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Ad Campaign Eschews “Silly” Disability Labels

January 31, 2010 | by

Are you clearing-impaired? Yes, you heard me right. A new advertising campaign is using humor to encourage employers to hire people with disabilities. In Think Beyond The Label, workers are shown as having quirky impairments ranging from being a fashion disaster (“pattern-deficient”) to having two left feet on the dance floor (“rhythm-impaired”). The point is to shed the labels given to people and look instead at what value they can bring to a company. This campaign has clout, because instead of having a public service announcement format that is typical of such disability awareness ads, Think Beyond The Label has an estimated budget of $4 million for the first two quarters of 2010, according to The New York Times. It’s being spearheaded by Health & Disability Advocates, a nonprofit organization that is working on behalf of more than 25 state vocational rehabilitation agencies. Stuart Elliot, The New York Times‘ Advertising writer says ... keep reading »
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Speech Recognition for the Deaf in the Workplace

January 30, 2010 | by

I didn’t get to too many workshops at the Assistive Technology Industry Association conference this year, because I only attended for one full day. I did stop into a presentation on speech-recognition for the deaf, led by Ed Rosenthal, CEO of Next Generation Technologies, a consulting firm. Rosenthal is a certified partner, and been working for 20 years, with Nuance Communications Dragon NaturallySpeaking software, and says that the technology had its first real breakthrough about three years ago when it debuted its latest version — 10 Preferred ($199). Now, Rosenthal says, he believes the speech-to-text program works well enough to be used as a real-time captioning tool for the deaf in the workplace. The Dragon program is said to work “three times faster than most people type, with accuracy rates of up to 99% right out of the box.” In a demonstration, Rosenthal opened up a Word document and began speaking (into a ... keep reading »
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Hands off My Pony! And other ATIA Humor

January 29, 2010 | by

Though assistive tech isn’t really a topic to be taken lightly, sometimes it’s good to have some fun with it — and find the humorous side of things. Here’s hoping you smile with these photos taken today at the 2010 Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) conference in Orlando: Don’t touch that pony! A blind woman attended today’s session with her miniature horse in tow. Her husband, who helped train the horse near their home in Jacksonville, Fla., kept reminding gawkers that it’s not a pony — otherwise she would be riding it, not walking with it. I like the red bow on the horse’s head. Everyone wanted to pet the horse, but you’re not supposed to touch service animals. Pardon me, Is it happy hour yet? Look closely here at the screen for Zingui, a new speech-generating device from Jabbla for people who have difficulty speaking. This device is set up ... keep reading »
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Is Braille Making a Comeback?

January 29, 2010 | by

I have been to plenty of Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) conferences, and this year has all the usual stuff (though gadgets are getting smaller every year!) As I walked the exhibit halls, I was haunted by the recent New York TImes Sunday Magazine article, Listening to Braille, where the author bemoans the decline of braille teaching in the classroom, which she says is contributing to higher illiteracy rates among the blind. I kept an eye out for cool new Braille products, hoping to find the spark that would re-energize braille again. For starers, I liked the sleek design of the Next Generation Perkins Brailler — a typewriter that outputs in braille instead of alpha-numeric. Perkins also just came out with a product called Top Braille. it’s a portable reader with a braille button on top. A user slides the device across printed text, and “feels” the braille button translating the ... keep reading »
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Intel Wants More of the Text-to-Speech Market

January 29, 2010 | by

Intel is the first company that greets you at the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) 2010 conference in Orlando, where I’m checking out new gadgets for people with disabilities. (Great timing, as it’s freezing up north.) It’s always a good sign for the industry when a major tech player sets up shop with a glossy new gadget for people with disabilities. Intel is showing off the new Intel Reader, for people who are blind or have reading disabilities, which debuted in November. The Reader is a handheld device bundled with a digital camera that takes pictures of printed material and reads it aloud. Intel sought input from HumanWare to create the product. Camera-captured text-to-speech devices are a trend that has been met with mixed views. Some people call the concept genius, as gadgets like the Reader pack a powerful computer and scanner into one, at a cost of around $1,400. Others ... keep reading »
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Hey Apple, What About iPad’s Accessibility?

January 28, 2010 | by

In Apple’s rush to debut the new iPad tablet it forgot one little piece of marketing: Accessibility. Apple has an accessibility page but it didn’t bother to add the iPad before launching it yesterday at its headquarters. And even though Steve Jobs’ keynote was likely prepared, Apple didn’t bother to add captions for deaf or hard of hearing reporters, nor did it add captions to the 46-minute video broadcast of Jobs’ speech or the video “demo” of the new tablet. Sheesh. Apple knows better. The good news is that all existing iPhone accessibility features will be available on the iPad: - VoiceOver. This is the screen reader made popular on the Mac thats speaks menus, texts and objects aloud for people who are blind or visually impaired. But not all of VoiceOver’s 21 languages will be available. - Screen zoom. This will make the page or text larger. Contrast can also be changed ... keep reading »
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Book Event in NYC!

January 19, 2010 | by

My publisher, Demos, is hosting an event at a New York Public Library on February 9 to promote my new book. In “High Tech to No Tech – Assistive Technology for the Disabled Goes Mainstream,” Demos will announce the release of The Illustrated Guide to Assistive Technology to media and the publishing industry. I’ll speak about the different devices and gadgets for people with vision, hearing, mobility, cognitive and communications disabilities. EVENT DETAILS Location: Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library 40 West 20th Street (Between 5th and 6th Aves.) New York, NY 10011 When: Tuesday, February 9, 5:30PM to 6:30PM Phone: 212.683.0072 Map to library Suzanne Robitaille, author of “The Illustrated Guide to Assistive Technology and Devices” will demonstrate some new cool technologies for those working and living with disabilities at the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library. The library, which features barrier-free architecture and houses browsing collections of braille, recorded, and large-print ... keep reading »
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The Harsh Economics of Learning Braille

January 12, 2010 | by

The media is talking about braille and literacy, a topic jump-started by a New York Times Magazine article, “Listening to Braille,” by Rachel Aviv. The author writes that new technology may be undermining Braille literacy as people who are blind are now “reading” via e-books, iPods, telephone news services and other text-to-speech devices. Aviv’s article centers on education: Teaching braille in order to inform language structure and help blind children read and write better. While she touches on the economics of technology, I wish she had gone deeper into this issue. The cost of reading Braille really does need to be stressed. Aviv writes: “Braille books are expensive and cumbersome, requiring reams of thick, oversize paper. The National Braille Press, an 83-year-old publishing house in Boston, printed the Harry Potter series on its Heidelberg cylinder; the final product was 56 volumes, each nearly a foot tall. Because a single textbook can cost ... keep reading »
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Princeton Student to Pursue Disability Lawsuit Ahead of Finals

January 9, 2010 | by

Princeton University consistently ranks at the top of all the college charts, but in the eyes of one student, the school is short one accolade — “best university for students with a learning disability.” On Jan. 11 — just before finals — a District Court in New Jersey will hear the case of a Princeton University student who sued the school for not acknowledging her learning-disability needs for exams. In Metcalf-Leggette v. Princeton University, 19-year-old Diane Metcalf-Leggette, of Centreville, Va., will argue that her case has merit under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Metcalf-Leggette, who is diagnosed with four learning disabilities affecting her ability to read, comprehend, and communicate her knowledge of coursework, takes exception to Princeton’s policy of not granting extended examination time to students. In October, a federal judge refused a temporary restraining order that would have freed Metcalf-Leggette from having to take mid-term exams without the accommodations she says ... keep reading »
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USOC: New CEO Blackmun Will Be “Fantastic” for Paralmypics

January 6, 2010 | by

The U.S. Olympic Committee chose Scott Blackmun as the new Chief Executive Officer of the USOC. Blackmun, a former interim CEO at the USOC and chief operating officer for sports-and-entertainment behemoth AEG Worldwide, was tabbed Tuesday to take control of the organization at the end of the month. USOC Chairman Larry Probst had this to say about the selection: “We are pleased to introduce Scott as our new CEO and to welcome him back to the USOC. With a deep understanding of the Olympic Movement, established relationships in the Olympic Family and a strong commitment to the community of Colorado Springs, we know he will move seamlessly into the role and be ready to represent the USOC as we head into the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.” The hiring of Blackmun, age 52, coincides with the organization moving into its new headquarters in downtown Colorado Springs. “When we were looking for our new ... keep reading »
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