Advances in Adaptive Technology: What eSight Members Say Employers Need to Know

Summary:
eSight members talk about the progress they've seen in adaptive technology and the challenges they face in showing employers how they can function with the aid of that technology in the workplace.

The Progress

The Challenges

The Resources

---

During the last 30 years (and especially during the last 15), advances in adaptive technology have created greater opportunities for people with disabilities to communicate, learn, participate and work so they can live independently.

Many times, those advances have been revolutionary. Those advances offer new ways for businesses to benefit from the untapped potential people with disabilities offer employers.

Yet, in the U.S., employment among people with visual impairments is just over 30 percent, a level which hasn't changed much since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990.

Many within that untapped workforce are motivated, creative and tenacious. They want to live and work independently. Why else would they take the extra risks and put out the extra effort it often takes to master the nuances of available technology so their specific disabilities are minimized and often neutralized in a workplace setting?

These are the reasons why eSight used its eSight Networking Forum to kick off October 2006 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month with this discussion question:

What do employers need to know about how adaptive technology has changed the way you live and work?

The discussion yielded some interesting replies, which job seekers with disabilities and potential employers probably would like to hear. Below are personal stories from eSight members about the progress they've seen in adaptive technology and the challenges they face in showing employers how they can function with the aid of that technology in the workplace.

The third section provides a list of resources which trace the development of adaptive technology (particularly for those with visual impairments) and show the range of adaptive technologies and services available today.

Go to Top of Page


The Progress

• "Assistive technology has exponentially increased my productivity, allowed me more access to work-related information, and significantly reduced my need for braille paper."
  - Peter
  
  
• "It has been my experience that technologies such as the computer, networking, and software can totally change the lives of disabled people, if they receive training and have access to the technology through knowledgeable rehabilitation counselors/state agencies.
  
  "For many years, I was a professional jazz pianist and used standard keyboards to compose and arrange. As a partially sighted individual, I remember vividly having to have a set of coke bottle glasses, trying to see little numbers in a screen about an inch wide, and trying to get the curser over to one of these numbers and change instruments by changing the numbers, then changing them with a value key, and then recording. By the time I'd finished, my eyes felt like they had bits of glass inside them, and it took me at least an hour to recuperate!
  
  "With the development of software produced by companies like Cakewalk and Protools and making their products accessible through companies whose CEO's are themselves blind, the recording field is now open to those who have an interest in it and wish to make it a viable profession for themselves.
  
  "Believe me, this is an exciting time for us.
  
  "In addition, there is software out there that will enable one to have access to sheet music that is printed in ink as apposed to hand written, and, after scanning this, one can listen to the score and memorize it. All of this is possible with screen readers like JAWS, and it works beautifully together.
  
  "With companies like Dancing Dots and with heads of companies that recognize blind engineers can do just a good a job in the studio as their sighted counterparts, this profession is now open for us!"
  - Scott
  
  
• "I was in public high school in a time and place where special education had never been on anyone's mind. I completed a B. S. degree with the aid of volunteer readers and some paid services.
  
  "During my master's program, nothing had changed. During the late 70s, I did about four years of doctoral work, and guess what -- the talking calculators had not even come around. The statistic prof's didn't really care.
  
  "The current levels of advancement in technology, as pertains to the blind, is a million light years from those primitive times and conditions.
  
  "Today, blind persons, who really wish to become competitively employed (and assuming that they are physically and mentally ready and capable) should not be deterred.
  
  "Employers hiring blind workers today are taking no extra burden and certainly are taking no negative legal obligations."
  - C. Fred Stout
  
  
• "I don't know what I'd do without JAWS. It has allowed me to go online and look things up, send and receive email, discover new programs, and a whole lot more. For example, I recently read about a free weather program that is totally accessible. I also found a web site which gives complete and accurate weather forecasts."
  - Jake
  
  
• "Adaptive technology has torn down many of the barriers to the workplace and, with the advent of assistive devices such as talking microwaves and thermometers for the home, people with disabilities can live and work more independently."
  - Helen

Go to Top of Page


The Challenges

• "Employers need to be educated about how we can function and do the work. Some employers are interested in how we do things, but others, I think, feel we (especially those of us who are blind) are a liability."
  - Rita
  
  
• "...Now that computer flat screens are less expensive and JAWS or ZoomText can be built into computers (including laptops), visually impaired and blind people need to take the initiative and show employers that being limited in sight doesn't have to limit their employability for work.
  
  "Employers need to know about government programs (if they exist) that will defray the costs for their businesses, and blind and visually impaired people should be able to demonstrate to them via their laptops how adaptive technology works. It's incumbent upon the blind and visually impaired applicant to pave the road for employers, allaying their fears over the many myths about their employability
  
  "Most employers don't know how to find this information. So, they make the automatic assumption that hiring a disabled worker is going to cost them money and time, which they don't have. As a result, they go for the sighted employee first and foremost.
  
  "... The world doesn't adapt to us; we adapt to the world, and so we have to get better at talking about our strengths and weaknesses and what adaptive technology we'll need and how it works and how it can fit into an employer's situation."
  - Liz
  
  
• "I think, if prospective employees could find a nearby university with adaptive equipment, they could use it as an example for perspective employers..."
  - Vern
  
  
• "Learning to use JAWS with a computer has allowed me to develop my office skills and work as a JAWS tutor on an as-needed basis. It has opened the knowledge of the Internet to me.
  
  "However, I applied for some secretarial positions with my state. When it came time to test, I was told that none of the examinations were readable with the JAWS screen reader. Neither were there provisions made for me to use a person to read for me. I would be given a written exemption. According to the state, that was legal accessibility.
  
  "My question is: How can you convince a state agency that you can perform the skills when you can't independently take the examination?
  
  "We have done a relatively good job of finding funds to educate persons with visual impairments; however, we must finish the plan by making even more work opportunities and testing available to persons with disabilities. Somehow we must find a way to measure our skills on a level equal to non-disabled individuals."
  - Bonita
  
  
• "Adaptive Technology has been a great asset to all blind people. But unfortunately good technology is still out of reach to most blind people all over the world. And cost effective technology and training at K-12 and university is still a big barrier these days."
  - Sunish
  
  Go to Top of Page
  
  
  The Resources
  
  
  Key Articles
  
  Adaptive Technology Resource List
  
  

  ---

  
  Key Articles
  
  "How new is the revolution in adaptive technology?"
  by Kelly Pierce
  
  
  "Question: I just heard that blind people can use computers that talk and use them to access the printed world on their own. Did this become available just recently? How did this come about?"
  
  
  "Economic Participation: Technology"
  By the National Organization on Disability
  
  
  "Technology is considered 'the great equalizer,' giving people with disabilities better opportunities to communicate, learn, participate, and achieve greater overall levels of independence. Perhaps most importantly, new technologies enable people with disabilities to perform competitively in the workplace. The National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.) offers the latest information on assistive technology, technological accessibility, and technology's impact on the participation and contribution of people with disabilities.
  
  See "Projects and Information" as well as "Featured Articles and Links."
  
  
  "Tech Edge: Buying an Assistive Technology Product"
  by John M. Williams January 24, 2006
  
  
  "I can't remember (or maybe I can't count that high) the number of times people have asked me this question in the last 25 years: 'What do I need to know when I am buying an assistive technology (AT) product for myself?' The answer requires knowing the technological challenges related to ...
  
  "Legends and Pioneers of Blindness Assistive Technology, Part 1"
  by Anthony R. Candela
  
  
  "In August 2001, I attended '2001: A Technology Odyssey,' a conference co-hosted by the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) and the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). The conference was devoted to instructing professionals who work with people who are blind or have low vision to use the assistive technology they will eventually teach their students. Little did I know that the banquet luncheon would be professionally altering for me. By the time the luncheon ended, I was convinced that I would undertake the project described in this article."
  
  "Legends and Pioneers of Blindness Assistive Technology, Part 2"
  by Anthony R. Candela
  
  
  "In Part 1 of this series, I described how, while listening to a luncheon speech by Harvey Lauer, I was inspired to conduct an oral history project to capture the memories of the giants in the blindness assistive technology field upon whose shoulders we stand today. The purpose of the project was to record on tape the stories of legends and pioneers of blindness assistive technology and make the interviews available for historians of technology and others who are interested in firsthand accounts by those who have enabled people who are blind or have low vision to function in the Information Age."
  
  "Focused and User Friendly: Doug Geoffray"
  by Deborah Kendrick
  
  
  "In Fort Wayne, Indiana, a high school student's fascination with technology 20 years ago led to the formation of a leading company in assistive technology for blind people."
  
  "19 Resources for Helping You Become a Computer-user"
  by Kelly Pierce
  
  "Here are 19 sources of information about adaptive technology."
  
  "Overview: How to Choose Appropriate Adaptive Technology"
  by Kelly Pierce
  
  
  "Here are six general tips for choosing adaptive technology that is right for you."
  
  "Questions to Ask in Choosing Adaptive Technology"
  by Kelly Pierce
  
  
  "To choose adaptive technology that's right for you, ask yourself and others the right questions about the personal, accessibility, maintenance and financial considerations involved. Here's a sampling of some of those questions."
  
  
  Adaptive Technology Resource List
  
  Assistive Technologies (AT): Manufacturers' Directory
  
  Closing the Gap
  
  Assistive Technology Industry Association
  
  The Family Center on Technology and Disability Resource Review Database
  
  Ai Squared
  
  Enabling Technologies
  
  Dancing Dots Braille Music Technology
  
  Dolphin
  
  Duxbury Systems
  
  EnableLink
  
  Enhanced Vision
  
  FreedomBox
  
  Freedom Scientific
  
  GW Micro
  
  Humanware
  
  Kurzweiledu Educational Systems
  
  Magnicam
  
  Nuance
  
  Sighted Electronics
  
  Telesensory
  
  Vision Technology, Inc.
  
  Vendors
  
  Go to Top of Page
  
  

Bookmark this article to: