Assistive Technology

Ron Hu emphasizes affordable, creative new approaches combined with simplicity of design. His recent Da Vinci Award for the KeyboardCommunicator and the successful SmartSpeakers for AlphaSmart systems showcase this approach.

What makes AT devices and training “state-of-the-art”? See how NCTI stakeholders responded and add your comments.

Exceptional teams of researchers and vendors have been selected for funding from NCTI to examine the impact of innovative assistive technologies for students with special needs. This year’s winning teams represent a wide spectrum of research interests and approaches.

What happens when you turn AAC platforms into instant messaging devices? These 2008 Tech in the Works winners found unexpected discoveries such as the critical need for chat specific vocabularies.

Find out how Fire and Ice is developing learning, collaborative action, and cultural relationships through web conferencing and social networking technology.

This article explores how existing market research in the assistive technology (AT) field can be leveraged to create new solutions and to help those solutions reach wider markets.

Read about WYNN, the literacy software designed with a graphic interface to accommodate a range of user needs and styles.

gh is an AT business success story. Find out how Dave utlized an incubator opportunity and venture capital to get started and how gh stays involved in standards and ahead of the development curve.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Michigan Chapter’s 2008 da Vinci Award® winners are announced. The da Vinci Awards recognize the most innovative developments and research in adaptive and assistive technology. The Society understands well difficulties people experience when faced with physical disabilities and created the da Vinci Awards to recognize the most innovative projects that enable everyone to participate and contribute in all aspects of society.

New York Times bestselling author, Dan Heath, co-author of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, is NCTI’s featured Innovator. Find out how can AT entrepreneurs make their visions more concrete and real for users.

Read the eSchool News story on the latest assistive technologies that make learning more accessible, including a free, web-based text reader and a tongue-controlled wheelchair.

Five outstanding teams of researchers and vendors have been selected to examine the impact of innovative assistive technologies for students with special needs.

Spark-Space mapping software allows users to visualize and organize ideas and documents in a 3-D spatial representation.

Australia’s ReadHowYouWant company configures text in a variety of formats to assist different types of readers recognize words more easily by manipulating or building new forms of cueing within the structure of text itself. Learn about the science and human story behind Chris Stephen’s entrepreneurial idea.

The evolution of social media and collaborative online environment has been rapid and pervasive, and people are struggling to understand and keep abreast of new developments. See NCTI’s Issue Brief for a discussion on the implications.

Baltimore, Maryland (January 28, 2008): K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc., a company combining the research and development efforts of the National Federation of the Blind and Kurzweil Technologies, Inc., today unveils an exciting product line that will revolutionize access to print for anyone who has difficulty seeing or reading print, including the blind and learning disabled. [...]

Web users can now listen to free ConnSENSE Podcasts of sessions from a number of AT-related conferences.

Ray Schmidt knows communication devices inside and out – he is the designer of Cyrano, a device built with the HP iPAQ PDA, and is the father of a teenager who has used several communication devices through the years. These experiences give Ray incredible insight into the consumers – service providers and end users - of communication tools. The Cyrano is developed so that users can “build their own machines.”

With a major $32 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Bookshare.org, the online collection of digital books, will be able to vastly increase its collection as well as provide its services without subscription. Jim Fruchterman, head of Bookshare.org, says they hope to reach every school and every student with a print disability to make digital text a reality for all who need it. Hear Fruchterman give the keynote address at the NCTI Annual Innovators Conference.

NCTI Project Director Tracy Gray provided eSchool News the background for a story on portable assistive technology. This is a trend NCTI has been tracking for the past year. See other recent content related to the trend of portability.

Andrew Junker explores the background and possibilities of brain-activated technologies in this Innovator Profile. Brainfingers, an alternate computer access device, allows users to control any computerized technologies without touch, providing new means of feedback to those with even severe disabilities. Post comments and join Andrew online the afternoon of Wednesday, August 29, 2007 to discuss his profile and research.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the March 2, 2007 Web Event! At your request, we have made available the individual presentations, including PowerPoint slides, audio/visual recordings, captioning transcripts, and supplemental information that present exciting innovations that make assistive technology portable. Check back regularly as we continue to grow this page!

Featured Technologies and Speakers

Scanning the [...]

NCTI Dialogue Events were forums held in 2004-2005 for experts to discuss timely topics of interest to the field, share information, and network with potential partners. The findings from these lively discussions are presented in the NCTI report, Moving Toward Solutions: Assistive and Learning Technology for All Students.

Addressing ownership issues regarding your idea as early as possible will help you avoid problems later in the development process. It is imperative to determine the ownership of the idea by the time you have developed your prototype device. For the purposes of our discussion, we will address issues faces by funded researchers/developers (e.g., agencies such as OSERS and NIH, or universities).

Consumer products and base technologies are increasingly incorporating accessibility and universal design features. The potential exists for innovative applications to be developed as part of mainstream educational and consumer products, opening new markets. Stakeholders are concerned, however, that purchasers with a naive understanding of universal design will overlook customized technologies that are vital to meeting the learning needs of millions of students.

Ai Squared produces ZoomText, a premier screen magnification and reading solution for computer access. Tim says that inputs for development come both from internal ideas and external feedback.

Chuck is intrigued by complexities in marketing speech recognition. He frequently refers to core functionality and the glitz and attraction of relatively new functionality by using the analogy of “the steak and the sizzle.”

When he had a “real job,” Tom was a clinical biochemist. He began Designer Appliances as a start-up using research on dynamic bio-mechanics of muscle and blood flow. A block of wood helped formulate his first conceptual model, leading to 5 or 6 fundamental iterations before going to market.

Ron is a self-described “techno-freak” and has worked with computers and electronics since he was a kid. Until recently, he owned an assistive technology vending company registered with the Canadian government. Through that work, he had a lot of contact with manufacturers of scanners, speech synthesizers, and other technologies that helped spark his desire to get back into design himself. “I was already familiar with the market, so to speak, and when I sold that business, I really wanted to get back into electronics more… this was a very good avenue for me to be able to design and play with new ideas.”

Eye Tech’s hands-free eyetracking software and hardware systems permit alternative access to a full range of computing applications. Three models work with portable or desktop computers and the Eye Science software collects and analyzes gaze patterns.

According to Jacobs’ analysis, incorporating accessible IT into a range of products can enable those goods to be highly competitive in global markets. This is particularly the case within large developing nations, where these items could improve economies by increasing the flow of capital. In addition, Jacobs holds that the manufacture and marketing of accessible IT by American companies could help to reverse the United States’ trade deficit and enable it to dominate the global IT market, not by selling products that are cheaper, but products that are more accessible, usable, and useful.

At the November 2004 NCTI conference, researcher Gaylen Kapperman met representatives from two separate New York-based businesses: Touch Graphics and Bridge Multimedia. He continued conversations with both. In one case, the talk led to an active partnership; in another, despite a productive exchange of ideas, no immediate commitment followed. Both processes, however, were useful and necessary exercises in collaboration.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce, this report includes substantial information about AT markets and future potential, total sales and revenues in the industry, manufacturing and design information, financing, regulation, specific industry recommendations, and many other essential topics.

A laser-based approach could make cochlear implants, which currently use electrical signals, more effective. . . . Technology Review reports.

New Standard Keyboards (NSK) recently signed several distribution agreements to make the company’s ergonomic, 53-key, alphabetical keyboard available throughout mainland Europe and to two key assistive technology resellers based in the U.S. . . . HomeToys.com reports.

CanAssist, an 8-year old non-profit assistive technology group partially funded by the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, was recently recognized with a grant of $704k for the over 150 projects it has completed, by request, for members of the differently abled community.

The Center for Multi Media Arts at the University of Memphis FedEx Institute of Technology in Tennessee is developing two IT initiatives that aim to help children with disabilities use the Internet and parents better understand clinical trial consent forms, Health Data Management reports. …

H. P. Parette, Alan VanBiervliet, and Jack J Hourcade
2000, Journal of Special Education Technology (JSET ejournal), 15(1), 45-55

2002, Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA)

Tamarah Ashton
1999, Journal of Special Education Technology, 15, 1, 57-58

is a developer of assistive software and professional development. The website offers information on their literacy devices, implementation support, and services.

aims to ensure that every child in Wisconsin who needs assistive technology (AT) will have equal and timely access to an appropriate evaluation and the provision and implementation of any needed AT devices and services.

is a Web site for disability-related internet resources. The WebABLE site’s goal is to stimulate education, research, and development of technologies that will ensure accessibility for people with disabilities to advanced information systems and emerging technologies.

a consumer advocacy network that includes the University of Washington Center for Technology and Disability Studies (UWCTDS), and the AT Resource Center at Easter Seals Washington (EATRC). WATA activities include information and referral, consultation, and training related to selection of AT devices, services and funding legal advice and advocacy.

provides resources for people with severe communication disorders who rely on augmentative and alternative communication, their families and friends, professionals, educators, researchers, developers, and manufacturers.

works to encourage companies to make their standard products more accessible and usable by people with disabilities of all types. Strategies and techniques developed at the Center are sometimes patented and available via licensing through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

a service of the Illinois Assistive Technology Project (IATP), provides an assistive technology demonstration center, an assistive technology device loan program, a low interest cash loan program, publications, and other resources.

is a national information dissemination project to improve the utilization of existing and emerging technology in state vocational rehabilitation programs.

organizes annual conferences and exhibits, publishes the Assistive Technology journal, coordinates a credentialing program for assistive technology service providers, and offers professional development opportunities.

offers a variety of high-tech assistive and adaptive technology products, augmentative and alternative communication devices, computer access equipment, multilingual speech synthesis and voice recognition software. The site specializes in computer adaptations and builds custom software solutions for children and adults with disabilities.

is a nationwide grassroots group that includes hundreds of individuals who provide input into the ongoing process of identifying, disseminating, and implementing a set of widely-applicable Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology Services in School Settings.

(NATRI) conducts assistive technology research, translates theory and research into assistive technology practice, and provides resources for improving the delivery of assistive technology services.

provides students with an experiential education in applied design, invention, and entrepreneurship through the use of assistive technology and universal design. The Center is a project of Hampshire College’s School of Interdisciplinary Arts.

a service of WETA, Washington, D.C., offers information on learning disabilities for parents, teachers, and other professionals through newsletters, first-person essays, and interviews with experts.

is a resource of the nationwide network of federal laboratories, providing a forum to develop strategies and publicizing opportunities for linking laboratory mission technologies and expertise with the marketplace.

provides online training on accessible information technology for persons with disabilities through workshops and courses.

markets, promotes, and distributes innovative technology-based products and services that promote independence, enhance productivity, and change the lives of individuals with disabilities.

serves to increase the success of people with disabilities in college and careers and provides resources for K-12 educators, students with disabilities, librarians, employers, parents and mentors.

supports the creation of direct, reliable and bi-directional interfaces among the brain, nervous system and a computer.

conducts multiple research projects on assistive technology outcomes and impacts and aims to determine the effectiveness and usefulness of assistive technology and the implications for use/discontinuance of these devices.

highlights hardware and software products appropriate for people with special needs, and explains how this technology is being implemented in education, rehabilitation, and vocational settings around the world.

is one of two assistive technology outcomes projects funded in the fall 2001 for five years by the The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. The ATOMS Project targets the definition and pre-development phases of a next generation assistive technology outcomes measurement system.

fosters a mission to serve as the collective voice of the Assistive Technology industry so that the best products and services are delivered to people with disabilities.

is a developer of hardware and software solutions for people with physical, cognitive, and speech disabilities. The website offers information on their augmentative communication devices, speech-generating devices, assessment software, and services.

is a network of community-based Resource Centers, Developers, Vendors and Associates dedicated to providing information and support services to children and adults with disabilities through public education, referrals, capacity building in community organizations, and advocacy/policy efforts.

works directly with information technology manufacturers and developers to influence the early design stages of tomorrow’s computer based technology.

provides information about assistive technology products and rehabilitation equipment available from domestic and international sources.

purpose is to help internet users find information on adaptive equipment and alternative methods available for accessing computers.

(NCAM) is a research and development facility dedicated to the issues of media and information technology for people with disabilities. NCAM explores how existing access technologies may benefit other populations and provides access to educational and media technologies for special needs students.