Accessible Workstations
Interface Volume 28 Number 4, Winter, 2006. Interface is the quarterly newsletter published by the ASCLA division of the ALA. The Assistive Technology Center at Easter Seals Crossroads in Indianapolis has developed an assistive technology workstation, X-tation, that serves the needs of people with any type of disability.
Volume 28, Number 4, Winter 2006
Accessible Workstations through Easter Seals Crossroads
By Carole Rose, Indiana State Library
Without assistive technology, persons with disabilities would find it extremely difficult to access the wealth of information
available via the computer. Because everyone should have the opportunity to be able to access information found in libraries,
the Indiana State Library and the Talking Book and Braille Library are helping to promote an exciting project sponsored by
Easter Seals Crossroads.
In 2001, the Assistive Technology Center at Easter Seals Crossroads in Indianapolis began to develop an assistive technology
workstation that would serve the needs of people with any type of disability. X-tation, the product of this endeavor, is a
workstation including a variety of adaptive components that can be made available in public libraries, unemployment offices,
college registrars' offices, or any place where the general public uses computers.
To date, over thirty X-tation accessible workstations have been implemented around the state of Indiana. These workstations
include technology to assist individuals with learning disabilities, hearing impairments, vision impairments, or limitations
in mobility. Special software "reads" information aloud, accepts voice commands, and allows users who have very limited use
of their hands to do tasks like word processing, searching card catalogs, and surfing the Internet.
Specifications for each workstation are formulated during a planning meeting with Easter Seals Crossroads and the library or
other institution desiring to increase the accessibility of their computer systems. Based on the institution's scope of
services and population served, Easter Seals Crossroads develops a custom set of design components. Easter Seals Crossroads
works with the institution to procure all the necessary equipment and provide comprehensive installation, training, and
twenty-four-hour technical support to the institution and to end users.
For more information on this exciting project, please contact Wade
Wingler, ATP, Manager of Assistive Technology, or by phone at 1-888-466-1314.
For more information about the Indiana State Library,
please visit us online or contact Carole Rose.
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Accessible Workstations