Where It's AT – Assistive Technology Blog

PEAT Talks on Accessible Technology, 9/15/15

Sep 15th, 2015 by MDTAP Blog

PEAT Talks is a new virtual speaker series hosted by the Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology (PEAT). Held the third Thursday of every month at 2:00 p.m. ET, PEAT Talks will showcase various organizations and individuals whose work and innovations are advancing accessible technology in the workplace. Featured speakers will deliver a 10- to 15- minute talk and then field questions from attendees. To learn more and to see a schedule of talks, visit http://www.peatworks.org/

Posted in Assistive Technology, AT Events, AT News, Education, Information Technology, Tech Tip Tuesday | No Comments »

ADA Live! Radio Show, 9/14/15

Sep 14th, 2015 by MDTAP Blog

ADA Live! (WADA) is a free monthly show broadcast nationally on the Internet. Ask questions and learn about your rights and responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It covers a wide variety of topics ranging from education to emergency evacuation to web access. Visit them online at http://www.adalive.org/schedule to find their current schedule.

Posted in Assistive Technology, AT and the Law, AT Events, AT News, Education, Emergency Preparedness, Information Technology, Mystery Monday, Web Accessibility | No Comments »

TSA Disability Information, revised, 9/10/15

Sep 10th, 2015 by MDTAP Blog

TSA’s Disability Branch launched their new TSA.gov website with updated information on disability issues.

To view the disability and medical condition information on the new TSA.gov website, please visit http://www.tsa.gov/travel/special-procedures. At http://www.tsa.gov/travel/special-procedures, you will find a drop down menu where you can choose a specific disability and/or medical condition and learn about what to expect during screening.

You also will find the link for the TSA notification card http://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/disability_notification_cards.pdf> at http://www.tsa.gov/travel/special-procedures, or you may find the notification card at http://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/disability_notification_cards.pdf.

To get information about TSA Cares and Passenger Support Specialists (PSS), go to http://www.tsa.gov/travel/passenger-support.

To learn about TSA Pre✓®, visit http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck.

To file a discrimination complaint, go to http://www.tsa.gov/travel/passenger-support/civil-rights.

Posted in Assistive Technology, AT and the Law, AT News, Information Technology, Things to Know Thursday | 1 Comment »

Serving Customers with Disabilities webinar, 9/9/15

Sep 9th, 2015 by MDTAP Blog

The ADA National Network is hosting its next webinar – The expanding disability market: Serving customers with disabilities– on September 9th from 1-2 pm. Covering topics such as accessibility, market trends, effective communication and more, the session will provide businesses with practical tips on reaching their markets.

Posted in Assistive Technology, AT News, Education, Information Technology, Web Accessibility, Web Tip Wednesday | No Comments »

TuneIn Radio, 9/8/15

Sep 8th, 2015 by MDTAP Blog

TuneIn Radio

Contributed by Joel Zimba, Special Projects Coordinator, MDTAP

Everyone has a favorite music app. You can stream random songs for free, or you can pay for an entire music library. Download it, share it–who can keep up?!?!
So, why write about the TuneIn App? Initially, TuneIn just seems to conveniently bring together thousands of radio stations. You can naturally find all the local ones, and then you can group them and sort them and even mark your favorite ones. There are also huge numbers of podcasts and other feeds included. The one great thing about TuneIn is that the interface remains the same across all of the stations. No longer do I find myself at the mercy of whoever coded the app for my favorite rock station. I don’t have to deal with unlabelled buttons or constant crashes just to listen to morning news and traffic.

While not unique, this does make TuneIn one of the apps I use daily. In the last week, the premium content section has been augmented to include audio books. The documentation says there are 40,000 books. I didn’t count, though there are plenty I haven’t read.

There is an audio book on demand service for a mere $7.99 a month directly through TuneIn. There’s even a free trial. To my knowledge, this is a first. Now audio books, like TV shows, movies, and music can be played on-demand. And that goes to show that content can be as important as assistive technology, especially when it’s fully accessible and user friendly. When a great resource like this appears, especially an affordable one, we do our best to highlight it.

Posted in AT News, Information Technology, MD Technology Assistance Program, Tech Tip Tuesday | No Comments »