Welcome to the New ALA ASCLA*
Accessibility Pavilion!
*ALA=American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/
ASCLA=the Awesome Super Cool Library
Association, Division of the
American Library Association, otherwise officially known as the Association of
Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, http://www.ala.org/ascla/
The ALA ASCLA Accessibility Pavilion made its debut at the American Library Association-San Francisco
Annual Conference, Saturday, June 16-Tuesday, June 19, 2001, South Exhibit
Hall Aisle 4100 and North Exhibit Hall.
Deepest thanks are expressed to the following individuals for
making the ALA Accessibility Pavilion a splendid reality.
Photo showing the large Accessibility Pavilion sign above Aisle 4100,
South Hall.
ALA Conference attendees crowd the Accessibility Pavilion in Aisle
4100, South Hall.
Photo showing the crowd watching Accessibility Vendor Steven Heller
demonstrating The Reading Pen at the ALA Accessibility Pavilion, Aisle 4100,
South Exhibit Hall. The Reading Pen (Wizcom Technologies) URL:
http://www.wizcomtech.com/index.php3
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Photo showing Project EASI's* Richard Banks speaking with Martha
Edmundson, Head of Children's
Services for the Denton [Texas] Public Library at the
ASCLA-sponsored Accessibility Booth.
Project EASI= Equal Access to Software and Information, is a major
provider of training and information on accessibility and accessible web
design. In the
background of the photo is the booth sponsored by the National Federation for
the Blind [NFB]. URL: http://www.nfb.org/. NFB sponsored the recent
expedition to Mount Everest by
mountain climber Erik Weihenmeyer.
During the ALA Conference, 2001 Century
Scholar Simon Healey (on the right) volunteered at the ASCLA*-sponsored
Accessibility booth, demonstrating a variety of assistive technology software
and hardware.
ASCLA* (The Awesome Super Cool Library Association, division of the American
Library Association) URL:
http://www.ala.org/ascla/. In the background is Judy Dixon (lady in
middle), librarian at the National Library
Service, discussing accessibility with two visitors. Ms. Dixon also
demonstrated her ALVA Braille display at the booth (see photo below).
Purple
ALVA-brand refreshable Braille display [demonstrated by National Library
Service librarian Judy Dixon]. As defined on the American Federation for the
Blind website [
http://www.afb.org/info_document_view.asp?DocumentID=1282], Braille displays
"operate by raising and lowering different combinations of pins electronically
to produce in Braille what appears on a portion of the computer screen. They
show up to 80 characters from the screen and are refreshable, that is, they
change continuously as the user moves around on the screen." ALVA Access Group
URL:
http://www.aagi.com/aagi/aagi_home.html
Jim Watson of Freedom Scientific demonstrates his Freedom Scientific
Braille Lite
Notetaker at the ALA Accessibility Pavilion. URL: http://www.freedomsci.com/
Jim Watson (left) and Charles Wright of Freedom Scientific demonstrate
Freedom Scientific products to TWU SLIS Alumna Dr. Tanya Tullos and
TWU SLIS August Grad Jennifer Dillon, TWU SLIS's student representative to the ALA San
Francisco Conference. URL: http://www.freedomsci.com/
Tack-Tiles-brand Braille System on an electronic display board that is
connected to a laptop. Upon moving the tiles (a letter, number, or symbol in
Braille) the letters/words are automatically translated into Romanized print
that appears on the laptop display. The Tack-Tiles Braile System is very
helpful for learning Braille for people who later in life acquire vision
differences. URL: http://www.tack-tiles.com/
Ellen Perlow, surrounded by the "AlphaSmart ladies" holds the
lightweight AlphaSmart notetaker with just two fingers (it's only 2 pounds and
operates with 2 double-A batteries!)
at the AlphaSmart Booth #1019 in the North Hall. AlphaSmart URL: "http://www.alphasmart.com/
Photo showing AlphaSmart vendor Adja Ba with smiling attendees at an
ALA ASCLA Preconference on services to people with hearing differences. Adja
gave AlphaSmarts to the many preconference attendees to take notes during the
one-day session. At the completion of the preconference, attendees downloaded
their notes from the 2-pound, lightweight, only 3 double-A battery AlphaSmarts
onto floppy disks - in less than a minute. AlphaSmart exhibited at ALA at
Booth #1019 in the Exhibits North Hall. AlphaSmart URL: "http://www.alphasmart.com/
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This page last updated Thursday, August 2, 2001, 2 pm
