Assistive Technology and Information Technology
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Telecommunications and information technology include telephone systems, radio, television, communications satellites, telemedicine, and the Internet. For people with disabilities, telecommunications and information technology provide many of the same advantages provided to everyone else, as well as additional access and convience to many services. Barriers to access limit or prevent many people with disabilities from taking advantage of these new technologies.
Best practice and advocacy resources:
- Trace Center.
(www.trace.wisc.edu)
The Trace Center is currently working on ways to make standard information technology and telecommunications systems more accessible and usable by people with disabilities. - The Web Access Initiative (WAI)
.
(www.w3c.org/wai)
WAI, in coordination with organizations around the world, pursues accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, access guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development. - Bobby.
(http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp)
Bobby, free Web site access testing service. See if your Web site, or any site you visit, meets WAI-access standards. -
EASI - Equal Access to Software and Information
(www.rit.edu/~easi/)
Information for students and professionals with disabilities about information access technology. - National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM)
(http://ncam.wgbh.org/)
The CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) is a research and development facility dedicated to the issues of media and information technology for people with disabilities in their homes, schools, workplaces, and communities.