The Access Blog

Do you have Autism? Or Asperger’s Syndrome or PDD-NOS? Are you a Post-secondary Student?

This study wants to give you a chance to share your voice! Participants will be asked to fill out some forms and complete a one-on-one audio-recorded interview regarding their experiences as a post-secondary student.

Participants may enter a draw to win 1 of 3 gift cards valued at $75!

For more information and/or to participate please contact – Taylor Schembri at taylor.schembri@ucalgary.ca

This study has been approved by the University of Calgary Conjoint Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board.

Filed by SAS at 9:19 am under Current Students,Research
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The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) – a Canadian non-profit research organization – is currently conducting a study on behalf of the provinces of British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island and the Canada Student Loan Program, Permanent Disability Working Group. The project is being led by BC’s Ministry of Advanced Education to better understand the use of assistive technologies (AT) to facilitate access to higher education for students with disabilities across Canada.

AT is any item, equipment, software, or system used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a student with a disability to help address barriers to education.

We are seeking current post-secondary students who use AT to volunteer for a 30-45 minute interview. Our interviewers will ask you your opinions and experiences about:

• Disability services and support utilized by you to facilitate your access to post-secondary education
• Types of AT currently available, their role in supporting academic curriculum delivery, and their effectiveness in facilitating your participation in post-secondary education
• Processes used at your school to assess the suitability of AT and identify devices that best meet your needs

Interviews will be scheduled between December 2016 and January 20, 2017 at a time and date convenient for you. Your information will be kept confidential and anonymous. By completing the interview, you will be eligible to enter a draw for a $250.00 pre-paid Visa card.

To volunteer for an interview, please USE THIS LINK TO SHARE YOUR NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION WITH US:

https://websurvey.srdc.org/s/AT_PSE_Student_Interviews/?l=en

For more information, please contact Jacey Payne (SRDC Research Associate) at jpayne@srdc.org or 587-890-8425.

Filed by SAS at 10:20 am under Assistive Technology,Current Students,Research
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Investigators from George Brown College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, with the assistance of the National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS), are conducting a study to learn how university and college students with disabilities use online communities and what their needs are related to these tools.

The purpose of the study is to assess post-secondary education (PSE) students with disabilities’ uses and needs related to online communities (e.g., social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook) and electronic mentoring (e-mentoring) opportunities.

NEADS invites you to participate and provide your feedback about online communities and e-mentoring by completing a questionnaire. The questions will be available to you through a secure, accessible online survey tool called Survey Monkey. It is anticipated that it will take about 5-10 minutes to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire is completely anonymous and your participation in the study is voluntary. You can choose to not participate by not submitting your responses if you start the questionnaire.

If you would like to participate in this study or find out more about it, please go to the following internet link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W56CWCH

Filed by SAS at 9:16 am under Assistive Technology,Current Students,Research
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Research has suggested that nighttime exposure to the blue light from our various electronic devices can disrupt sleep or exacerbate existing sleep disorders.

f.lux makes the colour of your device’s display adapt to the time of day: warm at night and like sunlight during the day. The program is free for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Android users looking for a similar app may want to investigate Twilight.

Filed by SAS at 9:44 am under Assistive Technology,Research
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Spritz is text streaming technology designed to remove the eye movement associated with traditional reading methods, thereby making reading more efficient: you spend less time moving your eyes and more time processing content. For more in-depth scientific explanations on how the technology works, consult the Spritz blog.

Spritz now offers a number of ways to access this technology:

• the Spritzlet, bookmarklet technology which allows you to spritz every HTML page on the web
• Readsy will spritz text from uploaded PDF files, cut and pasted text, and text pulled from a URL
• various iOS and Android apps powered by Spritz

Filed by SAS at 2:16 pm under Assistive Technology,Research
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