Adaptive Technologies for Individuals with Visual Impairments: Scholarly and Consumer Perspectives

Authors

  • Debra Mann

Keywords:

Visual Impairments, Adaptive Technology,

Abstract

Adaptive technologies allow people with visual impairments to access information, but problems surrounding access and availability to these technologies exist. Scholarly literature and reports by organizations, such as the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and the Canadian Library Association, have recognized and discussed these problems and the strategies to overcome them. Libraries are among the organizations that are making adaptive technologies more widely available to consumers. A number of adaptive technologies are discussed.

References

Jane Beaumont and Chris Judge, 30 October 2005. &ldquo;Adaptive library technologies for the visually impaired&rdquo;. Brown bag lunch lecture.<br />Suzanne L. Byerley and M.B. Chambers, 2002. &ldquo;Accessiblity and usability of web-based library databases for non-visual users,&rdquo; Library Hi Tech, volume 20, number 2, pp. 169-179.<br />Canadian Library Association, 2005. &ldquo;Opening the book: a strategy for a national network for equitable library service for Canadians with print disabilities,&rdquo; at http://www.cla.ca/issues/nnels_final_august2005.pdf, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Canadian National Institute of the Blind, 2005a. &ldquo;About the CNIB library for the blind,&rdquo; at http://www.cnib.ca/library/general_information/about_lib.htm, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Canadian National Institute of the Blind, 2005b. &ldquo;An unequal playing field: a report on the needs of people who are blind or visually impaired livingin Canada,&rdquo; at http://cnib.ca/eng/publications/needsreport/UnequalPlayingField_ENG_FINALWORD.pdf, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Canadian National Institute of the Blind, 2005c. &ldquo;CNIB library for the blind reader services,&rdquo; at http://www.cnib.ca/library/for_clients/about.htm, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />CanadianNational Institute of the Blind, 2005d.&amp;nbsp; &ldquo;Media centre: who we are, what we do,&rdquo; at http://www.cnib.ca/eng/media-centre/journalists/who_what.htm, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Canadian National Institute of the Blind, 2005e. &ldquo;Media centre: services snapshot,&rdquo; at http://www.cnib.ca/eng/media-centre/journalists/snapshot.htm, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Canadian National Institute of the Blind, 2005f &ldquo;Products for independence catalogue,&rdquo; at http://www.cnib.ca/tech_aids/catalogue, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Canadian National Institute of the Blind, 2005g. &ldquo;Technical aids,&rdquo; at http://www.cnib.ca/tech_aids/index.htm, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Canadian National Institute of the Blind, 2005h. &ldquo;VisuCAT,&rdquo; at http://visucat.cnib.ca:8000/&lt;br&gt;LOGIN:sessionid=0:next=html/databases.html:bad=html/authofail.html:entitylanginit=FALSE:entitylang=eng:autho=eng/GUEST:password=GUEST:entitynoPatron=FALSE,accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Bryna Coonin, 2002. &ldquo;Establishing accessibility for e-journals: A suggested approach,&rdquo; Library Hi Tech, volume 20, number 2, pp. 207-221.<br />Adaptive Technologies for Individuals with Visual Impairments 12<br />Halifax Public Library, 2005a. &ldquo;Access for all,&rdquo; at http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/services/accessall.html,accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Halifax Public Library, 2005b. &ldquo;Catalogue Search,&rdquo; at http://catalogue.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/,accessed 27 November 2005.<br />George Kerscher, 2001. &ldquo;DAISY consortium: Information technology for the world's blind and print-disabled population - past, present, and into the future&rdquo;, Library Hi Tech, volume 19, number 1, pp.11.<br />Library and Archives Canada, Council on Access to Information for Print-Disabled Canadians, 2000. &ldquo;Fulfilling the promise: the report of the task force on access to information for print-disabled Canadians,&rdquo; at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/accessinfo/s36-200-e.html"&gt;http://www.collectionscanada.ca/accessinfo/s36-200-e.html, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Richard Turner, 2002. &ldquo;Out of sight but not out of mind: Visually impaired people's perspectives of library and information services&rdquo;, New Library World, volume 103, number 6, pp. 237-239.<br />University of Toronto, n.d. a. &ldquo;Adaptive technology resource centre,&rdquo; at http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/sitemap.html, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />University of Toronto, n.d. b. &ldquo;Adaptive technology resource centre technical glossary,&rdquo; at http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/reference/tech/techgloss.html, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />University of Toronto, n.d. c. &ldquo;Adaptive technology resource centre technical glossary: neural interface devices,&rdquo; at http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/reference/tech/neuralinterface.html",accessed 27 November 2005.<br />University of Toronto, n.d. d. &ldquo;Adaptive technology resource centre vision technology service,&rdquo; at http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/service/vts.html, accessed 27 November 2005.&amp;nbsp;<br />Joyce Kasman Valenza, 2000. &ldquo;Surfing blind,&rdquo; Library Journal, Fall 2000, pp. 34-36.<br />Web Accessibility Initiative, 2005a. &ldquo;WAI mission and organization,&rdquo; at http://www.w3.org/WAI/about.html, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Web Accessibility Initiative, 2005b. &ldquo;Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) overview,&rdquo; at http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php, accessed 27 November 2005.<br />Stu Westin, 2005. &ldquo;Cutting curbs on the information highway: Embracing adaptive technology to broaden the web,&rdquo; Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, volume 17, number 3, pp. i-x.

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Vol. 2 (2006)

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