OpenSource Updates and such

Open Source software [OS and Apps] is making its way out of the garage and seriously starting to compete for shelf space next to more well established brands. In past-posts I have written of my concerns [realized by colleagues elsewhere] that soon some student is going to walk into my office seeking access tech assistance and proceed to inform me they are not running Windows nor Mac but one of the Linux / OpenSource systems such as Redhat, Gnome, Ubuntu, etc. [...who comes up with these names...?]. I may be off on the correct terminologies, but suffice to say unless its Windows there is not much the average DSS person can do. I also have visions of the Vista six-pack confusing consumers more and driving them away from Microsoft. It's one thing for an individual or organization with software savvy to make a break from MS - but when John & Jane Doe decide to jump ship to save a few dollars and their sanity it can cause problems for those of us supporting them.

There have, however, been some advances of late that deserve to be publicized. I am no expert on this but it does hold my interest. To begin with - Dell is inching back towards offering an out-of-the-box Linux workstation. Late last year they briefly offered an empty shell without OS along with a copy of some obscure OpenSource program to run it - didn't go over to well and Dell quietly pulled the product from catalog. The new options appear to be much more solid. Keep in mind that these are geared towards people who know what they and know how to use them. Your typical incoming freshman [unless he is a serious computer geek] is not likely to be bringing one to campus.

Gnome 2.14 is now available for download. What does this mean? I really don't know - I guess it's a good thing. What I do know is that Gnome is one of the better choices for accessibility and has always made a committment to access. Besides - I love their logo - like a little footprint...


I regularly use two OpenSource programs - OpenOffice in place of Microsoft Windows and Great News as my RSS Reader. My reasons for using them - convenience - both are portable and run directly off my flashdrive. At both work and home I have MS-Office installed and have access to multiple RSS options, but I also find myself using multiple workstations. I am a lousy typist and rely on the AutoCorrect function in Word. It is simply most convenient to carry around all of my preferences for my own convenience. The same is true for my feeds - I simply like the convenience if plugging into any available USB port and checking out what is new.

OpenSource can also make you the life of the party - just imagine the fun you can have with a Text-to-Speech Synthesis program for German, English and Tibetan.

Mac Attack ... Update

My loaner laptop is on the way - got an eMail from the Product Placement Group [seeding@apple.com - gotta love that address]. Here is the FedEx tracking number so you can check on the 'package' yourself = 699112292509 [just paste this into Google]. I'm still not exactly sure what Iam getting - and I will only have it till mid April - but it is coming with me to CSUN and I plan to turn this thing inside out to learn its mystical ways. Here are 10 Semi-Obscure Mac Programs I plan to check into more closely with accessibility in mind.

Speaking of which - the main reason for this is to try out VoiceOver and get KatiePlayer up and running. One of my students came in yesterday with his Mac and was quite willing to download the KatiePlayer trial. With his expertise we were able to get it installed but when we tried to load an in-house produced DTB the darn software claimed it could not find a valid file. The DTB we tried is our standard trial file and has worked on every other playback device or software its has encountered. I thought it might be an issue with the CD drive so I loaded the DTB onto a flashdrive. To make matters more difficult, the KatiePlayer seems to not allow users to navigate to any location other than the CD or a folder somewhere in the system that we could not locate in order to install the file. Granted this was the trial version we were trying to work with - but according to the company website it is simply the full version with a time-out. I am going to try again when I have my own unit to play with.

ATC Mouse - Carpal Tunnel Be Gone

I don't know about Carpal Tunnel having met its match - but this handy gadget make help alleviate some RSI. The mouse remains stationary and uses pitch & yaw instead of motion to move the cursor about on the screen much like a joystick. I'd have to try one for myself before deciding upon the value.

Repetitive Strain Injury is caused more by poor positioning than keyboarding. Overusing the mouse does not help either. The MIT Adaptive Technology for Information and Computing [ATIC] maintains a very good site of information on RSI. Apparently this is a major issue among the students at MIT.

Build your own Fullauto Bookscanner - Engadget

Amazing - two items on automatic books scanners in almost as many days. The builders are thousands of miles [and thousands of dollars] apart but these two machines probably perform about the same...but this one let's you play with Lego's.

Digital Books Start A New Chapter [but not for the print impaired]

If you have need of access technology to read the web - don't even bother trying to visit this article. Popups, bad design, an utter disregard even for alt text. For those of us who can access the site, feel free to them leave a comment of some sort. My concern in the content is articles such as this do little more than continue to muddle the minds of the general public as to what is meant by digital e-books. We know that digital does not mean accessible but John Q. Public thinks nothing of his friends and family and coworkers who rely upon access tech. Between public misconceptions, publisher apathy [or ignorance], DRM paranoia, and other restrictive attitudes - the ability of individuals with disabilities to access reading material actually seems to be taking steps backwards as technology leaps ahead.

Font Size Roundup

I was going to post a bit on this 18 Monospace fonts comparison screenshot post and it triggered in my mind a memory of similar items long ignored in the drafts folder here at the ATHEN blog. So here are The Anatomy of Web Fonts an article on Favorite Fonts of 2005 and something on Font Size Variations with Point Measurements.

Personally I cannot make heads or tails out of this stuff but I know it arouses the interest of web-heads like fellow ATHEN member and webmaster Sean Keegan.

Rubik's Cube For the Blind - Gizmodo

All work and no play makes visually impaired boys and girls dull ... I guess. I'm gonna get one of these and add it to my toy-arsenal at work. I have noticed that most of my B/LV students tend to fiddle with things [canes, stress stones, loose change] when they visit. I'd like to offer an option and know of couple of my students who would love this!

Windows Vista to come in 8 flavors!? - Yeesh!

This is probably something we do not have to worry much about - seeing as how there is no difference between XP Home and XP Pro as far as accessibility issues - but it is too soon to tell whether different versions of Vista will react differently to access tech. Of greater interest may be that with so many choices, consumers will take a pass on Vista altogether and take one of three paths -

1. Stay with Windows XP - the best for us until we see what can be done with Vista.
2. Make the switch to Mac - which could cause the sorts of problems I have been commenting upon of late.
3. Migrate to one of the OpenSource options - which might not be so bad as this community has make steady progress towards both being compatible with already available access solutions but have also been working on their own.

Pontificating on this has got me nostalgic for the good old days of Windows. Prodding me along are the new laptops we just got into my office. We have loaners for students needing word processing and such for a variety of reasons. After a bit of searching and wrangling we ended up with a half-dozen refurbished Pentium III IBM Thinkpads loaded with Windows 2000. Working with Win2K has made me realize how much I prefer XP - but it has been fun to step back in time with the icons and menus. Mem-ooo-ries ... light the corners of my miiiinnnd ... [sing along - you know the words]

ATIZ BookDrive Automatic Book Scanner

Obviously this one has gotten past us somehow. The CNN video [item #2]* is from the Consumer Electronic Show in early January, but until it appeared on Gizmodo it had been off my radar screen. The price is a bit heavy [$35K] but the company anticipates that by providing a lovely cost comparison study [pdf]. Even before reading this I was sold as we currently outsource our scanning and because of that [and how long it takes] we usually purchase the books that are being de-spined and scanned. I have been trying to get in-house scanning for some time now and could see us paying-off in savings a typical duplex within one semester and this thing in about three years (or less) - this does take into account wages for bookscanning staff, ongoing costs, speed, etc.

*Item #5 in this segment is the Imation USB wristband in basic black - now that I have actually seen someone wearing one it seems kinds dorky [but i still want ie if only I could find it].

Mac Attack ... Part II

Had a good meeting with the Apple Rep and a Sr. Engineer yesterday. Got the chance to introduce them to NIMAS and educate them on DAISY. As expected the sales guy listened politely while the engineer latched onto the tech stuff and got pretty interested. We chatted a bit about access [or lack thereof] issues on the Mac (the Rep giving the party line and the Engineering quickly realizing that I knew what I was talking about). They had a DAISY demo - a bit on production and then playback. We talked about specs and such -- I guess my main concerns can be summed up in this [very real] scenario::

1) LD student with a print impairment spends K-12 years getting books-on-tape (analog) or digital (more recently) as per their IEP. Playback devices are either loaned to the student for classroom and home use and/or student visits the school Resource Room or Library and uses devices and computers there [under the guidance of helpful SPED teachers].

2) Student then gets into college and parents decide to but him/her a computer for college. Student owns iPod, has bought into the Apple marketing, and decides upon a shiney new Mac.

3) Student shows up on my doorstep seeking their textbooks and such in an alternate format. I proceed to tell student all about the wonders of DTB's and describe the process of getting the students books in [or converted to] digital format and all is cheerful and bright until the student pulls their pearly white iBook out of their backpack.

Another demographic being older/returning students who purchase a Mac and then find they need assistance with accessibility issues.

I am not worried about the blind or low-vision students as they know better than to get a Mac - there simply are not the access options avialble. I should probably take this opportunity to semi-retract a statement I made earlier as it appears that the program VoiceOver has not gotten as good reviews as I believed - at least not by the blind community.

Anyway - central to my kvetching ... uhh ... conversation with the Mac guys was that I do not have access to a one and, therefore, cannot discuss access issues as much as I would like - nor help my students as much as necessary. The Rep is looking into getting me a loaner so that I can get to know my inner Apple. I will do my best to post updates as this learning process evolves.

Post-meeting the Engineer dropped me an eMail to let me know that he had gotten the KatiePlayer trial version to work on his system. He also infomed me that TextHelp's Read and Write now has a version for the Mac and introduced me to a new speech company Cepstral.

We did discuss the topic of mp3 playback on the iPod and, thanks to recent discussion on the alt-media listserv, I was able defend the argument that mp3's cannot be sped-up. The Engineer's off-the-cuff response/solution was "that's just a hack". Well - hacking my own mp3 player would be one thing but I don't want to have to hack a students personal equipment just to get them access to their textbooks. It's one thing for me to load a software program such as EaseReader on their laptop - but to hack their iPod - no thanks. I understand why some of my colleagues have a hands-off rule for student computers.

All this may all come to naught in the near future, however, if the prediction of Apple adopting Windows comes true. I'd wait and see -- but I'm not passing up on that loaner.

Students pass on electronic textbooks.

Same story covered over at CNN as well.

Now maybe the publishers will stop messing around with inaccessible digital formats and start listening to our needs a bit more. However, this could go the opposite direction with publishers making the case that they tried to go digital and it just didn't work out. Though, as this article points out, these "firts phase" attempts at digitizing textbooks fell flat partly because the materials were not as academically accessible as the real thing. More than anything it is the darn DRM encryption that makes them so user un-friendly.

I hope the publishers do move forward and get to know the tech savvy market that needs more than mere pages on screen to make it worth their while. And along the way it wouldn't hurt to build in accessibility so that we don't have to, quite literally in some cases, rewrite their books so that our students can use them to learn.

Welcome Disability 411 Listeners!

ATHEN and the ATHEN blog were featured on episode 12 of the Disability 411 podcast. Thanks to Beth Case for helping to spread the word - she and I have also chatted about future tech-topics and possible interviews with Ron, Sean, Gaeir, and other members of the tribe. Give the show a listen - I believe you will find it well worth while.

For those of you new to the Athen Blog - feel free to add our RSS feed to your reader in order to reach out for new postings.

And since you will likely be downloading the podcast to your MP3 player - here is a little bit o' music for you as well. In a previous post I introduced readers to the woeful sounds emitted by dying harddrives. Well --- to paraphrase Special Agent Dale Cooper -- "The internet is a large and interesting place, sir." And indeed it is as the Hard Drive Dying Dance Track mashups/contest proves without a doubt. I'm not sure which I like more - the 'tunes' themselves or the use of Odeo to submit them for the contest. Happy Listening!

Mac Attack ... or ...

Baseball, Hot Dogs and Apple's [piece o' the] Pie

There has been discussion on the listservs recently regarding the accessibility of iPods and how to best provide students with mp3 files on these and other players. I noted that since the iPod craze we are seeing more students using Mac's. It is unfortunate that access tech [both hardware and software] continues to be scarce for the Macintosh. Admittedly, I am not a Mac enthusiast, but that should not matter. When a student is approved for access to their textbooks in alternate formats or has need of peripherals in the classroom and my office is unable to support their needs as easily as we could with a Windows based PC- this is cause for concern. The introduction of the new Intel-based Mac and the announcement that Apple is opening a flagship store walking distance from my office leads me to believe that the student switch to Mac's is not a passing fad.

My experiences with Mac accessibility have not been positive - a recent example being the need for a student running OS-X on a Powerbook to access DAISY books. To date we have been unable to get the one and only DTB player for Mac, something called KatiePlayer, to work - and that is before trying to upgrade it for RFB&D access. The student, who knows more about Macs than I do, sees to think the problem lies in her version of OS-X [Tiger?] or certain other programs she is running. I even posted a query to the alt-media and access-tech listservs and got nary a response - [cricket ... cricket ... cricket]. According to sources, RFB&D will soon have a Mac version of one of the other programs for playing their DAISY files.

Unlike Windows access - where either a single company holds the lions share of the market or brawls break out among enthusiasts of competing programs - there is far too little available for the Mac and, as is my understanding, what is available has been thrown a Wakefield worthy knuckleball with the introduction of the Intel chip - back to the drawing board sums it up.

My department is in process of procuring several new machines for alt-media production and I have asked for a Mac in some form so that we can learn about and experiment with issues of accessibility. I stopped just short of asking my boss to throw in an iPod. I do not see the point in testing its accessibility as I cannot imagine Apple giving up the lucrative after-market by adding functionality that competitors offer. I'd rather have a stable of iRiver, SanDisk and Creative devices to play with.

Word of my interest found it's way to our friendly campus Apple Rep [didn't even know we had one] and now he wants to meet with me to discuss my software compatability questions. This ought to be fun. Not to say that there is no access tech available for the Mac - a quick Google search located a number of sites with info and it appears that the Mac [Tiger] screenreader Voice-Over has gotten pretty good reviews.

Here is a non-comprehensive list of what I found. Personally I have not used a Mac since OS 8.1 and have no idea what or if anything on this list is worth knowing.

• Mac Accessibility Page - includes information on a variety of 3rd party solutions
• Orator - text conversion to mp3
• Accessibility options for System 7.x, 8.x, 9.x
• Shareware and Freeware for PWDs

For a very good overview [though a few years old] on and about Mac Accessibility - check out this multipart article by a serious Mac-Head.

California Web Accessibility Conference

For those interested in some hands-on trainings on Web accessibility issues [and listening to some great speakers], check out the California WebAccessibility Conference (CalWAC) April 6-7, 2006 in San Francisco, CA.

If you have a Web team that you think would benefit from this opportunity, please share this information. Sessions will focus on Web accessibility with javascript, Flash, PDFdocuments as well as the uses (and abuses) of Web page design, CSS, andother Web techniques. The conference is focused on higher education Web professionals, content authors, and those in higher education that are seeking more answers to Web accessibility questions.

Emerging Technologies Initiative: Horizon Project

The New Media Consortium (NMC) in collaboration with the Educause Learning Initiative (ELI) present the 2006 Horizon Report. This report highlights six technologies that the underlying research suggests will become very important to higher education over the next one to five years. A central focus of the discussion of each technology is its relevance for teaching, learning, and creative expression.

What the report fails to do - and I am not trying ruffle anyones feathers, just making a note - is mention how any of these technologies can be made available and accessible to students, faculty, staff, and members of the general public who have disabilities. Just file this under items of interest we should be aware of should they come up in conversation with others while collaborating in our academic environments. As Access Technologists we need to think outside of the assumed boundaries of software and hardware for the disabled and get involved in all aspects of campus technology innovation.

If you see your campus moving towards some new initiative and seeking feedback don't hesitate to speak up and ask how all members of the community can take part. Bring up issues of universal design and accessibility. For example - a section of this report discusses content delivery via mobile phone. Recently on the listserv of the National Association of Blind Students (NABS) there has been a rather lengthy discussion of the present state of accessible cell phones.

In my experience some committee heading in this direction would find itself heading in one of two directions - either towards this project with no consideration of inclusion or away from the proposal because they do not know how such services can be made accessible. By viewing our positions as consultants in such matters we can join the discussion and inform the decision makers that yes, indeed, options exist that will allow everyone to take part in new learning initiatives.

Regardless - the report is worth reading and has enough links to keep even the biggest webbie busy for quite a while. The 2004 & 2005 reports are also available.

ODEO and the Writer

Like many students of all grade levels, my 8 year old son does not like to write. Reading for him is rewarding beyond compare. He doesn't simply get lost in a book - he moves in and settles down. Math, spelling, art, sciences - not a problem. But writing, well, that's another story. His frustration comes from knowing what he wants to say, but by the time it works its way out of his brain, down his arm, through the pencil and onto the paper it just doesn't seem to come out the same.

We have found that it helps if he talks himself through the writing process. The trouble then becomes that he can spin a good yarn or nail a synopsis only to forget what it was he just said when the mechanics of writing interfere. Recently we considered asking if he wanted to try recording himself speaking into a tape recorder but realized that we simply do not own one anymore. Then I remembered ODEO.

I have an ODEO account for some of my RSS podcast feeds and recalled that they have a free on-line recording service. It's limited to three-minutes of record time - but the kid's in third grade - how much does he need to write? I plugged in my favorite set of headphones with mic and set him up to record. Like a typical digital native he took to it on the first try. Three minutes later he had laid down a pretty good synopsis of the story he was writing a report on and we saved the mp3 file to play in Windows Media Player.

He was able to listen to his own voice quite literally telling him what to write. He effortlessly mastered the WMP controls and started typing. His keyboard skills need some work but he is already well ahead of where I was in high school, let alone third grade. We gotta getthis kid a typing tutor - he'll hate us now and thank us later.

So, the next day I am telling the Director of our LD program about my experiences with ODEO and the writer and she asked me to demo the program. Later in the day one of our LD tutoring staff asks me about this on-line program because he is working with a student who has issue with writing that may benefit from being able to record drafts and play them back. He is going to try this out wth the student and let me know how it goes. One of the nice features of ODEO is the ability to save and eMail the recordings or download them as mp3 files.

By the way - if you are interested - here is the three minute synopsis of The Box Car Children #3: The Yellow House Mystery as recorded by my favorite 3rd grader.