NetSquared, an initiative of TechSoup.org - disability

ATSTAR - helping teachers use tech for kids with disabilities

Sharron Rush — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:58:52 -0400

Project Screenshot

Supporting organization

Knowbility

URL

www.atstar.org

Location

Texas, Colorado, Montana

Project Description

Assistive technology (AT) can be a lifeline for students with disabilities. As more students with learning differences, physical impairments, and cognitive and emotional disorders are educated in general education classrooms, teachers are challenged to meet the needs of those students. Kids with disabilities do better in school when they have access to the right technology supports.

ATSTAR brings AT expertise directly into the classroom. Using a series of online training modules, an online community of AT experts to mentor teachers, and fully accessible captioned video case studies to guide teachers through the process of AT assessment and implementation, ATSTAR pilots have demonstrated that teachers gain expertise and kids benefit.

A teacher in a rural Montana school house, teaching grades K-8 in one classroom, used the ATSTAR program to find a technology solution for a second grader with cerebral palsy. The student is bright and because of mobility and speech impairments needs alternative input and output devices for communication of lessons. The ATSTAR method guided the teacher and parents to the right solution so that the student has the support she needs to succeed in school.

Recent technology improvements have made the ATSTAR program ready for national dissemination. Contact Kathy carmain for more information: kathy at knowbility dot org .

Down Syndrome- A Face of Disability

NINA — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 20:17:01 -0400

http://www.netsquared.org/projects/vote Down-Syndrome. Makes one wonder why would our Creator give an innocent child, who hasn't even seen the light of day, Down-Syndrome, a Disability that has no cure. The entire family is affected and heart broken. Trying to find a Rehabilitation Facility for some one with Down Syndrome is a great challenge even in North America.

A New Reality - Changing the World one play and one artist at a time

sbfarcas — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 19:26:43 -0400

Google Labs explores accessibility

Sharron Rush — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:24:11 -0400

Disabled computer users often regard their browsers as a lifeline to the world. But during last year's natural disasters, it became very clear that the lifeline was tenuous - perhaps broken entirely - as so many relief sites were not accessible to those who need them most. To help people with disabilities find what they need more easily, Google Labs released a new product yesterday. Called Accessible Search, it optimizes pages based on some key accessibility features, including alt text, keyboard navigation, simple language and so forth. The idea is to save blind users the wasted time and frustration of trying to get information from inaccessible sites. To see how your standard search stacks up against the accessible searc, try out this comparison tool

EasyJournal makes blogging accessible

Sharron Rush — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:51:28 -0400

We saw a bunch of cool new tools at the conference. It seemed like blogging was a very big deal for attendees thinking in new ways about communicating their mission-based work. I was inspired to become hyper-alert to identifying accessible, equivalent tools and communication methods. In that spirit, I offer EasyJournal as a tool that meets accessibility standards, but more importantly that opens up the blogging experience for millions. The most well-known blogging tools may create accessible pages - usually mostly text, after all. The problem comes when someone - the student at the school for the blind, perhaps or the personnel administrator with quadriplegia - who can't use a mouse tries to post a blog. It doesn’t work well. It is difficult, perhaps impossible for the person with a disability to have the blogging experience using well-known tools because thecontent creation interface is not accessible. The interface for EasyJournal was designed with accessibility in mind, however and you might consider trying it. It’s free, it’s accessible, and it requires no additional software.

Mobilizing communities around tech access for disabled

Sharron Rush — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:17:30 -0400

Project Screenshot

Supporting organization

Knowbility.org

URL

http://www.knowbility.org/air/?content=home

Location

Austin, Houston, Boston, Indianapolis, other citeis

Project Description

Since 1998, Knowbility's AIR (Accessibility Internet Rally) program has introduced tech professionals to the concept of making applications accessible to everyone - including people with disabilities. Using tech sector networks and listserves, Knowbility issues a challenge to the local technology community in cities throughout the country:

Create a team of 4 - 6 people. Come take our classes about how and why technology can and must be made accessible. Then, have the chance to win glory for your team when you demonstrate your new skills in a web design contest.

While this challenging message is distributed in the community, the AIR program teaches small local nonprofit organziations how to think about putting relevant parts of their mission-based work online. NPOs are prepared to be effective clients and to communicate their needs to their tech team. After Web 101 training for the NPOs and successive accessibility training for the tech pros, each team is assigned to their NPO "client" for one high-energy work day in a local tech center.

The result:

Dozens of nonprofit organziations that serve the arts, health, human service, environmental needs of local communities receive professionally designed web sites that they could otherwise not afford;
People with disabilities experience improved access to online resources and nonprofit servics, because the sites are designed to be accessible.
Tech pros learn useful accessible design techniques that they can incorporate into their daily work, improving accessibility throughout the greater Web
Everyone understands more about how and why to make technology accessible
Relationships are forged throughout the city between the tech sector and the nonprofit community.
Everyone has a meaningful volunteer experience, using skills in which they are expert.

AIR is a unique community collaboration that produces benefits far beyond the basic goal of raising awareness of technology access issues for people with disabilities. It has been recognized for excellence and innovation by the Peter Drucker Foundation, the US Department of Labor and many, many others. To bring AIR to your city, contact Knowbility at knowbility.org.

How do people with disabilities use Web 2.0?

Sharron Rush — Tue, 16 May 2006 17:51:23 -0400

OK, I know, I should have been paying attention earlier. If I wanted accessibility sessions I had my chance to suggest themes, questions and topics...right? But as I look through the sessions for the latest in accessible blogging tools, content management systems, fundraising software, do I really find....nothing?! absolutely nothing about accessibility?

Nothing on accessibility at the coolest nonprofit tech conference ever?

How could that be? I admit that I am a bit cocooned. I spend 90% of my time with people who know tons about accessibility...people like John Slatin, Jim Thatcher, Molly Holzschlag, Kelsey Ruger, Glenda Sims... or with people who want to know more about accessibility, like the participants in AIR programs, Access-U and CalWAC. But am I really so sheltered? so deluded? Does the rest of the world really care about access to the web for 55 million Americans and 750 million people worldwide...not at all?!

e-Buddies: Friendships Through Technology

billmaurer — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 18:44:03 -0500

Project Screenshot

Supporting organization

Best Buddies International

URL

www.ebuddies.org

Project Description

Best Buddies International is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment.

Founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver, Best Buddies has grown from one chapter on one college campus to a vibrant, international organization. Our programs today reach all 50 of the United States, and Best Buddies has active international programs in Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, the Philippines and Sweden; with additional programs under development in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

e-Buddies is one of the six friendship programs offered by Best Buddies. e-Buddies seeks to build e-mail friendships between children and adults with intellectual disabilities and their peers who do not have intellectual disabilities.

Individuals with intellectual disabilities are matched in one-to-one e-mail friendships with non-disabled volunteers - matches are made based on age, gender, geography, and sharedinterests. Matched participants are asked to exchange e-mails once a week.

e-Buddies provides individuals with intellectual disabilities an opportunity to develop new friendships while learning valuable reading, writing, and computer skills in the process. On top of the obvious educational benefits, the impact of the building these friendships is immeasurable.

e-Buddies uses a sophisticated e-mail system, built on the E-mentoring Tool Kit platform developed by the MENTOR / National Mentoring Partnership, to facilitate our matches. This system provides several layers of security to help ensure the safety of our participants; it also allows our staff to track the progress of matches and maintain a high level of match quality.

With thousands of participants served since e-Buddies was officially launched in 2000, we envision e-Buddies as a model for many successful e-mentoring programs in the future.