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  • Catalogs from the top 50 technology vendors

  • Informative materials about technology

  • Articles on disability issues and technology assistance

  • Funding information and resources

  • Video library - product demonstrations and related topics

  • Technology Newsletters & Magazines available

  • Internet Access

TECHConnection is a Microsoft Accessibility Resource Center!

Making the Computer easier to see, hear and use. That is Microsoft's commitment. "They have worked hard over the years to make sure this happens and continues to happen" states Joanne Castellano, Director of the TECHConnection.

"At Microsoft, our mission is to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential. We consider our mission statement a promise to our customers. We deliver on that promise by striving to create technology that is accessible to everyone—including people who experience the world in different ways because of impairments and disabilities. To learn more about their mission go to microsoft.com.

To learn about the accessibility in Microsoft's products and how easy it is, visit their website at microsoft.com/enable

To learn about Accessible Technology: A guide for Educators, go to microsoft.com/education.

You can ALSO visit the TECHConnection and see first hand the accessibility features that are built into every computer. Just call us to let us know when you want to come in to our accessibility Lab.

Resources

AccessibilityOnline represents a collaborative training program between the ADA National Network and the US Access Board.
The program includes a series of free webinars and audio conferences on different topics of accessibility. Sessions are held on a monthly basis and cover a variety of topics concerning accessibility to the built environment, information and communication technologies, and transportation.

Click link for more information: http://www.accessibilityonline.org/

  • A starting point for locating Assistive Technology for accessing computers.

  • Abledata is a searchable database of assistive technology products, and companies which make and sell them.

  • A network of community-based resource centers, developers and vendors dedicated to providing information and support services to children and adults with disabilities, and increasing their use of standard, assistive, and information technologies.

  • A Guide to Easier Living with Technology

  • A unique video rental service designed especially for people with visual impairments. They currently stock over 150 commercial video titles, all complete with narratives that describe what other people can see on the screen, like costumes, facial expressions and actions.

  • This program provides free-loan, open-captioned videos to deaf and hard of hearing persons. More than 4,000 titles including classic movies, educational videos, and special-interest videos are available. Open-captioned videos, like subtitles, provide the viewer all the information contained in the audio track.

  • CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to expand opportunities for people with disabilities through innovative multimedia computer technology. We pursue this mission through research, product development, and direct services.

  • CTG is an organization which promotes microcomputer technology for people with special needs, through a major annual conference, a periodical, and a resource directory.

  • Curbcut.com is a gathering place for folks in wheelchairs and their friends who are looking for information and resources.

  • Enabling Devices, a division of Toys for Special Children, Inc., is a company dedicated to developing affordable learning and assistive devices to help people with disabling conditions.

  • The Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) created the Family Center on Technology and Disability (FCTD) to provide information about assistive technologies to organizations that work with the families of children with disabilities. The Center is currently administered by a partnership comprised of the Academy for Educational Development (AED), the Alliance for Technology Access (ATA), the Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (PACER Center), the center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) and InfoUse, Inc. There are currently more than 800 organizations in the FCTD Knowledge Network. As a member of the Network, you will receive monthly newsletters, information about our online discussions, and other resources as they are produced. Through the membership database you can search for organizations by state, target disability(ies) and type of organization. Our AT database provides reviews of books, articles, studies, and other resources that address a wide array of technologies and disabilities.

  • Your guide to using technology to help improve the way you live with multiple sclerosis (MS).

  • The National Center to Improve Practice is a federally funded project focusing on special education and technology.

  • Meeting children's special needs through Parents Helping Parents - including a special section featuring assistive technology.

  • Proposes leading-edge assistive and adaptive technology products and services for children and adults with disabilities. Offers Free product search and referrals to help you find assistive solutions.

  • Find a multitude of resources regarding access for people with disabilities at the Trace Center's site. Included is a link to their gopher server where valuable documents are available.

  • Links to other disAbility related sites

  • Ability Magazine's goal is to heighten public awareness, and present progressive positive information regarding disability issues.

  • Help for students with visual impairment. Resources, scholarships, finding the right college, etc.

  • Bill Allen and John Shea share their expertise on the topics of person-centered planning, supported employment, and supported living, for people with disabilities.

  • The Arc of the United States, a national organization on mental retardation, offers a beautiful web site containing an enormous number of resources related to developmental and other disabilities.

  • Non-profit provider of service dogs for people with various disabilities.

  • This is an up-to-date, huge and growing library of documents, materials, reports, descriptions of initiatives, etc., at the Department of Education.

  • The comprehensive Federal website of disability-related government resources.

  • Access immense educational resource libraries: articles, lesson plans, searchable data bases, SunSITE (Software, Information, and Technology Exchange).

  • Family Village is a global community that integrates information, resources, and communication opportunities on the Internet for persons with disabilities, their families, and those that provide services and supports.

  • The Job Accommodation Network assists people interested in reasonable accommodation under the ADA.

  • Disability lifestyle and culture; many resources.

  • The online magazine for the worldwide disability community - with a special section featuring adaptive technology and the Internet

  • The PACER (Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights) in Minneapolis offers a world of information, including links to a myriad of disability resources on the web.

  • TASH is a national organization whose mission is to eliminate physical and social obstacles that prevent equity, diversity and equality of life for children and adults with disabilities. Their web site includes conference info, governmental affairs issues, position statements, membership and publication info.

  • Webable is billed as a "First-Stop-Shop" site for people with disabilities. It is a well-organized internet directory with links to many, many resources for people with disabilities.

  • www.linkable.org)This website links together the Home Pages of Disabled People. If you are disabled and have a Home Page that you would like linked on this website, please send email to sarasotajeff@excite.com

  • Wheelchair Net is an Internet community providing free information and services on wheelchair technology, its improvement, and its successful application.

  • View the set of www sites listed by Yahoo (the search engine) as related to disability issues.

  • Bookshare!

  • Bookshare.org is a new online community that enables people in the United States with visual or other print disabilities to legally share scanned books.

  • E-book Readers:

  • allows reading of one page at a time. It is approximately the same size as a book, and targets professional and technical populations. $599.

  • (1.4 lb.) is the size and thickness of a novel $499.

  • Reading Software:

  • This is software for the Palm family of PDAs. It enables searches and bookmarking of Palm-formatted e-books. FREE

  • Microsoft's e-book reading software is available as a free download from the Microsoft web site and at BarnesandNoble.com. Microsoft Reader is for desktop and laptop computers and will be packaged with Pocket PC and other Microsoft products. FREE

  • References

  • This is a web site for distribution of titles. Readers can view abbreviated portions of books before purchase. A single month subscription is $24.95.

  • This is a collection of digital documents. The scope of documents in the collection includes items from American and English literature and Western philosophies. FREE

  • Comprehensive database of reference, verse, and classic literature. Summaries of each book. Enhanced navigational tools and cross-referencing. No access fees. FREE

  • Authoritative research library and information resource. Powerful InfoTools to perform searches and provide definitions, translations, biographies and more. No access fees. FREE

  • A comprehensive collection of electronic books. Full-text searches of single or multiple e-books. Printing and copying limited to one page, and online check-out limited to one patron per book.

TECHConnection- Delete and keep under Programs

Programs

Our programs for infants and children, adults, and families help our entire community reach their fullest potential.  Learn more.

Resources
including COVID-19

FRA enables family and community members to better understand special needs.  Learn more.

Events

FRA has a variety of events for our entire FAMILY of support!  Learn more.