Reasonable Accommodations on the Bar Exam: Leveling the Playing Field or Providing an Unfair Advantage?

If you ask law students what they think about examination accommodations provided to students with disabilities, including learning disabilities, most students will tell you that it is unfair that some students get more time to take an examination. The misconception that accommodations provide an unfair advantage may stem from the fact that not all students understand the Americans with Disabilities Act ( ADA ), its purpose, and the reasons why individuals receive such accommodations. In fact, the ADA has applications beyond the employment context. Specifically, the ADA ensures that students with disabilities who graduate from medical school, law school, and other professional programs cannot be discriminated against in their educational programs and are entitled to nondiscrimination and reasonable accommodation in the licensing process

Implications of the Information Technology Revolution for People with Disabilities

The paper focuses on opportunities for the integration of persons with different types of disabilities in the information technology (IT) labour market. Recent IT developments are identified and examined for their potentially harmful or beneficial effects on access to the IT labour market for persons with disabilities. The opportunities created by new job creation, new forms of training, teleworking, and the role of assistive technologies in facilitating workplace accommodations are briefly described. The focus is on new options for the design and implementation of computer-related assistive technologies in the workplace, and the impact of teleworking and the World Wide Web on employability and work-related training of persons with disabilities. The paper closes with a brief discussion of the roles that government agencies, business firms, labour unions, non-governmental organisations and education can play to help people with disabilities join the IT revolution and share its benefits

Methods and Techniques for the Access of Persons With Visual Impairments to Handbooks and Textbooks

The transformation of learning materials in an accessible format for blind students allows them to access texts and graphics. This access was not possible before considering the past technologies. The Daisy format represents an accessibility standard that permits the visually impaired person to listen an audio book as a person without disability. In this way, the visually impaired person can listen the audio book according to its content and/or pages. The usage of this format enables to develop new approaches in the process of teaching and learning, not only for visually impaired students but also for visually impaired teachers. The Daisy format proved to be efficient in the educational area also for children with learning difficulties. Studies concerned with efficiency of Daisy book.Daisy, visual impairment, access technologies, accessible audio books

How a Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review of NIDILRR’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain. Within the US, a major effort aimed at the creation and evaluation of rehabilitation technology has been the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. As envisioned at their conception by a panel of the National Academy of Science in 1970, these centers were intended to take a “total approach to rehabilitation”, combining medicine, engineering, and related science, to improve the quality of life of individuals with a disability. Here, we review the scope, achievements, and ongoing projects of an unbiased sample of 19 currently active or recently terminated RERCs. Specifically, for each center, we briefly explain the needs it targets, summarize key historical advances, identify emerging innovations, and consider future directions. Our assessment from this review is that the RERC program indeed involves a multidisciplinary approach, with 36 professional fields involved, although 70% of research and development staff are in engineering fields, 23% in clinical fields, and only 7% in basic science fields; significantly, 11% of the professional staff have a disability related to their research. We observe that the RERC program has substantially diversified the scope of its work since the 1970’s, addressing more types of disabilities using more technologies, and, in particular, often now focusing on information technologies. RERC work also now often views users as integrated into an interdependent society through technologies that both people with and without disabilities co-use (such as the internet, wireless communication, and architecture). In addition, RERC research has evolved to view users as able at improving outcomes through learning, exercise, and plasticity (rather than being static), which can be optimally timed. We provide examples of rehabilitation technology innovation produced by the RERCs that illustrate this increasingly diversifying scope and evolving perspective. We conclude by discussing growth opportunities and possible future directions of the RERC program

Promoting game accessibility: Experiencing an induction on inclusive design practice at the global games jam

Copyright @ 2013 The AuthorsThe Global Games Jam (GGJ) attracts many people who are passionate about games development, coming from a range of educational backgrounds. Therefore, the event can be experienced by novices and student developers as an opportunity for learning. This provides an opening to promote themes and ideas that could help form future thinking about games design, emerging as a form of induction on key design issues for new practitioners. Such an approach aims to raise awareness about issues which learners could help develop and take with them into industry. However, the experience itself affords a deep experiential rhetoric and dialogue with experts that could be an effective pedagogical tool for issues seldom addressed deeply in formal educational settings. This paper describes an account by one such individual, being introduced to game accessibility through participation in the GGJ. As such, it is not intended as a rigorous empirical analysis, but rather a perspective on one way a game jam can be experienced, inviting further research on the topic

The Americans with Disabilities Act and how it affects post-secondary education

The Americans with Disabilities Act and how it affects post-secondary education is what this literature review addresses. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination against someone with a disability in places of employment and public places. In 1973, the United States Congress passed Section 504 and The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was passed in 1990. Both helped solidify regulations regarding discrimination by any entity that receives federal funding including educational institutions. The law requires employers or schools to make a change or adjustment in a work or educational setting, program, or job that makes it possible for an otherwise qualified employee or student with a disability to perform the duties or tasks required. The focus of this review is how the Americans with Disabilities Act affects post-secondary educational institutions and the effectiveness of assistive technology in post-secondary education. The Americans with Disabilities Act has mandated that school administrators and businesses make reasonable accommodations for those who have disabilities. The use of technology including the purchase, training, and support may be necessary to .accommodate someone. Structural or building renovations may also be necessary. The future for those with disabilities should include increased support and training. A reasonable accommodation should be made anytime that the accommodation will help assist a person with a disability become a more engaged and valuable member of society

Challenges in Inclusiveness for People with Disabilities within STEM Learning and Working Environments

This report is a reflection on the necessity for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the field of STEM and the different methods and processes that need to be revised or implemented to achieve this goal. It will delve into further detail about the challenges facing PWDs in STEM through interview anecdotes and survey results. Each solution offered will be accompanied by thorough research and support. Policymakers, teachers and students may use these recommendations to break down barriers to STEM careers and build a more inclusive future

Information Technology and the Workplace: Implications for Persons with Disabilities

The Internet improves access to employment and community for many people. However, there is growing concern that many Web sites are inaccessible to people with certain disabilities. This article examines the impact on people with disabilities of online human resources processes used for employee recruitment, benefits, and training. In 2002, Cornell University staff reviewed the accessibility of 10 Job boards and 31 corporate e-recruiting Web sites. Human resource (HR) professionals are well positioned to report on key issues regarding these processes. A survey of 433 HR representatives was conducted regarding their organizations\u27 use of information and Web technology in HR processes; knowledge of computer/Web barriers to employees with disabilities; and familiarity with assistive technology and resources. The authors summarize current literature and legislation relevant to Web accessibility, and discuss implications of their findings for businesses and people with disabilities in the workplace

The Glass Ceiling and Persons With Disabilities

Glass Ceiling ReportGlassCeilingBackground2PersonsWithDisabilities.pdf: 8336 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020