National Conference on the Reuse of Assistive Technology

May 8-10 conference in Atlanta.

John H. Hager, assistant secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education, is pleased to share with you news of a national conference on the reuse of assistive technology to be held May 8-10 in Atlanta:Since I was appointed assistant secretary for OSERS a little over a year ago, one of my priorities has been to expand and enhance the recycling and reuse of assistive technology. Across the country, many people with disabilities and their families want to give away assistive technology (AT) that they no longer use-from wheelchairs to special computer keyboards. Others are seeking affordable, used AT to meet their needs. Hundreds of organizations help them do this through device reuse programs-programs that exchange, recycle, repair and redistribute used AT. It is only common sense to try to match up needs with available resources. Although there are individual state efforts to recycle and reutilize assistive technology, this is an area that currently lacks national leadership-and one that can make a huge difference nationally to people with disabilities. We want to provide that national leadership."Pass It On!" This is a national conference designed to help organizations share successful strategies and build new networks for reuse of AT. It is being held May 8-10, 2006, at the Georgia Tech Conference Center in Atlanta. Through presentations from state-of-the-art reuse programs and small group discussions with peers, conference participants will: Hear from some of America's most successful AT reuse programs about howto build, sustain and improve local device reuse programs; Find out how states can network local AT reuse programs and create partnerships to get more AT into the hands of consumers; and Be a part of building a national community of device reuse programs. This conference is sponsored by the Rehabilitation Services Administration, a component of OSERS at the U.S. Department ofEducation, with the assistance of the National Assistive Technology Technical Assistance Partnership housed at Rehabilitation Engineeringand Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) and DTIAssociates, Inc. For more information and to register for the conference, visit thefollowing Web site: http://www.dtiassociates.com/passiton/ . If you know of an organization or person who will benefit from thisconference, please pass it on!

October 3rd, 2006 meeting

The new director of the Adaptive Services Division attended the meeting, introduced herself to the group and talked about her hopes for the group and for the division. The petition was discussed and three concerns were expressed. The first was that the petition be shorter and simpler, possibly with a list of required assistive technologies as an addendum. The second was that the proposed name change for the group, from JUGS (JAWS Users Group and Support) to TUGS (Technology Users Group and Support) might lose focus on the community of people who are blind, have low vision, or physical disabilities that prevent them from reading printed text. The third concern was that a profile be drawn up of the libraries customers.

A representative of Freedom Scientific was at the meeting to do a JAWS demonstration. His tips included the following:

Insert T to read the title of the active window
Alt Tab to cycle between active applications
Insert F2 to open the JAWS Manager and 3 S's to open the Skimming Tool
Ctrl Shift K to set a permanent place marker

September 5th, 2006 meeting

The JUGS meeting on September 5th was attended by 18 people. Ginnie Cooper, the new director of DCPL met with the group and talked about the petition for accessibility at the library. The petition askes for added hours for the Adaptive Services Division, a time table for installment of Adaptive Workstations in the branch libraries, and an Accessibility Advisory Committee to meet 4 times a year with the director. Also, a representative of the National Federation of the Blind was at the meeting to demonstrate the new Kurzweil NFB Reader, a standalone, handheld camera-scanner and reader that can take pictures of menus and similar items and vocalize them using a synthesized voice.

August 1st, 2006

The JAWS User Group and Support meeting on August 1st was attended by 18 people. The petition for accessibility has been updated to include the following discription of an acceptable Adaptive Workstation: An accessible computer with a 21 inch screen, screen reader, screen magnification, scanner and reader, a CCTV, and adjustable furniture. Also at the meeting were two representatives of Cingular and Owasys to demonstrate accessible cellular telephones. Unfortunately, due to a break down of the air conditioning system, the meeting was interrupted after 20 minutes and had to move to the main lobby.