The Americans with Disabilities Act turns 20 today!

Thanks to the ADA, Americans with disabilities enjoy better access to buildings, transportation, telecommunication, employment, and education. It paved the way for IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which enabled me to graduate from college.  There’s still a long way to go before we as a society [...]]]>

The Americans with Disabilities Act turns 20 today!

Thanks to the ADA, Americans with disabilities enjoy better access to buildings, transportation, telecommunication, employment, and education. It paved the way for IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which enabled me to graduate from college.  There’s still a long way to go before we as a society achieve the four goals of the ADA –  equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency — but it’s clear we’ve come a long way.

I’d like to point out, however, that the improved access that has resulted from the ADA doesn’t only benefit “disabled” people.  Curb cuts are just one example of this.  Curb cuts, those gently sloped cut-aways between the sidewalk and the street, are required by the ADA to enable wheelchair users to easily cross the street like the rest of us do.

The thing is, wheelchair users are not the only people who use curb cuts.  Have you ever crossed the street with a piece of wheeled luggage?  With a stroller?  How about on a bike or a skateboard?

If the answer to any of those questions is “yes”, then your life has been made just a little bit easier by the ADA.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the ADA, Representative Jim Langevin of Rhode Island is presiding over Congress today.  Langevin is the first quadriplegic to be elected to Congress.

For a discussion of what we’ve accomplished with the ADA so far, and what remains to be done, check out this online discussion at the Washington Post, where Andrew J. Imparato of the American Association for People with Disabilities fields questions about the ADA’s history and its future.

If you don’t know Google Voice, it’s a system whereby Google gives you a phone number which you can use to receive voice mail, which gets converted into a transcript, which is sent [...]]]> Awhile back, I wrote about Google Voice, and how awesome it was as assisstive technology for someone like me with dyscalculia and dysgraphia.

If you don’t know Google Voice, it’s a system whereby Google gives you a phone number which you can use to receive voice mail, which gets converted into a transcript, which is sent to you as an SMS and an e-mail.  The e-mail also contains the sound file of the original message, which you can refer to in case there are problems with the transcript.

Yeah, about that. Google seems to have done one of those upgrades, you know, the kind that are the opposite of an upgrade?  I’ve been getting a lot of messages like this lately:

… but at some point if you’re happy track system already asleep or something like that which is fine. So calling the next 15 minutes until about midnight. S. I’m going to be checking the best. So track. That’s all, and clothing and and I’ll talk to you tonight…

Well, I am happy track system, thanks for asking!  And clothing to you too!

I hope this gets fixed soon.

Marlee Matlin speaks at an FCC hearing about internet captioning

Marlee Matlin testified recently at an FCC hearing held at Gaudelet University about the need for captioning on Internet video feeds. She was active in the effort twenty years ago to caption all television broadcasts, and also to caption videos. Needless to say, with [...]]]>

Marlee Matlin speaks at an FCC hearing about internet captioning

Marlee Matlin testified recently at an FCC hearing held at Gaudelet University about the need for captioning on Internet video feeds. She was active in the effort twenty years ago to caption all television broadcasts, and also to caption videos. Needless to say, with sophistication of computer technologies these days, it’s absurd that captioning isn’t available on streaming video programing, live news feeds, and internet versions of previously-captioned films. The most egregious example she gives is coverage of the unveiling ceremony for the Helen Keller statue in the Capitol rotunda in DC. I mean, REALLY?

I came across this article thanks to one of the folks over at Tagfoot. Here’s an excerpt:

The HAL exoskeleton, on the other hand, has robotic limbs that strap to your arms and legs — providing much fuller mobility than a wheelchair. The suit’s [...]]]> The suit is called HAL, but it reminds me more of The Terminator…

I came across this article thanks to one of the folks over at Tagfoot. Here’s an excerpt:

The HAL exoskeleton, on the other hand, has robotic limbs that strap to your arms and legs — providing much fuller mobility than a wheelchair. The suit’s backpack contains a battery and computer controller. When a HAL-assisted person attempts to move, nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles, and very weak traces of these signals can be detected on the surface of the skin. The HAL exoskeleton identifies these signals using a sensor, and a signal is sent to the suit’s power unit telling the suit to move in synch with the wearer’s own limbs.

I’ve heard of these before.  There are several corporations and university research groups working on cybernetic suits that enable the user to walk farther, run faster, and lift more. It has potential to be used as adaptive technology, but for now, the two-legged HAL suit rents for $2300/month, and only lasts for 5 hours.  I imagine miscalculating and getting stranded would be a bummer.

Not surprisingly, HAL suits are available for rent on the streets of Tokyo.

If you’ve used one of these, or if you have an opinion about them, tell us about it in the comment section. I for one am wondering if they begin to chafe after awhile