A dark blue background with red and white diagonal stripes. The text in white reads "Vilissa's Vital AT". In red text it reads "Ability Tools Weekly". There is the Ability Tools logo.

VILISSA’S VITAL A.T.

Written By: Vilissa Thompson, LMSW, Creator of Ramp Your Voice! As someone who is proudly disabled as a wheelchair user, little woman, and who is hard of hearing (HoH), assistive technology (AT) allows me to exist and be a part of my community with fewer barriers.  To not have the AT I depend on means…

These Are A Few Of Our Favorite Things

Written by: Megan Cowdell, Program Coordinator, CFILC   Here at Ability Tools and our parent organization, The California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC), we have used and worked with our fair share of assistive technology. In this second annual blog you will find testimonials from some of our staff on their favorite AT devices this…

Voice Options Program Success Stories

Written by: Kevin Hansen, Voice Options Program Manager During the time that the Voice Options Pilot Project has been running we have seen a significant impact in the lives of the participants that have received services from this program. This pilot project was funded by the California Public Utilities Commission and officially started on January…

Man holding a smart phone up to his face covering his eyes and the eyes shown in the screen of the phone are noticeably different eyes

“Borrowing site” with Be My Eyes

An eye-opening app produced by a non-profit startup in Copenhagen hopes to change life for people who are visually impaired. Hans Jørgen Wiberg, who is visually impaired himself, came up with the idea for the application. Through his work at “The Danish Association of the Blind” he recognized, that visually impaired often need help to cope…

Ipad propped up with a mans hand selecting words on a speech app

Voice Options: A Speech and Communication Pilot Project

Ability Tools has had the pleasure of partnering with the California Public Utilities Commission to launch Voice Options Pilot Project. The program launched January 11th 2017. Voice Options is a pilot program of the California Public Utilities Commission administered by the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers.Voice Options connects Californians with speech language disabilities to…

Voice options logo

Voice Options Speech Technology Program launches January 11th

We are excited to announce the launch of a statewide pilot program called Voice Options, California Speech Technology Program. Voice Options offers iPads with speech applications to people with disabilities for demonstration, short and long-term loan via 10 demonstration centers throughout the state. The project is funded by the California Public Utilities Commission and administered by the…