Shhh! Don't Tell Anyone, But I'm Gettin' a KindleDX!!

Ah, the beauty of working for an IT department on a progressive campus.

I'm gettin' me a KindleDX!! I was informed this morning that we were ordering two for the department, one of which is coming to me for testing of textbook and large-format products. They have been ordered and we're just waiting for Amazon to release them and ship them. The unit will be mine to keep until it is replaced with something newer or is broken and out of warranty. I love toys!

Look for a full-out unboxing and demo right here on this blog, as well as how I find it useful or not useful.

Can you tell I'm happy?

Big Screen Kindle on the Horizon?

Seems as if the Kindle is getting ready to release a big-screen version this month. Everything is hush-hush at the moment, but the overriding information in the blogosphere indicates that the big-screen Kindle is being aimed at those who want to read the traditional newspaper online.

The market for this particular use is limited, I'm thinking. However, that doesn't mean a big-screen Kindle wouldn't be a major boon to others! If it is big screen, presumably it would allow zooming, as the existing Kindle does, only with a much bigger screen. Ergo, another device for the visually impaired to use!

Rather Star-Trekky if you think about it, but then again, I can see this being a replacement for the book and the newspaper for the visually impaired.

Braille eReader

From our friends at Engadget comes word that a research and design team are working on a Braille eReader! The technology will rely on electroactive polymers in order to change the surface's shape as pages are turned.

Battery life might be an issue as this is going to take considerable energy, but with new developments in battery technology on the horizon, that may be a moot point.

Of course, the naysayers are spouting their ignorance about the value of such a device, i.e. "what does Braille provide that audio doesn't." Oh, what they don't know. I have two loyal visually impaired students I work with every day that prefer everything in Braille. They will do audio if they absolutely must, but they much prefer Braille.

I think I probably would, too.

Google Continues to Make Accessibility a Priority

A quick link to Google's current accessibility page. I see new things every time I look to see what's been updated.

Google Accessibility

Facebook Challenged by the Visually Impaired, and Acts

Facebook has teamed up with the American Foundation for the Blind in making Facebook more accessible to visually impaired users. A long time in coming, the master programmers are Facebook have been working diligently on this project for two years, and have made considerable and consistent improvements to meet the demands of visually impaired users. Some of the things they've worked on:

audio captcha for signups
non-java-scripted access to apps like the gift shop
an html-only version of Facebook for IE, Firefox, and Safari
shortcut keys for keyboard-only users for navigation
making chat accessible to JAWS

They also take suggestions from users and try to incorporate those changes as much as possible as they continue to develop Facebook itself.

They are doing it right, and I'm pleased to see the hard work that has been put into this effort. If you'd like to see Facebook's rundown of accessibility features, click here.

Apps4Android Releases SMSpeaker for the Android G1

As mobile technology continues to develop, new tools have started to appear for use by disabled persons. Some of the technology isn't actually intended for disability accessibility, but ends up being so anyway.

A new SMS text reader application has been developed for the Android. Android is a "smart" phone that includes application support. Most of that application support is in the form of games, web browsers, etc., but in this case, the new application (which costs 99 cents) reads SMS text to you.

It's a great start. I'm looking forward to more such developments. Check out the youtube videos on SMSpeaker:

SMSpeaker

Why I Love Neil Gaiman

Even Neil Gaiman agrees with me. Check out his blog for today.

He gets it. He has always gotten it.

Why Text-to-Speech is No Threat to Publishers

I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here. It seems that as soon as a product starts to evolve into something the disabled services community can actually use, publishers start crying fowl. Do they really think text-to-speech technology is costing them book sales?

Amazon has released some details on the Kindle 2, the highly-anticipated upgrade to their original Kindle, released just over a year ago. The Kindle is a portable eBook reader. Books can be downloaded from Amazon via a broadband Wi-Fi link, and taken anywhere. It is lightweight, can hold an incredible amount of publications, and has even evolved to the point of being able to download periodical media as well as traditional books. The new Kindle promises a text-to-speech function that might just give disabled users the ability to use the device. Details are still somewhat sketchy, and since the device has not been released to the market yet, we don't really know how accessible the device will truly be. But most AT professionals agree, this is definitely a step in the right direction.

But no sooner does the buzz escalate about the new Kindle 2 than someone from the publisher side goes all crazy and screams infringement. In this case, it's the Author's Guild, whose director, Paul Aiken, states:

“They don’t have the right to read a book out loud,” said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild. “That’s an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law.”

Being a provider of alternate format, I can tell you that no one wants to have to listen to the electronic voice of a text-to-speech conversion unless their disability requires it. Even the best voices still sound monotone, despite some of the recent advances in voice technology that have occurred. If you don't need text-to-speech, you won't be using it, I can pretty much guarantee. Listening to a book via text-to-speech technology is not the same as having an audio book. Audio books are highly produced, using a human reader. Most of us have experienced traditional audio books in one form or another. Text-to-speech, as good as it is, is not ever going to replace traditionally-produced audio books for the majority of listeners.

Now that I am a member of the board of the AccessTextNetwork, I hope that we, as DSS providers, can explain and show publishers that text-to-audio is no threat to their bottom line, and that this technology is making more and more resources accessible to persons with all types of disabilities. No one is stealing anything, no one is trying to steal anything. We are just trying to give our students equal access to information.

The WCAG Hip-Hop Rappin' Theme Song

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0)

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) have now become an official recommendation from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). More information is available on the W3C website at http://www.w3.org/ .

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.

WCAG 2.0 success criteria are written as testable statements that are not technology-specific. Guidance about satisfying the success criteria in specific technologies, as well as general information about interpreting the success criteria, is provided in separate documents. See Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview for an introduction and links to WCAG technical and educational material.

WCAG 2.0 succeeds Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10], which was published as a W3C Recommendation May 1999. Although it is possible to conform either to WCAG 1.0 or to WCAG 2.0 (or both), the W3C recommends that new and updated content use WCAG 2.0. The W3C also recommends that Web accessibility policies reference WCAG 2.0.

Sometimes it's about more than just the technology

After this episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" aired earlier this year there was a lot of talk on the listservs I frequent about the neat gizmos and wikked cool electronics and integrated access technology that allowed the Deaf parents to communicate and care for their visually impaired and autistic son.

OAK PARK, Mich. - Four years ago, a nationwide television audience watched as Judy Vardon stepped from a limousine and fought back tears as she marveled at her family's extensively renovated home. But few are watching now as Judy and her husband Larry, who both are deaf, face foreclosure on a house that was remodeled on ABC-TV's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in part to accommodate their blind, autistic son.

There was a happy ending to the two-hour show broadcast on Nov. 6, 2004, which set an "Extreme Makeover" ratings record. Now, the Vardons are swamped by a mortgage payment that has almost doubled since the makeover, and their medical insurance doesn't cover autism treatments for 16-year-old Lance.

Adding to their insecurity, Larry Vardon, 50, works at Chrysler's Sterling Heights stamping plant. The company is on the brink of bankruptcy as it and the other Detroit automakers appeal to Congress for emergency loans. "I'm afraid I'm going to lose my house now," Judy Vardon, using sign language through an interpreter, told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens for a story published Sunday. "This house really belongs to Lance. This is his environment. He can't speak out for himself, and I hope we can save this house."

ABC said 20.5 million viewers saw a crew led by host Ty Pennington rehabilitate the Vardons' 980-square-foot house in suburban Detroit from the inside out, including installing cameras and flat-screen monitors allowing the Vardons to monitor their son, Lance.

Today, the numbers that most affect the Vardons are a monthly house payment of $2,300 and a mortgage rate that has topped 11 percent after having been resold three times since the makeover. And they're struggling to keep their house from becoming what Oak Park officials say would be the 391st to go into foreclosure this year. Throughout Oakland County, officials expect 9,400 foreclosures this year, a 440 percent increase from 2004.

In case you want to re-live early 2008 when the economy was till vibrant and programs like this had a good-feel to them, here is a link to a blog with YouTube videos of the entire episode in eight parts.
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Fluid Tunes for the Mac (Wikked Cool!!)

Fluid Tunes is gesture recognition software that, when combined with an iSight camera, can be used to control the iTunes library. Here is a good post from the Alltogether blog with a video podcast of the program in action. Granted you can already do this on an iPhone by touching the screen, but this new application allows users to stand back from the screen and use a camera to interact with the computer.

This post and a couple of others I found all reference the film adaptation of the short story Minority Report and its use of Multi-touch technology as described in Wikipedia:

The film foreshadowed multi-touch technology that would become a reality several years later. Anderton interacts with the Precrime computer using a large holographic wall display, which he manipulates with his hands while wearing special gloves. He uses gestures such as "spreading" to enlarge an image and "dragging" to move images around. Earlier films such as Tron (1982) had featured multi-touch technology, but the fast, fluid, and dynamic manipulation of real-time video in Minority Report captured the public imagination in a way that earlier depictions had not.

Today this technology is become commonplace with the iPhone and now the Blackberry Storm. And how many of the news teams on election night this year could not keep hands off their interactive electoral maps [as envisioned by SNL - 5:27 mark] .

But it was not so long ago that this technology was fresh and new and causing the TED crowd to oooh and aaahhh. Here is a video from TED 2006 where Jeff Han - a research scientist for New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences - demonstrates an "interface-free," touch-driven computer screen, which can be manipulated intuitively with the fingertips, and responds to varying levels of pressure.
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AT Freeware

Recently on one of the listservs a member asked about access technology freeware. Many list members posted their favorite sites and information about what they have used. The best of the list was complied and placed on the ATHEN Wiki under the heading Free and Open Source AT. Check it out and feel free to add or modify the Wiki yourself.

A Logic Named Joe

At dinner this evening my younger son asked me a question to which I did not have a ready answer - and as usual my response was to inform him that if he is still interested after dinner we will look up an answer on the Internet. He agreed, paused for a moment, and asked me how the Internet knows all this stuff. Well, I started to explain that the Internet does not 'know' all of this stuff per se', but rather the Internet is made up of a vast array of resources within which may be the answers to the questions he is asking. This led to him asking where the Internet came from - and for that matter - who invented the Internet. My wife joked that it was Al Gore and my older son chimed in with Bill Gates. She was joking -- he was confused. The conversation quickly turned to disputing any claim Mr. Bill has on the creation of the Internet and explaining the joke about Mr. Gore.

After dinner -- the original question being forgotten -- we did a quick search for the history of the Internet. I knew beforehand about MIT and ARPANET, but was a bit suprised to learn that like so many other technologies we take for granted today, the Internet owes a portion of its origin to science fiction. I grew up reading Asimov, Harrison, and Heinlein while watching Star Trek [TOS] and others, and am delighted every time some new gadget or gizmo hits the market that can be traced right back to its fantastical fictional origin. Though I consider myself to be pretty well read in science fiction literature, I had never heard of the short story "A Logic Named Joe" until I came across it in the Wikipedia entry for Internet.

Published in 1946 by Murray Leinster [the pseudoname of writer Will F. Jenkins], when computer technology was still in its trying to procreate stage, "A Logic Named Joe" is a unique story even by today's standards in that it combines possibility of too much information with a quietly efficient Artificial Intelligence bringing together disparate bits of information. Replace the word 'logic' every time it appears in the story with the word 'computer' and the term 'central tank' with 'Google' and you've got a tale worthy of today's "information age". Heck, within the first few paragraphs there is enough expository premonition to make you expect that by the end of the story the author will pinpoint the location of Bigfoots cave.

I'm a maintenance man for the Logics Company. My job is servicing logics, and I admit modestly that I am pretty good. I was servicing televisions before that guy Carson invented his trick circuit that will select any of 'steenteen million other circuits—in theory there ain't no limit—and before the Logics Company hooked it into the tank-and-integrator set-up they were usin' 'em as business-machine service. They added a vision screen for speed—an' they found out they'd made logics. They were surprised an' pleased. They're still findin' out what logics will do, but everybody's got 'em.

See what I mean. Written in a gutteral tone and at a time when computers were so rare they were given individual names, the story unfolds that "Joe" has somehow developed an independent personality and decides that he can do better than thems that are maintainin' him. Joe decides that information should be shared openly and freely - security protocols and logical reasoning be damned.

In just a few pages, the story introduces and predicts a plethora of innovations and uses we take for granted today, including:

• Internet access from a desktop computer
• Fully searchable networks
• Video databases (fully searchable)
• On-line accounting software
• Television available via desktop computers
• Real-time news, weather, stock quotes, etc.
• Internet telephone and televid service
• Personal Internet addresses
• Individual phone numbers (in a time of party lines)
• The ability to censor content for users
• On-line and On-screen technical support
• Web based software programs
• Cyber Cafes (for a fee)
• Log-In screens
• Pop-up ads
• Viruses

I cannot believe that in my life to this day I had never even heard of this story let alone read it. It's like finding a band that was not known by me in their heyday but now I cannot get enough of because I love a cover of one of their tunes and am thrilled to hear the original. Now I need to find everything written by Will F. Jenkins [a.k.a Murray Lenister].

By the way - the story is available for reading through Baen Books and a 1950 radio recording in MP3 is available through Archive.org.

Silicone Touch: an iPhone case for the visually impaired

A colleague saw this on Engadget.com recently and thought it was interesting. Basically, it is a sleeve that fits over the iPhone and has tactile buttons for controlling custom iPhone applications. While totally conceptual right now and extremely limited in its actual functionality (i.e., apps would need to be customized), it would be interesting if the basic interface could change by enabling an "access mode" such that the tactile sleeve could be functional.

A similar concept was presented in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager for a computer terminal that adapted to a visually impaired crew member -- "Year of Hell" - season 4 - episodes 8 and 9.

Anyway, the approach seems conceptually similar to the VisuAide Maestro, which is essentially a tactile-button sleeve that slips over a touchscreen PDA, plus accompanying software.

Webcast: Implementing the Digital Accessibility Agenda ofthe Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 12/3/08

Late notice, but this sounds interesting enough to tune in. It's a four-hour webinar, so a big chunk of time, but worthwhile to use working in AT. Here are the details:

UNITAR/G3ict Seminar on Implementing the Digital Accessibility Agenda of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Challenges and Opportunities for Signatory States

Summary
Date: 3 December 2008 (International Day of Persons with Disabilities)
Location: United Nations Headquarters, New York
The seminar will be aired live via webcast on http://www.un.org/webcast.

Background:
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is one of the fastest ever negotiated human rights treaties. Since its adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2006, it was signed by 136 countries, and ratified by 41 as of October 2008. The Convention at large - and more specifically its Article 9 - creates the first universal framework addressing the accessibility of Information and Communication Technologies - ICTs - and assistive technologies, making it one of the most innovative and far reaching dispositions of the Convention.
As a result, all mandates of the Convention regarding accessibility cover ICT applications. These dispositions benefit an estimated 650 million persons living with disabilities worldwide, most of them in developing countries. The Convention puts accessible and assistive ICT solutions even more into the focus in the coming years for industry, users, and policy makers, as it represents both a major human rights milestone and a considerable market driving force for assistive and accessible ICTs.

Objectives

On the occasion of the International Day of Person with Disabilities, the seminar aims to contribute to the rapid and effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in general and its digital accessibility agenda by:
• providing an overview over the provisions and the status of the Convention;
• introducing participants into the Digital Accessibility Agenda of the Convention;
• reviewing the practical implications for signatory states with regard to provisions pertaining to digital accessibility;
• sharing knowledge among key stakeholders on how ICT accessibility mandates can be best met, and the role that ICT vendors, users and policy makers can play in support its implementation; and
• presenting tools and resources available to policy makers and civil society to monitor and implement the Digital Accessibility Agenda of the Convention.

Additional Information

Organization:
The seminar will be conducted in English. Sign-language interpretation (US) will be available. Further, the seminar will be aired via webcast.

Participants:
The seminar is open to all delegates of Permanent Missions of Member States to the United Nations, civil society, UN agencies and departments, and all guests that wish to observe the International Day for Persons with Disabilities at UN Headquarters.

Date and Venue:
The seminar will be held at United Nations Headquarters, New York, in Conference Room 4, on 3 December 2008 from 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.

Carl Brown, Dick Banks, and Allan Macurdy

The access technology community has suffered both a professional and a personal loss last week with the passing of Carl Brown, Director of the High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community College System.

Carl’s wife, Martha Kanter, has arranged for a memorial service on the De Anza College campus in the Flint Center at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 4. Martha has asked that, rather than flowers, individuals who wish to do so make a donation to a scholarship that will be set up in Carl’s name. Information on how to contribute should be available soon.

This marks the second time this year our professional community has lost a leader and champion for serving the educational and interpersonal technology related needs of students with disabilities. Earlier this year Dick Banks of EASI [Eqwual Access to Software and Information] passed away after a brief fight with cancer.

It has been said that a profession, like a country, comes into its own with the passing of its founding fathers. That may be true - or it may be bunk - but eiter way it speaks to the youth of our movement and the void that will be left by the passing of these founding fathers.

The passing of Carl and Dick begets a remembrance of another icon in the field of education and disability services, that of my former boss, friend and mentor Allan Macurdy of the Boston University Office of Disability Services. Though not an icon in the access technology field (he considered computers a necessary evil of our modern age), Allan was an importnt figure in my development as a professional in many aspects of serving the needs of postsecondary students both with and without disabilities. He is sorely missed.

As the poet Virgil (70 BC - 19 BC) wrote:
“Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do. With such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.”
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Google Voice Search is wikked cool!

Google Voice Search -- pretty damn cool! Of course you need to have an iPhone for this one - but keep in mind all of the other Google apps that work on a wide variety of phones. I regularly use Gmail, Google Search, Google News, Google Maps and others on my Blackberry.

Google keeps hitting them out of the park. My favorite aspect of Google Apps is that end-users can pick and choose what they want to use. Gmail is only one of my addresses yet I use iGoogle as my customized homepage. I have documents saved on GoogleDocs and make use of some of the other apps as I see fit.

Description Key for Educational Media

From Mary Ann Siller, M.Ed.
Project Manager, Professional Development
American Foundation for the Blind

Hello Colleagues:

The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) has partnered with the American Foundation for the Blind to forge "guidelines" to equal access for students with vision loss: the Description Key: Guidelines for the Description of Educational Media. The Description Key guidelines are complete and are posted online. The guidelines are intended for new and experienced describers, description agencies, media producers and distributors, and others who want to make educational media more accessible.

Go to www.afb.org/descriptionguidelines.asp at AFB for this valuable resource.

DCMP may be a new resource for you. To learn more about their extensive description resources available to teachers and parents , check out the DCMP Website for your free-loan educational accessible media needs.

EDUCAUSE IT Accessibility Constituent Group Meeting Notes

An agenda item at the ATHEN annual business meeting a regular topic of conversation among the ATHEN membership is the EDUCAUSE IT Accessibility Constituent Group. ATHEN and its members supports the efforts of this group and has many members in both organizations. For those of you unfamiliar with this group, here is information from their webpage:

Programs, services, and resources at universities and colleges continue to expand exponentially, and delivery methods have become increasingly technology-centric. Unless these technologies are designed and deployed to support the access needs of all users, including those with disabilities, universities and colleges risk excluding qualified students, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders.

The IT Accessibility Constituent Group will help the EDUCAUSE community to assess the scope of issues of IT accessibility, identify resources and initiatives, develop best practices on policy and assistive program and service development, and in general focus on how to approach campus-wide universal access to information available via technology by engaging in dialogue across boundaries within and beyond the campus environment.

The IT Accessibility Constituent Group meets regularly and most recently at EDUCAUSE annual meeting in October. The notes are posted on Terrill Thompsons blog.
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AHG Presentation - Alternate Format Production

I presented a 1 and 3/4 hour lecture on alternate format production at the Accessing Higher Ground conference on Friday, November 15th. We ran over by at least a half-hour, to the point that the wait staff were removing the chairs in our room so they could set up for lunch. Either my presentation wasn't giving the right information, or there were just a lot of really interested people.

I am inclined to believe the latter. I handed out 40+ CD's with my presentation and a copy of my production manual. Because I talked about the manual on a listserv I'm on, I also have about 40 emails here to respond to who also would like a copy of the manual. If you'd like a copy, simply comment to this post with your contact information (separate your name from the @ symbol and your domain with a blank space to keep from getting spammed by bots searching these comments).

I'll be happy to share what I know.

My presentation covered our campus' process for producing alternate format, from triage through production to distribution and administrative follow-up. I included recommended software and hardware, storage, filing systems, and even the finding of campus funds to complete the work. Our process is our process, and won't work for everyone, but there may be things you can take away from this that will help you in setting up your own processes.

Accessing Higher Ground this year was the best by far that I've attended. I got some wonderful information, learned a lot of really great things, and was able to network with many of my colleagues. A good experience all around and I highly recommend this conference if you are an adaptive technologist.

ATHEN Annual Business Meeting Hi-Lites

This past week was the 11th annual Accessing Higher Ground conference in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. Ye Gads I love this conference and look forward to getting out there every year to reconnect with friends and colleagues and to simply soak up the air for a few days. An important activity during the conference is the annual business meeting of ATHEN and this year was especially important. The minutes of the meeting are being deciphered and will be available on the organization website soon, but in the meantime here are a some hi-lites:

1. The revised Bylaws were approved by a unanimous vote of the quorum present.
2. The Standing Rules were also presented and met approval by the membership - these will continue to grow as the need arises.
3. Our colleague Saroj Primlani (of North Carolina State University) was honored as the second recepient of the ATHEN Lifetime Honorary Membership.
4. Accessing Higher Ground conference attandance continues to grow as does the number and quality of presentations. Be sure to check out the new Accessing Higher Ground blog.
5. ATHEN will be present in force at the ATIA conference in January of next year.
6. The latest edition of the E-Journal is well on its way to publication.
7. Because the new Bylaws were approved, a call has gone out for nominations for Officers. Contact Dan Comden for nominations as he is heading up the Election Committee.
8. Speaking of which, several committees created through the Bylaws attracted interest and I just want to thank the following members for stepping up as Chairpersons:
   + Elections: Dan Comden
   + Membership: Joe Humbert
   + Bylaws: Gaeir Dietrich
   + Publications: Teresa Haven
   + Professional Development: Ron Stewart and Wink Harner
   
   Complete information about committees and other activities will be in the minutes. The Bylaws created additional Committees that are in need of leadership. If interested in heading a committee, or if you would like to join a committee and need to get in touch with the Chairperson, contact the ATHEN Secretary Dann Berkowitz (who also happens to run this blog).
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AMIS DAISY Reader - Beta 4 now available!

AMIS 3, the free and open source DAISY player for Windows, has just reached its fourth beta release, which is likely to be the last beta before a stable release. This means it's the last chance to stress-test it before widespread distribution.

What's new in beta 4? Improvements were made to internationalization, accessibility, and overall reading experience; and specific requests have been implemented. There are two new notable features:

(1) AMIS supports text-only books now, in addition to full-text, full-audio and audio-TOC books; and
(2) there is a new piece of documentation, in DAISY format: the Keyboard Shortcuts book (found in the help menu).

To get AMIS 3 beta 4 and start testing, go to: http://daisy-trac.cvsdude.com/amis/wiki/BetaTesting
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Accessing Higher Ground is Under Way!

I started this morning with a very informative JAWS 10 lecture and demonstration, and finished off the afternoon listening to the WebAIM folks talk about WAVE, the web-page accessibility checker.

This is my sixth year at Accessing Higher Ground, and I never fail to learn something new.

If you're here, look for me. I'm presenting a lecture on alternate format on Friday morning and would love to answer your questions. I haven't yet seen Dann, but have run into plenty of other well-known faces in the adaptive technology field.

Just a day late - but still interesting.

This video was brought to my attention a couple of days ago and I am only now getting around to posting it. The gist is that John McCain has stated that he does not use a computer and does not know how to use e-mail. This idea is defended by Karl Rove who says that because of McCain's physical injuries he is unable to type or use a computer. In the video this is followed by several video scenes of individuals with various disabilities effectively and effortlessly using computers.

Whether the claim about his war injuries and computer use is true or not, it is still rather concerning that this topic has even been discussed in regards to a presidential candidate. On the side of the Republicans, Washington is full of these guys, and it is quite depressing. Larry Craig once said "I've never used the internet". Ted Stevens thinks the internet is a series of tubes. Bush uses "the Google." How long until we have a computer-literate generation of leaders in our Capitol.

New Firefox Add-On Daisy Player!

From a listserv I am on:

We are very happy to announce the 1.0 version of DDReader (for Windows). It is a software developed by Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind from Brazil. It is available in three languages: Portuguese, Spanish and English and is free to use and share. It is the first free Portuguese DAISY 3.0 reader!

DDR is a Firefox add-on, so you must have Firefox to install it. You can download DDReader from:

English Version

Spanish

Portugeuse

Additional Information on the Google v. Publisher Resolution

The Google v. Publisher lawsuits have been going on for quite some time now. I have written about this previously and one of the better posts is titled E-Book versus E-Text Update.
At present, the digital books provided by Google are both incomplete and inaccessible to screen readers and text to speech programs. They are not PDF images per se but on-line formats that can merely be viewed visually. Prior to this resolution, Google was not able to provide books in their entirety. The backbone reason for their work was to provide public access to portions of books on-line and if someone wanted the full book they could order it through Amazon.com or a Google partner. The idea was that the public could leaf through materials digitally and decide if they wanted to make a purchase.

It remains to be seen what this resolution will mean for students with print impairments but I have to doubt that Google will encroach upon the textbook market as their focus has been on the out-of-print market. Keep in mind that even though Google states that its "mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful" - their definition of "accessible and useful" does not necessarily jive with what our profession deems as "accessible and useful".

Several in our filed have tried to convert items available through Google to more accessible formats but to no avail. Will this change in the future? Who knows at this point. As fast as technology moves these days Google could announce its own web based text to speech screen reader tomorrow and I would not be surprised.
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I could swear this had been resolved already !?!?

From the On-Line Edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education (10-28-2008):

Google, Publishers, and Authors Settle Huge Lawsuit Over Book-Scanning Project

Google, the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers announced today that they had settled their longstanding legal battle over Google’s mass scanning of books. Under the terms of the deal, Google will pay $125-million to establish a Book Rights Registry, to compensate authors and publishers whose copyrighted books have already been scanned, and to cover legal costs.

The settlement, which still needs court approval to go into effect, would resolve a class-action lawsuit brought in 2005 by the Authors Guild as well as a separate lawsuit filed on behalf of the publishers’ association. Publishers and authors argued that Google’s scanning of books for its Google Book Search program was a flagrant violation of copyright law's provisions governing fair use.

“We had a major disagreement with Google about copyright law,” Paul Aiken, the guild’s executive director, said during a joint teleconference that Google and the publishers held with reporters today. “We still do, and probably always will.” But he said that the parties had been “able to set those issues aside” for what “may be the biggest book deal in U.S. publishing history.”

The deal goes far beyond money. Richard Sarnoff, chairman of the publishers’ association, described it to reporters as “breathtaking in scope, groundbreaking for publishers and authors, and trailblazing for intellectual property in general.”

Unlocking Millions of Texts

If approved by a judge, the accord would allow users of Google Book Search in the United States to see the full texts of books they can read only in snippets now. The deal would also have the potential to put millions more out-of-print or hard-to-find titles within the reach of readers and researchers. Institutions would be able to buy subscriptions so that their students and faculty members could have full access to complete texts. All public libraries in the United States would be given free portals for their patrons. (The settlement does not apply to the use of Google Book Search outside the United States.)

Users without library or institutional access would pay a fee to preview the full text of a book. Google and the copyright holders—the publishers and authors—would share the proceeds from subscriptions and individual use. Authors and publishers could opt out of the program.

The deal will “unlock millions of these texts for users,” said David Drummond, chief legal officer of Google, during the teleconference. Google, he said, considered the deal a great leap forward as well. “Search simply isn’t complete without this content,” he said.

Early reaction from academe has been enthusiastic. Stanford University, the University of California, and the University of Michigan issued a joint statement of support for the agreement, praising its “outstanding public benefits.” The libraries of the three universities have been among a number working with the plaintiffs and Google “to shape this agreement for the public good,” said Michael A. Keller, Stanford’s university librarian and director of the Stanford University Press.

Paul N. Courant, university librarian at the University of Michigan, said in the statement that “the opportunity to search and preview millions of books online” was especially valuable. “This is a service that libraries, because of copyright restrictions, could not offer on their own and goes well beyond what would have been possible, even if Google had prevailed in defending the lawsuit,” Mr. Courant said.

Google’s library partners also stand to benefit because Google will provide them with digitized copies of scanned materials, which will help in their long-term preservation efforts.

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Here is the Wired take on this story
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/10/google-authors.html

And, of course, the information direct from Google:
http://books.google.com/googlebooks/agreement/

Update on Open Office 3.0 Release

Open Office is available for the Macintosh platform. Unfortunately it runs only on Intel -based Macs. For those of you with slightly older Macs with PowerPC processors, download and run the older 2.x edition that requires X11.

Evelyn Wood Would be Proud

Interesting posting in the Chronicle of Higher Education Wired-Campus Blog about students watching video lectures in fast forward.

Some professors report that when their students are reviewing class materials, the students speed up online recordings of lectures and zip through hour-long presentations in as little as 30 minutes. Sure, their professors sound like chipmunks. But the students say they can absorb the information faster than the professors deliver it.

As per usual with this blog, the comments make even better reading than the initial posting with discussion back and forth regarding how sensible it is to belive that students really can improve their comprehension level by viewing or listening to lectures and other course materials at high playback speed. Several folks from the disability services realm (especially from those experienced in working with the Blind and visually impaired) report the high speed at which users of JAWS and other screenreaders rev up their playback.

Several supporting articles and papers are linked from the comments section, including and article from the New York Times, a paper (in PDF format) presented to an institutional Instructional Design Center, and a link to a blog with similar information. As can be expected, there are numerous detractors posting comments and it should be recognized that 'speed listening' is not going to be equally effective for everyone, but it is at least worth a try.

I have some personal experience with speed listening in that my friend and business partner swears by it and has gotten me trying it as well. from the time he discovered DAISY Talking Books he starts the semester by listening to all of his books at high speed once thru. In his words this provides an overview of the material and sets and outline of sorts in his mind. Later on, when he reads for specific assignyemts, he slows the rate down and listens more intently. What he has found personally is that his comprehension of the reading material skyrockets. This is especially true when he is able to view the text on screen as well as listen audibly.
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New Items of Open Source Interest

Several new versions of old friends have appeared in the last few days - must be something about Columbus Day that brings out the update fever.

First up is Open Office 3.0. Kiss your Microsoft Office Suite good-bye - this is especially true if you have been saddled with Office 2007 and long for Office 2003 or XP. In fact, the excitement over this update was so great that the Oo Servers crashed from the demand. I have used Open Office for E-Text production for a couple of years now as it provides a much cleaner output than Word (as have others). But now there are more reasons to use it as a replacement for Microsoft.

Next is update to the Firefox Web Browser with the release of Firefox 3. Already known for its accessibility, the latest version of Firefox has a Full Zoom feature that may not have been designed specifically for low-vision access but provides very clear and sharp up-close rendering of webpages. Firefox is continuing its committment to accessibility by improving its ability to handle screenreaders and minimizing key strokes. Learn everything you would ever want to know about FireFox accessibility at AccessFireFox website.

From the 'now you see it ...' department comes the release of the AMIS 3.0 DAISY Reader. Available for one day, it was dicovered to have a couple of bugs and was quickly pulled by the development team (one of whom happens to be my friend and business partner). According to him the bugs are minor fixes and the program should be available again soon. What we did get to experience was impressive as the interface is cleaner than before, the navigation window provides better access to headers and page numbers, and (best of all) AMIS 3.0 can now carries voices. This is a major improvement because building Text-Only DAISY files that can use the voices on an end-users computer is much easier than Text-To-Speech encoding them.

Ifyou truly want to keep up with what is new and good in Open Source Assistive Technology, bookmark the OATSoft Website which contains a very nice listing of Accessibility Activities as well as an alphabetical repository of many many projects.
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Ron Stewart for President 2008

It's a good thing ATHEN holds its annual meeting after the national elections -- because I believe current ATHEN President Ron Stewart has a real shot at the White House.!
Don't believe me ... check out this news feature: 
http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=46832&altf=Spo&altl=Tufxbsu

My apologies to our visually impaired readers, but this was too good to pass up.

A Couple of New Blogs and a recent one

Two new blogs have come to my attention - one of them through another blog I frequent and the other through a listserv posting. The first is the Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology (QIAT) list out of the University of Kentucky. The website housing the list contains good information for assistive technology teams when considering and reviewing policies and procedures. This is the proper address to join the QIAT listserv.
The second blog belongs to a friend and fellow ATHEN member Terrill Thompson and is simply titled Terrill Thompson. Terrill is a pretty well known and respected access technologist who represents ATHEN at Educause conferences and the like. One of his posts is from the HigherEdWeb conference.
I also want to throw a shout-out for the blog run by James Baily titled Managing Assistive Technology in Higher Education.
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The ATOMS Project

The Assistive Technology Outcomes Measurement System (ATOMS) Project was launched by a five year assistive technology (AT) outcomes and impacts project funded in part by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) program.

The Green and Mean and Lighter and Better Perkins Brailler

New and imprtoved with less weight, less noise, and less force - it will be with you wherever you go.

The Boston Globe has a story this morning on the new and improved Perkins Brailler. Anyone who has used one of these stalwarts of access knows they are not the most user friendly for our 21st century ultra portable ideal of communication. While others have been mucking about with trying to add text to speech to cell phones, or make DAISY players that are unplugged on the go, or even tactile electronic paper, the engineers over at Perkins have been quietly redesigning and improving the most solid, most reliable, and most fundamental access tool of them all.

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Flahdrives n' Hi-lites

Sounds like a cheesy 70's flick but in reality it is a nifty USB device that has mini hi-liter pens coupled with a small flashdrive. The High Dexx USB Flash Drive is a high-tech twist on a popular favourite. Set of 3 highlighter pens with optional flashdrive available in a memory capacity of your choice. Can also be used as a USB extension hub for any device. Available in various memory capacities from 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB.
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Beta test a new Statistics Tutorial Software

This caught my eye on the listserves. It seems harmless enough and you might actually discover a new tool that can assist you or your students.

Someone out there is looking for faculty and students to help Beta test a Statistics Tutorial Software. The software is free (beware of what you get for free) and can be used with any Introductory Statistics text. The package allows students to enter data, but instead of just crunching the numbers and showing the result, the student sees the step-by-step method to do a variety of things from graphs to t-tests. (hummm... 'sees the steps' ... looks like we have an accessibility issue already)

Resulting graphs can be copied to the clipboard and pasted into an MS Word document. Also included are random problems with step by step solutions in topics on the Normal Curve, Central Limit Theorem, Confidence Intervals, Correlation, Regression, etc. The software is called Math911 and can be downloaded from the web site http://www.math911.com/

Once installed, it is fully functional and does not require registration. Math911 has been around since 1990 when it was called 'Algebrax.' Renamed Math911 in 1998, it is best used on home computers. A network version is available for Learning Centers and larger applications.

Prof Martin Weissman
Mathematics Dept.
Essex County College
Newark, NJ 07102
1-347-528-7837
weissman@essex.edu
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Happy Birthday Google

Yes indeed -- the search engine that is also a Verb turns Ten years old today! Interested to find out what has happened in the past ten years? Google has a timeline of events in their life. Check it out and let me know what you were doing in the pre-Google era.

By the way - has anyone out there begun using the new Google Chrome (beta)? I probably should be using it with an eye towards accessibility, but I am just too darn comfortable with the current one. Though you gotta admit that the comic book they put together to explain how it came togather and what it does is wikked cool.
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Apple to make iTunes more accessible for the blind

From the Boston Globe

Apple Inc. and the Massachusetts Attorney General have reached an agreement that will provide blind consumers and students with equal access to Apple's iTunes and iTunes U.

Attorney General Martha Coakley said details of the agreement will be announced today.

A statement from Coakley's office says Apple will ensure that both iTunes -- the company's digital entertainment store -- and iTunes U -- targeted at college students -- are accessible to blind consumers and students using assistive technology called screen access software.

The American Foundation for the Blind has praised Apple for including features on the latest version of iTunes and the latest iPod Nano that make them easier for the blind or visually impaired to use. The agreement also covers additional features.

USDA Target Center

The USDA TARGET Center has the mission is to ensure that all USDA employees have safe and equal access to electronic and information technology by assessing, educating, and advocating for the integration of assistive technology and worksite accommodations.

In the DC area? Stop by the USDA TARGET Center (USDA South Building, Room 1006) from 11:00 a.m., through 2:00 p.m., to see new technologies and new capabilities, and learn about the new TARGET Center 2.0.
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Beer Yeast Separates The Ales From The Lagers

Yeah -- I know -- this is supposed to be a blog about access technology and web accessibility and all that rot a tot. But it is never too early to gear up for the Accessing Higher Ground conference where we socialize outside the meeting hall as much as in the sessions. In preparation for that socializing - NPR's Science Friday presents:
Beer Yeast Separates The Ales From The Lagers
Different types of beers — ales, stouts, etc — are distinguished primarily by their yeast, but now these groupings might get even more complicated. Scientists have examined the genetic sequences of 17 unique lager yeast strains tracing variations in their genetic code back through time.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is Upon Us

Arrgghh Maties -- International Talk Like a Pirate Day is upon us. All hands to the poop deck to batten down the hatches and swab the decks ye bilge rats! Avast me beauties -- 'tis a day to celebrate all things pirate!!

We apparently have been heard!

A message from Joe Humbert - Leader of the ATHEN iTunes U Accessibility Working Group

Hi! We apparently have been heard!

Apple has released both a more accessible version of iTunes (8) and a partially accessible iPod Nano (4G). http://www.apple.com/accessibility/itunes/vision.html

ATHEN iTunes U Accessibility Working Group would like users of Assistive Technology to review iTunes 8 accessibility. Please do this even if you have filled out our survey for iTunes 7.7.1 and prior releases.

ATHEN iTunes U Accessibility Evaluation
http://www.tripleeclipse.com/athen/survey/survey.php

The NEW DEADLINE for survey completion is SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2008.

Please Note - If you are filling out the survey using iTunes 8 please be sure to indicated this in the iTunes version form field and in 1 one of the comments section.

Questions or comments - contact Joe Humbert mailto:johumber@iupui.edu

Thank You from the ATHEN iTunes U Accessibility Working Group.

The Scan Toaster

Now this is what technology innovation is all about!

Scan Toaster puts the power of 'miracle toast' into the hands of mere mortals - Engadget

The Scan Toaster connects to a PC over USB and downloads everything from local weather conditions and the current time to the morning’s news headlines - and then burns an image of the information onto your morning toast!

How does this work you ask? - Inside the toaster is a network of toasting “modules”, each heated by a hot wire. Each module can move by 30° and, once the user selects what they want on their toast - excluding a topping, of course - the modules align themselves and burn the appropriate content onto the bread.

That's the good news -- the bad news -- According to the website Register Hardware, no plans to manufacture the toaster on a mass scale have popped up yet (get it -- "popped up" -- I love geek humor!)

Arrrr me laddies - having one of these in the galley would be a perfect method for reminding ye lubbers of the soon to be upon us Talk Like a Pirate Day! Just imagine burning your favorite pirate sayings into toast to be read longside your morning grog ration!
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Only 3 More Days till Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Certainly there is no need to remind readers of this blog about the annual Talk Like a Pirate Day festivities taking place across the country --- neh --- across the world! Rest assured me hearties, I will be reminding you daily until the 19th of September. In the maentime - for our readers in the EU - check out the newest addtion to the Pirate lingo website -- how to talk like a pirate in German!

The Swiss-Trac is NOT Cheesy

The Swiss-Trac is a small engine that pulls a wheelchair across any terrain (unpaved roads, tracks, grass, etc). They are made in Europe, and (unfortunately at this time) not marketed in the United States.

According to some reports, the Swiss-Trac is more convenient and cheaper than a power chair because it is a use-as-needed device . And, it does not require a specialized vehicle or necessitate home modificiations. The price is said to be about 6300 Euro plus shipping from Europe (about $9000 US).

Here is a video showing the thing tooling around Melbourne, Australia.

iTunes Enhanced Accessibility

iTunes version 8 was recently released and among the bells and whistles Apple has very quietly enhanced the accessibility of the program to make it screen reader friendly on BOTH Mac and PC. Manage your iTunes library using VoiceOver in OS X Leopard or Window-Eyes for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Or use your screen reader to purchase or download content from the iTunes Store — including iTunes U. Apparently you can also use newer versions of JAWS for Windows.

But wait - there is more - the new iPod Nano now has a feature that speaks every menu and song info, which is especially nice for those who are visually impaired- or simply too busy to look at the tiny screen. According to Apple, the new Nano will tell you everything you need to know over the headphones, and if you have speakable items set up on your computer, the Nano will inherit the voice of your choice. Howvere, at this time it is unclear whether this feature will also be part of iPod touches and iPhones.

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Celebrate International Literacy Day

Celebrate International Literacy Day - TODAY (whadda ya waiting for -- an engraved invitation?!?!)

Observed annually on September 8 (since?), International Literacy Day focuses attention on worldwide literacy needs.

Facts about International Literacy Day
• International Literacy Day is celebrated each year on September 8th.
• International Literacy Day was first observed on September 8, 1967.
• The aim of International Literacy Day is to focus attention on the need to promote worldwide literacy.
• It is estimated that 860 million of the world’s adults do not know how to read or write (nearly two-thirds of this number are women), and that more than 100 million children lack access to education.
• On International Literacy Day, individuals, organizations, and countries throughout the world renew their efforts to promote literacy and demonstrate their commitment to providing education for all.
• The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the founder of International Literacy Day, and is responsible for appointing a jury to award international literacy prizes.
• Three literacy prizes are awarded on International Literacy Day. They are: The International Reading Association Literacy Award, two King Sejong Prizes and two Confucius Prizes. King Sejong Prizes give special consideration to the creation, development and dissemination of mother tongue languages in developing countries, while the Confucius Prizes aim at rewarding outstanding activities in the field of literacy for rural adults and out-of-school youth, particularly women and girls.
• The International Reading Association has sponsored the International Reading Association Literacy Award since 1979. The award is presented at the UNESCO celebration of International Literacy Day.
• As part of a network of literacy organizations, the International Reading Association cosponsors an annual celebration of International Literacy Day, which typically includes featured speakers, representatives from a wide range of governmental and nongovernmental institutions, members of the press, and invited guests.
• State and provincial councils and national affiliates of the International Reading Association often sponsor International Literacy Day activities and celebrations.
• Because International Literacy Day coincides with the beginning of a new school year in many countries, classroom teachers use this day to recognize the importance of literacy in the lives of both children and adults.

Accessing Higher Ground Conference

Registration is now open for the 11th annual Accessing Higher Ground Conference in Boulder Colorado. This conference is also home to the ATHEN Annual Business Meeting.

ATHENites renewing their memberships - and those of you becoming new members - can do so through the conference registration form AND get a discount. As an added bonus - when you register for the confernce and pay the ATHEN membership dues, you will receive a free copy of the recorded conference sessions on DVD [a $90 value]! Unfamiliar with Accesing Higher Ground? Visit the archives of previous presentations and find out for yourself what makes this conference so special!

Speaking of the annual ATHEN meeting, please do review the Revisions to the ATHENS Bylaws as we will be voting on these at the annual meeting.

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Conference Announcement - CSUN Call For Proposals

The Center on Disabilities at California State University, Northridge is pleased to announce that the Call for Papers for the 24th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference is now open and available on-line.

To submit a General Session proposal to present at the 2009 Conference, please visit:
http://www.csunconference.org/cfp.cfm?EID=80000144

The deadline to submit proposals is: Friday, October 17, 2008.

The 2009 conference will be held March 16-21, at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott and Renaissance Montura hotels.

Please visit the website at: http://www.csunconference.org/ for more information.