All around us, technology keeps changing at a remarkable rate. Computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) get smaller and more powerful; cell phones can perform tasks we never imagined we would want them to do; home appliances are sold with touch screens rather than buttons. If we are not vigilant, people who are blind or visually impaired will be shut out of more and more activities that are part of our daily lives.
One way to try to keep up with these technological advances is to communicate with product developers and tell them what they must do to make their products accessible to the growing number of people with disabilities. An ideal venue for this dialogue is the annual Technology and Persons with Disabilities conference, hosted by the Center on Disabilities of the California State University at Northridge (CSUN). Some representatives of mainstream companies attend this conference, searching for ways to create more accessible products. Assistive technology companies are there in force, showing their latest products and seeking feedback on what their customers need.
AccessWorld's online format allows Deborah Kendrick and me to bring you extended coverage of this year's conference. Once again, the CSUN staff must be commended for planning and running the largest and best assistive technology conference in the business. Other, much smaller conferences struggle to find reasonably accessible venues and to provide accessible conference materials. These problems do not exist at CSUN. Instead, participants from many countries and with a range of disabilities struggle to decide how to choose from among the fascinating sessions and product demonstrations that fill each hour of every day of the conference. We do our best to fill you in on what transpired.
Jim Denham and Heather McComas of AFB's Technology and Employment Center in Huntington, West Virginia (AFB TECH) and I review Freedom Scientific's JAWS for Windows 5.0 and GW Micro's Window-Eyes 4.5. We evaluate each screen reader's documentation, as well as their performance in Microsoft Word, Excel, and on the web. The current versions of these two heavyweights in the U.S. screen reader market are packed with new features. Find out how these tools can make your work and leisure-time activities more productive.
Jim Denham also evaluates ALVA's Mobile Phone Organizer (MPO), the first combination personal digital assistant and cell phone specifically designed for persons who are blind or visually impaired. The MPO features braille input, synthetic speech output, and a 20-cell refreshable braille display. Applications include notes, telephone, SMS (short message service), contacts, agenda, utilities, and settings. Telephone calls can be handled using a headphone microphone for privacy or through a speaker phone. This article will help you decide whether a fully accessible cell phone and a notetaker are worth the high price of the MPO.
Darren Burton and Mark Uslan of AFB TECH evaluate two cellular telephones: the Audiovox CDM 9950, also sold as the Toshiba VM 4050, and the Samsung SPH-a660, both of which have some speech capability already built in. The Audiovox phone has many features found in today's top cell phones and a particularly interesting feature called Voice Guidance, which provides speech and other audio output to communicate some screen information. The Samsung phone includes a Global Positioning Satellite capability and web access. Voice Recognition, which allows you to control the phone via voice commands, also includes the speech output that is of interest to users who are blind or visually impaired. Learn what our cell phone experts think of these two new products.
Joe Lazzaro, director of the Adaptive Technology Program at the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind in Boston and a freelance writer, provides an introduction to creating a web site. He introduces the new web author to some basic HTML commands and walks you through creating your first web page. If you have been thinking about designing a web site or writing a web log or blog, this article will get you started.
Deborah Kendrick reviews color identifiers--the ColorTest Memo from Caretec, the Color Teller from Brytech, and the Cobolt Speechmaster Colour Detector. These three devices are designed to select appropriately coordinated clothing, sort laundry, select file folders or other office materials coded by color, identify packaging of products or medications, and more. The ColorTest also includes additional features. Now you won't have to hesitate when someone tells you to "Keep only the yellow copy."
Thank you for making AccessWorld's change to a web-only magazine a success. More people read the January issue online than read any previous issue in all the formats in which we used to publish. Please keep coming back, and, while you are here, check out the rest of AFB's redesigned web site.
Jay Leventhal, Editor in Chief
