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Build Your Assistive Technology Career with RESNA Certification

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:33:45 +0000

As assistive technology expands in education, healthcare, and publishing, certification through RESNA -- the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America -- has become a crucial requirement for aspiring and established AT professionals.

Certification helps ensure persons with disabilities receive a consistently high level of service whenever the evaluation, procurement, and implementation of technology can enhance independence and quality of life.

RESNA-certified Assistive Technology Professionals (ATP) help students at all education levels, working adults with disabilities, and seniors seeking to increase mobility, communication, and social interaction.

The main obstacle en route to becoming an ATP is the certification exam -- 200 multiple choice questions on all aspects of technology assessment and implementation -- one takes after meeting specific education and work experience standards.

Anyone in this field should strongly consider applying for certification, before technology's rapid evolution adds more interconnected complexity to what one must know.

SightConnection's Insight: A Low Vision Expo Takes Place June 8th

Sun, 12 May 2013 23:05:55 +0000

Persons who are blind or visually impaired in the Seattle area can learn the latest in assistive technology at Insight: A Low Vision Expo created by SightConnection.

The Insight expo -- which takes place Saturday, June 8, 2013 at the Lynnwood Convention Center (Lynnwood, WA) -- is one of the nonprofit's top educational offerings. It features low vision experts, breakout discussions, a vendor fair, and an Assistive Technology Learning Lab -- this year sponsored by Enhanced Vision (makes of the Pebble and other video magnifiers) and Freedom Scientific.

Other vendors exhibiting and presenting at this year's show include app developers: Voice Dream (text-to-speech), TapTapSee (blind-accessible iPhone camera), and Earl (print news read).

One keynote speaker this year is Dr. Imran Kahn speaking on the low-vision rehabilitation of French impressionist painter Claude Monet.

The entry fee, which includes a box lunch, costs $20 before May 31st and $25 at the door. Approximately 250-300 persons attend Insight each year.

SightConnection is a direct service nonprofit that offers low vision rehabilitation, including orientation and mobility and assistive technology training, client services, clinical care, and an online store that sells assistive products.

While SightConnection serves clients of all ages, its primary focus is persons aged 55 and older.

Visit SightConnection online or call Claire Tadych at 206.204.6164 for more information.

Learning Ally�s VOICEtext Highlighting Lets Users See & Hear What They Read

Sat, 11 May 2013 13:46:55 +0000

Learning Ally offers a growing list of titles with its new VOICEtext feature that highlights text so users can read along as they listen to the audio.

Following highlighted text one hears -- a feature of literacy programs such as Read&Write GOLD -- improves focus and presents proper spelling and pronunciation of words. This context can make word and sentence meanings more apparent and enhance one's ability to absorb information.

This multimodal reading can improve both the comprehension and enjoyment of books -- especially for readers with dyslexia, visual impairments, and physical disabilities.

Learning Ally currently offers its members over 1,000 VOICEtext tiles, including Biography and Autobiography, Fiction (juvenile and adult), History, Language Arts, Social Science, and Sports & Recreation.

Members can download and read books in three ways:

On a computer equipped with ReadHear software (free to members)
On an iOS device equipped with the Learning Ally Audio app (free to members)
On a DAISY book player such as the Victor Reader Stream.

Learning Ally has over 75,000 digital audiobooks with a focus on textbooks for students at all educational levels. Annual membership costs $119. Apply online or call 800.221.4792.

New NBP Book Helps Blind Students Get More from Their iPad

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:41:38 +0000

The National Braille Press has released iOS Success: Making the iPad Accessible to help students who are blind to maximize their use of the popular Apple tablet that's playing an increasing role in education

The book, NBP's sixth guide to iOS devices, provides step-by-step instructions for iPad setup (including all accessibility features), using VoiceOver and Zoom, connecting to external devices such as braille displays, find and download apps, and use services such as Dropbox.

NBP has done a remarkable job enabling persons who are blind or visually impaired to orient themselves on and learn to use iOS devices -- keeping them current and on the same page as their sighted classmates.

Assistive Technology�s �MacGyver�

Mon, 06 May 2013 18:20:18 +0000

MacGyver would save the day by cobbling seemingly impossibles solution from just the materials at hand.

Therese Willkomm, often called the "MacGyver of Assistive Technology," works along those lines: she uses ordinary materials, no electricity, no power tools, not even glue to quickly design products that make devices more accessible.

I was fortunate enough to interview Therese last week.

Her rescues aren't from bombs, but from duds, i.e. assistive devices that goes unused because a student can't hold, manipulate, or access it. Willkomm's brilliance is accomplishing for $5 what solutions sometimes don't do -- even after a school has spent thousands.

In the world of assistive technology, where specialized products and limited markets create high prices, one who can fashion an iPad stand out of corrugated plastic and Velcro, and demonstrate how it's done on her YouTube channel deserves TV action hero status.

Last December, when Therese learned I was helping a friend who is blind to center the YouTube she shoots with her iPhone videos, she sent me a "Traveling Eileen" adjustable stand.

I unfolded and set it up and set my iPod touch on it. I could frame myself in a video and stay centered. I couldn't believe how something so simple could do so much. It not only gave my friend a solution, but also reduced stress and increased her confidence.

That's the kind of solution Therese Willkomm shoots for, and almost always hits.

HumanWare Hits Silver Anniversary

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:15:26 +0000

Earlier this year, assistive device make HumanWare, whose products include the Victor Reader Stream, BrailleNote Apex, and the Trekker Breeze, celebrated its 25th anniversary.

The company was founded in 1988 to create products that provide persons with visual and learning disabilities greater independence and the ability to compete effectively in all areas of life.

HumanWare has long been recognized for its rapid advancements in digital technology to create and deliver solutions for persons who are blind or have low vision or and learning disabilities.   HumanWare products include advanced braille note-takers, embossers, and displays, portable and desktop video magnifiers, screen readers, talking GPS devices, digital talking book players, and solutions for deaf-blind communications.

The original Victor Reader Stream sold 70,000 units worldwide. The new version is 28% smaller and provides wireless connectivity to popular DAISY sources, such as Bookshare.

Of the company's 125 employees -- working in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the US -- 15% have a visual impairment.
HumanWare products are distributed in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, India, and South Africa.

Dropbox Offers Safe File Access & Collaboration

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:42:54 +0000

Though not designed as assistive technology, Dropbox can be a useful tool to students with visual and cognitive impairments.

Once you drop file into your Dropbox folder, you never have to worry about losing it or where or when you can access it.

Dropbox keeps them forever -- you can even "un-delete" them -- and they're automatically synced to all your other computers and mobile devices.

You can also share files with others (both individuals & groups), which is a convenient way to receive help from teachers and tutors.

The free service provides peace of mind, less busywork managing files, and a means of collaboration. And it's free -- well, up to 2 GB.

NBP �Teach� Pendant Makes a Great Graduation Gift

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 23:02:35 +0000

If there's a special student or teacher you'd like to recognize at an upcoming graduation, consider the "Teach" pendant from National Braille Press.

The pendant measures 1.25 by .25 inches and features the word "Teach" in contracted braille above a raised image of an apple.

There are two versions:

Dark copper ($25) strung on a 18-inch waxed cotton cord with a lobster clasp
Bright copper ($32) strung on an 18-inch copper ball chain.

Jewelry in Braille founder Kelly Fehr designed the pendant -- one of many pieces she's created for her niece Emily, who reads braille.

It's a unique gift that strikes the right chord: not too fancy, but special -- and it promotes braille literacy.

Accessible Literacy Tools for Google Docs

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:00:20 +0000

Read&Write for Google Docs is a Chrome extension providing many of the literacy tools found in the Texthelp Systems application, Read&Write GOLD..

While apps that read or magnify selected text are either free or built into the operating system, the Read&Write toolbar, which sits atop applications with buttons for every key text capture and conversion technology, is setting a new standard for accessibility.

Read&Write for Google Docs carries that standard to the cloud, enabling collaboration among students and teachers through the Chrome web browser.

For readers with print disabilities, the toolbar can remove much of the stress-inducing busywork that researching and writing demands.

Don't know that word? Just select it and click to read its definition or translation, see a picture of it. hear it pronounced, and add it to a vocabulary list.

Do research paper processes daunt you? The toolbar helps you explore a topic, select, highlight, gather, and organize facts -- it even remembers to snag (and properly format) references.

Reassurance from quick ways to access new knowledge and relief from the reduction of tedious tasks free up creative energy -- which is about as assistive as technology can be.

Orbit & APH to Create First Blind-Accessible Graphing Calculator

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:09:41 +0000

Accommodating visually impaired students in English or History courses is straightforward: record lectures and download texts from Bookshare or Learning Ally closes the materials gap.

But creating tactile aids to teach concepts in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) courses -- built on visual representations such as diagrams, graphs and equations -- is a different story.

So calling the Orion TI-84 Plus -- the world's first blind-accessible graphing calculator -- a breakthrough isn't just hype. The Texas Instruments TI-84 is a popular graphing calculator that has changed how math is taught.

Orbit Research and the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) are adapting this model to make all numbers and graphs accessible via text-to-speech and haptic (vibration) feedback. It also enables users to print or emboss assignments.

The Orion will be available in time for the 2013-14 school year.