Miss-Delectable
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ABC7Chicago.com: Technology making work easier for people with disabilities
Reasonable accommodations allow people with disabilities to perform essential job functions, and technology has made it even easier.
Adaptive technology has removed barriers in the workplace for people with disabilities, which has been beneficial for the workers at Access Living who are deaf and blind.
Karen Washington is the job readiness coordinator at Access Living, and she is legally blind.
"Diabetic retinopathy, I think it's the most common cause of blindness in the United States right now," said Karen.
In spite of her disability, Karen is able to do her job using different technologies.
"The biggest one is a magnifier and a screen-reader on my computer. My computer can tell me anything that's on the screen," Karen said.
She also is hoping for more advanced equipment.
"Although Zoom Text just came out with a new version 9.1, and I'm trying to convince the people here that I just can't live without it," said Karen.
For deaf and hard of hearing Peer Counseling Coordinator Devon Washington, the videophone is a God-send. It's a phone that has access to either a sign language video relay operator or another person who has the system."
"What it does is, it really helps me to save more time. I can be much more expressive using my own language on video phone if I'm angry or if I'm speaking with someone who a service provider or an agency," said Devon.
Information Technology person Butch Lillibridge, who is also deaf, says the videophones are free to deaf and hard of hearing employees.
"There is no cost involved as long as you have high-speed Internet at home or your business, then, they will pay the equipment for the video phone is free," said Butch.
Another advance technology available at Access Living is the TTY phone that is located in elevators. It enables deaf and hard-of-hearing person to have access to a phone, in case of an emergency.
Butch is always looking for the technology. For example, there is a cell phone that also has access to the video relay service.
"And, we have different types of media player abilities in our cell phones that come through email, which is a wonderful version of voice mail for deaf people," said Butch.
The biggest challenges are not the technologies but the people.
"Depends on the intellectual level of the person ,how familiar they are with computers because computer can be a challenge if you don't know how they work," Butch said.
For more information on Access Living go to About Access Living.
Reasonable accommodations allow people with disabilities to perform essential job functions, and technology has made it even easier.
Adaptive technology has removed barriers in the workplace for people with disabilities, which has been beneficial for the workers at Access Living who are deaf and blind.
Karen Washington is the job readiness coordinator at Access Living, and she is legally blind.
"Diabetic retinopathy, I think it's the most common cause of blindness in the United States right now," said Karen.
In spite of her disability, Karen is able to do her job using different technologies.
"The biggest one is a magnifier and a screen-reader on my computer. My computer can tell me anything that's on the screen," Karen said.
She also is hoping for more advanced equipment.
"Although Zoom Text just came out with a new version 9.1, and I'm trying to convince the people here that I just can't live without it," said Karen.
For deaf and hard of hearing Peer Counseling Coordinator Devon Washington, the videophone is a God-send. It's a phone that has access to either a sign language video relay operator or another person who has the system."
"What it does is, it really helps me to save more time. I can be much more expressive using my own language on video phone if I'm angry or if I'm speaking with someone who a service provider or an agency," said Devon.
Information Technology person Butch Lillibridge, who is also deaf, says the videophones are free to deaf and hard of hearing employees.
"There is no cost involved as long as you have high-speed Internet at home or your business, then, they will pay the equipment for the video phone is free," said Butch.
Another advance technology available at Access Living is the TTY phone that is located in elevators. It enables deaf and hard-of-hearing person to have access to a phone, in case of an emergency.
Butch is always looking for the technology. For example, there is a cell phone that also has access to the video relay service.
"And, we have different types of media player abilities in our cell phones that come through email, which is a wonderful version of voice mail for deaf people," said Butch.
The biggest challenges are not the technologies but the people.
"Depends on the intellectual level of the person ,how familiar they are with computers because computer can be a challenge if you don't know how they work," Butch said.
For more information on Access Living go to About Access Living.