Adaptive Technology for the Internet: Making Electronic Resources Accessible to All

Provides product information on such technologies as Braille screen, voice recognition systems, and hearing assistance devices neccessary to meet Americans with Disabilities Act stipulations.

Providing library access to the disabled includes making available not only physical facilities but also the information they contain, including electronic information. Mates, head of the Cleveland Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, presents guidance for providing electronic information to visually and aurally impaired patrons and to those whose learning disabilities make using printed materials difficult or impossible. She reviews such devices as voice synthesizers, Braille printers and translators, modifications to keyboards and other input devices, and optical character recognition systems. She considers funding the acquisition of such aids, publicizing them, and training staff to use them; and she lists selected vendors, adaptive technology Web sites, and libraries possessing adaptive technology programs. Edward Swanson
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