AccessComputing

Some web browsers are more accessible than others for users with disabilities. In order to be accessible, a web browser, like any other software product, must have an interface that is accessible. For example, the browser must be operable by keyboard only (for people who are unable to use the mouse), and it must be compatible with assistive technologies such as screen readers. In addition to having an accessible interface, web browsers must be capable of presenting web content in an accessible way, provided that the web author practiced accessible web design techniques.

The short 13-minute video Returning from Service: College and IT Careers for Veterans and the related publication provide an overview of some of the opportunities and challenges faced by veterans with disabilities as they transition to the postsecondary classroom and pursue degrees in computing and information technology fields.

AccessComputing's Promising Practices tell how to deliver a variety of activities that serve to increase the participation of people with disabilities in computing fields. Activities include capacity-building institutes for faculty, staff, students, and other stakeholders; strategies for creating or including accessible technology and materials, and outreach activities such as camps and workshops that fully include participants with disabilities.

Video has played an important role in education for many decades. Now, in the form of computer-based multimedia, video is increasingly utilized in distance learning and other web-based educational applications. However, the audio portion of a video presentation is inaccessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing unless it includes captions. Captions are on-screen text descriptions that display a video product's dialogue, identify speakers, and describe other relevant sounds that are otherwise inaccessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Sensorimotor neural engineers study the properties of neural systems (e.g., the brain, spinal cord, nerves, ganglia, and parts of the receptor and effector organs), including sensory systems and motor systems, to identify how engineering techniques can be applied to them. For example, in recent years the field has shown that it's possible to control devices by using signals from the brain. Such advancements can improve products and technology commonly used by people with disabilities (e.g., prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs, augmentative communication devices).

The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), defines "mitigating measures" as things that lessen or ameliorate the effects of an impairment, including, but not limited to:

Some individuals with disabilities require assistive technology (AT) in order to access computers. Hundreds of Windows AT third-party products are available, making it possible for almost anyone to use Windows® applications, regardless of their disabilities. The Microsoft® Windows® operating systems also provides a core set of basic accessibility features and AT applications, which can be deployed on all computers in a computer lab or classroom without additional cost.

In 2011-2012 three departments of Illinois State University, the Special Education Assistive Technology Center, Classroom Technology Support Services, and Metcalf University Lab School seized an opportunity to unite in a project which advanced research on better accommodations for students with visual impairments.

Led by Trinidad State Junior College (TSJC) Project E.S.T.E.E.M. (Experience Science, Technology, Engineering, Electronics, and Math) provided youth with disabilities an opportunity to experience programs at TSJC that contain a computer science component. TSJC collaborated with the School to Work Alliance Program (SWAP) to host the full-day event which culminated in an evening in which both students and their parents participated.

Java is a general-purpose programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. It gained notoriety in the late 1990s in part because of its vision of platform independence: A compiled Java program can run on most computers, including those running UNIX, Linux, Mac OS, and Windows. This cross-platform support is possible because the Java interpreter, known as the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), is available for a broad variety of operating systems.