by Nubyaan Scott, Program Coordinator for Ability Tools Many of you may know Amazon for its widely diverse online marketplace where you can buy anything from a squat stand to a Roswell soil sample. But, did you know they also make a smartphone? A couple of weeks ago the company revealed that it had designed…
by Justin Harford Yesterday, June 3, 2014, I cast my first ballot independently as someone who is blind, using an electronic voting machine at my local polling place. This experience brought me a lot of satisfaction both because I was participating in the electoral process as a good citizen who had done their homework,…
By Rhett Simmons of West Coast Captioning Assistive Technology (AT) has been a major part of my life for the last 23 years. In 1991, I started using AT to provide captioning services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. In case you don’t know, captioning is the black box with words in it…
by guest blogger Laurie Hoirup, author of I Can Dance: My Life with a Disability Within the business world, financial success is the driving force for both concept and product design. Numbers matter and sadly, for the disability community, those numbers can have a detrimental effect upon independence and ability. Technology is a wonderful asset…
by Nubyaan Scott, Program Coordinator Joe Xavier is the newly appointed Director of the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR). He recently took some time to talk with us about his background, hopes for the future, and his thoughts on Assistive Technology (AT). Take a few minutes to get to know Joe; we’re sure you’ll find it…
What are you doing on Wednesday, May 21st? If you can make it to Sacramento, come join the disability community for the 11th annual Disability Capitol Action Day (DCAD). DCAD is one of the nation’s largest and most diverse cross-disability annual days of unity. Recognizing the important issues facing people with disabilities and their allies…
by Shannon Coe, Program Coordinator For those who watch Dancing with the Stars, and fans of Amy Purdy, you will be happy to know that she is still going strong and scoring high with the judges! Amy Purdy is a double-amputee Paralympian snowboarder and has been on the show for weeks. Each of her performances…
by Chi Hung Luke Hsieh, AT Advocate at Community Access Center in Riverside The annual CSUN conference on disability has come and gone, and despite it being slightly smaller this year, I nonetheless had the pleasure of attending an all-day workshop hosted by Amazon for the purpose of promoting their latest pet, the Kindle Fire…
By guest blogger Fred Tchang, Director of Assistive Technology Services at Advancing Opportunities “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Mandela Fred Tchang, Director of AT Services It seems impossible to many people that a person who is blind can use an iPhone, that a person with a significant physical disability can drive himself to work,…
by guest blogger Laurie Hoirup, author of I Can Dance: My Life with a Disability Assistive Technology comes in many shapes and sizes. And, Author Laurie Hoirup having had a significant disability since the age of two – for more than 50 years now – I have certainly used my fair share of different AT.…