CSUN Conference Highlights

by Kim Cantrell,CFILC’s Program Director

The AT Network was excited to participate in California State University Northridge’s 29^th Annual Conference for People with Disabilities in San Diego from March 19-21. This week we are sharing some highlights from our participation in the event.

Derek Zarda, AT Advocate from ILRC San Francisco building vendor relationships.

First, a big thank you to all of the AT Network members who came by our AT Network booth in the exhibit hall. Based on the number of members who dropped by, it appears the AT Network was well represented at the conference. In fact, from our booth I saw many AT Advocates based at Independent Living Centers throughout California networking with vendors to learn the latest in AT.

The AT Network wasn’t only in the exhibit hall; we also presented a conference session titled “California’s AT Network Device Lending Libraries.” The AT Network’s Rosemarie Punzalan teamed up with Aaron Markovits from Kern Assistive Technology Center and Samuel Moore from Rolling Start to present on California’s system of Device Lending Libraries. Their presentation included information on lending trends and how to access the service. Many of the session participants followed up with a visit to our booth to learn more about services in their local areas.

Comcast Presentation on Voice Controlled Cable

We also attended a Comcast reception where they demonstrated a newly developed voice controlled remote feature to allow you to verbally control your cable channel selection. In addition, they added additional audio description of the cable channel menu and an accessible remote app with audio prompts. We didn’t hear exactly when the new features will hit the market, but many of the attendees were very excited for the changes.

It was a busy week filled with a lot of learning and networking. Next week we will be back with a guest post evaluating the Kindle Fire HDX based on what the author learned at a CSUN conference session.