Feb/110
Assistive Tech Apps
Organizations continually face the hurdle of effective employee placement. This hurdle grows higher when the employee has a disability, challenging organizations to place individuals in work opportunities that are both safe and rewarding. Assistive technology, coupled with ongoing disability training, has made it possible for organizations to employ thousands of individuals with a wide array of impairments. These individuals are able to contribute to the organization and community through their work opportunities, becoming wage earners, consumers, and community participants.
Of all the pieces assistive technology that has evolved since the late 1900s, the one with the most potential was not actually designed for those with disabilities at all. Rather, it was designed to provide a mobile computing and entertainment solution for on-the-go, tech savvy consumers. The device features a 9.7 inch scratch and fingerprint resistant LCD screen for vibrant displays and intuitive user-interaction. It comes in a 3G model, giving users access to high speed Internet in most areas both indoors and out. It has expansive sound capabilities, though users may opt for wired or wireless Bluetooth headphones. The device, as you may have guessed, is the Apple iPad. And it represents an essential tool for diverse workplaces.
iPad Apps Disability Employers Will Love
The iPad is a great addition to workplaces with employees who have various different mental and physical disabilities. Like other mobile computing devices, the iPad thrives on applications, or ‘Apps’ for short. Most Apps can be downloaded straight to the iPad for only a few dollars. Moreover, a surging supply of Apps have arrived, speficially designed to help those with disabilities perform personal and work related tasks.
iPad App Must-Haves
The Christopher Reeve Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life for those with disability, specifically those with spinal cord injury. The following are among the best rated iPad applications for those with disability, according to the organization:
1) Proloquo 2 Go
The Proloquo2go is an application specifically designed to benefit those with speech impairment. The application has over 7,000 vocabulary items, provides automatic verb conjugation, and includes possessive noun usage. The application also offers a recently spoken feature, allowing users to pull up recently-used phrases from up to 7 days in the past.
2) Dragon Search
This application is designed for those with limited mobility and a need for Web surfing. Dragon Search installs quickly to the iPad and allows users to navigate to popular search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, or Twitter via voice command.
3) Dragon Diction
From the same company as Dragon Search comes Dragon Diction, the application that terms voice cues into digital writing. Perfect for those with limited mobility, especially in the arms or fingers, to use in composing documents, emails, and more.
It is important to note that these are merely 3 examples of well-received Apps that make work possible for those with disabilities. Of course, assistive technology is no substitute for disability training programs that build interoffice cohesion and inclusion. Assitive technology works well on the micro level, helping employees with disabilities to perform work related tasks. However, proper work supports and disability awareness initiatives must complement their use. Without addressing the macro level of the business, organizations leave themselves vulnerable to employee turnover, discrimination, and other losses.
Sep/100
American Sign Language for Today’s Business Professional
The population of hearing impaired Americans is growing faster than the American population as a whole. Since 2005, the population of the United States has grown by a little over 4 percent. Contrast that with the growth in deafness among Americans: 9 percent. Currently, there are about 35 million Americans with a hearing impairment, and about 25 million do not have a hearing aid or an assistive device of some kind (i). For disability employers, American Sign Language education is an advantageous addition to employee training programs. Training programs that include sign language courses will benefit organizations in at least two ways: internally, in terms of communication among a diverse group of employees, and externally, in terms of accommodating the special needs of a growing population of Americans.
Internal Communication Skills: Employees and Sign Language
In recent months, our Disability Training Blog has focused on the importance of employing a diverse range of individuals. The number of Americans with a hearing impairment is estimated to climb to 40 million by 2025 (ii). Using this data, we can safely predict that an increasing percentage of job applicants are expected to have a hearing impairment of some kind through the coming decades. Organizations are smart to consider this in building their channels for recruiting and training new employees. Expanding employee skill sets to include knowledge of sign language will make an organization’s long-term recruiting methods easier and more successful in achieving diversity.
Sign Language and Public Relations
A second way in which organizations stand to benefit from incorporating sign language courses in employee training programs is in the realm of public relations. The number of Deaf Americans is climbing, evidencing an emerging market with special needs. These needs are both tangible and intangible, ranging from assistive communication devices to social constructs that enable effective communication. Organizations vary in function and cannot all be expected to produce goods for the growing population of hearing impaired individuals. However, businesses of all industries can facilitate communication with Deaf people simply by training their employees to do so. This represents a significant competitive advantage that cannot be overlooked.
Program Development Associates has a range of products to assist business professionals, elementary school teachers, parents, and university professors in learn and teaching American Sign Language. Additionally, PDA has a number of disability training resources to complement the diversification initiatives of most businesses, schools, and universities.
(i) http://www.hear-it.org/page.dsp?area=858
(ii) see above.
Aug/100
Modern Diversity Training: Assistive Technology
The desire to employ persons with disabilities is growing. In honor of the recent twentieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Program Development Associates Disability Training Blog is proud to present a look towards the diversified businesses of the present. This coverage will be completed in two installments.
In this article, titled Modern Business Training: Assistive Technology Products, we will take a closer look at the assistive technology that is enabling persons with various mental and physical disabilities to gain employment. Next week, we will follow up with Modern Business Training Part II, a look at the Universal Design for Learning and its application in complementing assistive technology and broadening the scope of employment opportunity for those with disabilities.
Assistive technology can be considered any of a variety of instruments used by individuals with disabilities to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or altogether impossible (i). This is a broad and somewhat conceptual definition that has many applications. For example, mobility devices including manual wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, power scooters, and walking aids are all consider assistive technology. In this example, the technology is somewhat primitive compared to digital gadgetry but nonetheless enables the mobility of an individual who would otherwise have some degree of difficulty moving about.
Assistive technology goes beyond mobility devices to also include hardware, software, and other information technologies. For example, consider that individuals with physically impaired hands or fingers can utilize custom designed keyboards and computer mice to operate computers. Individuals with moderate to severe visual impairments can likewise overcome their unique sensory deprivation with software that reads digitally displayed messages aloud, like emails and other lines of text on a computer. In both of these examples, individuals are able to overcome their unique disabilities and perform work specific tasks.
Without these kinds of enabling technologies, these individuals would be hard pressed to find work environments in which they could actively pursue objectives, contribute as team members, and develop into working professionals. The expanding application of assistive technology, however, provides the groundwork for individuals with disabilities to do just the opposite. Indeed, the proliferation of assistive technology establishes the opportunity for businesses to diversify their workforce and cultivate the talents of a range of individuals. Moreover, employers are better able to retain valuable human capital; individuals who spend years learning, training, and contributing within a specific company can more easily retain their position should unexpected, devastating accidents occur. This adds a tremendous value for businesses rich in human capital; unexpectedly losing capital for any period of time can be costly, derail growth strategies, and undermine core business objectives.
Disability employers must know, however, that assistive technology is just that: technology. The effective application of assistive technology hinges on the ability of a disability or diversity employer to consider access. Technology is of no use if it is not accessible to the users for which it is intended. This is particularly important when considering the application of assistive technology, as it is specifically designed for persons with unique mental and physical impairments. Nuances that make one piece of assistive technology accessible to one individual may not make that instrument equally accessible to another individual with a similar impairment.
Since effective application of diversity training depends largely on accessibility, it is of great importance for employers to consider the needs of each of their employees. In the second installment of Modern Business Training, we will investigate how employers can best identify the unique needs of each employee to make assistive technology, and the workplace in general, more accessible.
(i) http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?109
