JFActivist

Kindle Moves Toward Greater Accessibility

From the Associated Press (12/7/09):

Kindle to get audible menus, bigger font
Features will make e-reader more accessible to blind, vision impaired

SEATTLE - Amazon.com Inc. will add two features to the Kindle e-book reader to make the gadget more accessible to blind and vision-impaired users.

Monday's announcement comes a month after Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., and the University of Wisconsin-Madison said they would not consider widely deploying the device as an alternative to paper textbooks until Amazon makes it easier for blind students to use. Both universities bought some Kindles to test this fall.

The Kindle has a read-aloud feature that could be a boon to blind students and those with other disabilities including dyslexia, but turning it on requires navigating through screens of text menus.

Amazon said Monday it is working on audible menus, which would let the Kindle speak menu options out loud. It's also working on an extra-large font for people with impaired vision. The additions should reach the Kindle next summer, Amazon said...

>>> For the Whole Article

Google Launches Automated YouTube Captioning; AAPD Applauds

     

Ken Harrenstein, a deaf engineer who helped develop the automatic captioning system, announces the launch (RPanoff)

AAPD Applauds Launch of Google YouTube Captioning System

On Thursday, November 19, AAPD Board Member Cheryl Sensenbrenner and staffers Jenifer Simpson, Unique Webster, Peter Viele and Rebecca Panoff attended the launch of Google's YouTube automated captioning system. This system uses some voice recognition technology, some automated time code programming code and other intelligent features that will allow YouTube video creators to include captions easily. While the technology inserts captions only in English-language speech, Google has added an automatic translation system for 51 languages. This will allow millions of YouTube videos to become available to people who do not speak English but could use the captioning technology to read subtitles in their native language. The captioning technology also allows search of the text, enabling research.

“This is a huge step forward for accessibility,” said Jenifer Simpson, “We applaud industry leadership such as this. We look to other companies to be as innovative in making their products and services accessible to people with disabilities.”

Moderated by Vint Cerf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vint_Cerf) -- often referred to as “the father of the Internet,“ -- who noted that "videos are a medium of political expression", members of Google's captioning accessibility team presented demonstrations of the system to an appreciative audience. Ken Harrenstein, a deaf engineer who helped develop the automatic captioning system, said the technology had never been applied on such a large scale.  “This is something that I have dreamt of for many years,” said Harrenstein, “To see it happen is amazing.”  Not yet available to everyone, Google plans to gradually expand the number of YouTube channels that work with the automatic captioning technology, starting with educational users such as Stanford, MIT, Yale, Duke, Columbia, PBS and National Geographic.

The event was attended by over a hundred people, including disability leaders from American Council of the Blind, National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing, Hearing Loss Association of America, Communication Services for the Deaf, National Captioning Institute, Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing, and National Council on Independent Living, among others.

Google blog site about launch of the system at http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/11/automatic-captions-on-youtube.html  includes signed and captioned video.

 

College Students with Disabilities: AAPD Launches Summer 2010 Internship Application

(Please share with your networks)

The American Association of People with Disabilities is searching for college students with disabilities to apply for the:

 2010 AAPD Summer Internships in Washington, D.C.!

To apply, please visit http://www.aapd.com/AAPDInternship

(Application instructions also attached in Microsoft Word format.)

 

Each year, AAPD coordinates two summer internship programs for college students with disabilities wanting to spend a summer working in Washington, DC.  AAPD summer interns receive a living stipend, accessible housing, and travel to and from Washington, DC.  Currently-enrolled undergraduate college students with any type of disability pursuing any type of undergraduate degree are encouraged to apply. 

Hosted by AAPD and sponsored by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, the AAPD-MEAF Congressional Internship Program provides students interested in government, politics, law, or leadership the unique opportunity to intern on Capitol Hill for members of Congress.  Previous AAPD-MEAF Congressional intern placements have included:

• Senator Barak Obama (D-IL)
• Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton (D-NY)
• Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
• Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
• House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
• Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA)

Hosted by AAPD and sponsored by Microsoft, the AAPD-Microsoft Federal IT Internship Program provides students pursuing careers in Information Technology the unique opportunity to intern in the IT divisions of federal agencies.  Previous IT placements have included:

• US Coast Guard
• Department of Homeland Security
• US Patent and Trade Office
• National Science Foundation
• US Department of Transportation
• Transportation Security Administration
• Federal Aviation Administration

To apply for the AAPD Summer Internship programs, please visit http://www.aapd.com/AAPDInternship.  For additional information or for questions, please contact the AAPD program staff at internship@aapd.com.  (Application instructions attached in Microsoft Word format.)

 

Join Us: Inaugural Organizer's Forum - Working Cross Disability

Justice For All Action Network (JFAAN) presents...

 

ORGANIZER'S FORUM!

This is a monthly one-hour call, open to all disability organizers, to provide ideas and resources to each other to support and expand community organizing among people with disabilities!

We'll have a conference call the 3rd Tuesday of each month, 1-2 pm Eastern time. Each month will have a set topic, with 3-4 speakers to share their experiences on that topic, focusing on how-to’s, challenges, successes, and lessons learned. Then we'll have time for question & answer, and discussion. You don't have to be on the call each month; just join when you're interested in the topic.

FIRST-EVER Organizer's Forum!

Tuesday, November 17 1-2 pm EST

Topic: Working Cross-Disability

Experiences of collaborations between different disability groups, what was challenging and what made it work.

Speakers:

Mike Bachhuber, Independent Living Council of Wisconsin, Inc.

Bill Henning, Boston Center for Independent Living

Courtney Jenkins-Atnip, Tennessee Disability Coalition

 

Call-in number (same for each month): 712-432-0080 Code: 193134#

(If you haven't done a conference call before, at the set time, just call the number, listen to the prompt, and when it asks for the code, enter the code, including # sign. Then you will be connected!) 

Upcoming topics:

December 15: Social networking

January 19: Organizing State Coalitions

February 16: Media

March 16: Outreach and recruitment

April : Action strategizing

 

The Organizer's Forum is put on by the national Organizing Workgroup of the Justice For All Action Network (JFAAN). The Justice for All Action Network is a national cross-disability coalition, led by disability groups run by persons with disabilities with support from allies, committed to building a strong and unified cross-disability movement so that individuals with disabilities have the power to shape national policies, politics, media, and culture. For more information, contact: Andy Imparato, American Association of People with Disabilities, 202 521-4301, AImparato@aapd.com; or Kelly Buckland, National Council on Independent Living, 202-207-0334, kelly@ncil.org.

Self-Advocate Speaks on Technology Access and Barriers

By AAPD's Jenifer Simpson (10/20/09)

SABE’s Elizabeth Weintraub Speaks on Technology before FCC

At a recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Workshop on October 20 that focused on broadband access for people with disabilities, Elizabeth Weintraub, former Vice President of Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), spoke on employment and outreach issues. Her panel, entitled “Accessibility and Affordability Barriers to Broadband and Internet use Faced by People with Disabilities,” also included representatives from the American Council of the Blind, National Association of the Deaf, American Association of Deaf-Blind, Spinal Cord Advocates, Speech Communications Assistance by Telephone Inc, and Inclusive Technologies. The purpose of the FCC workshop was to gather more information for development of the National Broadband Plan, due to the U.S. Congress in February 2009.  Ms. Weintraub’s statement follows:

“Thank you for inviting me to speak. My name is Elizabeth Weintraub and I’m from Maryland. I work at the Council on Quality & Leadership part time and also I consult for the National Children’s Center in Washington, DC. At both of these organizations, I work to help people with disabilities get good quality of life.  I work from home.

I have been using a computer since the mid nineties, and yes sometimes I hit the wrong key by mistake, however if I was told by people I needed to stop using a computer, just because of my disabilities, that would not be fair at all! How would I keep up with the world?   The Internet is essential to knowing what is going on. If technology wasn't accessible to people with disabilities, then it might be impossible for people to lead a life that they would like.

At the Council on Quality & Leadership, all of my colleagues live everywhere in the country, and if I couldn't email, or fax them, or cut & paste in documents & communicate with then, then I would probably get fired.  I wouldn't get fired because of discrimination, but because the technology is inaccessible.  The way my work is set up is such that if I couldn't use technology, I wouldn't be useful. That's why it's important that everyone, including people with disabilities should be trained in using technology. Not being trained in technology and how to use it is a big barrier for people with disabilities.

Also, not having technical supports from the companies that provide Internet and computers and technology is a problem. We need technical supports so we don’t get stuck. Another barrier is the cost of Internet access.  Not everyone can afford it and if you are in a rural area, the cost is often more. We don’t earn as much as people without disabilities so this is a barrier.

The FCC should do more outreach to people and not just through electronic means since not everyone has computers and internet access. We need more public meetings in lots of cities and towns that are advertised a lot longer ahead of time. Like a month in advance. It takes time for us to find out about FCC meetings. We learn about things like this from disability groups at the national and state and local level. And it takes time for us to arrange car or bus rides. We also often have to arrange childcare. Some of us need to arrange for personal assistants if we need them.

I would like to see the Internet available just about anywhere in the country. So all of us have a chance to find the information, resources, and materials. There is a lot of information available that helps us get jobs and do our jobs. Also for when we take care of our families. I would like to see the Internet easy to use. Cheaper to us, such as in every home. Dial up might be cheaper(?) than DSL, but it means that you can't be on the phone at the same time, and also when I had dial up, I would get frustrated because there were times that it wouldn't connect, and I would be concerned whether it was me or the technology that was the problem

Thank you. ”

After her statement, FCC staff inquired of Ms. Weintraub about the number of Americans with intellectual disabilities and she stated “8-10 million, according to the President’s Committee on Intellectual Disabilities.”

 

Item provided by Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director, Government Affairs, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) For more information on the FCC boadband national plan development and people with disabiliteis, send Email to jsimpson@aapd.com

Social Security for Wounded Warriors Webinar

From the Social Security Administration:

Social Security for Wounded Warriors Webinar

Please join us on November 4 for our national webinar Social Security for Wounded Warriors. During the webinar, you can learn more about our benefit programs and the expedited processing of disability claims available to our nation's Wounded Warriors.  The expedited process is used for military service members who become disabled while on active military service on or after October 1, 2001, regardless of where the disability occurs.

We welcome service members, their families and friends, and those that advocate on their behalf to participate in this seminar.

The webinar will be on November 4, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. EST. To RSVP for the webinar, please visit: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/survey/woundedwarriorsrsvp.htm.   You will have the option of submitting questions in advance of the webinar with your RSVP.

 
We also ask that you share the information about the webinar with your members, colleagues, clients, and any others who may be interested.
 
I hope that you will join us and I look forward to the opportunity to discuss this important program with you.
 
Sincerely,
 
Cheri Arnott Parlaman
Office of External Affairs
Social Security Administration

AAPD Meets with Disability Representatives from Armenia

AAPD Meets with Disability Representatives from Armenia

Through a meeting sponsored by the League of Women Voters, AAPD met with Kamo Davtyan, Executive Director of Syunik Disabled People’s Support Coalition, “Voghji,” from the city of Kapan, the capital of Syunik province in southern Armenia. Mr. Davtyan was accompanied by another Voghji member, Ms. Meline Astsatryan, and several other people representing other non-profit organizations who are touring the U.S. to learn more about effective coalition-building. The Voghji disability coalition’s goals are to support the rights of people with disabilities, to facilitate their integration into society, to create employment opportunities and to propose and support legislative initiatives that support people with disabilities. Mr. Davtyan noted that there are about 600,000 people with disabilities in Armenia, or 20% of Armenia’s 3 million population.

Davtyan, who is disabled, leads the organization which currently has two paid employees and 20 unpaid volunteers and is entirely funded by the business community. One recent achievement is a decree enacted by the mayor that states "no new construction will be approved in Kapan if it does not include plans for ramps for the disabled." The challenge for Davtyan's group is to ensure that this decree is properly enforced. Another plan is to refurbish an old house as a center for people with disabilities, or one stop shop for services, information, and other activities. Other plans include obtaining a car to travel from village to village and acquiring technical support on issues relating to legislation and best practices. There is also a legislative effort underway to have a governmental decree issued for disability civil rights.

Information on Armenia at http://www.lwv.org/Content/ContentGroups/PressReleases/2008/ArmeniainBrief.pdf

More on Kapan, Armenia, home to disability coalition Voghji, at http://travel.mapsofworld.com/armenia/tourist-destinations-in-armenia/kapan-armenia.html

More on the League of Women Voters coalition-building activity in Armenia at http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=13947

Story  by  Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director, Government Affairs & Technology Initiatives, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
Washington, DC USA  Email JSimpson@aapd.com

Govt Needs Your Expertise to Review Applications for $4.5B in Broadband Grants

Govt Needs Your Expertise to Review Applications for $4.5B in Broadband Grants
by Jenifer Simpson, AAPD

The Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), a $4.5B broadband stimulus program seeks to bring universal broadband access to all Americans while creating jobs and stimulating the economy. The administrator, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), needs experienced professionals who can review grant applications using a peer-review model. NTIA needs reviewers with relevant expertise, from diverse backgrounds, regions and experience in at least one of the following areas: expertise in broadband deployment and infrastructure; experience with personal computers, software and local area networks; experience in community technology and digital inclusion programs; experience reviewing grant applications from nonprofit and public agencies; expertise in Education, Health Care, Disability Access, Economic and Workforce Development, Libraries, Human and Social Services and/or Affordable Housing; experience with outreach to targeted vulnerable populations, including: Children/Youth, Senior Citizens, Disabled, Low Income Communities of Color, Native Americans, Immigrant Communities, Non English Speaking.; understanding of how broadband access enables communities to fully participate in the 21st century economy.

NTIA would like you or a staff member to participate as a peer reviewer and to further disseminate this request. Grant reviewers will participate remotely and will not be required to attend any in-person meetings; no honorariums available.  Reviewers of applications will: participate in a 40 minute on-line, webinar training session; be assigned to a three person panel of reviewers (all panel members will score the same applications); access an on-line portal through which they will read, print and score five to ten applications assigned to each reviewer; and participate in a moderated conference call of the three-person panel during which members of the panel will discuss each application.   Reviewers will commit approximately 20-25 hours to this effort.  Reviewers will begin scoring applications in mid-September and will finish their work by mid-October. If you are able to serve as a reviewer, please submit a copy of your resume to btopreviewer@ntia.doc.gov.  (NTIA will use the resumes to match reviewers to applications that are most in line with a reviewer's particular experience and/or expertise.)  If you have additional questions, please call (888) 861-5509 or e-mail BTOPreviewer@ntia.doc.gov for further information.

Insurers Fight Speech-Impairment Remedy

Kara Lynn, with her 5-year-old son, Aiden, uses an iPhone to run text-to-speech software.
Photo Credit: Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

from the New York Times (9/14/09):

Insurers Fight Speech-Impairment Remedy
By ASHLEE VANCE

SAN FRANCISCO — Kara Lynn has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S., which has attacked the muscles around her mouth and throat, removing her ability to speak. A couple of years ago, she spent more than $8,000 to buy a computer, approved by Medicare, that turns typed words into speech that her family, friends and doctors can hear.

Under government insurance requirements, the maker of the PC, which ran ordinary Microsoft Windows software, had to block any nonspeech functions, like sending e-mail or browsing the Web.

Dismayed by the PC’s limitations and clunky design, Ms. Lynn turned to a $300 iPhone 3G from Apple running $150 text-to-speech software. Ms. Lynn, who is 48 and lives in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., said it worked better and let her “wear her voice” around her neck while snuggling with her 5-year-old son, Aiden, who has Down syndrome.

Medicare and private health insurers decline to cover cheap devices like iPhones and netbook PCs that can help the speech-impaired, despite their usefulness and lower cost.

Instead, public and private insurers insist that, if Ms. Lynn and others like her want insurance to pay, they must spend 10 to 20 times as much for dedicated, proprietary devices that can do far less...

>>> For the Full Article

Help AAPD Celebrate 10 Years of Disability Mentoring Day with $10!

From AAPD 9/9/09:

Help AAPD Celebrate 10 Years of Disability Mentoring Day with $10!

 

This year marks the 10^th anniversary of Disability Mentoring Day (DMD), a large-scale national effort coordinated by AAPD to promote career development for students and job seekers with disabilities through hands-on career exploration, on-site job shadowing, and ongoing mentoring leading to internship and employment opportunities.

We need your help if we want to continue coordinating national DMD and improve the employment outcomes for people with disabilities  

Here’s an easy way to help. Donate $10 to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of DMD to the AAPD Cause on Facebook or on our website at www.aapd.com and urge your friends and family to do the same. Help us reach our goal of raising $1,000 by October 21, 2009, recognized date for national DMD!

MORE ON DMD:

• DMD connects nearly 20,000 job-seekers with disabilities with thousands of employers in more than 300 locations in every U.S. State and Territory and in more than 24 countries worldwide each year.
• Over 2,000 participating Public and Private Employers hosted mentees at their places of employment, with many continuing the mentoring relationships for long-term periods;
• A grassroots network of more than 350 volunteer Disability Mentoring Coordinators work nationally and internationally to connect their local disability and business communities.

Fore more, visit www.aapd.com.