Americans

with Disabilities
Act
By: Katrina Chester
What is the Americans with
Disabilities Act?
• Known also as the ADA
• Became a law in 1990
• Ensures that people with disabilities have the
same opportunities and rights as everyone else
• The rights given to individuals with disabilities is
similar to those given to individuals based on
race, color, age, sex and religion
What is the Americans with
Disabilities Act? (Cont’d)
• Guarantees equal possibilities for individuals
with disabilities in:
– Public Accommodations
– Employment
– Local and State Government services
– Transportation
– Telecommunications
Title II of the ADA
• Enforced and regulated by the U.S.
Department of Justice
• Any activity, service, or program of state and
local governments must be accessible to
qualified individuals with disabilities
• Increases prevention on discrimination fixed by
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, section 504
Title II of the ADA (Cont’d)
• Forbids discrimination in all areas of public life to
individuals with disabilities such as:
– Schools
– Parks
– Sidewalks
– Police Stations/Fire Houses
– Courts

Further information regarding Title II of the ADA can be found at:

goo.gl/Zwhu7k
What disabilities are
covered under the ADA?
Deafness Bipolar Disorder

Post Traumatic Stress Epilepsy

Disorder
Autism Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder
Cancer Schizophrenia

Blindness Cerebral Palsy

Percentages of students in the
US with disabilities (2013-2014)
Autism
0.1

1.1 0.2 Hearing Impairment

2.7 Intellectual Disability

0.9
Specific Learning
Disabilities
Speech/Language
impairment
Visual Impairment
4.5
What is Assistive
Technology?
• Tools that make academic material more
accessible to students
• Minimizes barriers to learning
• Improves functional abilities of individuals with
disabilities
• There are different types of assistive technology
for different disabilities
• Includes tablet applications and computer
softwares
Examples of Assistive
Technology
• Text-to-speech/speech-to-text softwares
• Handwriting recognition programs
• Intelligent tutoring systems
• Graphic organizers
• Alternative keyboards
• Word prediction
• Screen magnifiers
Captioning in YouTube
videos
• Required to make videos completely
accessible for hearing impaired
• Captions not only words, but essential sounds
(laughter, doorbell, etc.)
• Closed captioning is on the screen (no longer
have to switch between video and transcript)
What is an “Alt” tag and
how it adds accessibility?
• Stands for ALT attribute
• Not full of keywords
• Provides text alternatives to images
• Explains to vision impaired what an image is
displaying
• Used within an HTML code

For more information on “alt” tags, visit: goo.gl/ffd5hh

 Why to avoid
blinking/flashing content
• May trigger seizures
• Distracting/annoying
• Restricts individuals with some disabilities from
viewing

For more information on blinking/flashing content, visit: goo.gl/gJnJzx

What is the Read&Write
extension?
• Makes files in Google Chrome more accessible
• Pop-up toolbar
• Text-to-speech
• Highlights words as they are read
• Speech-to-text
• Ability to create voice notes and listen to them
• Removes distracting ads
What is the Read&Write
extension? (Cont’d)
• Offers word prediction while you type
• Picture and text (talking) dictionaries to see
words definitions explained
• Annotation tools
• Three reading speeds and nine voices to
choose from
• Collects highlights and summarizes articles and
documents

For more information about the Read&Write extension, visit:

goo.gl/Qog3wA
What is crxMouse?
• Customizable mouse shortcuts, keystrokes,
mouse gestures and actions
• Navigate between open tabs, pages, refresh
current page, reopen closed tabs
• Straightforward mouse gestures, wheel
gestures, super drag and rocker gestures
• Can import and export configuration
What is Sip-and-Puff
technology?
• Sipping is inhaling while puffing is exhaling into a
tube or wand
• Uses these motions to send directions to a
device
• Does not require any tiring efforts for the
individual
• Powered by using USB
What is Sip-and-Puff
technology? (Cont’d)
• Four different inputs can be used:
– Hard puff
– Hard sip
– Soft puff
– Soft sip

• Based on an individuals ability to breathe (if

they have difficulty, a hard puff for them could
be a soft puff for others)
What is Ghotit technology?
• Reading and writing assistant for individuals with
dyslexia
• Reads text aloud while typing
• Highlights words with spelling, grammar or
context errors
• Gives you suggested corrections
• Proofreading help
What is Ghotit technology?
(Cont’d)
• Integrated dictionaries
• Reads text from images and documents that
are not accessible
• Dual highlighting

For more information about Ghotit technology, visit: goo.gl/7StBxP