Where It's AT – Assistive Technology Blog

Georgia’s Tools For Life Assistive Technology Program manages the “Our Favorite Apps” database where you can search for apps based on category, price, device type or name. And every app listed in the database has been used and/or tested by one or more members of the Tools for Life team along with many peers across the country including members of other Assistive Technology (AT) Act Programs, physical, occupational and speech language therapists, AT professionals, people with disabilities and other leaders in the disability community.

HTML5 and Optional Alt Attribute

HTML5 currently allows the alt attribute of the image element to be optional. If an image is given alt=””, it indicates that the image is decorative and does not convey content, or that the content of the image is conveyed elsewhere, such as through an image caption or adjacent text. In HTML5, omitting the alt attribute indicates that an alternative for the image was not provided or cannot be determined. An instance where no alt attribute might be necessary is when a user uploads hundreds of photos to a photo sharing site and will not provide alternative text for each of them. Because the alt attribute is required in previous versions of HTML and XHTML, this would require the photo sharing site to give the images improper alternative text (either alt=””, which is not accurate because the image does convey content, or generic, inaccurate alternative text such as alt=”photo087″ or similar) in order to be valid HTML. In HTML5, the alt attribute may be omitted in this case, and while this does not make the image accessible, this does provide an indication that the image is not accessible and might allow screen readers to then attempt to find or present additional potentially useful information about the image (such as the image file name, results from a related image search, etc.).

The Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger Institute (MCDD) has recently launched a statewide Community Resource Mapping Project, supported by DHMH’s Office for Genetics and People with Special Health Care Needs.

Although this database is being created by the state, the content will only be as good as the resources collected from communities across Maryland.

MCDD is seeking input from anyone in Maryland, i.e., a self-advocate, provider, parent, caregiver, educator and so on, who may know of a service or information that would be helpful for a person of any age with a special health care need (including developmental disabilities).

The Resource Mapping Project is being done regionally, so if you know of a resource that is specific to any region, even if it is a statewide resource, please consider sharing it.