We're at CSUN! What is it? It's the huge Technology and People with Disabilities conference in San Diego. AccessWorld magazine always has a full highlights article after the conference has ended, but here I'll tell you about a few things I've seen. It's a little random, as I've spent most of my time in the exhibit hall, and I've skipped some booths because they were too crowded.
Cool Designs, Fashionable Looks in Assistive Technology
When did assistive technology start to get cool-looking? Some of the products are still their old clunky-looking selves, looking like they fill the rehabilitative function that they do. But a few look like something any fashion-minded tech geek might be pleased to take home.
Focus 40 and Focus 14 braille displays from Freedom Scientific—These are small and light, have a sleek design, and are, no kidding, blue. Really, you'll want to sit in the front row with either of these.
The Brailliant from Humanware, too, is modern-looking and bound to make onlookers say "don't know what it is, but it must be something for the iPad."
Alexandra Vision makes a collection of small vibrating timepieces—a silent way to tell time. The one I looked at fits in the palm of your hand, and your thumb rests on three tiny but distinctly-felt buttons. Pushing a button gives you the time in tiny pulses. It's quite ingenious and quite attractive—and costs a bit more than most utilitarian watches, around $120.
As you might expect, the exhibit hall is loaded with mainstream devices with accessibility features, too. I meant to spend some quality time with the Surface, Microsoft's tablet, but we had no speaker, so I promised to return with my headphones for a more complete demo. But, it's definitely sleek and cool. It's thicker and heavier than an iPad or Nexus, but it's a "real" computer, running Windows.
Update later on all the doings with Google... now, off to sessions!
