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Panelists: Brian Norton, Josh Anderson, Belva Smith, Tracy Castillo
Q1. Doorbell alert for Deaf/HoH, Q2. Accessible Digital Camera, Q3. SmartPen and Dictation software, Q4. One-handed keyboards, Q5. Calendar and scheduling tools, Q6. Wildcard: Future of accessibility
——– Transcript Starts Here ———–
Brian Norton:
Welcome to ATFAQ, Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Questions, with your host, Brian Norton, director of Assistive Technology at Easterseals Crossroads. This is a show where we address your questions about assistive technology, the hardware, software, tools and gadgets that help people with disabilities lead more independent and fulfilling lives. Have a question you’d like answered on our show? Send us a Tweet with the hashtag, #ATFAQ. Call our Listener Line at (317) 721-7124 or send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org, the world of assistive technology has questions and we have answers. And now, let’s jump into today’s show.
Brian Norton:
Hello and welcome to ATFAQ, episode 145, my name is Brian Norton and I’m the host of the show and we’re so happy that you’ve taken some time to tune in with us this week. We have a great lineup of assistive technology questions for you today but before we jump in, I just want to take a moment to go around the room, our virtual room that is and introduce the folks who are sitting here with me. First is Belva, Belva Smith is our Vision Team lead of our Clinical Assistive Technology team. Belva, do you want to say hi?
Belva Smith:
Hey everybody, welcome back.
Brian Norton:
And then secondly, we’ve got Josh. Josh Anderson is the manager of our Assistive Technology team. He’s also the popular host of Assistive Technology Update, one of the other podcasts that we have as a part of the Accessibility Channel here at Easterseals Crossroads. Josh, do you want to say hi?
Josh Anderson:
Hi, everyone, welcome.
Brian Norton:
Excellent. And then thirdly, we have Tracy. Tracy Castillo is the voice behind Accessibility Minute, another one of our podcasts here on the Accessibility Channel here at Easterseals Crossroads. Tracy, do you want to say hi to folks?
Tracy Castillo:
Hey everyone. Welcome, thanks for listening.
Brian Norton:
Excellent, excellent. So want to take just a moment before we jump into some questions that we have for today and tell folks about how our show works. So we come across various assistive technology questions and feedback related to those questions and we collect those throughout the week and then we put that into a show and then we gather up as a group. Much like the folks that we’ve introduced already, we gather up and we try to answer those as best we can. And so a couple things with that, we are not only looking for folks’ questions and we’ve got a variety of ways for you to get those to us, so if you do have an assistive technology question, you can give us a call on our Listener Line, that’s (317) 721-7124 or send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org or send us a Tweet with the hashtag #ATFAQ. Love to hear from you, we’d love your questions, we do value those questions and we’ll do our best to be able to answer those as best we can.
Brian Norton:
But we would also love to hear from you if you have feedback. Obviously we try to answer the questions as best we can but we know sometimes, we leave some gaps in our answers, you guys all have experience with AT as well or may have some experience with that technology as well and would be able to help us provide a more well-rounded answer and so we’d love to hear from you or hear your feedback as well. So you can do that over our Listener Line, through email or by sending us a Tweet as well. Also, if you would do us a favor, let folks know about our podcast as well, if you feel like you know someone who would benefit and have an interest in the type of topics that we cover, send them some information.
Brian Norton:
You can find more information about ATFAQ at atfaqshow.com. But you can connect to all of our podcasts through our website, that’s eastersealstech.com, you can find them on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, really just about any place you could connect to a podcast, you can find our information. And so we’d love to be able to spread the word and get more people connected to the information that we’re sharing through the INDATA Project here at Easterseals Crossroads. So without further ado, we’re going to jump into our first question and our first question is this, came to us through email and it is, I have a deaf individual on my waiver caseload who recently started living alone. He has requested a doorbell that has a light on it that can alert him when someone is at the door. What kinds of options are out there for him? Thanks so much for your help.
Tracy Castillo:
Well-
Josh Anderson:
So I’ve got some different ones here because I’ve actually used quite a few of these with folks. So if you really go to Amazon and just look, light up doorbell, you’re going to find a lot of different ones. Now, be careful because some of them just means that the button you push lights up, so just double-check and make sure that you’re getting what you got there. But one that I’ve used and I don’t even know if I can pronounce the name of the actual brand but it’s… Hold, it was up 10 seconds ago, now it’s freaking gone. There it is, is Merisny, M-E-R-I-S-N-Y and it comes with two receivers and one button. The button’s pretty big and it can light up different colors and things. But it plugs right into an outlet, so really, you have two of them, so if there’s two rooms you’re normally in… I always think of the kitchen because the outlets are usually up high over the counter, it’ll light up.
Josh Anderson:
It also has tons of different chimes on it, so if somebody else in the house maybe is just hearing impaired, you can make it really loud. But they’re 20 bucks and there’s tons of them about the 20 to $50 threshold. Another thing to look at and something that I’ve used in the past is the video doorbells because they send alerts to a cell phone, so if the individual has a cell phone, has Wi-Fi in the home and things like that, they could do the Ring or there’s tons of other brands that completely escape me right now. But those kind of doorbells where you push the button, the camera turns on the individual could actually see them right there at the door. Either of those are options, the Ring and those kind of doorbells is going to be a little bit more expensive, just because you’re getting some more features but also, they got a little bit more security to them because you know who’s at the door without actually having to look through the peephole or open the door or even get anywhere close to the door.
Josh Anderson:
But yeah, if you look up light up ones… And there are ones that are made specifically for individuals who are deaf but just because they’re made for individuals who are deaf, they add on 50 bucks. So they’re about the exact same thing. So really, there’s tons of options. If you don’t like Amazon, you can really just Google it and you’ll find all kinds of different ones and they’re all between about $17.99 and about 50 bucks, just depending on features, how much light there is that comes out of them and how many little receivers you get. What’s really nice is most of these plug right into a wall outlet, so there’s no need to rewire a house or do anything like that.
Belva Smith:
And those are handy too, Josh, if you’re maybe at an apartment where you don’t necessarily have a doorbell.
Josh Anderson:
Yeah.
Belva Smith:
So what I was going to suggest because years ago, you had no option but to go to a place like MaxiAids or one of the places that sells assistive technology so to speak, to buy something like this. But I was amazed at how all over Amazon they are nowadays and how inexpensive because these can be very expensive, depending upon the additional features that you want. But what I did earlier is a Google search, it took me to Amazon and I just did a doorbell with lights for deaf and I was amazed, like you said, Josh, anywhere from 20 bucks to 80 bucks, it just depends.
Belva Smith:
and the good thing about it is too, if you get it and you find that it isn’t what you want, then you can send it back and try something different. However, an easier option would be to look for your local Assistive Technology Act if you have one and see what they might have available for you to actually try out before you make a purchase. But you can get them that will do the lights, as you said Josh, that will be different colors or flashing lights or vibration even. So yeah, there’s lots and lots of different options, anywhere from inexpensive to very expensive, just depends on what really fits your individual needs.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, I was going to say, one of the products we have in our Loan Library, we’ve got a few of those, it’s called the AlertMaster. That’s really for someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, when you mentioned the vibrations and making lights in the house flash, that’s the type of device that you would connect to make that happen. I think by default, it comes with different types of sensors for doorbells and telephone calls but you can also get some optional accessories that can alert you to an audio alarm in the house, a crying baby, maybe even potentially the presence of an intruder.
Brian Norton:
So those are Clarity Products but it’s called the AlertMaster and they come in different versions and different sizes depending on what you need. So the other things I would mention to you too is a place that oftentimes can really help if you’re looking for specific products that are for folks who are deaf or hard of hearing, Harris Communications has great options, they have lots of different types of devices, it would not surprise me if they sell the AlertMaster. But again, to your point, Belva, it’s really important to maybe try some things out and again, in our Loan Library, we’ve got some simpler products. The AlertMaster’s going to be a little bit maybe more expensive than some because they’re-
Belva Smith:
It’s around 300 I think, Brian.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, 150, $300, somewhere in there, depending on the size and the complexity of the system that you want.
Belva Smith:
The features, yeah.
Brian Norton:
But there are some real simple ones. We’ve done some different types of light up doorbells for someone who just wanted to alert someone in the other room. Like if they’re in the bedroom upstairs and they want to make sure that Mom downstairs knows that they need something, they can press a button up there in the bedroom and then Mom would be able to have something in the kitchen that lights up to say hey or play an auditory tone, says hey, someone’s needing something upstairs. And so we’ve done those and those are real inexpensive, maybe 30, 40, 50 bucks and then sounds like there’s some even cheaper options. And so it sounds like there’s a whole lot of options that are out there.
Brian Norton:
But definitely maybe even just starting with your Assistive Technology Act project might be a good option, just to get a baseline for what those products look like, the different features and then making some then informed decisions about whatever you might purchase for your particular situation. To connect with the INDATA Project, you can go to eastersealstech.com but if you’re from another state or territory, you can connect with your local AT Act program by going to eastersealstech.com/states, plugging in your state that you’re located in or territory that you’re located in and then coming up with your local project or program. And so would encourage you to connect with them, again, it’s a great try it before you buy. You don’t want to buy something and realize it’s not exactly what you thought it was going to do and then have to go through the hassle of either returning it or deciding it’s not even worth the hassle of returning it and now you’re out 20, 30, $40 or whatever that you might’ve spent on that particular equipment.
Brian Norton:
So I’ll just open this up to our listeners, if you have any experience or maybe even have used equipment like this, would love to hear from you. Any suggestions you would have to this particular person about their question, again, looking for a doorbell that has a light on it that can alert him when someone’s at the door, would love to hear from you. We’d love to be able to pass that information on and learn something in the process for us as we look at connecting folks to technology that would be useful for them. And so you can do that in a variety of ways, you can give us a call on our Listener Line, that’s (317) 721-7124 or you can send us an email at eastersealstech.com, look forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much.
Brian Norton:
All right, so our next question is, I was born with cerebral palsy, I am wheelchair bound with only the use of my right arm and hand. I’m currently taking college classes and one of the requirements is I have to use a digital camera. I’m hoping you can figure out ways to make that easier for me. And so let me just jump in and say that there are some different places you can go to to be able to find what’s called a switch adapted camera. A couple of those places, there is one that’s made overseas, University of Victoria, it’s called CanAssist but they have something called a Switch-Accessible Camera. Basically, it’s a highly simplified point-and-shoot camera designed for users with a range of physical or cognitive disabilities. Essentially, it’s basically point-and-shoot, there’s no focusing or those types of things. I’m not exactly sure what type of photography you would be using for your class but this might be an option.
Brian Norton:
You can use one or two switches, depending on what you’re doing and using it for. It’s machined aluminum, so the camera’s within this machined aluminum, so it’s very durable, it can mount very easily for folks, in case you have to mount it to your wheelchair. But again, point-and-shoot camera and it’s compatible with most switches that are out there and I think that’s probably what you’re going to look for, is some sort of a switch adapted camera. A lot of those cameras have a lot of different controls that require some fine motor and dexterity control to be able to operate and flip certain settings on or off and so it might be challenging to find some of maybe the more complex cameras that are out there to be really useful or usable because of some of those different knobs and buttons and other types of options that they provide for folks.
Brian Norton:
I did find some other ones I’ll just throw out there for folks. Vtech, I didn’t even realize they were in the camera business but Vtech has something called the Kidizoom Camera, not that I’m suggesting that this is something that you might use for your course or the college level course that you’re taking. But it is interesting to me that it’s a small digital camera. It does look like a kids’ camera, so don’t get me wrong on this one but it also will allow you to… It’s called VTech Kidizoom Camera, it will let you connect a switch to it as well and allow you to be able to take camera photos just like everybody else does. It’s got a built in micro SD card, so you can take some of those things in. It does provide you with four times digital zoom and an automatic turn off, so you don’t have to be able to turn that on and off for yourself, if it’s idle for a few minutes, it’s going to go ahead and turn itself off and save battery power. But I was a little surprised, Vtech is what I associate with the phones in your home, those landline phones in your house. But they do actually have…
Brian Norton:
It’s about $75, it’s called the VTech Kidizoom Camera. And then another place I’ll send you to is there’s an organization that’s called ATandMe and again, I don’t know of any locally based programs but this one’s out of Ireland and they have all sorts of… They have a whole website set up or maybe it’s just a blog that they have done on accessible cameras and where you might be able to go get those. I know RJ Cooper here in the United States, I believe they have one and that’s actually something we have in our Loan Library here in Indiana, through INDATA. But again, I’m thinking you’re probably going to look at something that is switch adapted and you’re probably going to want it to mount pretty easily to your wheelchair, if you use one and in this case, you do. And so making sure that those are some of those prerequisite types of things that you need to talk about with regard to the type of camera that you use. And then I think the other questions would be, what types of features would you be using on those cameras?
Josh Anderson:
And then just to give you another resource and I’m not positive this would even be exactly what you’re looking for but there’s a company actually here in Indiana called Be Adaptive and it’s B-E-A-D-A-P-T-I-V-E .com, is where you can go find them. And they really specialize in adaptive recreational equipment for people with physical disabilities. So a lot of what they do is gun related, so hunting or sports shooting and things like that but they make a lot of stuff that’s one-off and very, very adapted to the individual.
Josh Anderson:
So it was a unique need, I know they’ve done some stuff with camera equipment, so that you can use one hand to maybe move everything or be able to fix it to the wheelchair differently but they can make almost anything, basically. I think their motto is, if you can dream it, we can build it. So they can make all kinds of different stuff. So again, most of their stuff is… If you think gun, bow, hunting, that kind but it’s still point-and-shoot, just like a camera. So that might be another place, if you can’t find what you’re really looking for out there, that might be another place to contact and see what they might be able to do. And just shameless plug, they will actually be on Assistive Technology Update in May also.
Belva Smith:
Well, Josh, that sounds like an amazing place. What was the contact information?
Josh Anderson:
It’s beadaptive.com is their website.
Belva Smith:
Okay.
Josh Anderson:
And they have an email address, it’s just info@bedaptive.com.
Belva Smith:
Yeah because even if this individual listener may be in another state or something, they may be able to direct them to someone in their area that does work similar to what they do because that sounds pretty interesting and right down the alley of what they’re looking for because I feel like there’s a lot that goes into this. It’s not just about, how can I use a digital camera with one hand?
Josh Anderson:
Yeah.
Belva Smith:
Because we’ve got the mounting, then we’ve got the switches and then like you pointed out, Brian, what features of the digital camera do we need to be able to access? So there’s a whole lot in that little question we’ll call it.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, absolutely, for sure. There is a lot that goes into it, you’re trying to mix different types of components and oftentimes, it may even be something where our Clinical team needs to do an assessment but that could add up because that’s not something that you hear about very often, people needing a switch adapted camera. We’re usually adapting the computer or mobile device or other types of things, their desk, their filing situation, all those kinds of things but camera equipment’s one of those things that… We don’t get that question often but it’s a great question and something that I know could be really helpful for folks and I am looking at that Be Adaptive website right now, Josh and they’ve got some cool stuff on there, especially if you’re into hunting or doing any kind of practice shooting and other kinds of things and they do mention something about cameras for scopes and other types of things as well. But very, very interesting company, that’s great, beadaptive.com.
Josh Anderson:
Yeah, definitely check them out on Assistive Technology Update just because it’s a very different interview than I normally get to do but definitely shares some things in common with most of the interviews. That somebody’s like, “Oh. Well, I do this,” and someone comes to them and is like, “Well, I’d love to be able to do that too but I can’t because X, Y, Z.” And they’re like, “Oh yeah, you can, let’s see what we can do.” And then just basically made a friend that wanted to go out and do things with him. So adapted things for him, then realized hey, this could help a lot of folks. Yeah, if you do go there, check out some of their pictures and stuff, it’s pretty amazing, some of the things they’ve made. If you can even use a bite switch, you can aim, point, shoot, do all that kind of stuff.
Brian Norton:
That’s great.
Josh Anderson:
It sounded like it might be right up the alley, especially if you just can’t find that one thing that could really work for the camera. It might be a good place to check out and see if they can help you out with stuff.
Brian Norton:
Perfect, yeah. So just to recap some of those options, so check out Be Adaptive, beadaptive.com is the website. RJ Cooper, that’s rjcooper.com, they have a switch adapted digital camera as well and then ATforMe is another website that I would do, it’s ATforMe… I’m sorry, atandme.com and then on their website, you can search for accessible photography and they’ve got some different resources and links and some options that you might be able to look at as well. The other thing I want to throw out there too is, depending on what the requirements of your course would be, many of the mobile devices, iPad for sure, is switch accessible.
Brian Norton:
Which would allow you to have a camera on your mobile device that would be switch accessible as well. And so depending on what their requirements are, if you actually have to use a real physical camera or you can use the camera on your mobile device, an iPad or a smartphone, perhaps just using one of those cameras directly on there because those devices do have switch accessibility built into it, might be an option for you. And so don’t want to forget to mention that particular option because many times, these days, the cameras on smartphones are better than what you might get in a traditional small digital camera or at least as good, if not better in many, many situations.
Brian Norton:
So what I would love to do is just open this up to our listeners, if you have any experience with digital photography and particularly if there are mobility issues there to prevent using a traditional camera, where it takes some extra dexterity, fine motor control, it may cause issues being able to operate some of those controls, let us know, we’d love to be able to open that up to you and let you guys contribute to this, so we can give this person a well-rounded answer. Give us a call on our Listener Line, that’s (317) 721-7124 or send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. Looking forward to hearing from you, thank you so much.
Brian Norton:
Right, so our next question is, I am seeking information for a client who will be a senior in high school next year and plans to attend college the following fall. We are looking ahead to what technology might be useful for this young man with high functioning autism. Two things that he and his mother and I are interested in knowing more about would be the utilization of a smart pen as well as dictation software. None of us are overly tech savvy and just interested in your thoughts on how we should proceed.
Belva Smith:
So you came to the right group of potentially not very tech savvy people. Oh no, no, no, right, no, that’s wrong. Well, I think Josh, you and Brian are both going to have more information on the smart pen than what I am. As far as the dictation software, Assuming that the individual is probably already using a computer, I would suggest exploring whatever dictation software may be included. So for example, if you’re using a Windows PC, then Microsoft Office, whether it’s for Mac or Windows nowadays, has dictation available in almost every one of the programs, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and I would start exploring that and working with that now, don’t wait for them to finish high school and get ready to go into college.
Belva Smith:
Go ahead and get started experimenting with that now. And that’s something that’s not going to cost you any additional money at this time, except for maybe a headset. It is important to remember that the microphone… Well, the dictation software can only produce what gets put in, so having a good headset is really important. And then there is still Dragon NaturallySpeaking but before investing in that, I would explore what you may or may not already have on your computer. Because again, if you’ve got Mac or you’ve got Windows, you’ve got dictation available, it’s just a matter of finding it and starting to practice with it.
Josh Anderson:
I’ll piggyback off what Belva said there. I’d say first steps is, if you think assistive technology is something that you need and you might need an evaluation to figure out what’ll work best for you, talking to your local vocational rehabilitation office is a good place to start. But also, I know they’re just a senior in high school but if they are planning on going to college and you got it narrowed down to a couple, talk to the disabilities services office there at the school because a lot of them… I don’t want to say a lot of them, some of them offer different assistive technologies that might be able to help.
Josh Anderson:
I’ve had a lot of folks come in and say, “Hey, I have a real problem with note-taking and I need the smart pen with evaluations.” And then we sit there and their handwriting’s atrocious, they’re not good at handwriting, they don’t like handwriting. They just hear smart pen that records and think that’s thew way to go. Well, it’s not the only way to go. There are apps, there are computer programs, there’s Sonocent, which is a big bulky one that’s expensive, that allows you to record everything that’s said, link it to your PowerPoints, type notes in there. There’s AudioNote and other ones that are very close to it, which are much less expensive, can run on a computer, can run on a tablet, on a phone and these also allow you to record everything that’s said in class and still link it back to the notes you take.
Josh Anderson:
So people always get caught up and I’m not saying that the smart pen, especially the Echo Smartpen is not a great accommodation, it is but it’s not the only one out there. There are other note-taking things that you can use that may or may not actually be more useful. And again, talking to disability services, some schools offer some of these programs for free to students. So knowing what’s out there, knowing what’s offered. And Belva brought up a great point, that Microsoft Office does have a dictation in there that’s really good. It works really well in Word, it works really well in PowerPoint, haven’t 100% figured out how to use it in Excel but I don’t even know if it’s in Excel, I haven’t tried that yet. But there are those dictations built in there and they do work on Mac as well and Mac also has that.
Josh Anderson:
Now, if they use the G Suite, Google Docs and things like that, I believe there’s some dictation built into it as well. We don’t use that as much at work. I don’t use it as much, I try to push folks to Office and that’s probably just my own personal bias and just liking it a little bit more but with dictation, there’s tons of different things. And I would say find out if the individual likes it or can use it, if they have a smartphone or a tablet, practice using the dictation on it. For some folks, it can become a little bit frustrating, especially if it doesn’t understand certain words. So if that’s the case, if the individual has any kind of speech impediment or issues with speech, then you may need to go with Dragon, just because it can adapt to that a little bit easier. But also, the company that owns Dragon was bought my Microsoft not long ago. So who knows if that’s just eventually going to be a built in feature? There’s no plans or word for that yet but hey, could be on the horizon somewhere, which would be pretty cool.
Josh Anderson:
But I would say definitely, you’re looking at great technology, those are things that are used a lot by college students. Whatever they’re using in high school, be it a Chromebook a MacBook or a laptop or an iPad, there’s some form of dictation built in or some plug in or something you can, excuse me, put on there. Try them out, see if dictation’s going to be a good thing to go and then go from there. I would say again, talk to your vocational rehabilitation program in your state, just because they might be able to not only help with some different things in college, they can also help with assistive technology evaluation, so that you actually work one-on-one with a person, to be evaluated for what’s going to be best for you, as well as be trained on how to use it.
Josh Anderson:
And then also, whatever you do… And sometimes, this might even help you pick a school. If you’re between two or three schools, talk to their disability services and see what they offer. Pick the one that offers the most and has the best disability services. They’re not all created equal when it comes to disability services at college. So talk to them and see what might be offered as well and that can give you a few other options.
Belva Smith:
That’s great advice, Josh and I think it’s great that you guys are reaching out so far in advance to try to dig up this information because oftentimes, we’ll have individuals that don’t get started until they’ve already started school and that’s really a hindrance to them being able to keep up and move forward when they’re just trying to find out what technology is necessary. Now, I do want to point out or reiterate, Josh, I may have missed it if you said this but Dragon NaturallySpeaking currently is only available for Windows.
Belva Smith:
So should they be using a Chromebook or possible a Mac, then Dragon is not available for either one of those at this time. I do suspect that that will change because as Josh did point out, Microsoft has recently bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking and I do think that they will reintroduce a version for the Mac but how soon that’s going to be, I don’t know. So don’t put your boots on and wait on that to happen, just try to use what’s already there.
Brian Norton:
Yeah and I’ll just say, it will be really interesting to see what happens with Nuance and Microsoft, to see how they approach it because Mac, Google… Josh, you mentioned Google offers that, if you go into your Tools menu in a Google Doc, there’s something called Voice Typing, it’s already there too. If you go to Windows, you’ve pretty much got complete control of your computer. You can do the same thing with Mac now, you can open and close programs, you can navigate the interface and so the dictation that’s built directly into it’s getting better and better and so it’ll be interesting to see if it actually ends up being a third party application or if it’s just improving what they offer within their own Microsoft world and software, Windows or Office products. And so it’ll be really interesting to see where they go with that from that perspective. Maybe I missed it but did we hit smart pens and things like that as part of our question yet? So just a little bit.
Belva Smith:
Josh did.
Brian Norton:
Okay.
Belva Smith:
Yeah, Josh did a little.
Brian Norton:
Okay, yeah and I was just going to say, it may have already been mentioned but they’re hard to get, they’re hard to find. And so they’re all sold out, if you go to Livescribe, which is the number one smart pen out there, that folks can get their hands on, it’s not even available now. So they’re completely sold out, I’ve been trying to buy them up as they become available because they are so hard to find. But what I would turn folks onto as well is, again I think I may have mentioned this in a previous question but with your mobile devices, whether that’s your smartphone or your tablet, whatever you have, Android or Apple, there are some great apps out there that folks can use that can provide you some level of support if you’re looking to be able to handwrite your notes and to be able to also capture recording as well.
Brian Norton:
So a couple of apps that I’ve spent some time with and I like quite a bit, the first one is ClaroPDF, so that allows you to import PDF documents, that could be a PowerPoint, that could be a PDF, notes from your teacher and what it allows you to do is not only record audio but you can record from your camera and you can take notes and it links all those things together, it’s super, super useful. I think it’s about 10, $15 for the app but it’s super, super useful and has a lot of different tools that might be helpful for someone to be able to use. Not only with using a stylist to be able to write, as using pen and paper but also, potentially for folks who prefer to type their notes, rather than write their notes, which I know a lot of folks do. Some folks can just type faster than they can just handwriting their notes.
Brian Norton:
The other ones I would turn you onto is Notability, is a good option, that’s also a pretty popular app. I believe that is only iOS, only available on iOS at this point but seems to do a pretty good job, if you’re comfortable with using a tablet and a pen. I know it feels different, it’s not like writing on paper and so I think the appeal will be for some of those smart pens, is it’s really a pen and it’s really paper you’re writing on and using a tablet with a glass screen doesn’t necessarily feel exactly the same and so that can sometimes be problematic. But there’s some options there, even though it’s hard to find those Livescribe pens or those smart pens at this point. So my hope is and what I’ve understood and the company’s told me, is that they’re going to be releasing a new Livescribe pen down the road and so I’m just biting my bottom lip while I wait for them to show up and again, I’ll race you in ordering those, as far as those availability.
Brian Norton:
But again, I think it all does go back to, there seems to be a lot going on and you’re starting at the right time, giving yourself plenty of time to be able to get an evaluation done, talk with a professional. That could be a Clinical team here or it could be in any state or territory that you might find yourself in, I’m not exactly sure where this particular person lives but again, contact your local Assistive Technology Act program and they can connect you with folks who can help you with that evaluation to really, determine what might be best for your son or your student as they head off to college here.
Brian Norton:
And I think it’s never too early to prepare, the more time you give yourself, the better prepared you’re going to be. You’re not going to be trying to do class and learn assistive technology all at the same time. I’ve done that many times with folks, just because of the timing, it just doesn’t work well. You’re behind the eight ball all the time, trying to get used to how your adaptive technology works and then also trying to get your studies done, sometimes that can be a whole lot to expect from somebody upfront and initially as they’re learning in a new environment, getting used to the different classes that they’re taking and trying to learn all this new technology all at the same time. So never too early to start, for sure.
Belva Smith:
Right and I just want to reiterate what Josh mentioned too. As you’re trying to make your decision as to what college you may or may not choose to attend, contact their disability services and speak with them about what kind of services they may be able to offer because that truly may play a big role in helping you make your decision as to which college you choose in the end.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I would never step foot on a college campus without having first consulted them.
Belva Smith:
Yeah.
Brian Norton:
Because they’re going to have a lot of great resources for you to tap into, that maybe even go beyond what a piece of technology can do for you. So absolutely, that’s a great point. But yeah, I just want to open this up to our listeners, any other thoughts for this particular individual on the question that they asked, let us know. You can send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org or send us a voicemail or leave us a voicemail at (317) 721-7124. Look forward to hearing from you, thanks.
Brian Norton:
All right, so our next question is, my supervisor suggested that I borrow a one handed keyboard, I will be having surgery on my right wrist and shoulder and if I need to return to work, I will only be able to use my left hand for a small time frame, possibly a couple of months, any suggestions for what type of keyboard I might use and if it’s possible for me to borrow it?
Tracy Castillo:
Wow.
Brian Norton:
One handed left handed keyboards I think is what we’re looking for here.
Tracy Castillo:
When I hear someone needing a one handed key board, my mind goes straight to just a small frame keyboard.
Belva Smith:
Yeah and I just looked up the Adesso Mini, it’s $15 on Amazon, which I was shocked by because when you look at a space saver keyboard, that’s usually the one that I recommend. However, Brian, I did notice, you’ve just pointed out, that it’s a left handed. I don’t really know that that’s going to really make that big of a difference with this style of keyboard. I would like to say to the individual that at least for us here in the state of Indiana and Tracy, you can speak more on this than I can but most of our loans are typically for 30 days. I think you’re going to be in a situation where you’ll need it a little longer than 30 days, so perhaps if you find-
Tracy Castillo:
Right.
Belva Smith:
That the mini keyboard is sufficient for you, it might make sense to go ahead and purchase it because you may need it again from time to time as you’re healing. But if you’re not from the state of Indiana, then of course, you would just need to look for your local Act and Tracy, if you want to, you can go ahead and direct them to how to find theirs if they’re not in Indiana.
Tracy Castillo:
So if you’re in Indiana, you can go to our website at eastersealstech.com and you can look for our to borrow or have a device and you can check out one of our many keyboards that we have. Or if you’re from another state or province or area, you can go to eastersealstech.com/states and there’s just a few questions asked, you want to look at your state programs and from there, you can be connected with your state lending library. I do want to mention, I hope you’re left-handed because you’re going to learn how to type with your left hand. I would go with what Belva said, that $15 for a small frame keyboard’s not so bad and then when things start working back up again, you can get your arm back, you can still use that one hand on the keyboard and then use your other hand for something else. So I keep saying you can do much more with that keyboard.
Belva Smith:
And I will say too that that space saver keyboard, it’s about the size of a laptop keyboard, maybe slightly bigger and actually, they have different versions of them. They do have ones that have the mouse pad built right into it. I don’t think they have one available or do they? Yeah, I think they do, with a num pad. So if your job does require you to do lots of numbers, then you would want to make sure that you’re choosing one that does have the num pads or I would assume that that would be helpful. But again, very inexpensive, not much of a learning curve, other than you may be learning to use your left hand, where you’re used to using your right hand.
Brian Norton:
Right.
Tracy Castillo:
So when they do… Because they do have just one-sided keyboards but you have to learn a whole new key layout for those keyboards, don’t you?
Belva Smith:
Yeah, you’ll probably be healed before you can master that.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, that’s the real catcher. So there are left handed keyboards, where they flop the keys around but if you’re only going to use it for a couple of months, it’s not worth the investment to get a keyboard like that. I will suggest, although I do agree, small format keyboard is the best keyboard, don’t forget about the things that are built into Windows or Mac, depending on the options that you have. So many of those computers will offer you a couple of tools, built into whatever accessibility settings. So if you’re on a Windows computer, it’s the Ease of Access Center, under Settings, Accessibility on a Mac, you’re going to find things like Sticky Keys. So if you’re trying to make capital letters or open up the file menu in a Microsoft Word document, you need to hit Ctrl F, anything that uses a modifier key in addition to another key, you can use Sticky Keys to be able to hold down the first or second key before you press that third key or those modifier keys to be able to press whatever key you’re trying to hit.
Brian Norton:
And so it’s just helpful if you’re doing typing and trying to do things that require multiple keys to be hit at the same time. Sticky keys is a great option, it’s free, it’s built into most operating systems. The other one I would say also is… Oh, what’s the other one? Filter Keys, Filter Keys does a great job. Sometimes when you’re using a hand that you’re not so used to using for a particular task, in this particular case, using the keyboard, that can be really challenging for folks. And so what happens with that is you really… Well, essentially, sometimes you’re going to press the wrong key or hold the wrong key down for a longer period of time. So Filter Keys can help limit some of that stuff, so it’ll keep you form hitting repeating keystrokes or some of those other types of thing.
Brian Norton:
You want to play with that one because that’s a little tricky, you don’t also want it to hinder your typing experience, so play with Filter Keys a little bit but most certainly, I would say using Sticky Keys is going to be really advantageous for you. And again, because you’re only going to use it for a couple of months, I wouldn’t really work outside the box at all. I would probably stay with the keyboard that you’re familiar with, with where the key are because you’re not going to be using it for a long period of time. And in addition, the second part of your question is, is it possible for me to borrow something like that? Absolutely. Here at the INDATA Project, we have several different versions of small format keyboards that might work. It would be a conversation with Tracy or Justin, who’s an equipment specialist on our team, to be able to figure out exactly one that you want to borrow because they’ll probably have some basic questions, do you need a num pad? Do you need those types of things? The things that Belva had mentioned. But we do have those types of keyboards here and we’d be more than happy to let you borrow those for 30 days or longer, depending on the need and the situation. In this case, a couple months, so 60 days, we’d be able to let you borrow that for a while.
Brian Norton:
Again, there are a lot of neat one handed keyboards out there but again, for this situation because it’s so short-term, I don’t think we need to look at some of the more adaptive ones, like the TiPY Keyboard, which is something we’ve talked about before in our podcast, although still not available. But there are some other types of keyboards out there but maybe not necessarily needed for this particular situation. So let me go ahead and just open this up to our listeners. If you have any feedback on that, maybe there’s some additional features found in Windows or there’s additional things that we might be able to direct them to maybe as alternative keyboards that are as inexpensive as maybe those traditional just smaller format keyboards, let us know, we’d love to hear from you.
Brian Norton:
You can give us a call on our Listener Line, that’s (317) 721-7124 or send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. I will mention just one other thing and we just answered this or talked about it in the previous question, would be don’t also forget about dictation. So the built in dictation of Word and some of the other things that you might be able to do, many of those applications these days that you might use for your work may also have dictation built right into it. So in a pinch, that might be helpful and useful.
Tracy Castillo:
Brian, I was thinking that as well because if someone has larger fingers, a smaller keyboard’s not going to help them.
Brian Norton:
Right, exactly, exactly. So anyways, just, yeah, keep that in mind, give us a call, send us an email. If you have any feedback on that, we’d love to be able to pass that on. Thanks so much. All right, so our next question is, I’m a behavior specialist and looking to assist an individual in furthering her independence. She has a TBI, traumatic brain injury, causing short-term memory and is visually impaired. I’m interested in exploring calendar and scheduling tools for her to help organize and keep appointments, any suggestions?
Belva Smith:
My first suggestion, it seems like this is always my first suggestion, an iPod or an iPad Mini. I noticed that you said that the individual is blind. So screen size doesn’t matter because they would be using voice-over as their screen reader and then using Siri to set a lot of reminders and appointments and things like that. So those things could be done verbally with a verbal command. For example, “Siri, remind me to record, ATFAQ at 3:00 PM.” Then that’s going to pop up on the iDevice, to remind the individual that at 3:00 PM, they’ve got an action that they need to do. If they’ve got a doctor’s appointment, coming up next Tuesday, set an appointment for next Tuesday, at 10:00 AM.
Belva Smith:
Very inexpensive. Even if you do choose to do the iPad Mini versus the iPod Touch, you’re still under $300 and I guess that’s not really very inexpensive but compared to some of the other costs for devices… And it is an all-in-one type device, you wouldn’t have to have two or three different things. You would have to take the time to learn how to use the voice-over and how to use the commands for Siri. But Siri can do so much on the iDevices, as far as setting alarms to be woken up or as we’ve already said, the reminders, the calendars. You can also get phone numbers for local businesses that you may need. You can also schedule a ride with Uber. There’s just so much that you can do, so that’s my first advice. Anybody else with me?
Josh Anderson:
No, I think, Belva, as far as ease of use and everything, you’re completely right. And I everything’s kind of built in. Really, any kind of technology, you’re probably going to need a computer, an iPhone, a tablet, something. And even with a computer, if it’s not on you all the time, is it really and truly going to be that helpful? Like you said if it reminds me at three o’clock that I need to record ATFAQ but I’m nowhere near my computer, then you know when I see it at 6:00 PM, it didn’t help, it didn’t really do anything. So I think you’re totally right on that and one that I’ll use, just because they mentioned traumatic brain injury with short-term memory, not so much maybe with the visual impairment although maybe with magnification and stuff is Cozi calender. Brian, I know you’ve use this quite a few times and I’ve used it with folks.
Josh Anderson:
The really nice thing about it is you can set up a… Brian, you probably know the name of it, I always call it the family plan but where everybody can control it. So if they do have a family member or perhaps a behavioral specialist or somebody that’s working with them, that person can put things on that calendar and can make sure that the person’s keeping up the calendar and have a little bit control while the person’s still completely independently doing these things on their own. So it can really helpful, I know we’ve used it sometimes with college students especially, that get away from home and no longer are Mom and Dad making these appointments.
Josh Anderson:
I know I was almost 30 before I realized that my mom didn’t make my dentist appointments anymore because the last one was 18 and then suddenly it was like, oh yeah, I better do that, she doesn’t make those anymore. So it can be pretty helpful because you can not only monitor it but you can put things on there and you can make things private too. If you’re going to a party at Steve’s on the weekend, Mom doesn’t have to see that. But you can control some of those features but it does make it a little bit easier for individuals, especially as they’re getting used to getting things on the calendar and making sure that they have all that stuff there.
Belva Smith:
Yeah. Another option that I didn’t even think of, Josh and I’m surprised that you didn’t go there either. The personal devices for at home, the Amazon Dot or the Alexa. Those are also very inexpensive and they do require a little bit more technology because you do have to have an Amazon… Correct me if I’m wrong but you do have to have an Amazon account and you do have to have Wi-Fi to use either one of those devices. But again, to use the iPad or the iPod Touch, you also would need to have some sort of Wi-Fi connectivity. So yes, everything I’m mentioning is going to require Wi-Fi connectivity or a data plan. You could carry a data plan for the iPad Mini I guess but again, with any of those devices, you can make a verbal request to remind you or to set an appointment for just about anything. And those are all… Well, the iPad, the iPod Touch, are small devices that you would take with you if you leave the home. Of course, the Dot and the Alexa are probably things that are going to be left in your home.
Brian Norton:
This is a tricky one. I think most folks that I have seen come through resource facilitation or other types of programming, if you’re new to brain injury, those types of things, are starting off with pen and paper, types of paper calendars, other kinds of things. And I know… Oh, what are the little booklets that folks get? Man, I can’t remember the names, darn it. But anyways, there are little paper calendar booklets that folks have and people can treat-
Tracy Castillo:
The little black book?
Brian Norton:
Yeah. Well, they are, they’re little black books but they’ve got a calendar, they can write them up in the day. They’re not the kind of black book that you’re talking about, Tracy.
Tracy Castillo:
Darn.
Brian Norton:
But yeah. Oh, I can’t remember what they’re called. Day-Timers is what they’re called, there you go, it finally came to me. But Day-Timers and so I don’t know, a lot of the technology, I feel like there’s lots of different options for folks but I think ultimately, it falls or goes directly to… What’s the person’s preferences? What do they prefer to use? Preferences are going to rule today, we all got our own ideas, we all have our own things that we think are going to work for us that we want to use. And so again, it might be really, an evaluation in this particular case, to be able to figure out what’s necessary, what’s needed. Have the person maybe even tap into the Loan Library to try one of these things for a little bit of time, to see if it’s worth it because oftentimes, folks will try something out for a little bit of time and then realize, oh, it’s not what I thought it was. It’s not doing what I thought it could do. It’s not really improving my ability, in this particular case, to keep appointments or scheduling and I don’t think it’s going to be useful long-term.
Brian Norton:
Because again, I think Josh and Belva, you’ve probably mentioned this too, if you don’t have something there to capture the information the moment you need to capture the information, you’re going to forget it. And I think that goes along with not only scheduling and making appointments but also with note-taking and all these other things, it’s all about trying to capture the information in the moment. Because if you can capture it, you can probably do something with it at that point. But if you have a thought and then you go on and do something else in the moment, you don’t have the device or whatever on you to be able to capture it, well, then you’re going to forget. At least that’s oftentimes what I experience. I’ll forget… Josh probably experiences this is a whole lot and maybe Tracy, you as well. We say, “Oh, it’s so important that we talk about this thing,” and then the moment I leave, I do something else immediately afterwards and I’ve forgotten. So I don’t get it on to my calendar, I don’t get it on to my list for things to do and then it just gets dropped off. And then a month or two later, I’m like oh, I really should have done something about that. But just really be aware and keenly aware of the preferences that folks have.
Belva Smith:
Well, I think you’re right. I think you’re right too, Brian. It’s very, very important to make sure that you find out what is it that the individual wants to use. Because if you get them the best of the best and it’s not something that they want to use or something that’s easy for them to use, they’re not going to use it.
Brian Norton:
Right.
Belva Smith:
So it’s got to be something that really fits their personal desire to use and something that’s easy because if it’s complicated, they’re not going to deal with it, I know I wouldn’t. I always look for ease of use.
Brian Norton:
Exactly, exactly. Well, hey, I’d just love to open this question up to folks. If you guys have any experience in this area or a favorite calendar or scheduling app or a tool or any other thoughts just about the general nature of the question, just let us know. Our phone number’s (317) 721-7124. Leave us a voicemail or send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. Love to hear what you guys have to say, thanks so much. And now, it’s time for the wild card question. All right, so our next question is the wild card question and this is a question that Belva’s had time to think of and we haven’t had any time to prepare for. So, Belva, what do you got for us today?
Belva Smith:
So looking forward about 10, 20 years, where do you see technology accessibility along with adaptive technology? Because it feels to me almost like, computers have come so far over the past 10 years, I’m just not sure how much farther they can go. Will we even still be using computers in 10 years and 20 years? 20 years is a long time, right?
Tracy Castillo:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Belva Smith:
No?
Tracy Castillo:
I don’t think so, I’m only 20.
Belva Smith:
Oh.
Brian Norton:
All right. No. Hey, so here’s what I think, as far as we look at accessibility, we look at computers and technology, those kinds of things, I think where things are moving… And we’ve already seen this movement happen and it just continues to get better and better, is I really look to see accessibility in assistive technology start to become a foundational to products. So that they are being thought of when things are conceptualized and as they go out to market.
Tracy Castillo:
Universal design.
Brian Norton:
What’s that?
Tracy Castillo:
It’s universal design.
Brian Norton:
Right. And instead of always being the afterthought, which I think 20 years ago when I first got into this field, it was more of an afterthought. That companies were putting out their software and they were relying on other companies to come up with how people with disabilities were going to get access to them. And now, we’re starting to see so much stuff built directly into the operating system and my hope and my wish is that as we continue down this road, that accessibility, again, becomes one of the foundational components to people as they conceptualize the things and the devices that they create and we don’t just continue to let it be an afterthought and let’s worry about that later kind of a thing. And so that’s where I’m thinking as far as technology’s going to go and be as far as disabilities are concerned.
Josh Anderson:
I’d say technology brain interfaces.
Tracy Castillo:
Brain interfaces, listen to you. That’s crazy, that’s crazy talk.
Josh Anderson:
It is but they’re already making it. They may exoskeleton suits that connect into your brain, so you just think, move right leg and you’re suddenly moving your right leg again. Now granted, it’s horribly expensive, it’s still experimental and everything like that but they were talking about electric and solar power cars in 1981 and ones that actually worked came out in what? 2010. So besides college projects that could do 30 miles an hour for a mile and a half. So I don’t know, it’s really, really hard to tell. I think you’re going to see a giant boom in assistive technology in the next few years. Just because I think the pandemic proved to people that oh crud, what we’re doing doesn’t work and maybe some people have disabilities we didn’t know existed and accessibility really helps everyone. And I know most people that probably listen to this show and everyone that’s on it know all this stuff but not everybody does because they don’t deal with these kind of things every day.
Josh Anderson:
So I think what I hope you see, Belva, is things be built in, things become less expensive because there’s not so much R&D involved in it that you have to make it $3000 per device because it cost you $300,000 to even develop one and you’re only going to sell 20. I hope that we see that, we see the built in a little bit more but as far as where technology goes, I don’t think the computer’s going to go anywhere. I think it might change and people might do stuff from tablets and maybe more from their phones but I think you’re still going to have it there. But who really knows? It’s very hard telling. There’s so many factors that go into it. If the world tries to move to green energy, will they notice that the internet takes up 10% of all the power used in the entire world? And will that become a problem or something people care about? So who knows? Who really knows where that will all go? But there’s a lot of ifs and things like that. But hopefully, the accessibility piece is something that people just continue to build in and actually keep as something that’s front of mind.
Tracy Castillo:
Exactly. And Belva, I go back to what you said, you were saying will the computer go away? No, I don’t think so and I don’t think in 20 years, there is a huge digital gap right now between people that have computers and people that don’t have computers and people that have internet and people that don’t have internet. I think what Josh is saying, the price of these items are going down, so more people have access to them. But I don’t think it’s going to go anywhere. As more people start getting computers, maybe their businesses start becoming more computer dependent. And I’m talking about people that are getting computers now, not the people that already had them. I think technology’s going to skyrocket but there’s always going to be that need for a computer. But I don’t see it going anywhere. I hope more accessibility stuff is built into it, I think that’s a great idea, Hey, guys. And the price to go down because they’re not having to develop so much. And I don’t know, as people’s infrastructures improve around the world and they start getting their internet and people start having access to more affordable computers, I think computers are going to be here for a while.
Belva Smith:
I don’t think computers are going away, I think they’re going to turn more into tablets, into some sort of a personal device that we each and everyone have. And I think universal design is something that people are now aware of. Five, 10 years ago, I don’t think people were aware of it or at least not as they are now. I also think and I hope I don’t get in trouble for saying this, if I do, Brian will cut it but I think we have more individuals with disabilities out there. We’ve got more people with disabilities that are wanting to go to college and get an education and they want a good job and they want to make a nice living. So that means we need our universal designs and we need our adaptive technology, so that they can find that one little piece of equipment or software that’s going to let them meet their personal goals. So I think it’s always going to be there but I do feel like the form of it is going to change because I can already say that a large percentage of my job can be performed on my phone or my tablet. A small percentage still requires a computer. So I’m thinking in 10, 20 years, computers will still be there but in a different format.
Brian Norton:
I just think as we think about assistive technology, the roles that assistive technology programs can play, state AT programs can play, is technology’s going to continue to evolve. It’s evolving at such a pace, it’s hard to keep up with these days. You think about what folks were thinking about with virtual reality, getting people with disabilities out to experience things they haven’t been able to experiences before, to now, Josh you mentioned exoskeletons and things like that. Well, how long will it take for those conceptual things to really become reality and not just become a reality but also be affordable for folks. I think that’s the other piece I look forward to 20 years down the road. It’s to see where some of this stuff that is out there, it’s available but it’s so super expensive because it’s so brand new, where does it get to where it’s in a price point for consumers to actually get their hands on it and get their hands on it pretty easily?
Brian Norton:
And then for us as AT professionals, it’s still our job that is always going to be here to be able to connect the disability related needs and issues that come along with that. To be able to help connect people with disabilities to the technology and train them on that technology. Because a lot of what’s created and a lot of what we use these days is made for the mainstream, it’s for productivity, it’s for those types of things but it’s being able to connect that to disability and helping folks with disabilities use it in a way that makes their lives easier and helps them be more independent at work, at home, at play, at school, those types of places. And so it’s going to be an interesting ride because again, we’re seeing technology evolve at such a pace right now, it’s hard to keep up with even day-to-day. So I’m excited to see where it goes.
Belva Smith:
So I was with an individual the other day that had just recently got a new flip phone and I don’t even remember, it was a generic flip phone, I’d never heard the name brand. But he’s blind and he was saying, “I can’t tell who’s calling, I can’t tell what number I’m dialing.” So I said, “Well, it’s got to have some accessibility features. Come on, it’s 2021, there’s some accessibility features in there.” So I get into the Accessibility menu and lo and behold, there it was, a screen reader. So I turned the screen reader on and I thought oh, this is going to be perfect, now you’ll be able to… Well, all it read was the main menu, that’s it. I’m like, well, that’s no help. Why did you bother? But I was shocked by that because most television sets when you buy them today, include a screen reader in them. So I can’t imagine that they’re still making phones that don’t have a screen reader but apparently they are. But the interesting thing is, all y’all might be around in 20 years to see where the technology is, I won’t be. So just send me a text and let me know what’s going on.
Josh Anderson:
Belva, you’re not that old.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, right.
Belva Smith:
Yeah, Josh, I am. Remember, I’m old enough to be your mom.
Josh Anderson:
I don’t have anywhere in the plans for you retiring in the next 20 years.
Belva Smith:
Oh gosh, no. No, no, no, no. No, no. No.
Brian Norton:
That’s hilarious. And it seems like every week we have at least one blooper, so here you go. And then we’ll just go as long as people can bear it.
Belva Smith:
Woo-hoo. I’m done.
Brian Norton:
I don’t know, all I’ve done today is start fires. I don’t think I’ve done any putting out of fires, I think I’ve started a few more than I wanted to. Information provided on Assistive Technology FAQ does not constitute a produce endorsement. Our comments are not intended as recommendations, nor is our show evaluative in nature. Assistive Technology FAQ is hosted and produced by Brian Norton, gets editorial help by Josh Anderson and Belva Smith and receives support from Easterseals Crossroads and the INDATA Project. ATFAQ is a proud member of the Accessibility Channel, find more of our shows at www.accessibilitychannel.com.