Presents the case for allowing college students with a learning disability who are unable to meet foreign-language requirements even with special instruction to substitute related courses. Discussion is in the context of the 1998 Guckenberger v. Boston University federal lawsuit. (DB)

Two studies examined students with learning disabilities who were allowed to substitute other courses for the college foreign-language (FL) requirement. Both studies found similar demographic, cognitive, academic achievement, and FL-aptitude profiles for the students. Article concludes that educators should not assume that students with LD require…

Describes gerontechnology as the use of technology to prevent, delay, or compensate for aging declines and enhance communication, leisure, learning, and artistic expression for elders. Discusses needs assessment, assistive technology, and aspects of this emerging field, including education, professional organizations, funding, and advocacy. (SK)

Examines the accessibility of Web sites belonging to 80 colleges of communications and schools of journalism by examining the hypertext markup language (HTML) used to format the pages. Suggests ways to revise the markup of pages to make them more accessible to students with vision, hearing, and mobility problems. Lists resources of the latest…

Discusses problems school transportation administrators face in managing the transportation of special needs students. These include finding part-time, low paid drivers and attendants, managing equipment not approved for buses, training drivers to handle medically fragile and emotionally disabled children, and dealing with federal and state…

A portable control device linked via radio to acoustic sources was used for prompting independent travel and activity in two adolescents with severe multiple disabilities. The device allowed the subjects to enter activity destinations with a simple, standard response, which activated acoustic sources that indicated the way to each destination.…

This article describes the process of designing the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site to illustrate both the principles and the practice of universal design for learning. How the Web site overcame barriers to learning, information representation, interaction and navigation, and engagement barriers is addressed. (CR)

This article examines Windows 95, pointing out differences and improvements from Windows 3.1 for persons with low vision. Windows 95 is seen as providing substantially greater accessibility than Windows 3.1, though the graphical user interface may still pose serious problems for some users with low vision. (DB)

This paper describes meetings by a panel of travel, access, and public transit professionals to discuss detectable warning systems (devices to notify individuals with visual impairments of hazards along their path of travel). Recommendations of the panel for universal design standards and educating communities about detectable warning systems are…

Defines the literacy needs of a growing population of aging and disabled workers and recommends innovative educational strategies to meet those needs. (SR)

The Family Support Opportunities program is a Washington state program that connects individuals with extensive knowledge of local communities (community guides) with families of individuals with intellectual disabilities. A survey of 312 families found that when families indicated satisfaction with their community guides, they also reported a…

A survey of 488 postsecondary service providers to students with disabilities found respondents valued and reported knowledge of assistive technology (AT) by themselves and faculty. Costs of technology and upgrades were perceived as the greatest barriers, whereas provider expertise, student awareness/knowledge of AT, and administration support…

This position statement of the National Association of the Deaf urges producers of material in various media including the World Wide Web to caption their offerings, outlines the organization's views on a variety of captioning technologies, and advises consumers on the filing of complaints about non-captioning and poor captioning. The statement…

Discusses a type of orienteering developed in Great Britain to allow people with physical disabilities to compete on equal terms. Sites are viewed from a wheelchair-accessible main route. The main skill is interpreting the maps at each site, not finding the sites. Describes differences from standard orienteering, how sites work, and essential…

Evaluates outSPOKEN, a Windows 95 screen reader for people with visual disabilities. Evaluates the program for installation and documentation (good), Word 97 (good), WordPerfect 8.0 (less than good), and Internet Explorer and Navigator (a little less than good). Provides specific suggestions for improving performance and steps for selecting a…