Day 20: Hats off to Adaptive Technology

I just want to put it out there....where would families that have individuals within them that rely on adaptive technology be? It is the genius behind the  scientific know-how that have literally been a game changer for my Blindman and our family. I owe it to these tech wizards to give them a tilt of my hat and say a warm thank you for improving our lives. 

The creators of the program Jaws changed our lives overnight. During Deano's second time round at university he was introduced to this technical knowledge that has helped him throughout the last ten years of his life. For a blind person these technology specialists are as important as the Victor Changs in the world who do amazing feats to improve people's lives. (For those of you who remembers the 80's Victor Chang was one of Australia's leading heart transplant surgeons and to him many people throughout the world should be thankful for his skilled hands and clever thinking.) 
Freedom scientific website for access to Jaws
Dr Victor Changs website

A whole new world of descriptions opened up to my husband when Jaws came into our lives. No longer did I have to read and describe all that was in print on the computer. All Deano has to do is tab across on his keyboard and the words are automatically read to him. Just like that a man that had been trapped in a prison, where the written word was locked away from him unless someone offered him a partial pardon and read the words to him, all of a sudden was free to discover the written word for himself. 

Yesterday I met a woman named Laura who is one such innovator. Laura worked for Westpac and over the years soon discovered the need for people with low vision to have somewhere to store life's important documents. Listening to a low vision client of hers, who happened to be a lawyer, she actioned his need to be able to automate the process of having 100 points of ID. For a blind person to carry identification around in their wallet, know which piece of identification is needed and present it at the appropriate times can be difficult. To have a file of this stored in a secure online location that could be only accessed with the permission of the said individual might just be another game changer for people with low vision through the world.
Upload Once is the name of Laura's website. Check it out!

Whilst Deano was at university he was part of a committee to help make the university more accessible to students with special needs. During this time we came across a site called Bobby. Quoting from their website  "Bobby is the name CAST gave to the free public service it launched in 1996 to automatically analyze accessibility features of web sites. It cleverly capitalized on the iconic British Bobby policeman and became an instant hit. For nearly 10 years, Bobby helped make the World Wide Web more accessible to individuals with disabilities. Novice and professional Web designers alike analyzed and made improvements to millions of Web pages." So business through out the world can now ensure that the Gods of technology work their magic touch and open up their business to a whole scope of individuals who would have otherwise not been able to access their products or service without the help of someone else reading to them. 
Bobby website link

Even the humble phone has changed and since the invent of the Apple iPhone business and personal transactions and communications have changed for the better. Thanks to Suri and the accessibilities functionality of this devise my blindman can send txt messages, answer a touch screen phone,(because where is the call button on a flat screen? Right!) and send emails directly from his phone like a pro. 
Adaptive technology is not just for the blind. It's for all people who find a need to communicate in a different way to others. 
Other adaptive technology helping people with needs through out the world

So today this post is dedicated to those whom have spent their life thinking out of the box, for the good of people who need out of the box ways of functioning. We salute you for your outstanding life changing achievements. There must be s special place in heaven for people like you.