The information age has brought libraries an entire new group of potential patrons, the so‐called “print disabled”. For many librarians, retooling to keep up with the invasion of…
Abstract
The information age has brought libraries an entire new group of potential patrons, the so‐called “print disabled”. For many librarians, retooling to keep up with the invasion of digitized information seems frightening and overwhelming. The thought of having to take that a further step and become familiar with the specialized hardware and software that people with disabilities use to adapt the computer seems like asking too much. The goal of this column is to persuade librarians that taking on this new task will be a challenge and opportunity rather than another burden. A number of tools and products are discussed. This time the focus is on IBM’s Home Page Reader.
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The World Wide Web is the most significant advance in mass dissemination of information since the invention of the printing press. Because electronic information is largely…
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The World Wide Web is the most significant advance in mass dissemination of information since the invention of the printing press. Because electronic information is largely display independent, it is accessible to persons with disabilities who have the use of a computer with adaptive technology. Unfortunately, some Web design erects new, needless barriers to the use of this medium. This article outlines some of the problems, describes international activities aimed to transcend these problems and also suggests some simple, immediate solutions.
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This paper is an empirical review of some of the problems faced by those with a visual impairment in the computer age, and a summary of the types of technology that can assist in…
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This paper is an empirical review of some of the problems faced by those with a visual impairment in the computer age, and a summary of the types of technology that can assist in making information available to those with impaired vision. It also provides some contacts for readers who wish to investigate this technology further and some observations on implementing some of the solutions in education.
Increasingly, a large number of functions on the campuses of post‐secondary educational institutions are becoming reliant on the use of computers. In 1986, a user group was formed…
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Increasingly, a large number of functions on the campuses of post‐secondary educational institutions are becoming reliant on the use of computers. In 1986, a user group was formed at The University of Michigan to give people with disabilities a voice in determining how their computing needs could be met. Passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) bolstered the group's efforts.
In the first installment of this series, the discussion focused mainly on the technologies that support participation in computermediated conferences. This installment looks…
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In the first installment of this series, the discussion focused mainly on the technologies that support participation in computermediated conferences. This installment looks briefly at the conferences and electronic publications native to BITNET. BITNET, an exclusively academic network, is a rich environment, offering users access to electronic journals and newsletters, file services, and computer‐mediated conferences on almost every topic of interest to educators.