kestrell | Entries tagged with accessible tech

Kes: Sheri Byrne-Haber is the sharpest writer writing about accessibility, and I make a point of trying to read everything she writes. Her point about attitudes regarding accessibility taking their cues from the top is the number one item that will make or break accessibility throughout the entire company, school, hospital, club, convention, wherever you are trying to make a change.

by Sheri Byrne-Haber

https://sheribyrnehaber.medium.com/how-to-identify-a-toxic-accessibility-culture-and-what-you-can-do-about-it-29c8ec9dc500

Accessibility Devices at CES 2021 Reflect Growing Focus on Inclusive Tech
https://www.cnet.com/health/accessibility-devices-at-ces-2021-reflect-growing-focus-on-inclusive-tech/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Podcast | Blind Tech Guys | CES 2021, BBC Apps And How To Utilise Gestures
January 19th 2021
On episode 69 of the Blind Tech Guys, they went through all that happened at CES 2021, Marco demonstrated two BBC apps and Nimer showed us how to go about setting up and utilising gestures on Android and iOS.
https://www.blindtechguys.com/69

The Intersectionality of Identities with Disability
This resource comes to us from the National Center for College Students with Disabilities (NCCSD), a federally-funded project under the U.S. Department of Education, and provides a range of disability resources for people of different races, ethnicities, cultures, LGBTQI identities, and religions (listed in no particular order). Also includes a collection of self-care and identity resources:
https://www.nccsdclearinghouse.org/intersectionality-of-
identities.html

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And we were there! And do we have the horror stories to prove it--anyone else remember Whispering Wendy? I'm pretty certain she was developed by the male developers so that they could have a sexy throaty female voice, but what they got was a stalker with a meat knife whispering to you in the dark about how she just boiled your bunny rabbit.

Kes: Stanford has a great timeline of the development of accessible technology, which you can find here
https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/soco/projects/2005-06/accessibility/firstwave.html#:~:text=1986%20%E2%80%93%20Jim%20Thatcher%20created%20the,graphical%20interface%20PCs%20(4).

Kes: This event is more of a crash course in screen readers, and there are scholarships available. You can also read the recent entry
A Brief History of Screen Readers
https://knowbility.org/blog/2021/a-brief-history-of-screen-readers/

Webinar from Knowbility
Screen Readers in the Wild. A Celebration of the 35th Anniversary of the First Screen Reader, Released in 1986
January 25th 2021 8AM PT, 9AM MT, 10AM CT, 11AM ET, 4PM GMT

IBM Researcher and Accessibility Pioneer, Jim Thatcher, created the first screen reader in 1986. The IBM Screen Reader worked with the text-based Desktop Operating System (DOS). It was initially only available within IBM. Jim and his team continued development and released IBM Screen Reader/2 to work with graphical operating systems such as Windows 95 and IBM OS/2.
Price: $35
Register here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/screen-readers-in-the-wild-tickets-135342363653

Two outstanding articles on disability and technology.

1. Disabled Do-It-Yourselfers Lead Way to Technology Gains

So long to overhyped innovations. Hello to tech that embeds accessibility into everyday devices.
By David M. Perry
...[M]any leaders, designers and scholars in the disability community say that they aren’t excited by stair-climbing wheelchairs, mechanical exoskeletons or brain-controlled prosthetics. They are drawn to innovations that embed accessibility into everyday technologies and the spaces that we all share. Also, they want people to stop trying to solve problems that don’t exist.
Mark Riccobono, who lost his sight to glaucoma as a child and is president of the National Federation of the Blind, says that blind people generally love their white canes, a simple and effective piece of technology. “A couple times a year someone comes to us and says, ‘We have this great new idea for how to replace the cane!’ ” he said. “We try to be objective, but no. You’re trying to solve a problem that’s not a problem.”

[Kes: Amazing final paragraph!]
For Ms. Shew, the Virginia Tech professor, the best way to ensure that this transformation continues will require centering the power — and the money — on disabled people as the initiators of innovation. “The future of assistive tech should be ‘cripped,’” a once-pejorative term that many members of the disability community have reclaimed, she said. “It should be bent, claimed, reclaimed, reforged, hacked, owned/controlled, made, swapped and shared by disabled people.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/style/assistive-technology.html?searchResultPosition=1

2. The ADA is Turning Thirty: It's Time That It Included Digital Accessibility
While the Americans with Disabilities Act regulates the physical world fairly well, its age means it lags eons behind when it comes to ensuring digital accessibility.
By Caroline Casey, social activist and founder of The Valuable 500

The lack of accessible websites is particularly frustrating because there are many simple fixes that exist if website designers and owners felt motivated to implement them.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/ada-turning-30-it-s-time-it-included-digital-accessibility-ncna1234860?fbclid=IwAR36suctA1qLlTvFW8Aw5y9PttKNA-KT0ZuOAm1dNLoQW566zFwx2z88948

Current Mood: geeky
Current Location: aerye
Current Music: Lovely Day, Bill Withers

Remembering what you need to do and when to do it can be a challenge. Creating a shopping or to-do list, storing your recipes, and setting reminders are just a few examples of ways to stay organized. Join us this month to discuss apps and services for managing productivity.
Date: Tuesday, June 23
Time: 7:00 PM Central Time (8 PM Eastern time)

Have a question you want to ask Ricky or your fellow participants?
Submit your question now. We will get to as many as possible during the call.
Submit Your Question
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2Y3TR5Z

Go here to join
https://hadley.edu/discussions/TechItOut.asp
This page also allows you to listen past shows, such as last month's episode, "Let's Talk Tablet Computers," and the previous month's show, "A Deep Dive in Amazon Echo and Alexa Smart Assistant."
Hadley also has instructional videos on accessibility features in various computer systems, including iOS, Android, and MS Windoes.
Go here to find the list of videos
https://www.hadley.edu/instructionalvideos/

I saw these two screen magnifiers on a list of stocking stuffers for movie fans, but thought it would be a fun option for low vision folks, plus it's less expensive than the disability tax options.

1. Luckies of London Retro Screen Magnifier
2x magnification plus enlarges your smartphone screen to 8 inches
https://www.amazon.com/Phone-Screen-Magnifier-8-Inch-Magnification/dp/B01KV3BFD6/?tag=whtgh-20
2. A 12-inch screen option
https://www.amazon.com/Screen-Magnifier-Smartphone-Compatible-Smartphones/dp/B07VC383LJ/?tag=whtgh-20&th=1

NVDA
https://www.nvaccess.org/
is the free screen reader for visually impaired computer users, and they host a virtual conference every year: their survey for when to hold it this year is still open.

Another great place for visually impaired users to learn about technology is the Visually Impaired Boston Users Group (VIBUG)
http://www.vibug.org
which also offers online access to their many learning resources, to paid members. Memberships are only $20 a year, and I just rejoined.

AccessWorld has another useful article in its new May issue, in which it points out how many assistive tech is now mainstream, and where to go to learn more about these newer apps and programs
https://www.afb.org/aw/20/5/16450
I just began learning to use some of these technologies recently and, yes, it can be challenging, but it is great to have more options, rather than being pushed into having to accept one or two expensive choices. I still have an old DecTalk speaker and a hardware DecTalk soundcard sitting in a corner of the aerye, and that DecTalk speechcard is as big as a folio-sized hardcover book.

Check them out: an orientation and mobility trivia game and a braille code game!
http://www.perkinselearning.org/technology/blog/trivia-educational-games-alexa-and-google-assistant

Current Mood: pleased
Current Location: aerye

My housemate gave me one of these years ago, and I wear it mostly as a piece of jewelry, especially as it looks, imo, somewhat steampunk
https://www.eone-time.com/#content

From the EASI announcement list

Webinar Book Review Free Webinar:
Universal Design in Higher Education: From Principles to Practice
Presenter: Sheryl Bergstahler, Ph.D. DO-IT, University of Washington
Tuesday June 14, 11 AM Pacific, Noon Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern
This presentation will provide an overview of the history of universal design,
back to its origins in architecture and product development. The presenter
will share examples of applications of universal design in higher education - to
technology, instruction, services, and physical spaces. She will also discuss
various approaches that have been taken to apply universal design to learning
environments, with a focus on practical applications that instructors can employ to make their courses more welcoming and accessible to all students.
The Webinar is based on the book: Universal Design in Higher Education: From
Principles to Practice edited by Sheryl Burgstahler which is accessible at Bookshare.

Free Webinar: Book Review: Managing the Assistive Technology Process: The
Nontech Guide for Disability Service Providers.
Presenter James Bailey, MS, Adaptive Technology Adviser, University of Oregon.
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Friday evening LJ user alexx_kay surprised me with a new talking HD radio http://www.icanseemypc.com/hdradio.html?gclid=CNWtgtXLxqQCFYa8Kgodmy3KfQ

I am a radio addict who pretty much listens to the radio 24/7 but the reception in the aerye is really poor, possibly due to the non-Euclidean geometry and no doubt exacerbated by having two UPSs and two computers in a relatively small space. I had been talking about getting a HD radio for a couple of years but, as most HD radios use touchpads and visual displays, they have not been very accessible until this model from Dice Electronics came out in June.
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Posted to an accessible tech mailing list--unfortunately, I will be out of town.

All,

I hope to see some of you at Boston's first Accessibility Unconference
http://www.a11y-bos.org on May 15, at Adobe's facilities in Waltham, MA.

The audience is expected to be broad, to include developers, usability
professionals, accessibility experts, and end-users with disabilities.
Come present, or just participate in the sessions, it's your choice, which
is what makes it an unconference. The theme is IT accessibility, the
topics are driven by attendees day-of, it's completely free to attend, and
the informal nature of the event lends itself to networking and learning.
There'll even be lunch.

Feel free to pass the invite along to interested folks you may know in the Boston area.

It is important that you do register to attend, in order for organizers to have an idea of head-count. http://www.a11y-bos.org

Today's NY Times has a second installment in a series of articles about how mainstream tech is being adopted and adapted by PWD. The subject of today's article is text-to-speech
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/text-
to-speech-technology-reaches-an-inflection-point/?partner=rss&emc=rss