[Research] ECAR: Undergraduate Students and Technology (2012)

Educause Center for Applied Research just released a really great infographic based on the results of their Study of Undergraduate Students and Technology in .pdf format.

The full report can also be downloaded in .pdf format here.

[Updated] Web, Digital Learning and Document Accessibility Resource Links

Thanks to everyone who participated in yesterday's #highered #a11ychat on Twitter, I've been able to score some more great resources for improving web and online learning accessibility, which I've added to the links in the side frames of this site. They include:

Best Practices for Institution-Wide Web Accessibility 
Accessibility Guidelines for Digital Learning Products
Distance Education Accessibility Guidelines (.pdf download)
Triage for Accessifying Websites
Practical Web Accessibility Testing Tools

I also got a couple more good links to document accessibility creation tools from WebAIM:

Creating Accessible MS Word Documents
PDF Accessibility

All in all, very fruitful sharing of tools and discussion! The complete transcript of the event can be found here.

I'm really looking forward to the next chat on Accessibility coming up on October 15th, 2012 at 5PM EST - hope you can join in, too!

[Article] [How-to] Converting Books to Digital Copies

Short, summary how-to article from Simon Wheatcroft on how he converts textbooks into accessible electronic formats. He'll be posting a detailed, step-by-step tutorial in the near future as well.

[Professional Development] Free Webinar: Web Accessibility for Web Developers

FREE Webinar!

When: Monday, September 24, 2012 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM EDT

(Note: This is considered an "intermediate" level training.)

Join Dennis Lembree and The INDATA Project for a full-day training on web accessibility.  Topics include: Accessibility guidelines, POUR & POSH, Design techniques (Headings, Forms, Keyboard Access, Flash, ARIA, ARIA & HTML5), Accessibility testing (Checklists, Toolbars, Manual techniques and Screen readers), Question, Answers and Resources.

Mr. Lembree has over 12 years experience in web development. He's worked for a variety of startups as well as large companies including Ford, Disney, and now PayPal. He's presented at conferences such as Access U, CSUN, and AHG, and has written several articles for DesignFestival.com. Personal projects include EasyChirp.com (award-winning web-accessible Twitter app) and WebAxe.blogspot.com (blog/podcast on web accessibility).

Questions: Contact Nikol Prieto (nprieto@eastersealscrossroads.org)

Webinar Registration Page

[Professional Development] Disability-specific SNOW Workshops

This month, SNOW is starting a series of Introduction to Special Needs in the Classroom workshops highlighting learning tools to support students with:
Developmental Disabilities (September 17, 2012)
Behaviour Disorders (October 15, 2012)
Learning Disabilities (November 5, 2012)
Autism (November 26, 2012)

[Article] Preparing for the Post-Secondary Environment

Great article by Cheryl Lepard and Linda Petty (AccessAbility Services, University of Toronto Scarborough) for SNOW on Preparing for the Post-Secondary Environment: Strategies and Technology Supporting Organizational Skills includes methods of using technology to keep organized.

[Free] BlackBerry Screen Reader

The download of RIM's new, free BlackBerry Screen Reader can be found here.
Plus, here's a review article by AFB's Access World. 

[Free/Cheap Apps] Phone as Document Scanner

Great article from Ars Technica summarizing and comparing a couple of document scanning apps including:

- JotNot Scanner Pro (Free)
- CamScanner+ ($4.99) for both iOS and Android or the free versions here: iOS , Android