Accessibility

Speak up for accessible e-health records! Post your comments by March 15 and ensure that this new federal initiative hears from the accessibility community.

See how a Tech in the Works awardee used DVD technology to create interactive, content-rich captions on science videos, offering new instructional access to students with hearing impairments.

What does broadband access mean for the disability community? The FCC hosted an all-day workshop to find out.

Fraction Sense creates an effective learning approach for children and their teachers. This 2008 NCTI Technology in the Works award shows how collaborative research can overcome implementation challenges.

Pearson announced the release of its Universal Design for Computer-Based Testing Guidelines, aimed at making computer-based testing more usable and accessible for all students, particularly those with disabilities. Pearson believes the guidelines will help test developers better understand students’ thought processes during computer test-taking and will improve the design and accessibility of computer-delivered items and [...]

A new partnership will expand the availability of closed captioning (CC) and audio description (AD) in multimedia educational content–giving students who are hearing or visually impaired, are English language learners, or have other disabilities greater access to digital learning opportunities. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has awarded two 5-year grants to CaptionMax for a [...]

If you missed Games for Health 2009, consider marking your calendars for June 2010 to be in Boston, MA for next year.  It was awesome, and the cross-over applications for education and remediation/rehabilitation are syntergistic.  If you follow the NCTI Twitter, you know that Heidi was jazzed by the exergaming and related fitness focus.  Follow [...]

What happens when you turn AAC platforms into instant messaging devices? These 2008 Tech in the Works winners found unexpected discoveries such as the critical need for chat specific vocabularies.

Verizon Wireless will use audio-feedback technology in TALKS, a service that helps people with visual impairments navigate through most mobile-phone tasks. The service uses voice-to-text translation.
Read the full story from PC Magazine here.

Microsoft announces that the premier Microsoft university competition, Imagine Cup 2009, is open with entries due by March 31, 2009.

Read about WYNN, the literacy software designed with a graphic interface to accommodate a range of user needs and styles.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Michigan Chapter’s 2008 da Vinci Award® winners are announced. The da Vinci Awards recognize the most innovative developments and research in adaptive and assistive technology. The Society understands well difficulties people experience when faced with physical disabilities and created the da Vinci Awards to recognize the most innovative projects that enable everyone to participate and contribute in all aspects of society.

On August 27, 2008, Target and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) announced that both parties have agreed to a class action settlement over complaints about the accessibility of Target’s Web site, www.target.com.  Rulings by Northern District of California Judge Marilyn Hall Patel that both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the State Unruh Civil [...]

Read the eSchool News story on the latest assistive technologies that make learning more accessible, including a free, web-based text reader and a tongue-controlled wheelchair.

NCTI Director, Tracy Gray, is serving as a judge at the 2008 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Finals in Paris. Get a peek behind the scenes.

Introduced legislation would mandate captioning and descriptions of Internet video including on portable devices.

News Release: IFE solutions provider, The IMS Company, and the Media Access Group at WGBH in Boston, have developed a solution for the provisioning of closed-captioned media content on IMS’ portable in-flight entertainment devices.

Baltimore, Maryland (January 28, 2008): K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc., a company combining the research and development efforts of the National Federation of the Blind and Kurzweil Technologies, Inc., today unveils an exciting product line that will revolutionize access to print for anyone who has difficulty seeing or reading print, including the blind and learning disabled. [...]

With a major $32 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Bookshare.org, the online collection of digital books, will be able to vastly increase its collection as well as provide its services without subscription. Jim Fruchterman, head of Bookshare.org, says they hope to reach every school and every student with a print disability to make digital text a reality for all who need it. Hear Fruchterman give the keynote address at the NCTI Annual Innovators Conference.

A new coalition of 100 organizations has formed to provide leadership and advocacy around issues of accessibility in Internet protocol technologies. Join the Coalition to keep watch on legislation and regulations.

The Community Technology Centers’ Network (CTCNet) is a national membership network of community technology centers and other non-profits committed to provide technology access and education to underserved communities. Recently, the Network offered grants to members to address accessibility in their Center. The grants consist of $20k for activities such as staff training and the purchase of AT and 30 hours of technical assistance.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the March 2, 2007 Web Event! At your request, we have made available the individual presentations, including PowerPoint slides, audio/visual recordings, captioning transcripts, and supplemental information that present exciting innovations that make assistive technology portable. Check back regularly as we continue to grow this page!

Featured Technologies and Speakers

Scanning the [...]

When he had a “real job,” Tom was a clinical biochemist. He began Designer Appliances as a start-up using research on dynamic bio-mechanics of muscle and blood flow. A block of wood helped formulate his first conceptual model, leading to 5 or 6 fundamental iterations before going to market.

Education Week: [T]echnology, instead of marking the end of Braille, has done its share to breathe new life into the reading method. . . .

New York Times:  Many blind or partially sighted users run screen reading software that describes the content [such as image tags] of a Web page but often encounter problems. New IBM software allows users to report these problems to a central database. Other Internet users that want to contribute can then check the database, select one [...]

The Center for Multi Media Arts at the University of Memphis FedEx Institute of Technology in Tennessee is developing two IT initiatives that aim to help children with disabilities use the Internet and parents better understand clinical trial consent forms, Health Data Management reports. …

July 2006, John Kemp

2003, Microsoft Corporation and Forrester Research, Inc.

November 2002, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

August 2004, eSchool News and The Consortium of School Networks

One of the defining principles of the Web is that it should provide all people, regardless of physical or technological readiness, with access to information.

This document provides an introduction to use of the Web by people with disabilities. It illustrates some of their requirements when using Web sites and Web-based applications, and provides supporting information for the guidelines and technical work of the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

September 2006, Peter Coffee, eWEEK.com

July 2006, WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM)

Andy Walker
Cyberwalker

January 2005, Digital Web Magazine

Thomas Westin
International Game Developers Association

Initiated by the accessibility industry, the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA) is a group of leading Information Technology (IT) and Assistive Technology (AT) companies, content providers, and other key engineering organizations, working to create and harmonize standards for accessible technology.
Because the need for accessible technologies is growing — an estimated one in four computer users today [...]

Emergency Info Online is a website and printer-friendly resource directory established to provide information regarding organizations involved in emergency preparedness and communications, particularly as they relate to the Emergency Alert System and individuals with disabilities.
This September, in conjunction with National Preparedness Month, Bridge Multimedia will offer a free online series entitled 30 Days, 30 Resources [...]

This is a product of the Designing a More Usable World project, which is dedicated to cooperative efforts linked toward building a more usable Web for all. The Web Accessibility Initiative contains accessible web site guidelines, web access tools, and updates on governmental efforts.

Contains specifications, software, and tools to lead the Web to its full potential. Developed by the W3C (The World Wide Web Consortium), guidelines are accompanied by a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding of interoperable technologies.

provides information on its free communication assistant services for people with speech disabilities.

(NCAM) is a research and development facility dedicated to the issues of media and information technology for people with disabilities. NCAM explores how existing access technologies may benefit other populations and provides access to educational and media technologies for special needs students.

is a ten-module tutorial that is a resource for those seeking to make their distance education accessible for individuals with disabilities. AEL offers information on the most common needs in distance education, and provides instruction in techniques that will enhance the usability of online materials for all students.