Maryland Department of Disabilities
Jun 5th, 2014 by MDTAP Blog
We’ve got a tour coming up, and we really hope you’ll come see some of the latest AT devices in our AT Library. Braille displays, communication devices, video magnifiers, aids for daily living and much more.
These tours are being hosted at our central office in Baltimore. For details contact Lori Markland at lmarkland@mdtap.org or 410-554-9477.
And if you can’t make it, you can visit our library online.
Jun 4th, 2014 by MDTAP Blog
Accessibility, Compliance, and Discrimination
Accessibility is about the user experience. Because a web site can always be more accessible, accessibility is best viewed as being a continuum. Web accessibility guidelines and standards (such as Section 508 and WCAG) provide useful measures along that continuum. Discrimination laws (such as the Americans with Disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act), however, generally do not define web accessibility, but instead clarify that web sites should not discriminate based on disability. Because standards and guidelines do not address all aspects of web accessibility, it is possible for a site to comply with a set of guidelines, yet remain very inaccessible to some users and potentially discriminatory. This is particularly true with very minimal standards such as Section 508. For these reasons, it is best to get a true understanding of accessibility and how end users access and use the web. Standards and guidelines should be used as tools and measures of accessibility, but the ultimate goal should not merely be compliance, but to provide an efficient, friendly, and accessible user experience regardless of disability.
Jun 3rd, 2014 by MDTAP Blog
Check out our newest video, Digit-Eyes App Review. A barcode scanner, a QR code maker, and customized label maker with Voiceover. This app does a lot! Check out some its basic features and how to use it, right here on the MDTAP YouTube channel.
Jun 2nd, 2014 by MDTAP Blog
The Center on Transition to Employment invites you to an informational webinar exploring the effect of service system collaboration on student outcomes in a statewide transition demonstration project. Researchers will discuss the different approaches to defining and measuring service system collaboration, and present the findings of a study assessing its impact on student vocational rehabilitation outcomes. Recommendations for inter-agency transition teams will be provided, as well as directions for further study.
May 30th, 2014 by MDTAP Blog
Make yourself comfortable because this is two weeks worth of AT News (and not all of it even!)…We’ve got stylized emergency alert necklaces, some 3D printed body parts, some cool Google Glass stuff going on, a braille phone, and way more. And remember, you can read all the latest news at MDTAP’s twitter account, @MDTAP. Enjoy.
AT in the news for the weeks of 5/19 thru 5/30
Game controller for disabled children takes top honour at design awards
Innovative Wheelchair Elevators Rise in the 21st Century
Necklace designed to help women escape a bad date, assist people w/ disabilities during a crisis
New goggle-like device may lead to 3-D augmented reality technology that minimizes visual fatigue
Google rolling out its own driverless car
App In Works To Screen For Autism
“Signglasses” project makes use of Google Glass for DHH kids
This Startup Is Revolutionizing Mobility for Wheelchair Users
See this cool “Virtual Guide Dog” device in action here (video)
New smartphone app warns people with vision disabilities of obstacles in their way
Researchers build set of shape-changing robots for use as adaptive furniture
Eye Tracking Wearables For Market Research: Tobii Glasses 2
Military Plans To Test Brain Implants To Fight Mental Disorders
The world’s first neurofeedback device for home use by autistic children
Does the digital age spell the end of Braille?
I, robot: how ‘Rex’ is helping one woman to walk again after 10 years in a wheelchair
Web Accessibility Toolkit for Research Libraries Launched by ARL
Test Maker Settles Disability Suit With Justice Department
Wegmans, Kroger add Carolines Cart
High school students’ invention makes more jobs available to the blind
Advocates for blind sue Maryland election officials
World’s cheapest 3D printer moves forward
Travelers with Disabilities Now Have Toll-Free Hotline to Assist
Artificial Intelligence Lenses Developed for the Blind
Turning Sound and Touch into Sight
Robohand unveils 3D-printed robotic leg
Graduate course in assistive technology to help teachers level the learning curve
UpRight Wearable Device Won’t Let You Slouch
3D Printed Braille Mobile Phone
London firm launches Braille phone
These locals are making tech more accessible for people with disabilities
Quadriplegic racer drives Corvette by tilting head
May 29th, 2014 by MDTAP Blog
Contributed by Lori Markland, Director of Communications, Outreach and Program Development, MDTAP
Confession – I love PDFs and I can not lie.
I like taking a document and saving it as a PDF. I like the way it looks on the screen. And given the choice between reading a Word doc or a PDF, I’ll always choose PDF. But that doesn’t make this love affair right. Especially because I know that the vast majority of PDFs are, at best, complicated bundles of inaccessible text and overlooked tags, and at worst, they’re downright unreadable for someone using a screen reader. So, I have resolved to make sure that every document I create be converted into an accessible PDF. Easier said than done.
In my quest to learn more and do this better, I found a few links that can be super helpful in understanding why it’s good practice to make these accessible, http://www.investintech.com/resources/articles/pdfaccessibility/. And good starter tips for making an accessible PDF, http://webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/.
Let’s start, one accessible PDF at a time.
MDTAP | 2301 Argonne Drive, Room T17 Baltimore, Maryland 21218| Voice: 410-554-9230 Toll Free ⁄ Voice 1-800-832-4827|Email: mdtap@mdtap.org