All About Abilities Expo

Written by LaCandice McCray, CFILC

On April 9-11 I attended Abilities Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center representing the AT Network along with Mazuri Colley and AT Advocates from the Los Angeles area. We distributed information about the AT Network, the AT Exchange and information about two local Independent Living Centers (CALIF and WCIL).

I was surprised by the number of people who were familiar with the AT Network. Some consumers and vendors visited the table to congratulate us on the work we do. In addition, several consumers were thankful for the information they received.

In addition to the consumer interactions, there were some interesting vendors in attendance. Our AT Network booth was located in the AT Pavilion, which was a new addition to the expo. This section included AT vendors, organizations, and AT demonstrations. This section really expands the focus of the Abilities Expo.

Our booth was situated next to RJ Cooper, who is well known in Southern California. His video game controllers were popular among young expo attendees.

Also in the pavilion was Mulholland Positioning systems. They provide postural support seating, standing and walking systems for children and adults with Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, and other types of motor development disabilities. I was able to witness several children try their walkers, and some expressed so much happiness when doing so. Mulholland also provides walking systems for adults.

Time Timer was also located in the AT Pavilion. Created by a mother whose daughter was curious about the function of time, these timers provide a way to see time as a measurement and understand its duration. The timers can be set by the second, minute or the hour. Educators have used Time Timers to teach the concept of time, encourage students to use time wisely, track the duration of activities and monitor standardized tests.

Overall, Abilities Expo was an opportunity to connect with consumers, collaborate with AT Advocates and learn about various AT products and services. If you would like to share your experiences from Abilities Expo, please join the AT Network for a Brown Bag discussion on April 22 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. You can email me: lacandice@cfilc.org for access information.

What did you think of Abilities Expo’s new location? If you had a chance to attend, what did you think about the new AT Pavilion? Please tell us by writing a comment below.

Smooth Talkers: voice engines and text-to-speech software

I think a great many of you will agree with me when I say that voices are very important; they can give impressions of intelligence where it is not due, and give impression of stupidity where it is undeserved. When applied to the field of assistive technology, the above statement is even more salient. A good voice engine can make a B grade software look like a state of the art marvel. Where as a bad voice engine (like Microsoft Sam) can make a state of the art software look like something out of 1978 Battlestar Gallectica returning to haunt us.

Here is a news flash: most of companies producing text-to-speech software do not develop their own voice engine, that is because most voice engines are developed along the line of Microsoft SAPI 4 and SAPI 5, and it does not take more than 10 companies producing voice engines to saturate the market.

Thanks to my little obsession about making my over glorified Pentium 4 into a obedient wife with sexy voice telling me how much she worships me, read my books to me before I retire to bed, and proofread my writings;I am proud to announce that I have invested time and real money to test just about every voice engine on the market so my readers can just take my words for it.

Ivona Voice Engine http://www.ivona.com/helpVoice.php
Clarity: 5/5
Punctuation 3/5
Pronounciation 4/5
Compatibility 4.5/5
Overall 4.5/5.


AT&T Voice Engines http://www.naturalreaders.com/sample.htm
Clarity: 3/5
Punctuation 3.5/5
Pronounciation 3/5
Compatibility 4.5/5
Overall 3/5.

Realspek Voice Engine from Nuance . http://www.nextup.com/
Clarity: 3/5
Punctuation 4/5
Pronounciation 35/5
Compatibility 4.5/5
Overall 3.5/5.


Neospeech Voice engine http://www.naturalreaders.com/sample.htm
Clarity: 3/5
Punctuation 4/5
Pronounciation 3.5/5
Compatibility 4.5/5
Overall 3.5/5.

Acapella Voice engine. http://www.naturalreaders.com/sample.htm
Clarity: 3/5
Punctuation 4/5
Pronounciation 4/5
Compatibility 2/5
Overall 3.5/5.

Cepstral Voice Engine. http://www.nextup.com/
Clarity: 2.5/5
Punctuation 4/5
Pronounciation 2.5/5
Compatibility 4/5
Overall 3/5.

Acapella has the best quality second only to Ivona Voice Engine, but they tend to be software specific and will not work cross platform the way Ivona, Neospeech, and AT&T would.

What are your experiences with voice engines? Any pet peeves? Favorites? Questions? If so, post your thoughts in the comments section below.

Written by Luke Hsieh, Assistive Technology Advocate, Community Access Center, Riverside

The above article represents the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the AT Network or its staff, although we must admit that we do enjoy Luke's writing style.

So, what is the ATACP?

What is the ATACP?

Whether you are new to the field of AT or consider yourself a veteran there is always something new to learn in the world of assistive technology. One way that you can continue to challenge yourself is by obtaining more education about the subject. You can do this by attending trainings, collaborating with peers and good old fashioned learning by doing.

The Center on Disabilities at the California State University at Northridge offers the Assistive Technology Applications Certificate Program. This program has been in existence for over ten years and boasts over 2,500 graduates. Those who complete the program will receive a certificate in Assistive Technology Applications with 10 CEUs from California State University, Northridge's College of Extended Learning and the Center on Disabilities.

The certificate gained through the ATACP should not be confused with a certification, which requires a different process and preparation requirements. Check out http://resna.org/certifications/becoming-certified-atp-sms-ret for more information on AT certifications.

The ATACP is an opportunity to expand your knowledge base about the world of AT and meet other professionals in the field. Trainings are offered throughout the year in a convenient distance learning model that involves online and in-person training. Being a part of this program is yet another opportunity to meet other professionals, ask questions and offer solutions to others.

LaCandice and I are currently going through the program and just completed the in-person portion at the recent CSUN conference in San Diego. Taking this course has been my first experience with taking an online course, and it has been very interesting. I appreciated being able to learn each section at my own pace, but I am also very grateful for the in-person interaction we were able to take part in. Next up for both of us is a project focusing on any aspect of the AT field we choose, which could be anything from developing an innovative workshop on some new or unexplored AT or helping an individual obtain the right AT device. Whatever we decide to work on, the AT Network will benefit from all that we’ve learned throughout the program.

Learn more about the ATACP at the Cal State Northridge Center for Disabilities website:

http://www.csun.edu/cod/training/index.php

Have any of you gone through the ATACP? What other opportunities for professional networking or learning are you aware of? If you have participated in any programs, what did you get out of being involved?

Written by Mazuri Colley, Information & Assistance Advocate

Captioning for a More Accessible YouTube

YouTube, a popular Google-run website where you can watch and post videos, is now offering automatic captioning for videos. Universities were the earliest partners of auto-captioning (Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, MIT, Duke, Yale, Columbia, University of New South Wales), as well as a few media publications (Demand Media, PBS, National Geographic, UCTV). As a result of this new automatic captioning service, YouTube has gained support from disability partners as well. One such organization is the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT). COAT's primary goal is to ensure that legislative and regulatory safeguards are in place so people with disabilities have access to high speed broadband, wireless, and other Internet-based technologies. Jennifer Simpson from COAT, made the following statement about the new auto-captioning feature:

“This is a huge step forward for accessibility. We applaud industry leadership such as this. We look to other companies to be as innovative in making their products and services accessible to people with disabilities.”

The accessibility of YouTube has been a concern among the disability community, especially among people who are deaf and hard of hearing. According to a Yahoo article on the topic, an employee of Google and a person with a disability advocated to achieve accessibility of the website for the deaf and hard of hearing community.

“One of the chief advocates for captioning capability at YouTube has been Vint Cerf, the Google vice president who has been described as the "Father of the Internet”. Cerf, who is hearing impaired and has been wearing hearing aids since the age of 13, made a personal appearance at the unveiling of the YouTube auto-caption features at Google's Washington offices in November”.-Yahoo, Washington (AFP)


Although there have been significant gains in making YouTube more accessible, there are still limitations. Currently, the auto-captioning service is only available in English. Also, there is a long queue to have videos that currently exist on the website captioned. Google has developed a step-by-step process on how to caption new videos posted to the website: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=100077

With the auto-captioning service now available on YouTube, doors are opening to increase the accessibility of the Internet for people with disabilities.

Have you used the YouTube auto-captioning function? If so, how well did it work? Can you think of other websites that should follow YouTube’s example? How can Google work to further improve YouTube for people with disabilities?

Written by LaCandice McCray, CFILC

Welcome to the AT Blog!

Welcome to the AT Network’s new AT Blog! The blog is designed not only to keep you updated on the latest assistive technology news from around California, it is also a forum for you to have your say and connect with others. We’ll detail the many ways you can plug in to the AT Blog, but first a little background and a few introductions.

Last year the Department of Rehabilitation combined California’s AT Network and the California Assistive Technology Exchange (CATE) under one contractor. Previously the two programs were run by two separate contractors. California State University Northridge (CSUN) managed the CATE program and the Alliance for Technology Access (ATA) operated the AT Network’s statewide hub from 2006-2009. The California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC) is proud and humbled to be the organization selected to run both of these programs.

We are very excited to be building on the good work of two fine organizations, and we are actively working to maintain program components that AT Network members have come to rely on. In addition, as we continue to integrate the AT Network and CATE programs, we plan to keep you updated each step of the way through posts to the AT Blog.

And you get to be a part of the process by taking part in the AT Blog, where we will be discussing a variety of AT-related issues that will include AT success stories, new devices, AT policy, device recycling, and AT funding at the state, organizational and individual levels. Feel free to comment on a post or respond to others who have made a comment. You make the conversation dynamic by sharing your perspective. CFILC Staff will contribute posts, and we invite AT Network members and others to submit posts as well. Guest post guidelines will be posted soon.

New posts will be added to the AT Blog at least once a week, and sometimes even more frequently. What assistive technology topics would you like to see covered on the AT Blog? Please share your thoughts by posting a comment below.

Written by Kim Cantrell, CFILC