More about accessibility

Sometimes people tell me things. Today, someone mentioned an elderly relative who uses a walker not liking a particular library location in his town for several reasons. I've heard variations on this theme several times before, and thought I'd share some of these things plus a thought or two of my own. Back to the things I've heard: frequently, those who use walkers, crutches, or have orthopedic problems happen also to be elderly, and make use of things such as large print books. They do not want to have to go to the back of a large building to get to them,
and good lighting and a chair are nice when they arrive. And it's even better if they are not right next to the teen or toddler area. Granted, everything in a building can't be five feet from the entrance, but thoughtful placement is important. And floor surfaces that don't echo with every step are nice for everyone, with a nice even surface for canes and wheelchairs, and baby strollers, and book trucks, too. And as you may or may not know, some impairments are invisible; accessible parking places are often NOT very close to an entrance, which may be a short distance for someone in a wheelchair, but might be impossibly far for someone with COPD (chronic obstrucitve pulmonary disease, or "breathing trouble" for civilians).

Now, I don't think anyone ever purposely designs things in an impractical manner, or maliciously makes navigation difficult, but I do think there are a lot of people who, through no fault of their own, are oblivious to these types of concerns. With the whole world competing for one's limited attention, it may be the case that someone has never had any type of disability, temporary or permanent, and has not closely associated with others who have or do. Hence, no real awareness of accessibility is needed. We all routinely filter out information we don't need, otherwise we'd be overloaded. But there aren't many of us who at a later time haven't looked back and wished we'd paid more attention to something that seemed irrelevant at the time.

Signing Time! on PBS

Look above to see a YouTube of the children's book Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin. I was actually in search of an animated avatar with a disability when I stumbled across this, and had to post it.

Then I found footage of Signing Time! from PBS http://www.signingtime.com/and thought it deserves a mention. If you've been following my blog at all, you are already aware that Odiogo will read the entries aloud.

I like to play and am particularly interested in assistive technology of all kinds and plan to mention more of it here.

Not Exactly What I'd Planned . . . .

Hannah from Oddcast (thanks!) commented on my last post, and directed me to Voki.com, where I was able to successfully create and embed my character. You may have to pause the music from my Playlist to hear her speak.

Tourguides, anyone?

I think having a tourguide option on our website would make it warmer and easier for patrons to navigate, though I know some people detest this sort of thing. It could be optional, as many .com sites have it. Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego has a live, not animated version of this. Scenes always revert back to "the Chief" who speaks directly into the camera to the user; kids love it!

At Sitepal.com, I created a few free talking animated characters, which I'd hoped to embed right here for you to see, but that feature of Sitepal is not available at the moment, and a link asks for my login info, so I guess you'll just have to go to www.sitepal.com and create your own (2 are free)
In case you've never heard of Carmen Sandiego, click here for more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Sandiego

Stuck in the 80's (Musically)

See my playlist from http://www.projectplaylist.com/ Definitely fun.

Squidoo

This has nothing to do with books and reading, but what a neat site:
http://www.squidoo.com/soundtoys/

It's all about music "Museum of Sound Toys - Online Virtual Instruments, Interactive Music Guides, and Digital Media Artworks". I was actually looking for a fun interactive music widget to add to my blog when I found this, and decided it is better to add the link itself because it leads to so many good things.

Alter Egos and Avatars

I had a lot of fun creating my avatar at www.Meez.com, I can see why every Playstation, Gamecube and computer game my youngest nephew has gives the option to make your own wrestler, car, action hero, etc. Especially when you get to be "lord of all things" and choose all the characters, like in the Sims. . . .Then I saw Her Mind Disturbed Her's talking avatar from Sitepal and was (momentarily) jealous. But I know I'll be creating yet another account soon.

Pondering whether the main difference between a blog and a MySpace or other social network account is the listing of the friends and the posting of comments w/picture. It seems to me that it's equally easy to add content and change the layout.