April / May 2000

Preview:
Richard: This month Bill's taking a break while I dig into digital cameras and how to move images from a digital camera onto the Mac. As a person interested in both computers and photography, I've followed the evolution of digital cameras and scanners. As a long-time Macintosh user, I've witnessed and experienced the expensive, awkward, and interesting evolution of getting images into various Macintosh models through the years.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
Professional productivity is a concept that has been around for quite some time. It has been frequently used as a starting point to engage teachers in using technology to facilitate their work. Indeed, most professionals have attended workshops or taken courses about integrated software packages in order to explore the individual and collective potential these tools offer for improving our efficiency and effectiveness.While an integrated program (i.e., ClarisWorks or Microsoft Office) is certainly the core tool supporting professional productivity, numerous other technology tools are typically used on a regular basis to qualify as part of a technology toolkit. The thought that there may be a core set of tools that support the work special education and related services personnel is one that has interested me for some time.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come." ∆ Victor HugoEffective organizationCreative intervention ideas are the backbone of successful of communication system implementation. Behind these ideas, typically lie a multitude of methods and materials. Effectively organizing all this takes preparation, planning and teamwork.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
Untitled Document "In the beginning I was a scared kid. Those first few months of stepping onto that school bus I truly believed I did not belong. I was not like these kids; I did not have a physical disability! However, over the course of the year, things changed.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
As you read in our previous article; "Part I of IV: No prerequisites," (Closing The Gap, February/March, 2000) students with the most severe disabilities benefit from using voice output communication aids. The belief is that there are no prerequisites and all students can learn to formally communicate. However, the question that now begs to be answered is how do you, the parent, teacher or therapist, move a student beyond a single message.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
Computer playsets One of the new trends this year in computer technology for children has been computer playsets - games, telephones, and other equipment that attach to the computer, sit on or near the keyboard, and allow for interactive play without the use of the keyboard. Wonderful for even the littlest computer users, all are for Windows computers only. They connect easily to the computer and install with no difficulty or complications (some just set on the keyboard with no connections necessary).

[View Full Article]

Preview:
Experiences make us who we are as well as mold what we believe. It was an experience in my classroom with preschoolers that convinced me appropriate off-computer extension activities were very important. I had made little lotto games and picture books entitled "Teach Me Nouns," "Teach Me Big and Little" "Teach Me Same and Different," "Teach Me Colors," etc.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
Arkenstone, Inc., a provider of adaptive technology to people with visual disabilities, announced the release of a new version of WYNN 2.0 (What You Need Now). WYNN 2.0 is an effective and easy to use education and productivity tool designed especially to meet the needs of individuals with reading difficulties, including those with dyslexia. WYNN was developed with the support of IBM, and is an IBM Independence Series Partner Solution.Designed with input from a group at the University of California at Berkeley, WYNN uses traditional study aids and a bi-modal approach – simultaneous visual and auditory input – to help improve comprehension, retention, composition, and study skills.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
Arkenstone, Inc., a provider of adaptive technology to people with visual disabilities, announced that it is releasing nine new language versions of its flagship product, Open Book.Arkenstone's latest version of Open Book, the Ruby Edition, released in 1999, has proven to be a huge success with government agencies, education, and individuals. Its latest features include editing, new OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and page layout technology, and full compatibility with Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0.Continuing its tradition of providing different language versions of its products, Open Book has been translated into a number of languages. The Ruby Edition has been completely translated, including all display and speech items and full documentation.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
JAWS for Windows 3.5 is now shipping from Henter-Joyce and is also available as a download from www.hj.com. The newest version of the screen reader software features support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 5, including the ability to read pages on the Internet without reformatting, just as if you were in a word processor. Version 3.5 gives you access to forms found on the Internet as well.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
SayIt is new assistive technology software that creates a level playing field for persons with visual impairments. It is a tool for creating accessible electronic forms without needing to fully understand the assistive technology itself.What happens? When a user opens an electronic form containing the SayIt control, SayIt looks at the user's computer to determine if a screen reader is in use. If not, then the software is quiet, and the form is completed as normal.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
Next Generation Technologies, Inc., a speech recognition technology consultancy, announced the upgrade release of JawBone. The new version 3.0 will automate the use of Jaws for Windows version 3.5 and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional (ver. 4.0x).

[View Full Article]

Preview:
AlphaSmart Inc., an education technology developer, announced its next-generation intelligent classroom appliance. The AlphaSmart 3000 is a highly portable, low-cost platform that allows every student in class to create, edit and store their own original compositions and essays. Costing only a fraction of the price of conventional desktop computers, the AlphaSmart 3000 enables even budget-conscious school districts to equip an entire class with individual systems for less than the price of three conventional desktop machines.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
A software expander program by Textware Solutions, originally designed for medical transcription, tech writing, and similar fast-typing professionals, is now available to the world of assistive communicating, according to Dr. J. D.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
Millions of Americans struggle with speech and language disorders. Articulation I: Consonant Phonemes was designed to allow drill and practice on the speech sounds necessary to improve speech intelligibility. The 1,320 words are grouped by voiced and voiceless phoneme pairs in 11 categories.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
"I myself have known firsthand the frustration of not having timely access to Braille scores. Our GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator has greatly shortened transcription times and has increased the amount and variety of music available in Braille.Now GOODFEEL is a 32-bit Windows application which broils lyrics, offers comprehensive online help, has improved support for non-English text, and provides the option to preview and edit your score in a Braille font or with a Braille display!" - Bill McCannAre you a blind singer or instrumentalist who needs to have Braille scores quickly? Are you an educator or rehabilitation professional who serves blind musicians? GOODFEEL 2.0 Braille music translator from Dancing Dots can help you. GOODFEEL automatically converts several kinds of computer music files to Braille.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
ADAMLAB / Wayne RESA is pleased to announce the release of its newest augmentative communication device - the Lighthawk."For a long time, we have wanted to create a visual scanning device in which it is obvious which cell is being scanned as opposed to having one small LED light up in the corner of each cell." says Ray Dryer, ADAMLAB engineer. "We found a way to surround each selection area with eight LEDs * essentially forming a box of lights * making it clear to the user which choice is being scanned. We were able to do this while minimizing the drain on the battery power."Like all of ADAMLAB's AAC devices, the Lighthawk uses high-quality digitized speech.

[View Full Article]

Preview:
SayIt takes the mystery and time consuming task of learning about assistive technologies away. It is an easy process of inserting the SayIt control into the application and letting SayIt take care of the assistive technology decisions.Virtually every company in the United States needs to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for accommodating prospective or new employees. Recipients of federal government funding also need to comply with Section 508, which requires accessibility standards in both computer hardware and software.

[View Full Article]