Eric: I’m Eric and I have a visual impairment called Stargardt's
and it’s a macular degeneration which affects the center of my vision
so it makes it really hard to read, read fine print and see details
so I use the sides of my eyes to see more in the periphery.
Computer: Zoom Text enabled.
Eric: The main piece of assistive technology that I use
on the computer is ZoomText
which is a screen magnifier that allows me to make
everything on the computer screen as big or as small as I need it
depending upon what I’m reading.
There’s also a built-in screen reader on ZoomText
which I can also use to help read documents
because my eyes get tired really easily.
I use a TV monitor that I have on my desk
that allows me to see the board
and what is being projected on the board by the teacher.
Mike: Hi, I'm Mike.
My disability is that I am visually impaired.
I can see things up close but further away it gets blurry.
I use a whole bunch of different technologies
in my daily life.
My smartphone works brilliantly for what I need it to.
It has a whole bunch of different apps on it
that will help me in my day-to-day life.
I have Voice Dream Reader which is an input app
so you can switch over different types of media
and it will allow it to be read aloud to me.
iPad: Lyceum, Lyceum Tuesday July 19 2016, five-zero P-M.
Mike: And that's what the sign says.
Scanning is very important for somebody with a visual impairment
because there are a lot of printed materials in the world in general
that are very not visually impaired friendly,
not blind friendly.
Jessie: Hi.
My name is Jessie,
and I'm a fourth-year student at the University of Washington,
majoring in informatics with a minor in diversity.
And I identify myself as deaf.
So the assistive technology, I use a cochlear implant,
which is my own, personal device I need to hear.
I often use an FM system, which I give to my professor
so that I can hear the professor more directly through my cochlear implant.
It's like a microphone.
Another accommodation I use almost every day
is called CART, C-A-R-T,
which stands for Communication Access Realtime.
So what it is, is a captioning device that's real time captioning,
that I can read the transcript on the screen
while the professor is talking in real time.
Takashi: My name is Takashi
and I have a disease called retinoschisis
that affects my retinas.
Mostly I use my phone's camera
to take pictures of the whiteboard or homework or what not
and just blow it up as big as I can.
I use screen readers not so much but I do like them and
ZoomText on my laptop.
Smartphones are such an amazing tool.
I am oh so very glad that I was born in an era with smart phones
because I just can't imagine doing school
or living my life without a smartphone.
Grace: I'm profoundly deaf.
I grew up with two hearing aids and then last year when I was 17,
I got I got a cochlear implant on my right side
because I wasn't hearing anything through my right ear.
In school, in school I use an interpreter, a sign language interpreter
and also have a note taker for each of my classes
whenever I request one
and if the class has a video or movie showing
it usually has captions or if there's no captions,
my teacher will provide a transcript.
There's a lot of group projects in my engineering classes
and I just use an ASL interpreter pretty much.
And I talk to the other students
and make sure that they're aware that I'm deaf.
I just tell them to slow down a bit
or speak louder and they're usually very flexible with me.
Vincent: My name is Vincent
and I’m currently a PhD student at Georgia Tech
in human centered computing.
As it is with people with all types of disabilities,
people with the same disability also access information differently.
For example, I’m totally blind and I primarily utilize my computers–
and I say that because I have five or six different computers
with different operating systems–
and I utilize them different ways.
I access a lot using the variety of screen reading programs
with hardware and software -based synthesizers.
I am wearing something no one's even noticed yet.
I am wearing something that's off-the-shelf technology.
It used to be military and then it was extremely expensive.
This is a bone conduction headset designed for runners.
I wear one almost continuously.
This is off-the-shelf technology that anyone can use right now
and also my watch is connected to this
when things come through now I hear them in my head
even with people around
and I just hear the notification or whatever,
text messages, news updates.
And now I don't even have to go to my phone anymore.
Sheryl: My name is Sheryl Burgstahler
and I direct Accessible Technology Services
at the University of Washington in Seattle.
As you can see, it’s really important
that people with disabilities have access to the technology that they need
including assistive technology
so they can be successful in education, in careers,
and all the activities that they wish to pursue.
It’s also important that IT developers
including those that create websites, documents, software and other IT
make those products accessible to people who are using assistive technology
and to everyone else.