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TECH-NJ 2004
Assistive Technology for People with Disabilities
Volume 15, Number 1
EDITORIAL
Self-knowledge & Self-advocacy
Self-knowledge and self-advocacy are the unanimous lessons of three
of the articles in this issue of TECH-NJ. LeDerick Horne’s personal
story on the cover, the profile of Lauren George on page 4, and my
article on the differences between receiving special education services
in the Preschool - Grade 12 world and accessing “reasonable
accommodations” on college campuses all reach the same conclusion:
College is a definite possibility for students with disabilities;
the law provides an opportunity for all applicants who meet qualification
requirements to attend college.
However, to go beyond simply getting in the door — to succeed
in college — students with disabilities must take the initiative
to learn about themselves and to advocate for themselves. They must
obtain in-depth knowledge about the nature of their disability and
the kinds of strategies that support their learning, and they must
learn to speak up and assert themselves so that they will be able
to access the supports that will help them succeed. Readers can explore
this topic in depth by checking out the informative resources that
are listed on page 11.
In this issue of TECH-NJ I am also proud to highlight the work of
Information Technology staff here at The College of New Jersey. Craig
Blaha, Associate Director of Information Policy, Security & Web
Development, and Matt Winkel, Web Designer and Usability Analyst,
have begun an extraordinary initiative to make the college web site
1) accessible to people with disabilities, and 2) easy-to-navigate
for all web users. Their linking together the concepts of “usability”
and “accessibility” offers a logical and practical solution
to the problem of hyperactive, inaccessible web page designs. A summary
of the principles underlying their work is presented in the article
on page 3, Web Usability Standards: Guaranteeing Access to All Users;
links to their extensive web pages are provided on page 10. I hope
their ideas and accomplishments will encourage other colleges and
school districts to make web accessibility a priority in their technology
plans.
A.G.D
