Department: Online Information And Networking

While reflecting upon the need to occasionally re-introduce readers to the particular goals of this editor's column, I pondered the fact that when Information Technology and Disabilities first appeared, in 1994, I often ran into people who had heard of the Internet, but who did not really know what it was. Today, even the local grocery store is likely to have its own web site. How things have changed! As the concept of "online information" has developed over the years, we have seen the creation of computing environments in which the user may be unclear as to whether a document he or she is reading exists as a file on their computer workstation, or is being pulled off of a server located somewhere across the country.

Yet perhaps because "online information" has become so ubiquitous, it is all the more important to focus on news about the Internet and other networked computer environments as it pertains to people with disabilities. As both the level of access and the volume of general online information have grown over the years, so too has the wealth of information pertaining to technology and disabilities. It is my goal to keep readers informed of new developments, and to focus, from time-to-time, on particular information centers found on the Internet. Along these lines, I would like to invite readers to assist me by sending news items, press releases, or other ideas for inclusion in this column.

NEW WEBSITES, LISTSERVS, AND OTHER INTERNET-BASED RESOURCES

Disability Policy Listserv

The dpolicy list is sponsored by the DIMENET AND TRIPIL organizations. Both are active participants in the disability rights and independent living movements. To learn more visit their home pages at:

DIMENET WEB PAGES: http://www.dimenet.com/dimenet
TRIPIL WEB PAGES: http://www.tripil.com
The list moderators are Jamal Mazrui (empower@smart.net) and Kelly Pierce (kelly@ripco.com).

Dpolicy provides list members key source documents and articles on emerging issues in the disability community. To that end, the list only exchanges documents, not ideas or viewpoints. To ensure that only relevant material is mailed, the list is moderated where only the moderators can post to the Disability Policy list directly. Subscribers are encouraged to share documents of interest to the others on the list by sending them in plain text format.

Anyone can subscribe to the Disability Policy list by sending a message to majordomo@tripil.com containing the following line in the body:
subscribe dpolicy

Messages to listserv participants should be sent to the posting address dpolicy@tripil.com
All documents distributed through the list are also archived on the World Wide Web at the address http://www.dimenet.com/dpolicy

DO-IT Web Site:

Readers should note that the DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking & Technology) web site has been moved to the main University of Washington Web server. This new location should allow faster browsing and better internal support. Also, the URL should be a bit easier to remember. The new location is http://www.washington.edu/doit.

ADTECH-PS Listserv:

A new listserv has been formed that focuses on the issues of Adaptive Technology and Technology Access in the Post-Secondary arena. This listserv has been established to serve the interests of professionals involved in Post-secondary Education and Adaptive Technology. Any topic is open for discussion on the list as long as it would be of interest to the list membership. This is a closed and moderated list.
To join the list, send a message to listserv@mail.orst.edu with the following line in the body:
sub adtech-ps firstname lastname

Messages to list participants should be sent to the posting address adtech-ps@mail.orst.edu. The list owner is Ron Stewart (Ron.Stewart@orst.edu).

Electronic Braille Library Web Site:

The Electronic Braille Library by pointing your browser to: http://www.braille.org/braille_books/brlbooks.html. Once there follow the links to the index pages or read over the user guide lines in the help area. The site includes links to E-Braille books which can either be read on-line with an active braille display, or down-loaded free of charge for output to an embosser. Access to books is open to all users. The site currently contains over 1000 titles.

MAVIS-L

This listserv is designed for students who are studying math or science subjects and who are blind or visually impaired. It is dedicated to the discussion of the projects and products of MAVIS Mathematics Accessible to Visually Impaired Students. Additional information about this list and the MAVIS project is available on the web at http://www.nmsu.edu/~mavis. To join the list, send a message to listproc@nmsu.edu with the following line in the body:
subscribe mavis-l firstname lastname

The list owner is Chris Weaver (chrweave@nmsu.edu)

Rehab Counselor Listserv:

Messages to list participants should be sent to the posting address Rehab@nfbnet.org. This list is moderated by Vicki Chapman (vjchapman@att.net), and the list owner is David Andrews (david.andrews@nfbnet.org).