Maryland Department of Disabilities
Aug 25th, 2016 by MDTAP Blog
These are just a few of the newest items posted on Equipment Lin. To see a full listing, visit the Equipment Link website!
Aug 24th, 2016 by MDTAP Blog
Technology that is nonvisually accessible, which can be accessed and operated using audio and Braille, creates opportunities for the blind to live, work, and play as fully participating members of our communities. When done correctly, building innovative, universally designed technologies is simple, cost effective, and beneficial to blind and sighted users alike. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), in collaboration with Maryland Department of Disabilities (MDOD), through Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access (CENA) to Education, Public Information, and Commerce, works to ensure that websites, employment systems, educational technology, consumer electronics, and other devices and systems are nonvisually accessible to the blind citizens of Maryland.
We have developed an online accessibility survey to determine the greatest areas of need, to provide a vehicle for discovery of future gaps, and to create training programs and resources to fill the need for more significant reform related to nonvisual accessibility. The survey is available online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CENAsurvey
Aug 23rd, 2016 by MDTAP Blog
The American Foundation for the Blind CareerConnect® program is proud to announce a new guide to help professionals implement the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) and improve employment outcomes for teens and young adults who are blind or visually impaired.
The Transition to Work: Program Activity Guide includes 19 free lesson plans and assignments designed to facilitate workplace readiness and work-based learning experiences for youth. Activities include researching and applying for jobs; filling out job applications; preparing an elevator speech and a marketing message; handling on the job assignments; a work performance appraisal; and other related activities.
The guide is available online on the CareerConnect website. Each activity has a corresponding electronic braille file in the Unified English Braille Code ready to be downloaded and embossed.
Aug 19th, 2016 by MDTAP Blog
MDTAP gets a shout out this week in the Washington Post article on recycling medical equipment, “Free to good home: a $4,000, 250 pound hospital bed.” Of course there’s also other cool stuff, like a concept vibrating hearing aid, a free web application to decipher text on images, and lots more. AT in the news for the week of 8/15 thru 8/19 –
Braigo launches web app to help blind people parse text on images
Strategies for Implementing Assistive Technology in the Classroom
“Becoming Disabled” by ROSEMARIE GARLAND-THOMSON via NYT
Check out 14 Assistive Technology Demonstration Videos
Smell and eye tests offer potential for predicting Alzheimer’s
Chris Schlechty is making tech to empower people of all abilities
Free to a good home: a $4,000, 250-pound hospital bed
Research investigates how mobile apps can help people with disabilities
How tech can help the visually impaired
Google Duo Makes Video Calling Between Operating Systems Easier
Brain-machine interfaces trigger partial neurological recovery in chronic paraplegics
Hospitals are partnering with Uber to get patients to checkups
PokemonGo used as occupational therapy tool for kids at Easterseals
Brits build ‘world’s smartest prosthetic limb’ that acts like a human leg
This concept hearing aid vibrates to tell users of loud sounds
Brain-controlled robots and VR help paraplegic patients feel and move limbs again
Facebook’s 10-Year Plan: Connectivity, Artificial Intelligence, And Virtual Reality
Aug 19th, 2016 by MDTAP Blog
The House: A Smart Creature Enabling Community Inclusion, Visibility, and Integration
Please join Gary C. Norman, Esq. L.L.M. State Civil Rights Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Commission as well as other public policy leaders in a non-partisan town hall dialogue on October 27, 2016, at the University of Baltimore School Of Law’s Center on Medicine and Law from 11 A.M. to 2 P.M.
The Fair Housing Amendments Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act; and, other related legal protections provide broad civil rights to the ever-increasing number of Americans who have a disability as well as those Americans who are perceived as having a disability. Because of these panoply, progress has culturally and legally occurred in removing barriers to full participation of people with disabilities in society, but many hurdles still remain, including, the power of leveraging the intersection of housing and innovative housing policy; health technology; and technological innovation for more visibility and inclusion.
Join us at the law school for an exciting series of presentations reflecting on ways housing, health technology, and technical innovation may be leveraged for fulfilling the promise of community inclusion and integration. This town hall dialogue will occur in a Conversations for Change format with a report to be generated from audience input.
Confirmed Speakers
For more information, or to register, telephone Mr. Norman at (410) 241-6745. Registrations may be transmitted telephonically via text-based missive to this cellular or at voicemail.
Aug 17th, 2016 by MDTAP Blog
Makerspaces, Hackerspaces, Fab Labs & Micro-Manufacturing
The Baltimore Metropolitan Council invites you to attend “Whats on Tap: Makerspaces, Hackerspaces, Fab Labs & Micro-Manufacturing,” the next event in this speaker series. Two leaders will present, one from Open Works and one from Local Motors, to share their stories from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on September 19, 2016 at Open Works, located at 1400 Greenmount Avenue, in Baltimore’s Station North neighborhood.
The event is free, but space is limited.
Registration is required. Register here.
MDTAP | 2301 Argonne Drive, Room T17 Baltimore, Maryland 21218| Voice: 410-554-9230 Toll Free ⁄ Voice 1-800-832-4827|Email: mdtap@mdtap.org