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November 1999
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November 1999
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- CD-ROMs, Useful for Everyone
- Special Health Care Needs Books from Brookes
- ReachNET Introduces First-Ever Handheld Wireless TTY For the Deaf Community
CD-ROMs, Useful for Everyone
NCAM is creating prototypes of multimedia software that are accessible for visually impaired elementary and high school students. "These models will inform teachers and software developers about the possibilities of accessible multimedia," says Madeleine Rothberg, project director for the CD-ROM Access Project.
In Sunburst Communications' "How the West Was One + Three x Four," an audio interface enables children who are blind or visually impaired to play this lively math game. Fun sounds set the Wild West atmosphere while descriptive narration conveys visual information. Commands can be entered using the keyboard or mouse, which also makes the software accessible for students with physical disabilities. A high-contrast option makes locating game pieces on the screen easier for students with low vision.
NCAM is also adapting LOGAL, Inc.'s science simulation software, "Photosynthesis Explorer," with help from experts on Java accessibility at Sun Mycrosystems and IBM Special Needs Systems. When students explore the effects of six variables on the amount of sugar and oxygen a plant produces, for example, the information is displayed on a graph and described with a text-to-speech interface for blind and visually impaired students.
NCAM's research which is funded by the National Science Foundation, is aided by the generous cooperation and permission provided by Sunburst and LOGAL. "We'll distill what we've learned from the prototypes to write CD-ROM access guidelines," Rothberg explains. These guidelines, available in early 2000, will enable software developers to create accessible products. (www.wgbh.org/ncam/cdrom)
The page gives an analysis of accessibility of products.
Products Tested
Elementary products:
The Cruncher (Davidson and Associates)
How the West Was One + Three x Four (Sunburst Communications)
Infinity City (Headbone Interactive)
The Way Things Work 2.0 (Dorling Kindersley)
Secondary products:
Astro Algebra (Edmark)
Explorations in Cell Biology and Genetics (Wm. C. Brown Publishers)
Photosynthesis Explorer 3.0 (LOGAL Software, Inc.)
SimAnt (Maxis)
StudyWorks for Schools (MathSoft, Inc.)
Post-secondary products:
ActivPhysics (Addison Wesley Interactive)
MathView (Waterloo Maple, Inc.)
Minitab Release 10 Xtra (for Mac) and Release 11 (for Windows) (Minitab, Inc.)
Reference products:
Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia 1997 Edition for Windows (The Learning Company)
Encarta '97 Encyclopedia (Microsoft)
Encyclopaedia Britannica CD '97 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1997 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (Grolier Interactive Inc.)
And a few Solutions.
Special Health Care Needs Books from Brookes
Book Reviews:
Reserve your copy now! Order by December 31, 1999 and Save 15%!
1. The Physician's Guide to Caring for Children with Disabilities and Chronic Conditions
A Comprehensive Guide
Edited by Robert E. Nickel, M.D., & Larry W Desch, M.D.According to James A. Blackman, MD, MPH
"The quantity of the material is awesome. I have not seen so much practical material in one spot ... a very useful reference for practice as well as teaching."
Here is the TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Children with Disabilities and Chronic Conditions and Their Service Needs
2. Developmental Screening and Surveillance
3. Working with Families
4. Nutrition and Growth
5. Developmental Delay and Mental Retardation
6. Cerebral Palsy
7. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Related Conditions
8. Autism and Pervasive Develop- mental Disorders
9. Vision and Hearing Loss
10. Anxiety Disorders
11. Prenatal Drug Exposure
12. HIV Infection
13. Meningomyelocele and Related Neural Tube Defects
14. Craniofacial Anomalies
15. Traumatic Brain Injury
16. Spinal Cord Injury
17. Seizure Disorders
18. Chronic Respiratory DisordersStock Number: 4463
Price: $106.25
Availability: April 2000
800 pages - 81/2 x 11
ISBN 1-5576-446-32. Children with Disabilities, Fourth Edition
Edited by Mark L. Batshaw, M.D.
The Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology states:"It is rare to find a book as comprehensive and yet as easy to read as the fourth edition of this much admired text.'
"An excellent resource," says:
-American Journal on Mental Retardation"A complete and thorough compendium of useful information," says Disability Studies Quarterly
THE CONTENTS
1. Understanding Your Chromosomes
2. Heredity: A Toss of the Dice
3. Birth Defects, Prenatal Diagnosis, and Fetal Therapy
4. Growth Before Birth
5. Having a Baby: The Birth Process
6. The First Weeks of Life
7. Born Too Soon, Born Too Small
8. Substance Abuse: A Preventable Threat to Development
9. HIV and AIDS: From Mother to Child
10. Nutrition: Good and Bad
I 1. Vision: Our Window to the World
12. Hearing: Sounds and Silences
13. Language: A Code for Communicating
14. The Brain and Nervous System: Our Computer
15. Muscles, Bones, and Nerves: The Body's Framework
16. Mental Retardation
17. Down Syndrome
18. Fragile X Syndrome
19. PKU and Other Inborn Errors of Metabolism
20. Dual Diagnosis: Mental Retardation and Psychiatric Disorders
21. Autism: And Other Pervasive Developmental Disorders
22. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
23. Learning Disabilities
24. Cerebral Palsy
25. Neural Tube Defects
26. Seizure Disorders
27. Traumatic Brain Injury
28. Feeding
29. Dental Care: Beyond Brushing and Flossing
30. Behavior Management: Promoting Adaptive Behavior
31. Technological Assistance: Innovations for Independence
32. Rehabilitation. Interventions: Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy
33. Ethical Choices: Questions of Care
34. Caring and Coping: The Family of a Child with Disabilities
35. Adulthood: What the Future Holds
36. Providing Health Care in the 21st Century
Appendix A: Glossary
Appendix B: Syndromes Inborn Errors of Metabolism
Appendix C: Commonly Used Medications
Appendix D: Resources for Children with DisabilitiesStock Number: 2932
Price: $58.00 1997
960 pages of illustrations
7 x 9 1/4 hardcover - ISBN 1-55766-293-2Call toll free 1-800-638-3775 8 am to 5 pm Monday-Friday, Eastern Time. Customer Service Representatives to answer questions.
Online ordering: www.brookespublishing.com
Fax: 1-410-337-8539Mailing Address:
Brookes Publishing Company
P.O. Box 10624
Baltimore, MD 21285-0624
ReachNET Introduces First-Ever Handheld Wireless TTY For the Deaf Community
Source: BUSINESS WIRE
BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 17, 1999--
Revolutionary Technology Offers Unprecedented Service for the 28 Million Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Individuals in the U.S.
Using a revolutionary new wireless service called Wireless TTY, deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals can, for the first time ever, engage in near real-time telephone conversations while mobile and separated from traditional teletype (TTY) machines.
Developed by ReachNET, a Baltimore-based wireless technology company, Wireless TTY gives the deaf community the same freedom and convenience that hearing individuals enjoy when using mobile telephones.
"Until now, wireless technologies for the deaf community have been restricted to two-way messaging and paging services," said John Kirby, president and CEO of ReachNET. "With Wireless TTY, a deaf person can now make near real-time TTY calls anytime, anywhere. The convenience and safety benefits are truly remarkable."
ReachNET is offering its Wireless TTY application via BellSouth Wireless Data's nationwide network, which covers more than 93 percent of the U.S. urban business population located in 492 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and non-MSAs with a total population of 200 million people.
"Wireless data - and the BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network(SM) in particular - is a perfect technology fit for the deaf community," said Janet Boudris, senior vice president, Strategic Marketing, BellSouth Wireless Data. "In the wireless data world, the deaf and hard of hearing are on common ground with those who can hear because they are communicating interactively through the written rather than spoken word. This gives the deaf community a measure of freedom, flexibility and control they never before have experienced."
Using the Wireless TTY application over the BellSouth network, individuals can place and receive calls to and from other TTY machines, relay services or e-mail via the RIM Interactive(TM) Pager 950, a compact hand-held device that features a full keyboard and can be worn on a belt or slipped in a pocket. Once the two parties connect, they can engage in near real-time conversations.
"Wireless TTY is a real break-through for the deaf community," said Jamie Clark, former Vice President, Verio. Jamie Clark is a graduate of Gallaudet University and founder of ClarkNet Internet services which was purchased by Verio. "These types of technological advancements level the playing field for all deaf individuals, providing the same freedom and independence that is found in the hearing world."
Combining the features of a personal computer, pager and cellular telephone, Wireless TTY provides a range of functions, including near real-time TTY service, email, outgoing fax, two-way paging, an electronic address book and a vibrating alert.
ReachNET uses the latest technology to ensure the highest levels of service, including encryption technology that guards against eavesdropping, cloning and theft. The RIM Inter@active Pager 950 is manufactured by Research In Motion Limited, an Ontario, Canada-based company that develops leading-edge, wireless communications products.
ReachNET Wireless TTY is available immediately through the ReachNET web site at http://www.Reachnet.net or by calling toll-free 1-888-RNET-008 or 1-877-RNET-TTY.
As a special introductory offer, ReachNET is selling charter subscriptions to the Wireless TTY service at one-half the normal initiation fee.
ReachNET representatives will be demonstrating Wireless TTY in many cities across the country. Please see the ReachNET web site http://www.reachnet.net for further information regarding the Wireless TTY demonstration schedule.
About ReachNET
ReachNET, based in Baltimore, Maryland, is a privately held company. Founded in 1996, ReachNET offers unique wireless applications using the latest cutting-edge communications technology. ReachNET's flagship product, Wireless TTY, provides the deaf and hard of hearing with interactive, mobile communications capabilities never before available.
ReachNET is developing additional revolutionary wireless applications for other segments of the deaf and hard of hearing marketplace. ReachNET can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.reachnet.net.
About BellSouth Wireless Data
BellSouth Wireless Data, L.P., headquartered in Woodbridge, N.J., is an expert in providing proven wireless data communications solutions that eliminate the barriers between critical information and mobile users. The company, a winner of the prestigious Sears Innovation Source of the Year and Partners in Progress awards, delivers a competitive advantage and increases personal productivity for aggressive, innovative companies and individuals leveraging communications technologies to meet their strategic goals. BellSouth Wireless Data is a subsidiary of [BellSouth Corporation]. BellSouth Corporation provides telecommunications, wireless communications, cable and digital TV, directory advertising and publishing, and Internet and data services to nearly 34 million customers in 19 countries worldwide. E-mail: Bellsouthwd.info@bellsouthwd.com. Web site address: http://www.bellsouthwd.com.
(Copyright 1999)
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