Assistive Technology

Featured in this month’s Special Needs App Review, the Smart Steps mobile app helps to support users with cognitive challenges through guided decision making and individualized feedback. Assisting individuals with autism, Down syndrome, and other developmental disabilities, the app helps users regain their independence in the community, classroom, and workplace by assisting in everyday decision-making. Some features include: 24/7 support options, decision trees, and the ability to personalize an account. The Smart Steps app is free of charge and can be found in the iTunes App Store.

July 2014 — In honor of World Cerebral Palsy Day, United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) has announced the Change My World in One Minute Contest. The contest gathers life-changing ideas, which should take no longer than a minute to explain. The public will then vote on their favorite idea, and inventors from around the world will work to create the ideas with the most votes while competing for $50,000 in prizes. Ideas may be posted here up until October 31, 2014.

July 2014 – The Federal Communications Commission has announced new sanctions extending closed captioning for online video content, including: “straight lift” clips, montages, live and near-live television programming.

June 2014 – Federal Communications Commissioner, Tom Wheeler, presented the 3^rd Annual Awards for Advancement in Accessibility (Chairman’s AAA) at the 2014 M-Enabling Summit in Arlington, Virginia. These are honorary awards given to innovators that develop communication technologies for people with disabilities. The Chairman’s AAA falls under the FCC’s Accessibility and Innovation Initiative and is awarded to both the private and public sector.

During the 2014 spring semester, 83 industrial design students at Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech participated in the Wireless RERC’s fifth annual “Getting Wireless” design challenge.