Group items tagged

Interesting class discussion topic regarding the pros cons and applicable technology. Sensors, databases, keeping data up to date etc cost benefit analysis.

An overview of the computer used by Stephen Hawking to communicate despite the disability ALS causes him. Includes details of the hardware, software, and communication systems used.

"June 01, 2007 - Joe Barnick was born with spinal muscular atrophy and cannot use a keyboard or mouse, yet thanks to assistive technology he can use his computer to do all those things he cannot do in real life"

"May 30, 2007 - Mike Phillips is a gamer and freelance technology writer born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Using his thumb and a proximity switch to access his computer he is a prolific journalist and has contributed chapters to several books. Assistive technology has opened the world for him. "

Videos that explore the frontiers of assistive technology.

"July 02, 2008 - How an employee who is blind can work in an office setting with technology"

"August 02, 2007 - Ellen uses Assistive Technology to go about her day to day life - both at home and in college. Ellen has Cerebral Palsy and has difficulty controlling her body - she is able to access her Assistive Technology using two head switches. Through these head switches, Ellen is able to drive her powered chair, communicate with people, access the computer and internet and control her TV and household equipment."

This is a personal story of someone suffering from glaucoma (Primary, Open-Angle Glaucoma) who has first-hand experience of visual field defects. This article explains what glaucoma is and how to design elements for websites, such as layout and screen resolution, to aid the comfort of reading.

"WAI: Strategies, guidelines, resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities"

Complex but possible useful for background reading. "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 covers a wide range of recommendations for making Web content more accessible. Following these guidelines will make content accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity and combinations of these. Following these guidelines will also often make your Web content more usable to users in general. "

"The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has announced a new standard to make sites more accessible to older and disabled people."

"February 11, 2009 - Here is the review for the new Amazon Kindle 2, Amazon's new e-book reader and the successor to the highly popular Amazon Kindle. This new e-book reader from Amazon is more lightweight, features more shades of grey and has a slightly different interface, better battery life and more memory for storing e-books. "

ICT Company of the Year - BETT Award 2010

"The Madtoe Strikes Again: Hands-free Graphic Design" Being disabled doesn't mean an inability to function; it only means we function in a unique way. We find better ways to work more easily and successfully. We must not give up. This is expressed by a quote that was in big bold letters all over my elementary classrooms and physical therapy rooms: "We Can Because We ThinkWe Can."

Good for both HL Robotics but also for Input/Output devices for Assisted Technologies - at the end Dennis shows how this project has led to a number of spin-off uses for the blind in education, safety in cars for the sighted and more.