| |
Past
Issues: Spring/Summer
Quarter, 2003
Volume 2,
Issue 2 -- Fall Quarter, 2003
By Leon McNaught
CSUSB was awarded $10,000 from a CSU fund to maintain an electronic
text database that will create a central resource for e-documents
specially for people with disabilities.
The database will be of great assistance for students with disabilities
who need textbooks in electronic format for use with screen readers
or other assistive applications.
In the future, the database may also become a resource for additional
alternative formats such as Braille.
At the moment it is difficult and time consuming to find a text
in a digital format. Publishers are often reluctant to surrender
digital editions of lucrative textbooks for fear they may be easily
distributed. In addition, digitizing text often results in
tedious time consuming editing to ensure scanned pages are error
free.
ACM's Evans Kahuthu, Campus Web Master, did a great job of creating
the database. Key staff, such as Davena Peters of SSD, will have
access to the database. It is our hope that a database of
digital text will become a major resource to all CSU campuses and
provide a timely turnaround for students, faculty, and staff needing
e-text.
By Leon McNaught
The second annual
IRT Technology Day, held on Thursday October 16th, was a big success
for the campus community.
The event had over thirty informational booths, guest speakers,
and hands-on technology discovery for students, faculty, staff and visitors.
Attendees saw a vast range of cutting edge technology that included
some hot topics such as: Smart classrooms, wireless internet, digital
imaging, data security, and of course our favorite, Assistive Technologies.
The ACRC displayed a range of assistive technologies currently
in use across campus. Specific technologies included alternative
input such as speech recognition, and various pointing and keyboard
devices. Also demonstrated was Optical Character Recognition
(OCR), a technology used to scan text and convert it to an electronic
format for editing or use with other programs such as screen readers.
By Leon McNaught
Accessibility and inclusion for all individuals who require Web
based access to information is a priority for Academic Computing
& Media and CSUSB. To reach this goal the department has
collaborated on an interim policy of Web accessibility based around
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This campus
wide initiative is a first step to ensure that all on-line campus
information is accessible to individuals with disabilities.
With Web based information becoming embellished in rich media content,
invisible barriers often appear when using Websites with assistive
applications such as screen readers. It is necessary that
this information be made available in alternative formats which
overcome limitations caused by glossy, aesthetic Web-based content.
Examples of such accommodation include: transcripts for audio content,
captioned video content, and available text-based navigation links.
Assisting in the transition to completely accessible Web pages ACM
has purchased a software program to allow quick on-the-fly checkups
of Websites. This program will be available on-line via the
ACM department page in January 2004. The program scans your
site and checks for common errors that may inhibit accessibility
of your information. Much of the non-accessible information on a
Website needs only minimal changes to enable proper access with
assistive software applications. Other information needs specific
accommodations (providing content in other formats).
It must be stressed that this adopted policy is an interim solution
and the details are not yet finalized. ACM encourages discussion
of the policy by various committees on our campus. Additional
input from the campus community will only strengthen the purpose
and effectiveness of the policy. Below is the link to check your
website for accessibility compliance.
Check our Website: http://acm.csusb.edu/webaccessibility
By Leon McNaught
Albert Willis is
a CSUSB student currently pursuing a BA in History and a BS in Geology
along with a minor in Arabic. Albert is now legally
blind and began using assistive technology in 1980 with a VisualTek
CCTV (an electric magnification device).
To be a successful student Albert has been forced to adapt to his
condition and find alternative methods to using technology.
For Albert, voice output from the computer has become the primary
method in which on-screen information is communicated. This
is accomplished through the use of an assistive software application
known as Job Access With Speech, or JAWS for short. JAWS is
a screen reading program that reads all information on the screen
with which the user interacts, including documents, menus, Websites
etc.
Individuals such as Albert become very proficient at listening to
computer generated speech output. It is not unusual to hear
Albert listening to JAWS at upwards of 200 words per minute!
Albert can listen to and comprehend information at a rate that may
sound garbled to most people.
By Leon McNaught
National Disability Employment Awareness Month began with the Presidential
Proclamation of Public Law 100-630 (Title III, Sec 301a) in 1988.
This law replaced a previous law which had occurred annually since
1945 during the first week of October. The campus was scheduled
to host its second annual National Disability Awareness Month event
on October 29th. Unfortunately, due to the severe wildfires
and damage to the campus, the event was cancelled. The committee
will be focusing all of their energy into the spring event.
To find out more about this national focus on disability awareness
start by visiting the following internet resources:
U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services:
http://www.mentalhealth.org/Highlights/October2002/disability/links.asp
U.S. Dept. of Labor: http://www.dol.gov/odep/
National Organization on Disability: http://www.nod.org/
By Leon McNaught
Academic Computing
& Media (ACM) reaches out to individuals with disabilities through
the Assistive Computing Resource Center (ACRC).
With an agreement between the State of California Department of
Rehabilitation and ACM, the ACRC is able to provide it's services
to members of the local community who do not necessarily attend
CSUSB. Essentially, the DOR's fee for services program allows
inland empire clients to be evaluated on campus with our state-of-the-art
facilities.
An evaluation at the ACRC provides the client with an array of assistive
technologies and highly qualified staff who can assess, with the
client, which solution best fits the client's needs.
This information is submitted to the client's DOR counselor who
will then make recommendations for the client. This can often
mean that the client will receive specialized software and/or hardware
to help overcome a specific disability.
For more information, contact Niraj Parikh at ACRC (909) 537-5071
or mention our service to your rehabilitation counselor.
By Leon McNaught
The
WorkAbility IV (WAIV) program has a new realm of involvement that
focuses on education based services. The services are tailored
to assist in three main categories; prospective, admitted, and enrolled
students who are also DOR clients. For prospective students,
WAIV can assist with accommodation for admission eligibility, financial
aid, and academic advising. Admitted students who are continuing
from a community college, can also benefit with assistance in campus
orientation, course planning, advisement, and referrals to programs
such as PASS and federal work study.
Finally, enrolled students can receive education plans, tracking
of credits towards graduation, connections to various campus departments,
and assistance with administration issues such as class withdrawal
due to illness. The new Education Services arm of WAIV bridges
the gap between Department of Rehabilitation counselors, clients,
and CSUSB for a more effective educational transition.
For more on this great new service or to check eligibility, contact
Ruth Howell at WAIV (909) 537-7417 or rhowell@csusb.edu
By Leon McNaught
Now Spanish speakers
can enjoy the convenience of natural text to speech translation.
The ACRC has purchased a license for Dragon NaturallySpeaking Spanish
edition for use in our PL-014 training lab. Spanish speakers
will enjoy the same speed and accuracy of the English version, as
well as a familiar interface and feature set. With the latest
version of Dragon, users can expect accuracy above 90%. Dragon
revolutionizes the way you can use your PC. Aside from regular
text to speech, Dragon allows users to control their PC with voice.
That means less use of the mouse during many repetitive tasks such
as E-mail and browsing the web. "Less mouse and more mouth"
means a reduced chance of repetitive strain injuries. It's
easy to turn your fluent Spanish into hands free typing at up to
200 words per minute. If you would like to try the Spanish
edition of Dragon contact the ACRC at x5079.
More information on Dragon NaturallySpeaking Spanish edition is
available at the manufacturers Website:
http://spain.scansoft.com/naturallyspeaking/
|
Assistive
Computing Resource Center (PL-014):
Monday through Friday 8 AM - 5 PM
|
|
