Group items tagged accessibility - EdCeptional

shared by J B on 12 May 11 - No Cached

shared by Patrick Black on 13 Apr 11 - No Cached

VoiceThread has failed to work with any kind of screen reader, leaving those with sight issues, and reading issues, disconnected... from totally to partially
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VoiceThread Universal lets full-scale screen readers, software like JAWS and ORCA, read the text comments left on a VoiceThread and allow navigation. The navigation allows you to add comments as well, and that's great. But as the developers point out, the current system won't help you with, "creating and adding content to VoiceThreads," won't allow searches, doesn't allow phone integration, though they say all these things are being "worked on."
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A bigger issue for me is that neither VoiceThread nor VoiceThread Universal works with the kind of "light" screen readers used by those with dyslexia.
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So, is it OK for us to use these tools in schools? I am conflicted. I tend to think "yes" assuming that we always - automatically - provide alternative access capability which is, essentially, equal. After all, we still use those inaccessible books in our rooms, we still let teachers write, in handwriting no less, on the "board." But I'm bothered by it because use may tend to remove the pressure on these organizations to move toward accessibility. These companies want access to our students, should we offer that if they don't really want access to all of our kids?
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www.bookshare.org

shared by anonymous on 01 Dec 11 - Cached

shared by J B on 27 May 11 - No Cached

"As the use of emerging technologies in the classroom increases, schools at all levels must ensure equal access to the educational benefits and opportunities afforded by the technology and equal treatment in the use of the technology for all students, including students with disabilities," wrote Russlynn Ali, assistant secretary for civil rights for the Department of Education.
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Schools need to "think about on the front end whether the device is fully accessible,"
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"If it's used to further the achievement gap and further the opportunity gap...we should prevent that on the front end."
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shared by J B on 09 May 11 - No Cached

“Universal design usually means creating buildings that are physically accessible to everyone, with hallways wide enough for wheelchairs,” he says. “But, in promoting ‘universal design for learning,’ we have to simultaneously confront the technological, social and psychological barriers to equal education.”
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“Rather than see one person as being blind and another as having dyslexia, we’ve found that it’s most useful to think of both of them as having difficulty processing visual information.
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some of the most critical issues in educational access remain social rather than technological. As he says, “there is still a stigma that makes some students unwilling to disclose their learning disability.”
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Bowie State is collaborating with researchers at the University of Illinois to combine image processing, facial recognition and natural speech to interpret and describe graphic images.
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