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January 14, 2010

Accessibility Knowledge Series VII – Introduction to Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Filed under: Accessibility Knowledge Series, Assistive Technologies, Elderly, Learning, Speech — @ 5:49 pm

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is any method that supplements or replaces speech and writing when these are temporarily or permanently impaired and inadequate to meet all or some of a person’s communication needs. AAC methods allows the user to perform that which is most human – thinking, dreaming, and planning and are effective ‘tools’ to communicate and access the environment. The users include persons with special needs and elderly.

AAC may be unaided, or aided, involving high and low technology. The array includes a simple non-tech alphabet board for spelling or display made with picture symbols and whole words, while the user just point to the symbols to frame a message. On the other hand there are software and hardware systems where the user gets support with the framing of the message (eg. word prediction), and a speech output for that message is generated.

AAC systems and voice output aids are common in the west but have been recently introduced in India. The National Resource Centre for AAC housed at Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy (IICP) and Vidyasagar, Chennai are working in the area of research and development of AAC aids in collaboration with premier technical institutes such as IIT Kharagpur and IIT Chennai. The India Chapter of International Society for AAC has also been formed recently to take forward the movement for AAC and AT for communication in the country. The concern is to develop AAC systems that are affordable and culturally appropriate for our country.

References:

This Accessibility Knowledge Series has been provided by Swati Chakraborty
Co-ordinator, National Resource Centre for AAC, Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy

Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are solely those of the author as an individual with interest in accessibility and assistive technology and do not claim to represent those of Techshare India, BarrierBreak Technologies or Net Systems Informatics.

Contribute
Got an idea/product that would bring a change for persons with disabilities? Send it across to techshare@barrierbreak.com

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December 3, 2009

Its World Disability Day Again!

Filed under: Assistive Technologies, Elderly, Hearing, Learning, Mobility, Techshare India, Uncategorized, Visual — Shilpi Kapoor @ 2:41 pm

Where does education and the use of technology stand? A perspective on World Disability Day!

Its World Disability Day again, and where do we stand with regards to education and the use of technology? Though we have seen progress with the education of persons with disabled, we haven’t seen assistive technology play a role in their progress.

My perspective is that we have a long way to go.

I have met people with cerebral palsy who might benefit with a communication device or then struggles to use a mouse, but won’t adapt to a switch.

I have met people with low vision who can manage with magnification support but are forced into using a screen reader because no one would guide them and evaluate their needs.

I have met hearing impaired whose are so weak in their communication skills that they could use word prediction software to better their communication skills. So where does the gap lie?

Often the statements I hear are that I don’t want to use assistive technology or adaptive technology because:

Let me break some of these myths today.
A person using spectacles and another wearing contact lenses are different from each other. The question I ask is so what if you are different?As long as you can be effective as any other person why should you worry about “so called tags”. If using an assistive technology gives you speed and efficiency, use it!

Educationist, government, assistive technology companies, need to come together to create awareness about assistive technology products and independent living aids.We need to not only have this information available, but we need to work on evaluation methodologies to choose the best assistive aid for the person.

We need to work with government and assistive technology companies to understand the needs of the Indian disabled population and the price points that will make things affordable and thereby accessible to all.
We need to work with the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and to evaluate the ADIP scheme. In addition, we need to work with the Ministry of Human Resource Development to ensure that there are evaluation and implementation processes in place to assist the persons with disability to move forward!Visit the Exhibition at Techshare India 2010 on February 15-16th, 2010 to see a lot of assistive technology that can empower the disabled people!This article has been provided by Shilpi Kapoor, Managing Director, BarrierBreak TechnologiesDisclaimer:The views expressed herein are solely those of the author as an individual with interest in accessibility and assistive technology and do not claim to represent those of Techshare India, BarrierBreak Technologies or Net Systems Informatics.

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November 19, 2009

Accessibility Knowledge Series II – DAISY: Books Which Every One Can Read!

Filed under: Accessibility, Accessibility Knowledge Series, Alternate Formats, Assistive Technologies, Daisy, Elderly, Learning, Mobility, Print Disability, Visual — Shilpi Kapoor @ 2:17 pm

DAISY: Books Which Every One Can Read!

Any one who has a problem in reading a normal print book can read the book prepared as a DAISY Book. Persons with blindness, low vision, Dyslexia, Learning Disability or those who cannot use both  hands due to any disability and thus are not able to hold a book and turn pages can benefit from DAISY Books.

Types of DAISY Books:

Navigation in the book based on sentence, page, chapter or subsection is a unique feature of DAISY Books.

Another advantage of DAISY system is that once the source document is produced, Braille, talking book, large print or e-text versions of the book can be prepared with in minutes.

We can read these books on mobile phones, computers, CD players and dedicated DAISY Players. DAISY books are also available through internet or telephone based libraries.

We can produce DAISY Books using special software for production of DAISY Books. Many of these software are available free of cost. Some of these are sold by companies such as Dolphin Computer Access, Innovative Rehabilitation Technology Inc or Plextalk.

For information on DAISY Forum of India and list of organizations visit: www.daisyindia.org. Bookshare India also provides text only DAISY Books to its members. Or send e-mail to dfi@saksham.org

Reference:
http://www.daisy.org
http://www.saksham.org
http://www.daisyindia.org

This Accessibility Knowledge Series has been provided by Dipendra Manocha, Director of the Regional Resource Centre (New Delhi), DAISY for All

Disclaimer:The views expressed herein are solely those of the author as an individual with interest in accessibility and assistive technology and do not claim to represent those of Techshare India, BarrierBreak Technologies or Net Systems Informatics.

Contribute
Got an idea that would bring a change for persons with disabilities? Send it across to techshare@barrierbreak.com

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March 13, 2009

Apple’s Accessible iPod shuffle that talks!!

Filed under: Elderly, General, Mobility, Visual — Priti Rohra @ 3:33 pm

Apple’s latest iPod shuffle comes with VoiceOver that provides complete speech support while listening to your favorite music. Whether you want to listen to the song title, artist’s name or navigate between multiple play lists, it provides complete speech output without interrupting the music. Thus making it possible to control your iPod without requiring to look at the screen while you are in the middle of work-out, driving or reading a news paper.

The biggest advantage of this iPod is it is accessible for people with visual and mobility disabilities. All the controls of the iPod are present on the ear bud, thus removing the problems associated with Touch pad navigation for people with vision and dexterity impairments. This will make it possible for people with visual impairments to listen to the music as per their mood rather then listening to the music in the default order, being stored on their player.

Above all the in-built VoiceOver comes with support for 14 languages; it’s very small in size and has 4 GB storage capacity!!

Time to enjoy music!!!
Priti

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February 12, 2009

Web Accessibility Development

Filed under: Developing Technologies, Elderly, General, Hearing, Learning, Mobility, Visual — Mamta Tandel @ 7:01 pm

Web Accessibility refers to making the web site accessible to all, irrespective to the type of disability and the medium which people use. It is crucial that accessibility is looked at on every stage of website development, be it design, content writing and integration.

Web Accessibility Development is not drastically different from regular web development. Web Accessibility Development has an edge over ‘regular’ Web Development; it involves combination and correct use of:

The above list doesn’t end… an important aspect of Web Accessibility Development includes testing the web pages created. Not only by automated checks but crucial and most importantly by end users including people with different types of disabilities such as visual, hearing, mobility and learning disability. It would be an added advantage if a senior citizen could test the web pages to certify that a web page is actually simple and easy to understand!

So, web accessibility development is for those who believe that there web site is not only for a section of a group in the world, but also includes 60 million of the lot that people believe cannot access or work with the web. Web accessibility development is for those who believe that web site is not a mere creation of fancy and jazzy web pages but an information portal or a source where all users can access the CONTENT and INFORMATION with ease.

Bottom line: Web Accessibility Development looks at not only FACE-VALUE but ADDED-VALUE!

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January 5, 2009

BarrierBreak launches “BCAT” – A tool to create Accessible Flash based Elearning course

Filed under: Assistive Technologies, Authoring Technologies, Developing Technologies, Elderly, Flash, Hearing, Learning, Mobility, Visual — Shilpi Kapoor @ 9:49 pm

Right to education is universal. Education has evolved from blackboard to keyboard. Elearning has broken the geographical barriers and made it possible for people to access knowledge with ease and convenience.

Despite the benefits offered by Elearning, it is not possible for students with special needs to access Elearning courses. Students using assistive technologies can with little ease access HTML based elearning but are deprived of the rich learning experience provided by technologies such as Flash. The common myth that prevails is that ‘Flash cannot be made accessible’ Its time that we over come this myth and change the mind set to ‘Flash can be made Accessible’

Net Systems Informatics & BarrierBreak Technologies have taken the initiative to break this myth and have launched the Beta version of “BarrierBreak Course Authoring Tool (BCAT)”. BCAT is designed and developed to assist teachers/authors in creating accessible Flash based Elearning courses. BCAT is an easy to use tool with in-built keyboard and screen reader support enabling students with disabilities to experience the power of Elearning!

BCAT comprises of two main components, Course Authoring Tool based on Moodle Learning Management System and Flash Architecture to access the course contents. In addition, the teacher/author can add various accessibility options to the course such as: Alternate Text, Captions, and Transcripts.

Once the course is published, the contents are generated in to XML and users can access the course using a Flash player. The Flash course thus created provides users with an “Accessibility Panel” to meet their needs:

We invite users with disabilities, teachers/authors, accessibility community at large to access BCAT and provide their valuable feedback and suggestions to make BCAT a tool for inclusive education.

To access Beta version of BCAT, visit: http://www.n-syst.com/lms/login/signup.php

Once you sign up, you will receive an email including further instructions. Along with the email, you will receive a ReadMe file, documentation for creating a course, documentation for using the course and bug report file.

The Beta Test Run is open until 20th January 2009. All suggestions are highly appreciated and will help us to make BCAT more user-friendly and accessible for all.

peace, veiky

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December 17, 2008

Do people with disabilities need access to libraries? How can we support them with assistive technology?

Filed under: Alternate Formats, Assistive Technologies, Elderly, Hearing, Learning, Mobility, Visual — Shilpi Kapoor @ 1:48 pm

People with disabilities have an equal right to education and accessing information is a key to education. Libraries are an integral part of education institutes whether schools, colleges and universities.

So what is the type of support that people with disabilities need beyond accessible infrastructure. Let me list some of my thoughts down.

For students with low vision, who can see if with magnification, it would be good to have desktop magnifiers for patrons to access the books and newspapers. This would give people the option to magnify the text and read the documents easily. Check out Optelec ClearView + .

The Optelec ClearView + would be great in public libraries where even senior citizens visit the library.

For people with who can’t read with magnification, alteast having one computer, with scanning support and a screen reader support would be an advantage. Check out a combination of Cicero and Supernova.

To provide access to the books in alternate formats like braille, large print and daisy (digital talking book) format it would be essential to have a software that would do this. Check out EasyConverter

Providing books in alternate format will also help print disabled and students with learning disabilties.

It would be a good start to see this available for persons with disabilities in Indian libraries.

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