Accessible Test
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- Monitoring Technological Developments and Educational Applications
Qwerty Docking Station(New) Purpose To provide the student with an ergonomic qwerty keyboard with additional functionality for use with the Braille+. Project Staff Larry Skutchan, Project Leader Marc Mulkahy, Project Consultant Rob Meredith, Programmer Rosanne Hoffman, Editor Terri Gilmore, Graphics Background The docking station is designed so that the Braille+ fits into it. Together, the docking station adds a full sized qwerty keyboard, ethernet connector, larger speakers, and a larger battery. The docking station also offers a fold-out wrist rest. Work Completed in FY 2009
Work Planned for FY 2010 Work is complete. Future modifications will be added as the need arises. Monitoring Technological Developments and Educational Applications(Continued) Purpose To identify and develop microcomputer materials that support educational needs; to monitor technological developments and educational applications of technology; to provide support to the production area for various Digital Talking Book production issues and to disseminate information on current uses of assistive technology. Project Staff Larry Skutchan, Project Leader Deanne Chance, Consultant Rob Meredith, Programmer John Hedges, Programmer Keith Creasy, Programmer Mike McDonald, Programmer Rodger Smith, Programmer Ken Perry, Programmer Mike Borsuk, Programmer Background The rapid advances in use and development of software, hardware, accessibility considerations, and educational theories require significant attention. The Technology Group in the Educational Research Department monitors and participates in numerous activities to keep abreast of developing trends and current implementations and encourages trends, policies, and standards that use technology to promote APH's mission. These ongoing endeavors help keep APH personnel knowledgeable and influential in the areas of regular and assistive technology. The Technology Group stays informed through participation in numerous listserves focusing on programming and accessibility issues. The group actively uses and beta tests pre-releases of operating system code, key applications, active accessibility, screen enlargement, and speech or braille output accessibility aids. The group attends conferences, presents products and activities, and demonstrates APH products related to technology. The Technology Project Leader and two of the programmers are also members of the DAISY Consortium to help ensure that APH continues at the forefront of the conversion to digital talking books and that APH is represented in the shaping of guidelines and specifications. In its efforts to influence direction, the Technology Group creates software for both internal research and use as direct products, applies expertise to help make APH effective and accessible in its production of braille and large print and its application of new and emerging technologies to these processes, and disseminates information to APH and directly to users. The group promotes accessibility within APH by establishing techniques that make the entire company accessible. Staff regularly works with other project leaders to suggest and implement technologies for projects that have technological components in specific areas of interest. Such projects include a web-based early trade book learning and management system for braille readers (see the write-up for Early Braille Trade book), an orientation and mobility instructor tool to help disseminate useful information to a client's parents, and continuing enhancements to Studio Recorder and Book Wizard Producer for the studio. Staff also creates CD layouts for projects that have CD based training material or documentation. Work during FY 2009 Staff continues enhancing a web based application to help manage and track the contractions a student knows and manage a list of books that she is capable of reading with that knowledge. They also wrote and debugged editor facilities to create the data for a given book. Staff continued programming and debugging an application to help orientation and mobility specialists communicate better with their clients and families. See the write up on O & M for Families. Staff continued working closely with the studio in order to create an efficient means of creating Digital Talking books. Staff continued working on a pilot project with the National Library Service to create "digital talking books" (DTBs). See the Book Wizard write-up for information on how the program was modified. The Technology Group continued to participate in beta testing, monitor listserves, attend conferences, collaborate with other developers, and disseminate information. Staff prepared several Digital Talking Books from NIMAS files and conducted training on using them for a pilot project with the ATIC department. Technology staff provided advice and expertise at Product Advisory and Review Committee (PARC) sessions, evaluated products submitted to APH for possible production or sale, helped ensure the accessibility of APH's web site and online ordering systems, and participated in modernizing APH's recording studios. The Technology Group regularly provides advice and technical assistance to APH's Business Contract Department and meets with staff from Customer Relations to familiarize them with new products as they near their introduction date. Staff regularly consults and assists with technical or information requests via phone and e-mail. Project staff maintained and updated the demo CD that contains demonstrations of software, product information, and in depth audio demonstrations of software and hardware narrated by experts from the department on that product. The CD interface is html based, so it is also used on the APH Web site. With three staff members on the DAISY Mark Up and Specification team, the group actively used the specifications and worked to improve weaknesses in the specifications. One programmer is a member of the Daisy Intellectual Property protection working group where he participates in molding the specifications and techniques that are used to protect digital content in books distributed by National Library Service and other producers. Staff provided support and markup services to other project leaders, so each product's documentation is accessible in electronic format. Work planned for FY 2010 There are two additional areas of software development that require addressing. They are automated testing and error reporting. While automated testing is not an immediate possibility, staff has determined the need for additional personnel for testing purposes. APH will investigate the needs of this testing position and make a determination about the addition. In the meantime, the Human Resources department has connected the technology group with students at the Kentucky School for the Blind participating in a Co-op work program. Two seniors who are tech savvy will begin with complete regression testing of the Braille+ before each public beta or release of software. The group also has need for much more rigorous testing on all its products by someone who is not the product's developer or another developer in the group. Such extensive testing should both better catch problems that the developer would not normally think to consider or check and help free the developer for more time to program. The Technology Group will increase its involvement in the following:
The Technology Group will continue to pursue ways of applying technology to the production of tactile graphics, help educate other project leaders in the Department of Educational Research, and look for ways to use technological solutions to further APH's mission. The group will pursue funding for special projects and experiment with emerging technologies. The group also plans to continue expanding the APH network site license and pursue additional text-to-speech engines for possible distribution. The technology group plans to work closely with the Accessible Tests Department by providing technological solutions to test access issues as defined by them. Advise, review, support, and software design and development are among the expected activities. Staff members plan to participate in the Daisy specifications process to define behavior and characteristics for documents, like work books, that take input from the user. The technology group will continue to host and maintain Early Braille Trade books. This system runs on the Drupal content management system. The web application lets teachers track a student's braille contraction mastery and suggests titles of trade books that contain the contractions the student knows. Drupal provides the account creation and management processes, creation and management of groups for administrative purposes, data management for edits, and most of the account and data management aspects of the system. Staff is ready to provide expansion services to support more types of content or if it is decided to broaden the application's scope. More involvement with the Linux operating system and the accessibility developments in the console, X Windows, and GNU Network object model Environment (GNOME) are a high priority. Staff is especially interested in Speakup, the Linux kernel screen access program and its compatibility with software text-to-speech systems under Linux, global positioning system engines that may run under more than one operating system, and the general movement toward the "cloud computing" environment and its accessibility implications. The group will continue to make high-interest demonstrations, training, and presentations available as podcasts on the APH Web site. Yüklə 1,48 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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