Held March 23-24, 2010, Washington, DC

FOSE is described as the largest federal government information technology trade show in the United States.  The exhibit hall attracted vendors ranging from law enforcement and public safety to cypber-security and information assurance.  All were eager to show off their products and services. 

NCTI has attended this show in our backyard for the past eight years. This year, we were surprised at how few IT accessibility and workplace accommodations booths, vendors, and solutions were displayed.  There were a few captioning solutions, and a few web conferencing solutions on display.

Our long-standing stakeholder, Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program (CAP), was there, and they have two new initiatives. They have been authorized to work with 64 governmental agencies to arrange and provide workplace accommodations for returning wounded service members, WSM Initiative, a program which has spread their expertise and leadership well beyond the Department of Defense. Additionally, they have been authorized to buy the AT equipment for the veteran so that it belongs to the worker. This way, if the veteran changes jobs, his or her equipment can transfer to the new position whether it is in government or not. They are very excited about this project and the results they are seeing.  They also encouraged NCTI to advertise an upcoming Schedule A job fair, April 26, which is intended to provide some direct hires for individuals with disabilities in existing job openings in the government.  Check it out!

Also exhibiting in the Accessible IT area was the GSA’s BuyAccessible Program which hosts a Wizard to help procurement officials step through the processes involved in ensuring and documenting that they are considering accessible and Section 508 compliant solutions.  They host a product and services directory in which vendors self-report their levels of compliance and accessibility.  The Wizard is free to use and while it is not promoted to school districts or higher education institutions, it is easily usable by those purchasing departments as well.  See www.buyaccessible.gov. 

In the Expo, we were hard pressed to find information regarding AT for students in the K-16 education setting.  However, there were a handful of vendors who were demonstrating their technology similar to whiteboards that can expand the learning opportunities for all students.

Two of these are Boxlight and AHA.  Boxlight provides an alternative to a white board by building the sensor into the projector.  The instructor then simply points the wand at the image that is being projected to write on it, highlight sections of text to emphasize a point, or navigate web pages so the entire class can see.  AHA Information and Communication has a similar product, but it is hand activated and has the functionality similar to an iPhone. Both of these technologies are being in classrooms across the country and are helping to expand learning opportunities for all students.       

Perhaps the most exciting attention-grabber was Sprockit, a witty robot that enjoyed interacting with the crowd and posing for pictures.  This little guy maintained better eye-contact and conversation than a lot of people at the show.  Most likely, the entire exchange with NCTI staffer, Dr. Cynthia Overton, was video and audio recorded through hidden devices, but it was all part of the fun of the afternoon.  

To learn, visit the conference website.