The Assistive Technology Blog

...or those who are new to it!

The most recent AT Show podcast is about where to find audio books. You can access it at http://www.atmaine.com/atshow/ and either listen through streaming media or subscribe/download using the directions posted at the site.

Some of their highlighted resources include:
Overdrive: http://www.overdrive.com
NLS BARD: http://www.nlsbard.loc.gov
Books Should be Free: http://www.booksshouldbefree.com
Truly Free: http://www.trulyfree.org
Podiobooks: http://www.podiobooks.com
Daily Lit: http://www.dailylit.com

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HD Radio provides more than great digital sound, it can also carry text. National Public Radio is planning on broadcasting closed-captioned text of talk shows along with the audio. Radio receivers with screens will allow folks who are deaf, or those of us who need the visual to understand hard-to hear words or phrases listen and READ radio broadcasts. These receivers are planning to come out in late 2009.
Check out

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just read about a Inspiration mind-maping product available at http://www.mywebspiration.com.

Like Inspiration and Kidspiration, this visual thinking tool can be used to
"capture ideas, organize information, diagram processes and create clear,
concise written documents."

What's different? This one is online, and you can work individually or collaboratively.

Some cool components:
"Webspiration makes it easy to collaborate and share documents by simply sending an invite. Everyone works on the same document, contributing, posting comments, and viewing changes. Webspiration is ideal for team projects, study groups, reviewing and commenting on documents and co-authoring materials. Store and access documents online without discs, drives or email. Work at home, a friend's house, the library, your office, or the local coffee shop. Webspiration and your documents are available anywhere you have access to the internet."

Since it is in beta version right now (being tested before widespread distribution), you can sign up for a free myWebspiration account at http://www.mywebspiration.com/user/register.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The QuickStart Literature Kit includes a durable, laptop-style tote bag, two sets of exciting pre-adapted books with pre-recorded modules, a Jelly Bean switch and the BookWorm literacy tool, complete with an adaptation kit for turning virtually any book into a "talking book." - That's Life Literature Series: Going Places Book Set engages struggling readers and visual learners in developing social skills and the ability to move within the community and the wider world.
Click on the following links:
http://caineassociates.com/products/bookworm-quickstart-literature-p-210.html

http://www.pcieducation.com/store/item.aspx?ItemId=46461#bottomTabs

Posted by Lanett W. Brailey at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did you know that you can hold your finger over the browser window area for typing in a web address on the iTouch and a circular magnifier will appear? Great infusion of universal design!! Of course, I just like the fact that I can hold my two fingers in place on the screen and "stretch" the screen to enlarge. Fun tool to explore!

Posted by Fran Smith at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was just reading
http://blind-students.suite101.com/article.cfm/career_resources_for_the_blind
"Career Resources for the Blind:New Programs Let Low-Vision Students Explore Employment Options" and read about the "VISIONS Employment and Technology Institute.

"Adults with visual impairments age 18 and over are invited to attend VISIONS third annual employment and technology institute, "Owning Your Future," which takes place this year during a week long (July 22-28) or weekend (July 24-26) session. The institute will feature workshops, seminars (topics include the economy, social networking, and career growth), a hands-on assistive technology expo, and opportunities to relax.
The host facility, a 35-acre residential rehabilitation and training center in Rockland County, has a lake, ramped, heated swimming pool, self-guided nature trail, library, lounges, wireless Internet, and an adapted computer center. The suggested contribution, which includes lodging, meals, and transportation to and from Selis Manor (135 West 23rd Street, New York City), is $75 and $50 respectively for the weeklong and weekend sessions. Call Blindline (888.625.1616) for information."

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you seen the newest version of Sony's Cybershot camera? The Sony DSC-G3 is the first camera with a Web browser that allows you to log onto any WiFi hotspot and instantly upload your photos without having to pull out your computer. You can even search Google if necessary. Imagine what you can do! At $500 it sounds expensive but remember you won't need your computer to upload to your favorite photo site for editing! Check out

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, for those of you ready to toss millions (!) of pages on a scanner and get going with OCR (optical character recognition) software, here's one I just found for c-h-e-a-p...

The "XEROX DocuMate 510 XDM5105D-WU 42 bit 600 x 1200 dpi Fast Single Pass Scanner" has a 50-sheet document feeder that scans 10 pages per minute up to legal-sized documents. Included is ScanSoft PaperPort Deluxe 9 and ScanSoft TextBridge Pro 9 OCR (!). You can process double-sided pages (like books) by selecting Process --> Scan Only, then select Auto Process. After the front sides of the pages are scanned, select Other Side from the Add Pages to Scanner dialog box. Once the pages are all scanned, select Process --> Image File, then select Auto Process or Get Page to process the image file you created.

Lots of other scanners are comparable-look around. This one runs about $229 when you price compare online.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click on the links below if you are interested in audio recordings for summer reading. Helpful to those who may struggle with reading or who wish to make use of vacation travel time.

http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Literature

http://www.learnoutloud.com/Resources/Publishers-and-Retailers/Don-Johnston-Incorporated/621

Posted by Lanett W. Brailey at 6:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few new resources are now available to guide the practice of UDL from our friends at CAST. First, the new national UDL center has debuted and will continue to have many new resources, http://www.udlcenter.org/

The CAST UDL guidelines have several new links to expand on the topic including an Educator Checklist and UDL Blog. Check these out at http://www.cast.org/publications/UDLguidelines/version1.html.

Finally, CAST now hosts a UDL Spotlight area on their site to share new approaches and best practices at http://udlspotlight.wordpress.com/

Posted by Fran Smith at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From our friends at the Family Center on Technology and Disability...

"The Family Center on Technology and Disability is pleased to provide a free, 2-week online summer institute, July 20-31, 2009. The Family Center's summer institutes have been extremely popular, connecting educators, disability professionals and parents throughout the country with leading national experts in assistive and instructional technologies. This year's institute will have two learning strands: Accessible Instructional Materials and Social Media Tools. Participants can register for continuing education units (CEU's). More information on each strand is provided below, or you can register directly at: http://www.fctd.info/registration_types/1/registrations/new
If you have additional questions, please email fctd@aed.org or call Jackie Hess at (202) 884-8217 or Ana Maria Gutierrez at (202) 884-8068." Register for the Family Center on Technology and Disability's 2009 Summer Institute today!
http://www.fctd.info/registration_types/1/registrations/new

Posted by Fran Smith at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Michael Callahan experienced a short term brain injury due to a skateboarding accident when he was 17. Because of that experience he realized how many skills he took for granted. Five years later he came up with the Audeo at the University of Illinois. It is a tiny device that detects electronic activity between the brain and vocal chords and turns it into audible speech. People use all English-language phonemes to create words. There is some training time involved for learning how to speak in phonemes, and currently the Audeo can only pick up 30 words per minute, but the freedom it could allow someone might be well worth the wait! Read more about it:

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to the creators,
"Audiopoint's Voice Terminal Service enables those with low or no vision to surf the Internet, read/send email, use Google Calendar and more. With simple voice commands, VTS is accessed via any landline telephone & mobile phone. VTS improves the online user experience of the visually impaired and liberates them so that they can reach greater independence and mobility. Now users can read/send email despite her blindness, use the Google Calendar Interface to listen to their daily agenda, add events, access their address book and more."

Click on http://www.audiopoint.net for more information.

Has anyone used this with students in school? Let us know how it worked for you!

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are some helpful websites for parents and students entering college.
College Survival Skills: Tips for Students with Disabilities to Increase College Success http://www.eric.ed.gov

Virginia College Quest- A guide for College Success for Students with Disabilities
http://www.vacollegequest.org

Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html

Posted by Lanett W. Brailey at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...and you want to know more about how folks are already accessing them. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently posted a story about how Northwest Missouri State University is trying to deliver all of its textbooks electronically.

From the article:
Tania Brobst, a junior at the university, is proud of the note-taking techniques she's developed over the years. She crafts typed study guides for each of her courses, and she carefully highlights material in her printed textbooks.
When she ended up in a marketing course this spring that required her to use a digital textbook, she had to adapt her strategies. "It took some experimenting on my part," she said. "I mean, you can easily read it, but if you want to highlight or enlarge the text or share your notes with other people," you have to learn to do that. Initially skeptical, she now says she prefers the electronic version in part because of its search feature and the ability to paste passages into a Microsoft Word document.

Click on http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i39/39a01801.htm to read more.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I like to keep organized and often find that colored post-it notes can consume my desk! The following are some great online tools that offer a digital solution to that problem.

My Note-it, http://nlvm.usu.edu/, is a shared online notetaking space where students can take, share, and store notes online. The brain, and Mindmapper, allows digital tools for organizing their thoughts and projects through a graphic organizer. Useful tools worth a try!

Posted by Fran Smith at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know this is a REALLY negative-sounding name for an organizational support tool, but it seems to be cool. I downloaded it onto the iTouch here at work the other day and am pretty pleased with its interface. It seems to be fairly easy to link tasks to the steps required to do them!

Click here for more (and for a link to download): http://www.craigotis.com/mobile/.The app developer seems open to suggestions and reports current work on being able to synchronize to desktop organizer...and possible future alarms/reminder systems.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 6:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The ability to communicate is the key to success for every individual. I know I may be "preaching to the choir", but often I hear that students who communicate differently are not actively involved in making decisions about their goals for the future. For those of you involved in secondary transition you may be facing some challenges assessing your students who do not communicate in a manner that allows you to collect information using formal assessments. I challenge you to think about how you might adapt these products so that every student can be actively involved and their interests and preferences captured and so that meaningful postsecondary goals can be reached. What do you think?

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you have not taken a look at the Family Information Guide to Assistive Technology, consider visiting http://www.fctd.info/resources/fig/Sec1.htm.

This resource shares information about how assistive technology can help your child, how AT is selected and implemented in schools, how funding is obtained, and what to do if you encounter difficulties along the way.

It's worth checking out!

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AccessIT-This website promotes the use of electronic and information technology (E&IT) for students and employees with disabilities in educational institutions in all academic levels.
http://www.washington.edu/accessit/

DO-IT-Serves to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs and careers. It promotes the use of computer and networking technologies to increase independence, productivity and participation in education and employment.
http://www.washington.edu/doit/

Posted by Lanett W. Brailey at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click on http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/2009/06/google-docs-now-supports-microsoft.html to read Brian Friedlander's (very pleased) update on Google Docs--it now supports Microsoft Office (like Word and Excel) 2007!

Why is this good news for us? Well, you can read what he says...but what makes me excited is that Office 07 is pretty widespread and Google Docs is a nice organizational tech solution for students with difficulty remaining organized. It's kind of like when the chocolate fell into the peanut butter...a pleasant surprise!

For some helpful tutorials related to Google Docs, click here:
>http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/4204_google-documents.htm

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 6:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are a few great websites to support/learn more about math facts and principles: http://illuminations.nctm.org/, http://www.math.com, and http://nlvm.usu.edu/

Posted by Fran Smith at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click on http://www.freedomscientific.com/FSCast/episodes/fscast030-may2009.asp for Freedom Scientific's podcast about how Twitter (the 140-word entry social networking site) and JAWS screen reading software play together (or don't!). The interestingly-named "McTwit" is also discussed--this is program for Twitter users with visual impairments who use keyboard commands. Other applications are also addressed.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)