Where It's AT – Assistive Technology Blog

The Oregon Health and Science University is seeking Special Education Teachers and Speech-Language Pathologists to participate in a study funded by the U.S. Department of Education.  Participants must:

• Currently serve at least one student with complex communication needs at any grade level, including early intervention/early childhood special education.
• Be responsible for developing communication-related IEP/IFSP goals for one student, as described above.
• NOT currently use the Communication Matrix to evaluate students

Participants will receive an honorarium ranging from $200-$350 depending on the group they are assigned to.

If you are interested in further details about this study, please email quinnem@ohsu.edu.

Grant #H327A110010, U. S. Dept. of Education

Button Text

Buttons should have descriptive and succinct values or text that describe the function of that form button. Like “click here” links, ambiguous button text (such as “Go” or “Submit”) requires the user to scan before the button to determine precisely what the button does. Descriptive text such as “Search”, “Subscribe”, etc. are unambiguous and more accessible. If multiple buttons are present on a page, the button text should be different (e.g., “Search the web” versus “Search this site”).

The Governor’s Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing of Maryland has many great resources for those seeking information on various hearing-related issues including financing hearing aids, identifying an audiologist, hearing aid directory and more. Visit them online to access these documents and learn about other hearing-loss resources in Maryland.

AT in the news for the week of 10/29 – 11/2

For some with disabilities, gaming fills a basic need

Adaptive technology opening possibilities at Bellevue College

US Makes New Exemptions To Digital Millennium Copyright Act Provision

Crawling Robots to Help Infants with Cerebral Palsy

New Hope for Traumatic Brain Injury and Stroke Survivors

MIT researchers develop painless medical tape for newborns

Better metrics: measuring progress in prosthetics users

‘Segway with legs’ lets people with paralysis walk

Teachers and Parents! The ViewPlus Technologies Emprint SpotDot Braille and Color Ink Embosser

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ASL video: Help for disaster victims whose property was damaged or destroyed

Cochlear implants, increasingly used to help kids hear, also improves their job prospects

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/01/4952017/cochlear-implants-increasingly.html

BBC – The Ouch! Blog: Robin Christopherson: Living IT

How technology is creating a reading revolution

If you’re filing a homeowners claim due to Sandy, read this for info about “hurricane deductibles” that DO NOT apply

iRock: The self-sufficient, power-generating rocking chair for iDevices

AMP-Foot 2.0 prosthesis mimics human ankle’s spring

Assistive robotic help gains acceptance in homes

Expo to highlight assistive technology

AT:LAST, sometimes referred to as the MAT Coop, recently launched their new website http://www.atlastinc.org/ to highlight their various trainings, events, and purchasing program.

AT:LAST provides

• High quality assistive technology training opportunities
• Demonstration and loan of a variety of AT devices, software, and apps exemplifying the continuum of products available
• Consultations and evaluations to meet individual needs or improve service provision
• Advocacy assistance to families

Visit them online or call (410) 381-2667 to arrange a visit.

Web Accessibility and SEO

Web accessibility and search engine optimization (SEO) are both about getting relevant content to users. Accessible content and search engine optimized content are both machine readable. Accessibility and SEO best practices are closely aligned. Proper alternative text for images, good heading structure, descriptive link text, descriptive and succinct page titles, ensuring keyboard accessibility, providing captions and transcripts, identifying the language of the page, using text instead of images when possible, providing clear and consistent navigation and page structure, and several other best practices help provide accessible and search engine friendly content.