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Free and inexpensive computer technologies.It is noteworthy that only about half of the students in our studies who indicated needing adaptations used these. The overwhelming reason cited was that these cost too much. Other reasons are: it is unavailable to students; they are uncertain where to buy the technology; they don't know how to use the equipment; and equipment is too expensive to maintain.
It is advisable to try some adaptive computer technologies before buying. Many products have downloadable "demos" which are usually available at a company's web site. There are also a variety of readily available free or inexpensive products that do part or all of what the full-featured products do (Fichten, et al., 1999). These low cost products allow experimentation with technological solutions without having to make expensive purchases. These are not meant to replace the sophisticated, dedicated adaptive programs designed for individuals with specific disabilities or impairments. What makes these free or inexpensive technologies interesting is that they provide opportunities for students to test adaptations. These also provide "quick and dirty" solutions to frequent problems encountered by faculty such as having to make a last minute handout for a student who needs an audiotape. Similarly, when a professor wants a student who is blind to read material available on disk in his/her office, free or inexpensive document reading software can be accessed. Unless the material is scientific or highly technical, these free or inexpensive technologies can read the material to the student without the assistance of a reader. Similarly, free and inexpensive magnification software can allow students with low vision to see what is on the computer screen. For the web sites where these products are available as well as for new products, check the booklet prepared for students and services providers (Fossey et al, 2001a) or visit the "Download" section of the Adaptech Project (2001) web site.
Universal design on campus and resources.A barrier-free learning community involves universal access to information (cf. Ekberg, 1999). Guidelines for making programs and activities accessible have been proposed by several postsecondary educational institutions. Good examples are materials from Oregon State University (web accessibility guidelines, software access guidelines, hardware accessibility guidelines, 1999a, 1999b, 1999c, respectively) and Santa Monica College (1998, undated), and the distance education guidelines from Chancellor’s Office of California Community Colleges (High Tech Center Training Unit, 1999). These resources, in addition to other well established North American organizations and web sites that are likely to have interesting, easily implementable solutions to common problems experienced in postsecondary education, are presented in the listing below. These resources provide information and tools to assist you in ensuring that computer, information and learning technologies on your campus are universally accessible.
Useful references and resources.
Adaptech Project. Adaptech Project web site. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.adaptech.org
Adobe. Access.adobe.com Adobe Acrobat software and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://access.adobe.com/
AHEAD (Association on Higher Education and Disability). Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.ahead.org/
Apple. People with special needs. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.apple.com/disability/
A-Prompt (Accessibility Prompt). A-Prompt Project: Accessibility-Prompt Toolkit. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/
Adobe. Access.adobe.com home page. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://access.adobe.com
ATRC (Adaptive Technology Resource Centre). Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/
Blackboard. Blackboard accessibility initiative. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://resources.blackboard.com/scholar/general/pages/iccontent/accessibility.html#salt
Bobby Accessibility Checker from Cast. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.cast.org/bobby
Canadian Association of Disability Service Providers in Postsecondary Education. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.cadsppe.cacuss.ca
Connell B. R., Jones, M., Mace, R., Mueller, J., Mullick, A., Ostroff, E., Sanford, J., Steinfeld, E., Story, M., & Vanderheiden, G. (1997). The principles of universal design (Version 2.0 - 4/1/97). Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.design.ncsu.edu:8120/cud/univ_design/principles/udprinciples.htm
Cook, A. M., & Hussey, S. M. (1995). Assistive technologies: Principles and practice. Toronto: Mosby.
Cooper, M. (1999). Universal design of a Web site – CSUN ’99 presentation. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.dinf.org/csun_99/session0030.html
CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM). (2000). Making educational software accessible: Design guidelines including math and science solutions. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/ncam/cdrom/
Cunningham, C., & Combs, N. (1997). Information access and adaptive technology. Phoenix: Oryx Press.
CSUN (Center on Disabilities - California State University at Northridge). Home page. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://www.csun.edu/cod
Department of Justice of the United States (2001). Section 508 home page. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/508home.html
DO-IT Program (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology). DO-IT, University of Washington, Box 354842, Seattle, WA 98195-4842. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.washington.edu/doit/
EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information). Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.rit.edu/~easi/index.htm
Federal IT Accessibility Initiative. Home page. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://www.section508.gov
HEATH Resource Center (American Council on Education - National Clearinghouse on Postsecondary Education For Individuals With Disabilities). Welcome to the HEATH Resource Center. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.acenet.edu/programs/heath/home.cfm
High Tech Center Training Unit of the Chancellor’s Office of California Community Colleges. (1999, August). Distance education: Access guidelines for students with disabilities. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.htctu.fhda.edu/dlguidelines/final%20dl%20guidelines.htm
IBM. Accessibility center guidelines. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www-3.ibm.com/able/guidelines.html
Lougheed, Tim. (2000). New perspectives on accessible technology. University Affairs, June/July, 2000, 22, 26-27. Retrieved July 10, 2001 from http://www.adaptech.org/download/uafe.htm
Lynx-Me. Info page. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://ugweb.cs.ualberta.ca/~gerald/lynx-me.cgi
Macromedia. Flash accessibility. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/productinfo/accessibility and Accessibility kit detail page. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://www.macromedia.com/home/searchresults/?sp-k=&sp-p=any&sp-a=00050d14-sp00000001&sp-q=Accessibility%2BKit&Go.x=6&Go.y=9 and /
Mates, B.T. (2000). Adaptive technology for the internet. Chicago: American Library Association. Online version retrieved January, 2001 from http://www.ala.org/editions/openstacks/insidethecovers/mates/mates_toc.html
Microsoft Corporation. Accessibility & Microsoft. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.microsoft.com/enable/microsoft/default.htm and Making your web sites more accessible with Microsoft FrontPage 2000. Retrieved from http://www.microsoftfrontpage.com/content/articles/accessibility.html
Murie, M. Captioning QuickTime. Retrieved August 27, 2001 from http://www.dv.com/magazine/2001/0501/murie0501.html
National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS). http://www.neads.ca/
NCDS (National Center for Disability Services). Home page. http://www.ncds.org
NCAM (National Center for Accessible Media). Media access generator (MAGpie). Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie/
Oregon State University. (1999a, March). Oregon State University software access guidelines. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://tap.orst.edu/Policy/soft.html
Oregon State University (1999b, March). Oregon state university web accessibility guidelines. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://osu.orst.edu/dept/tap/Policy/web.html
Oregon State University. (1999c, March). Oregon State University hardware access guidelines. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.colorado.edu/sacs/disabilityservices/post_at/hrdgde.html
Rehberg, S. (undated). Some thoughts on accessibility & universal design as applied to the internet, in general, and WebCT, in particular. Retrieved April 1, 2001 from http://www.webct.com/service/viewcontentframe?contentID=2627931
Santa Monica College. (1998). General guidelines for designing accessible web pages. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.smc.edu/disabledstudent/accessibility/webaccess0398.html
Santa Monica College. (undated). Universal access to Santa Monica College web pages. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.smc.edu/disabledstudent/awareness_training.htm
Sun Microsystems. Accessibility program. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://www.sun.com/tech/access/
Trace Center. (2001). Designing a more usable world - for all. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://trace.wisc.edu/world/
WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind Training). Tutorials. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://www.webaim.org/tutorials/
WebCT. Version 3.6. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://www.webct.com/products/viewpage?name=products_webct_version_3_6 and WebCT.com Library: Accessibility information and resources. Retrieved August 26, 2001 from http://www.webct.com/service/ViewContent?contentID=1310183&communityID=-1&categoryID=-1&sIndex=0
W3C. Web accessibility initiative. Retrieved April 13, 2001 from http://www.w3.org/WAI/Resources/#qt