Accessibility and Learning Technology

Learning technologies offer excellent opportunities to make Higher and Further Education fully inclusive for people with many kinds of disabilities, as well as providing a better learning environment for all students. The drive to deliver ever-increasing quantities of visually attractive learning, support and service material, however, can lead to designs which embody insurmountable barriers to access by a range of people with disabilities. Issues of accessibility to disabled users are beginning to be addressed seriously, but there is a constant need to ensure empirically that materials, which are provided, are actually accessible.

Webb, Ian. TechDis (1999). Academic>Accessibility>Technology

ACM Crossroads

Crossroads is a student-run publication of the ACM.

ACM. Journals>Technology>Graduate

Adaptive Technology Resource Centre: Technical Glossary

Comprehensive list of adaptive technology devices with detailed descriptions and examples of how they are used. Covers Alternative Keyboards, Alternative Mouse Systems, Braille Embosser and Text to Braille Conversion, Refreshable Braille Displays, Screen Magnifiers, Screen Readers and Talking Browsers, Text-to-Speech Systems, Animated Signing Characters (Signing Avatars) to name but a few.

Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (2004). Resources>Accessibility>Technology>Glossary

Administering Teacher Technology Training  

The collection of materials included here are designed to assist those, who for the first time, find themselves administering and developing an ongoing program for training teachers to use technology in the composition classroom.

Carnegie, Teena A.M., Amy C. Kimme Hea, Melinda Turley and David Menchaca. Kairos (2003). Articles>Education>Technology>Writing

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace: Some Ethical Guidelines for User Experience in Ubiquitous-Computing Settings

Essay on the threat and promise of ubicomp: It should be clear that ubicomp represents a substantial raising of stakes; that its field of operation is by definition total; and that its potential for harm is such that the user experience is too important to leave to chance.

Greenfield, Adam. Boxes and Arrows (2005). Articles>Technology

And They Said Computers Were Just a Fad  

Maslowski documents the rapidly changing technologies used by the technical communication profession.

Maslowski, David S. Intercom (2000). Articles>Technology>History

Applying Performance Technology Principles to Documentation  

Technical writers often produce documentation for products or systems without first determining the best document media or even the necessity for documentation. In some instances, alternatives to documentation may best serve the product or system users. This paper describes the field of Performance Technology and illustrates how to apply principles of Performance Technology to decide when to create documentation.

Hayes, Gabby. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Technology

Are There ELF's in Your Monitor?  

Technical writers are justifiably concerned with the health risks that their work entails. Although the dangers of poor ergonomics, stress and repetitive motion are well known, the effects of Extremely Low Frequency radiation may also present a hazard. This presentation looks at what research is telling us about this risk.

Devine, Kevin M. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Technology>Biomedical

Arrangements of Examination and Awarding Bodies for Disabled Candidates, Including Applications of Technology

This report is the result of research conducted into the arrangements that can be implemented by awarding bodies on behalf of disabled candidates in the UK. Findings are based on the procedures and advice made available by a selection of awarding bodies. Applications of technology in this area are of particular importance to the work of TechDis in enhancing access to learning, teaching and assessment.

Harrison, Sue. TechDis (2003). Academic>Accessibility>Technology

Assistive Technology: What Is It?

The term 'assistive technology device' means any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.

ALLTech (2004). Articles>Accessibility>Technology

Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology (ARST)

ARST was founded in 1992 with the hope of providing a forum for researchers and teachers in the area of the rhetoric of science and technology. Since then, ARST has hosted day-long conferences in conjunction with the annual meetings of National Communication Association (NCA). In addition, ARST acts as an interest group of NCA to host panels and papers within the conference itself. Originally called the American Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology, in November 2006 members voted unanimously to rename the organization to the Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology in order to better reflect the international nature of its membership and intellectual concerns.

ARST. Organizations>Rhetoric>Technology>Scientific Communication

"Backing Up" Doesn't Mean Retreating

Recently, several friends and colleagues have lost important files as a result of viruses, power failures, computer crashes, and miscellaneous other disasters that accompany working with computers. Each person could have minimized the consequences if they had developed and rigorously followed a simple backup strategy for their data. The fact that this happened to experienced computer users in each case leads me to believe that data loss is symptomatic of a broader problem: As technical communicators, our tight focus on documenting how to use a product sometimes makes us forget to document the consequences of using the product.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. TECHWR-L (2006). Articles>Technology>Security

Baumol's Disease: Is There a Cure?

Baumol would never have expected in 1967 that a technological innovation like the internet would make it possible to create a sealed-off labor force in a third-world country.

Hackos, Bill. Center for Information-Development Management (2005). Articles>Technology>History

The Beauty of Simplicity

We demand more and more from the stuff in our lives--more features, more function, more power--and yet we also increasingly demand that it be easy to use. In an Escher-like twist, the technology that's simplest to use is also, often, the most difficult to create.

Tischler, Linda. Search-This (2006). Articles>Usability>Technology

Behaviour and Information Technology    

Information technology is more than just traditional computers: it includes telecommunications, office systems, industrial automation, robotics and even consumer products. Behaviour and Information Technology (BIT) deals with the human aspects of this technology and reports original research and development on the design, use and impact of information technology in all its forms. Its strictly refereed papers come from a variety of disciplines, including psychology, cognitive science, computer science, ergonomics, sociology, management education and training. BIT attracts a wide, international readership, from researchers and system designers to personnel specialists and planners.

BIT. Journals>Human Computer Interaction>Technology

Beyond the Bleeding Edge Technical Sessions  

Perlin summarizes several presentations on new technologies given at STC's 49th Annual Conference in Nashville.

Perlin, Neil E. Intercom (2002). Articles>Technology>TC

Beyond the Browser: Technologies to Watch

The Internet is not the World Wide Web. So what exactly lies beyond the browser? Eisenberg fearlessly predicts technologies to watch.

Eisenberg, J. David. List Apart, A (2000). Design>Web Design>Technology>Web Browsers

Blogs as Disruptive Tech

Content Management is starting to wrestle with what Clayton Christensen calls The Innovator's Dilemma: the inability of successful companies to adapt to a new, disruptive technology.

Hiler, John. Web Crimson (2002). Articles>Content Management>Technology>Blogging

Business Decisions in a Digital Enterprise

All about automating, managing and aligning business decisions in a modern, digital, agile enterprise.

BRMS Blog (2006). Articles>Knowledge Management>Technology

Calculating the True Price of Software

Therefore, the major difference in worldview between open source advocates and proprietary software license advocates is explainable as a differing opinion on the correct value of the volatility of maintenance and upgrade pricing. People who believe that the pricing on maintenance is stable and unlikely to change see greater intrinsic value in the software. People who fear that the pricing is subject to large fluctuations see no intrinsic value in the up-front license; stripped of the options, the license value approaches $0.

Lefkowitz, Robert. O'Reilly and Associates (2005). Articles>Technology>Software>Open Source

Can You Hear Me Now? I'm Podcasting

With a little bit of effort and a microphone, you can use podcasting to talk with millions of people. They key is creating something that is worth listening to.

Janisch, Troy. Icon Interactive (2005). Articles>Technology>Interactive>Podcasting

Capital Equipment Workshop  

The purpose of this workshop is to expose members to the complexities of capital equipment budgeting and purchase. Specifically, the topics include: depreciation, useful life of a product, accounting and company policy. This workshop is for you if your group is using obsolete equipment and you need the skills to sell management on an upgrade for your department.

Caernarven-Smith, Patricia. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Workplace>Technology

Catching the Technology Wave: A Historical Analysis of the Technological Context of Technical Communication

We seem to be constantly chasing the latest and greatest technology, eternally one step behind. Our continual struggle to establish the field of technical communication yet assert dominance over new technological domains seem to be in direct conflict with each other. How can we possibly establish our dominance over a moving target? Instead of trying to peer into future, perhaps we need to look toward the past.

Davis, Toni. Orange Journal, The (2004). Articles>Technology>Audience Analysis

Collaborative Configurations: Researching the Literacies of Technology  

Discusses the electronic literacies of individuals from other countries who travel to the United States to study at colleges and universities in this country.

Hawisher, Gail E. and Cynthia L. Selfe. Kairos (2002). Articles>Education>Technology