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Even Grounds Blog
In this blog, I will reflect on issues which effect the accessibility of technology. I would like to bring certain issues to my readers attention which are either interesting, directly effect our lives, or bring issues into our attention which we would have never thought of.
Tom Babinszki, Director of Even Grounds
Assistive Technologies for Persons with Dyslexia
Imagine spending a day without reading, spelling, or writing. Sounds impossible, right? This just proves how important these activities are to our lives.
That’s why when you face difficulties in any of these tasks, your daily life would be greatly affected. But there is still a way to rise above this situation. And this is done by understanding this condition and identifying the technologies you can use to cope with it.
How Do Deaf Blind People Communicate?
In an earlier post, I have written about how a deaf blind person does her daily tasks with the help of assistive technology. Let us now focus more on the communication devices that deaf blind people use to connect with other people and exchange information with the world around them.
There are many ways for deaf blind people to communicate. The methods that they use vary with the degree or combination of their vision and hearing loss, their background, and education. And with the recent advancements in assistive technology, deaf blind people are now finding more ways to connect with other people, whether they are sitting side-by-side or kilometers apart.
Getting Help and Returning the Favor: How You Can Work with Persons with Disabilities to Make Your Site Accessible
While working with people on the accessibility of their site, I noticed one common concern. It’s very difficult to see for yourself what the problem is.
When people try to examine the accessibility of their site, they usually go “Hey, this seems easy to navigate. I can quickly find the stuff I need. What’s wrong with my site?”
Of course you can always ask a consultant to find out the site’s accessibility problems. But your web site is your baby, and before hiring one, you want to know for yourself what needs to be improved.
In reality, the only true way to be able to know the accessibility problems of something is to see it through the perspective of a person with a disability. Trying to use a site through the perspective of persons with disabilities can indeed help you better understand their needs. But there’s an even better way, and you can do this by...
What Can a Musical Genius Teach Us About Accessibility?
I was listening to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony last Sunday. And as I enjoyed the beautiful melodies, I remembered a radio documentary I heard several years ago about this man of music.
A huge part of that documentary focused on how Beethoven was still able to compose music at a time when he was completely deaf. And you know what? Beethoven’s techniques were not only interesting, but they also present something important we can all learn.
Accessibility News Service
One of the best resources on accessibility news on the net is http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com. I've been reading it for quite a while now, I thought I would share it with you.
Web Accessibility Benefits Persons with Disabilities and ... Who Else?
Who are the people that come to mind when you work on the accessibility of your site? Your answer would definitely be persons with disabilities, right? True enough, if your web site is accessible, this huge and loyal group of readers and potential customers would visit you often.
This however doesn’t end there. I invite you to read on and get to know another important group of people who can benefit from web accessibility.
The Challenges of Deaf Blind Internet Users
Without your eyesight and sense of hearing, you may think you’d be unable to browse the Internet, let alone use the computer.
Our friend Ruby has however proven that a day of a deaf blind person can include these activities. Yet although deaf blind persons like Ruby have the assistive technologies they need in surfing the Net, they still find difficulty in accessing certain web sites.
Here, Ruby joins us one more time and shows us the challenges faced by deaf blind persons as they use the Internet.
How People With Autism Use the Computer
Autism has been mistakenly described as a disorder that traps the person and the mind in a solitary world. We now know that this is not true. While autism can give rise to problems in social interaction, communication, and cognitive and motor difficulties, there’s so much that assistive technology can do to help people with autism live functional lives.
Computers are one of the most adaptable assistive technology devices available for people with autism. Contrary to what many people think, computers are perfect for people with autism because of the predictability of its responses and its capability to conduct communication through symbols and synthesized speech.
There are several adaptive computer hardware and software available which could help people with autism use the computer more effectively.
A Workbook to Help You Make Your Site More Accessible
For popular request, I put a workbook together which gives you easy to follow instructions to make your web site much more accessible to people with disabilities. Very often people ask me what can they do to make a site more accessible. Usually I find that their concern is that accessibility is too complex or overwhelming.
Hands-Free Computing: A Look at Voice Recognition Systems
We’ve all become so familiar with the rhythmic clacking of our keyboard and the clicking of the mouse. These sounds have accompanied us as we rushed to finish that report and as we leisurely browsed our favorite social networks.
Things however would be a lot different if you couldn’t use your hands to type or click. But you nonetheless would still want to use your computer, right? So how would you be able to do this without your hands?
One of the best possible answers to this is to use a voice recognition system. Here, we’ll look at what this technology is, how it works, and what its applications are.
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