I'm back, and here's a quick update on what's been going on. In addition to my work at the library, I'm working on a presentation with the Accessibility and Usability Committee, which we will be presenting this Friday. I'll be posting more information on that soon.

Things are going pretty well at work. I’m starting to really get into things now. I started doing some basic demos for library staff on the assistive technology computer. I explained the different technologies available, and gave quick demos. Here’s a quick rundown on some of the software I have been and will be using.

Jaws for Windows
http://www.freedomscientific.com
I have been using this software for a long time on my own. Actually I’ve been using it since Jaws for DOS. It’s come a long way since then. This software is known as a screen reader, and it basically does just that. Using the computers sound card, the computer will speak what’s on the screen. The user uses the keyboard to both control the mouse, and tell Jaws what to speak. Jaws works with most Windows programs, like office software, web browsers, and pretty much anything else.

On the website listed above, anyone can download a demo of the software to see what it’s like. It’s actually the full program, but it runs in a 40 minute demo mode. Once 40 minutes are up, the system has to be rebooted to run Jaws longer.


Magic
http://www.freedomscientific.com
This is another program made by the same company. This software can magnify the screen for users with low vision. That’s the basics of what the program does. It has a lot more functionality though, like high contrast backgrounds, mouse and cursor enhancements, some speech output like Jaws, and a variety of ways to view the screen. Portions of the screen, or the whole thing can be magnified.

Again, there’s a demo for this software that works just like the Jaws one. It’s enough to get a good idea of what the programs do. The only down side is they are pretty spendy, so it’s not something just anyone would buy. Although I have had a lot of people who’ve played with my copy of Jaws tell me they really want it for reading stuff on the computer.

Kurzweil 1000
Kurzweiledu.com
This is another cool program. I used to use Kurzweil a long time ago, but until recently, haven’t used it at all. I’m glad I’ve started again though. It can do a lot of cool things. It’s primary function is scanning print materials. Using a flatbed scanner, a blind user can scan in print materials: bills, letters, books, etc. It can then be read by synthesized speech within the program, similar what Jaws would do for other programs on the computer. The file can then be saved as a variety of file types like txt, rtf, doc, and brf. This last one is an electronic Braille format. The user then could print the book or whatever on Braille paper.

It’s also got a lot of other cool features. A couple of my favorites are the audio file output and virtual scanning. Once the user has scanned in a book, it then can be converted to an audio file like an MP3 file. The user can then listen to it on a computer with no assistive technology. The file will open in Media Player, Winamp, or whatever program plays MP3’s. It will also work on portable players like the Ipod. The book could automatically be split up into shorter files for easier navigation as well.

The other feature I really like is the virtual printer. Rather than scanning from an actual scanner, other files can be scanned for text. When Kurzweil is installed, it puts another printer in the printers list. This can then be chosen from other programs like Word or Adobe Reader. Printing files to this printer will extract the text from the files and import it into Kurzweil, where it can be saved as an accessible format.

There are more programs on the machine at the library, but I’ll save that for next time. I really didn’t think I’d type this much about the ones so far. And later I’ll explain some of the other assistive technology available at the library and others I’ve used in the past. so keep checking back often.

I'm back for another update. Sorry it's been a while. The last couple weeks have been pretty interesting. I started training on the assistive technology computer at the library. I did a couple of overviews to the library staff on the technology that's available and what it can do. I hope to start actual training on how to use the hardware and software next week.

I'm also starting to get some materials together for some outreach. The aim is to get many people interested in using the technology, and if successful, implament this in other libraries around the area.

Last weekend, I also went to my first real civic engagement. I attended the viewing of the Wal-Mart movie at the Mapps Cafe. The movie was called Wal-Mart, The High Cost of Low Price. It was actually a really interesting film about how Wal-Mart is involved in a lot of shady business practices, and a host of other things you wouldn't think they'd be involved in. It covered topics like poor to really no benifits, pretty much slave labor, environmental polution, and more. I won't say much more about the movie, but I will say it's definitely worth a watch. If even half of the information is true, it's pretty disturbing how one of the biggest and most successful companies today is involved in so much shady activity.

After the movie ended, we stayed a while longer and took part in some discussion about the movie. We had to leave a little early, but we continued the discussion on the way home. I have a friend who's dad works at Wal-Mart. He mentioned a lot of the benifits issues in the movie, but I never thought it was quite that bad. I'm definitely going to tell my friend to watch this movie.

That's all for now, but I'll post again soon.

This has been an interesting start to the year so far, but it's been fun. I've finished my second week of work now, and things are going well. ITings are starting out a little slow, but that's how things usually sart. I'm just starting to really get into my projects. It looks like I'll have plenty to do at the Lexington Library, and I just learned that the Dayton's Bluff Library is looking for some similar help with their assistive technology computer(s). This is great because this is really what I want to do as a career, work with assistive technology, and getting people to know about it, learn to use it, and have cool opportunities like I've had in the past because of assistive technology.

Basically some of the projects I'll be working on involve training people to use the assistive technology computer at the library, and getting people to come in and be interested in it. I've started making up some cheatsheets for some basic commands for Windows and the various assistive technology programs that are available. I will post these here too later on, especially the Windows shortcut keys because I know there was interest from some people at the CTEP meeting last Friday.

I'm going to start doing a little training for the VISTA's on Monday I think. It looks like we're going to do some group overview stuff for different groups, like the VISTA's, staff, and eventually the public. But this will only give them the briefest of looks. It won't be enough to even know the basic keyboard commands and such, so I'm probably going to have some one-on-one training set up for everone, and customers as they come in and are interested.

I'm also going to make some contacts with organizations throughout the area that might have customers or staff that may be interested. We're also looking at an open house or two, like I attended on my first day of work. Another library had a similar thing, and it might draw some interest.

I'll also be working with the web designer for the libraries to insure the websites are accessible. We met yesterday and had a good talk. He's also really interested in learning the technology so he has an idea of how it works. We'll probably set up something next week.

So I have a lot on my plate at work, and I'm also trying to continue working on some projects for my Masters class in Instructional Design and Technology. It's a fun class, with interesting projects, but with the amount of stuff that's been going on lately, I just have no motivation to do any of it right now. I have a feeling I'll be working on it pretty hardcore in a few days. That's what today was supposed to be fore, but I haven't touched it yet.

I'm also very excited though because I hope to be getting some new technology fairly shortly. My laptop has been dying a slow and painful death for a while, so I am probably getting a new one. I'm working with State Services for the Blind on the upgrade, and a bit of assistive technology. The laptop I spec'd is pretty sweet, and I can't wait to hopefully get it. I'm also looking into a few different assistive technology software packages that I'll use, and train others in current and future jobs. The only depressing part of this is that the laptop will probably be even better than my current desktop machine, which I just repaired and semi-upgraded a couple months ago. But I'll talk more about the computer and various assistive technology packages another day, and maybe even my laptop battery rant for good measure.

There's probably a lot more stuff I could talk about here right now, but I'll save that for another day. Plus I'm tired of typing for now. Definitely more to come...

Well, this is my first blog post, so here we go.

I just finished my first week of my job through the CTEP program. I'm working both at the Daytons Bluff and Lexington library. I'm working in the homework centers and with the assistive technology computer at the Lexington Library.

So far everything has been going well. It was a little chaotic witht he move though. The first week of work went very well though, and I'm looking foreword to this year.