EASI Provides Online Courses on Adaptive Computer Technology

We've long been raising our concerns that the internet and information technology is becoming increasingly inaccessible to people with hearing loss and others with disabilities. Fortunately, there are a number of organizations that are responding to this situation. We've just run across another one. A non-profit organization called Equal Access to Software and Information (EASI) provides online workshops on how to adapt computer and information technology for people with disabilities. Here's a bit about their workshops. For additional information please point your browser to http://easi.cc/workshops/adaptit.htm.

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This is a four-week online workshop providing an overview to the topic of adaptive computing technology and is ideal for administrators, teachers, librarians, computer support staff, ADA compliance officers and service providers. The workshop is delivered using e-mail and multimedia materials on the web. Multimedia presentations both enrich the content and make it more accessible to participants with different learning styles and different disabilities. The workshop is designed to encourage and facilitate interactions between instructors and participants.

Computer and information technology is rapidly becoming integral in our daily lives. On one hand, this holds the promise of enhanced independence for students with disabilities. On the other hand, depending on the design of the particular applications being used, it threatens to create needless barriers for such students possibly even preventing them from succeeding in college.

Today's distributed computer environment means that providing support for the technology needs of students and professionals with disabilities is a global responsibility. It requires extensive planning and cooperation across several departments. If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes the global commitment to support the adaptive technology needs of students and professionals with disabilities. It is no longer the sole province of the computer. It cannot be relegated to the disabled student office either. Seamless service requires campus-wide cooperation. This course is designed to provide the broad knowledge of technology, the law and of student technological and pedagogical needs to facilitate such institutional planning.

The workshop will be delivered by an e-mail listserv. It will also require the use of materials on the web. Our goal is to help participants discover Internet resources that will let them remain current with the rapidly changing technologies. It will include assignments in the text: Information Access and Adaptive Technology by Cunningham and Coombs. This can be procured from EASI or from amazon.com