university consulted their ADA coordinator for an opinion before taking such a foolish and indefensible stance. It doesn't sound like they did, though.

Library site aware of need to address accessible web content

On a blog named
Library Stories,
Which is targeted towards library professionals, there was a recent post about
Web content and meeting the needs of students with disabilities,
particularly pointing out the need for compliance to Section 508.

The author of that post had the insight to point out that students needing consideration in web content are not only blind, but that list includes students whose disabilities are:

• Blindness / low vision
• Dyslexia
• Deaf / hard of hearing
• Limited Mobility
• Epilepsy
• Cognitive impairments

Whatever trends develop over the course of the coming years, one constant will remain-- students with disabilities will continue to go to college and need accommodations at their school’s library. Accessible texts and web sites are two of the primary concerns that will continue to need to be addressed.

Second part of Marcus Engel interview is now posted

Okay, so you went to the
Disability 411
Site a couple of weeks ago and downloaded the interview I did with
Marcus Engel,
Or at least downloaded the transcript to see what Marcus is all about. Then, you felt like you were left hanging on a cliff because it suddenly ended, all due to the interviewer, namely me, running long on the interview.

Never fear. Beth Case has been busily working and you can now go to the
Disability 411
Site and get the second part of that interview.

Now that you see how easy it is to conduct and submit an interview or product review, why don’t you take Beth up on her offer and submit one to Disability 411 yourself. I think she would appreciate a variety of topics and is giving a lot of latitude for submissions. Besides, it is your shot at getting your moment in the sun. And, who knows, you might tap into an interest that you didn’t know you were good at until you did that submission.

Medicare and power wheelchairs

There is an interesting article posted on
AlterNet.org
About
Medicare keeping the door shut on the disabled.

The gist of the article concerns Medicare and its policy to either pay or not pay for power wheelchairs. The answer lies in the results of a strict checklist. The bone of contention is that “it boils down to one question: Does the patient need a wheelchair inside the home?”

According to the article, “If you can limp 10 feet to the bathroom, or move from the refrigerator to the sink to make dinner, then Medicare will not cover a power wheelchair, even if you can't walk down the block to the grocery store for the food in the first place.”

This approach seems almost like a silly argument, one that makes no sense in the broader scope of individual needs. If a person is barely functional in their home, but can manage just a little bit, then Medicare says, “Well then…you certainly don’t need a power wheelchair,” even though providing such an assistive device may enable the person to get out of the house and get a job.

Compound this with individual pride and the innate quality of people trying to show they can do as much as they can, demonstrating their will to be strong in light of a disabling condition, even when this demonstration of will is at the reviewing athority who will report their findings of the individual's ability/disability to Medicare? When showing they can walk ten feet, no matter how much is done with a limp or the level of pain they endure when doing this, will be the very deciding factor that will shoot that person in their all-------too-able foot.

Wouldn’t it make sense to empower a person by providing the tool that would give him the potential to go to work and have private employer-provided health insurance, getting him off of Medicare as a result?

I don’t consider myself a liberal, nor a bleeding heart, but I am a passionate defender of rights of people with disabilities. However, I am also a tax-paying citizen and also understand the need for Medicare to protect its budgetary constraints, carefully scrutinizing the criteria for incidents when they will pay for a person’s expensive piece of assistive technology. However, there should be a more common sense review to consider when Medicare will fund these items.

The article illustrates clearly that items such as this which Medicare reigns over with a tight fist often goes unnoticed by legislators, as it is not a big hit on the political radar screen. In time, though, I believe this will change with the graying boomer population and the effects of this aging bringing on a variety of disabling conditions. Medicare’s ability to be so stringent in its governance for power wheelchairs may change as does the age of our population.

Resources for accessible, alternative texts

I want to share a gathering of sources for accessible, alternative texts.

For a broad catalog of texts in the public domain, there is always,
Project Gutenberg,
The “first producer of free electronic books (ebooks).”

Did you know that Project Gutenberg has 20,000 books in its on-line book catalog?

Did you know that more than two million electronic books are downloaded each month from the Project Gutenberg web site?

If you don’t want to download the books individually from Project Gutenberg, you can always do like the New York Times reporter did and pay to get a
CD of more than 10,000 books.
(Of course, you are very likely to wind up like the reporter and have a lot more books than the ones you originally wanted, and many in languages other than that which you speak.)

Additionally, there is also the
Internet Archive,
A web-based warehouse of multi-media internet information, including offerings from several libraries that includes more than 100,000 books.

As an alternative to accessible text, there is also,
LibriVox,
A web site providing free audio books from the public domain.

Whichever method you get them, just know that these resources are available for finding accessible, alternative format texts.

A brief discussion of the role of DSS professionals

There’s an old saying, “Nothing succeeds like success,” which can be aptly applied to the profession of disability support services. Sure this applies to the particular accommodations, but there is more that DSS professionals can provide their students. The students can find the skills to manage their disabilities through on-going dialogue with DSS staff and a comfortable place to discuss the challenges they face.

Take for instance, the recent success story about the
CSUN’s Center on Disabilities.

This article illustrates very clearly that a student’s disability is not a sole entity. There are conpounding elements that accompany many disabilities, such as the case of the woman first mentioned in the article with a bipolar disability.

I particularly like that the article pointed out that the center “guides disabled students into finding a cohesive, effective and comfortable style for managing the difficulties that can grow out of a disability.”

While some may argue that the job of DSS staff is to provide only those accommodations needed to meet the students' needs, I disagree. There are some students who have not learned to manage their disability or their lifestyle with consideration for the demands the disability places on it. As the primary point of contact for a student who has very often just begun life out on his/her own, does it not make some sense for the DSS staff to help provide guidance and education to help the students be more successful in their day-to-day lives when they leave your school?

This is clearly the case for DSS professionals at community colleges, where students who graduate from there will often need to go onto an upper level institution to earn a marketable degree. When those students move up, shouldn’t they have the skills in place to successfully manage their lifestyles outside of the classroom? Who better to aid in providing that foundation than the DSS staff?

I know this is a bit of a tangent, but I truly believe that success breeds success. That was the point of the article and it sparked this train of thought from me. If you agree or disagree, please feel free to let me know by leaving a comment.

Landmark College,specifically serving students with learning disabilities and AD/HD

For a long time, I have only known of one postsecondary school dedicated to serving a distinct population of students with a particular disability—
Gallaudet University,
The reknowned liberal arts university serving deaf and hard of hearing students.

That all changed this past week, when I learned about
Landmark College,
In Putney, Vermont, which bills itself as, “The premier college for students with learning disabilities and AD/HD.”

According to the college’s “About” page:
“While many colleges offer special programs for students with learning difficulties, Landmark College is one of the only accredited colleges in the United States designed exclusively for students with dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), or other specific learning disabilities. “

“Why does Landmark's approach succeed? Because we take a different path. We teach the skills and strategies necessary for success in college and the workforce.”


In addition to the on-line databases, DVD and CD recordings, plus the more than 30,000 printed texts, the Landmark College library also boasts more than 550 course texts formatted for Kurzweil. The library also possesses a learning disability and AD/HD research collection chock full of books, videos, and journals, which the web site claims is one of the most extensive in the nation.

Take some time to check out the Landmark College web site linked above and explore the information on the various pages. (I especially like the informational resources one can glean from the library’s page.) Their web site should serve well as an additional resource for providing services to your LD and AD/HD students.

Good Resource for selecting the right hearing aid

For the uninitiated, or just for a real good primer on hearing aids,
HealtyWorld
offers a
Guide to Selecting the Right Hearing Aid.

While the site is a bit cluttered, once you skip through the headings and links, the article is really quite informative about the different aspects of the various types of hearing aids that are available.

Utah State showcasing features of Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.0

There is an interesting article in The Utah Statesman, the newspaper of Utah State University, about an upcoming series showcasing the
Functional applications of Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.0.

The purpose of this event, sponsored by the university’s Assistive Learning Technology Center, is to demonstrate how the speech-to-text application can be used by people with a broad range of disabilities, but won’t stop at just that. Jacob Miller, the coordinator of the center is promoting it as software that can be used by anybody. He claims that Dragon has helped him improve his typing speed by 430%, although he considered himself a decent typist even before using it.

The article goes on to give some pretty strong endorsements from other users of the assisstive technology software, emphasizing different features of the program that one might not know about unless he were a regular user of it. This also serves to demonstrate the applicability of the software across a wide range of disabilities.

One point Miller makes about the broader use of this specific program is that the state of Iowa now requires high school students to learn how to use it. Hmmm. Interesting concept there, mandating use of assistive technology by all students.

Miller also discusses a possible alternative use of Dragon in that article which my former colleague and I had begun to explore last year----------- using Dragon to provide real-time captioning of a professor's lecture on a deaf student’s laptop.

Aside from providing a good informational article about Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.0, the concept of having an open series of events where all students are encouraged to stop by to see what this powerful software can do is a fresh idea for an innovative outreach program. In a world where good ideas are often sought out and emulated, I think this is one definitely worth a repeat.

Good work, Mr. Miller.

IBM develops Accessibility Browser

To further enhance accessibility for people who are visually impaired, IBM will soon release
The Accessibility Browser.

The multimedia browser, also called the “A-Browser,” is set on giving people with visual impairments the same control over their browser’s content as their sighted counterparts, and will do so without interfering with the functionality of talking screen readers. There is a specific concentration on content compatible with the Real player and Windows Media Player.

Information from the BBC news article linked above states:
“By using the A-Browser, the visually-impaired person can control media content by using preset shortcut keys instead of having to seek the control buttons using a mouse. The browser also allows the users to slow down or increase the speed of the video. The volume controls let user adjust the sound of various sources in parallel. Frances West, director of IBM’s Human Ability and Accessibility Centre said.”

“IBM says it should be available later this year and hopes that it will be free.”

The A-Browser’s developer, Dr. Chieko Asakawa,is a blind employee of IBM who designed the browser in response to the growing amount of web content she was unable to access.

Now, if somebody would only do something similar with that darn, embedded Flash content.

Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities seeks better Section 508 enforcement

On March 14, the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities sent a
letter to United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales,
asking for better enforcement of Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act.

The heart of their complaint reads as follows:
“While specific federal agency compliance with the procurement and Internet accessibility requirements of Sec. 508 is enforced through the complaint and procurement processes particular to each agency in question, the Justice Department has the responsibility to issue periodic reports on compliance with these requirements across agencies generally (29 USC 794d(d)(2)). This reporting function, which is to occur biennially, has consistently fallen behind schedule and, as of this writing, is well over four years past due. We note that, at least with respect to the need to monitor federal agency compliance with Sec. 508's Internet accessibility requirements, the data collection has already been completed by the General Services Administration and simply awaits evaluation. Surely the Department can, at a minimum, muster the relatively modest resources required to complete analysis and publication of findings during this calendar year.”


This letter emphasizes a simple point: No matter how well they are written, regulations are only as good as their enforcement.

The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities is a Coalition of more than 100 national consumer, advocacy, provider and professional organizations headquartered in Washington, D.C. (A list of members is available at
www.c-c-d.org.)
Since 1973, the CCD has advocated on behalf of people of all ages with physical and mental disabilities and their families. CCD has worked to achieve federal legislation and regulations that assure that the 54 million children and adults with disabilities are fully integrated into the mainstream of society.


If you are not already familiar with the CCD, check out their web page and book mark it. It may serve you well later as a very qualified resource.