Computer Technology Accessibility 12.04.2008
Computer technology is a necessary part of many peoples’ lives. Although it allows for number
calculations, word processing, and correspondence around the world in seconds, it also requires
advanced training and understanding of its applications, and many times is not the most accessible or
user friendly. Thanks to technological advancements, barriers for all users, especially people with
disabilities have been minimized, and computer applications have been made accessible to all including
those in national service positions.
From providing accommodations that are as simple as repositioning keyboards, making electric outlets
accessible for on/off functioning, and flexible monitors, to more advanced ones such as keyboard
emulation, scanning and Morse code input, and speech recognition systems that allow users to control
computers by speaking words and letters, technology has made computer usage more accessible for
people with disabilities around the world and allowed for service to be given by many.
A national service member with a significant mobility disability, assigned to assist in a learning
environment has been able to use a speech recognition system on the schools computer that allows for
the students’ progress, as well as daily learning modules to be recorded by speaking words and letters.
No matter the disability, whether it’s low vision, no vision, hearing or speech impairments, specific
learning disabilities, or low mobility to no mobility, technology has provided a way to overcome these
barriers.
For more information regarding computer technology, please go to:
http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Technology/wtcomp.html
To contact NSIP, or to find out more regarding the latest computer technology
accommodations/advancements, email: NSIP@umb.edu, or call 888-491-0326 (V/TTY). To see a list of
trainings that NSIP offers go to: www.serviceandinlcusion.org
Sincerely,
The National Service Inclusion Project
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The National Service Inclusion Project would like to recognize people with disabilities everywhere in
honor of this year’s “International Day for Persons with Disabilities” (December 3rd, 20008). “Dignity
and Justice for All of Us” is the theme of this year’s International Day for Persons with Disabilities, as
well as for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Dignity and justice for all persons are established universal principles. Since its inception, the United
Nations has recognized that the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of
the human family are the foundations of freedom, justice and peace in the world. These principles,
along with equality and non-discrimination, have guided the work of the United Nations for the past 60
years and are enshrined in various instruments such as the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, as well as in treaties such as the International Covenants on Human Rights, and the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.