logo of AT video contest: says show off your Assistive Technology 2015 video contest with side yellow leaves framing it

2015 AT Video Contest – It’s an Exciting New Year with Ability Tools!

Ability Tools just recently opened a nationwide contest where participating contestants could potentially win $500! The purpose of the contest is to showcase the creative ways people with disabilities use assistive technology (AT) in their daily lives. Many people with disabilities use AT to accomplish tasks they otherwise could not. Sometimes they modify a commercial…

woman holding up hot spot in front of dap poster

FREE Hot-Spots and $10 /Month Internet!

The Digital Access Project, a program of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC), and Basic-Internet.com are providing free hot-spots to people with disabilities and their families who currently do not have Internet service at home. “The best gift possible is giving someone affordable Internet at home,” said Kim Hogan, Digital Access Program Coordinator. …

picture of a wooden table with headphones and an amazon speaker - the echo sitting on it

Amazon Echo: A Solution Looking for a Problem

by Chi Hung Luke Hsieh, Assistive Technology Advocate at Community Access Center in Riverside, CA Amazon announced its latest big idea last month:  The Amazon Echo.  The Echo is essentially a hands-free, voice activated Bluetooth speaker connected with wifi and to the cloud with a processing chip and 7 microphones.  For more detailed information, visit…

Picture of the low vision/blind accessibility features on the screen of the fire phone

Amazon Fire Phone and its Accessibility Features

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…

E-Book Access For All

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…