Assistive Technology

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) will hold its 2^nd Annual Effective Access Technology Conference July 17-18, 2014 in Rochester, New York. The conference will focus on innovative solutions for barriers facing technology access for people with disabilities. RIT has issued a call for papers.  The papers should focus on the following areas: 1. “The development of hardware, software, or processes that assist people with disabilities in daily living activities, the workplace, the classroom, the rehabilitation process, and/or recreational activities,” 2.

May 2014 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture against Purple Communications proposing a forfeiture of almost $12 million for abuse of the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund. TRS is a service for individuals with speech and hearing disabilities, providing them with free accessible telephone services.

April 2014 — Federal contractors have filed a class action suit against the Government Services Administration (GSA) regarding the accessibility of the System for Award Management website, www.SAM.gov, run by GSA.  The case highlights that, among many responsibilities, GSA is responsible for ensuring that all “federal contractor programs and activities are Section 504 compliant and accessible to [individuals with disabilities].” Use of SAM.gov is essential for all federal government contractors, as contractors are required to register with the site before an

April 2014 – Robyn Powell, Attorney Advisor for the National Council on Disability (NCD), testified before the Massachusetts legislature concerning the rights of parents with disabilities.

April 2014 — Starkey has released Halo, a new hearing aid which is designed to be compatible with iPhones, iPads and iPods. Halo hearing aids act as stand-alone hearing aids but have the added feature of using Bluetooth to connect directly to wireless devices. Using the TruLink Hearing Control app, Halo users can use their iPhone to stream calls, music and Facetime directly to the hearing aid. The app also enables users to remotely adjust hearing aid settings and create TruLink Memories, which geotags and saves hearing aid settings for specific locations.