Category: Accessibility

Using Cardboard to Bring Disabled Children Out of the Exile of Wrong Furniture

Adaptive Design is a nonprofit that provides tailor-made furniture for children with disabilities. Design students and volunteers use cardboard to build pieces that will accommodate a child’s specific needs. For example, a young girl with low muscle tone could not sit upright without being propped in between an adult’s legs. To help her sit upright and read a book independently, the company made her a legless chair that looked like a sled with a back and attached a mesh strap. With this she was able to join her classmates in the reading circle without anyone’s aid.

The program is funded by grants and donations, and its Executive Director Alex Truesdell is looking to expand the work and its benefits to other students with disabilities. The solutions provided by the company are inexpensive and adaptable to a multitude of disabilities.

Full Story: Jim Dwyer, Using Cardboard to Bring Disabled Children Out of Exile of Wrong Furniture, New York Times, July 29, 2014.

Walgreens Launches Nationwide Program Offering Talking Prescription Devices for Customers with Visual Impairments

Walgreens is now  providing talking prescription labels at all of its 8,000+ retail pharmacies in the United States and through mail order. The talking prescription labels are free of charge to pharmacy customers who are blind or visually impaired.  The device also includes a timer.

The Walgreens press release is here:  Walgreens Launches Nationwide Program Offering Talking Prescription Devices for Customers with Visual Impairments

 

Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative

Sooner or later, everyone will develop at least some limitations in vision, hearing, dexterity or learning.

“Run by the Mobile Manufacturer’s Forum, the Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative is a project designed to help consumers learn more about the accessibility features of mobile devices and to help them identify devices with the features that may assist them with their particular needs.” Consumers can learn about features for Hearing, Vision, Speech, Dexterity, and Cognition needs and identify through an interactive  process, the phone, tablet, or mobile app that is best for them.

 Visit the GARI website to learn more or to find the device with the accessibility features that work best for you.

Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative