AT in the news for the week of 10/22-10/26. These are just some of the articles that we recently tweeted about. Read all our posts via the MDTAP Twitter account.

Statue Of Liberty Gets Accessibility Upgrade

Dotris – a computer game played on a refreshable Braille display

Israeli-developed smartphone gives the blind new-found access to apps

Devices Can be Damaged by Airport Security Scanners

‘Smartpen’ Pilot Program Helps Students with Disabilities

Justice Department Settles with Maryland Restaurant Over Accessibility Violations

Blind single mother goes full steam on writing career  

The Accessible Home: Designing for All Ages & Abilities – New Book by Architect Deborah Pierce

Professor speaks about technology’s influence on disability perception

National Federation of the Blind Takes On E-Text Pilots

The Hunt for an Affordable Hearing Aid

Motorola HC1 Headset Computer with voice recognition and gesture control

Battles at Home Veterans With Disabilities Often Face in Finding Work

Technology can dramatically reduce caregiving costs

Vet Walks On New Legs, With A Little Help From Mom

N. Aurora man helps deaf community with new app

Thinking outside the box is easy at multi-million dollar invention center

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Girl Who Went Naked For A Month: A True Sensory Disorder Tale

Deaf-blind music teacher honoured

Recovery from Debilitating Sepsis Infection Aided by Tech, Community Support and a Positive Spirit, Says Survivor

Scuba Technology Opens the Underwater World to Those with Disabilities

Making life easier for the disabled

Requiring JavaScript

Some advanced web applications would not be possible without JavaScript. Both Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 allow JavaScript to be required so long as the JavaScript content and interactions are compliant and accessible. Whether you should require JavaScript is not really an accessibility question. It is a general usability question. Some users (most users indicate less than 2%), regardless of disability, may have JavaScript disabled. When possible, the functionality should be available without requiring JavaScript. When this is not possible, the functionality should fail gracefully (i.e., inform the user that JavaScript is required).

It is a common misconception that screen readers to not support JavaScript or that users with disabilities always disable JavaScript. The approach to accessibility is then to only ensure that the non-JavaScript version or fallback content is accessible. A screen reader user survey found that 98.6% of respondents had JavaScript enabled, meaning that in this case, nearly all screen reader users would not get the accessible fallback but would instead get the inaccessible scripted content. In order to be compliant and accessible, all scripted content and functionality must be accessible.

The IMAGE Center of Maryland is hosting a travel training session today, October 23rd, from 3:30-5:30pm.

Learn about riding on MTA’s local bus, light rail and subway. Learn pedestrian skills, time and money management, personal safety and much more! Call or message IMAGE Center for more information.

The IMAGE Center

300 E. Joppa Rd

Ste. 302

Towson, MD 21286

(410) 982-6311

www.imagemd.org

info@imagemd.org

Empowering Parents

An engaging PBS show for parents of beginning readers

If you have a child who is a struggling reader, your family is not alone. Learning to read is a challenge for almost 40 percent of kids, and an even bigger challenge for their parents.

Empowering Parents, a PBS special hosted by Al Roker, visits schools in Huntingtown, Maryland, and Portland, Oregon, to see how families learn to identify early signs of reading problems and find ideas for getting their kids the help and support they need to succeed at reading.

Watch the whole episode online or check PBS for your local listing.

We’re wrapping up our weekly blog posts a day early, but wanted to make sure we share this week’s most current AT news.

AT in the news for 10/15 – 10/18

Group launches certification program for airport wheelchair personnel to improve service

AT blog from NFB offers a positive story about the accessibility of in-flight WiFi

‘Dave on Wheels,’ who wrote online goodbye before he ‘died,’ exposed as a hoax

Tech uses high-tech glasses for autism research

A new era in disabled access beckons as Japanese team builds prototype of wheelchair with legs

Once Banned, Special Needs App To Return

Design for our future selves: how the wheelchairs of tomorrow can liberate people with disabilities

$24 Million in Grants to 22 States to Help Children with Disabilities | U.S. Department of Education

Presidential Proclamation — Blind Americans Equality Day, 2012

Social Media Helps Student With Autism Find His Voice

No to the Nook e-Reader, Says The National Federation of the Blind

BREAK project creates free assistive devices for people living with disabilities –

U.S Dept. of Labor launches virtual workplace flexibility toolkit

New gaming technology for kids with disabilities

NASA creates ‘Ironman’ like exoskeleton, could help disabled walk