This article presents the results of two studies on the accessibility of e-learning materials and other information and computer and communication technologies for 143 Canadian college and university students with low vision and 29 who were blind. It offers recommendations for enhancing access, creating new learning opportunities, and eliminating…

Today, exceptional dogs that have been specially bred and socialized are paired with children who are blind or visually impaired. These dogs, called "K9 Buddies," are from Guide Dogs for the Blind, a national nonprofit organization with a mission to offer skilled mobility dogs and training free-of-charge to adults with visual impairments…

The present study examined population level data on unmet needs for adults with physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities, using the National Population Health Survey. The study revealed that disabled adults (aged 20-64) reported more than three times as many unmet health care needs as their non-disabled counterparts. Even after controlling for…

Many people with disabilities use assistive technology devices (ATDs) for computer access. The specific focus of this exploratory study was (a) to assess the experiences, opinions, and satisfaction levels of 24 individuals with disabilities using computer-related ATDs; (b) to investigate their awareness of health risk factors related to computer…

Using data from recent national disability surveys in Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United States, an international team of researchers coded indicators of several types of disability using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. This article discusses the Disability Tabulations…

This article describes the results in the employment domain of a larger study of the lifestyles of 328 Canadian youths, aged 15-21 and 22-30, 131 of whom were blind and 197 of whom had low vision. The youths completed a survey on their work-related experiences, including their current employment status and job-search strategies. In addition to…

To determine the attitudes of teachers of students who are visually impaired or blind about the use of contracted or uncontracted Braille for emergent readers, the author posted a questionnaire on three electronic listservs from October through December 2002 and received responses from 40 teachers in India, Canada, the West Indies, and the United…

This article is a compilation of the views of 16 PhD students and the author on Steven Klees' 2007 article titled, "A quarter century of neoliberal thinking in education: Misleading analyses and failed policies." The students and the author have taken Klees' article as a stimulus to try and explicate the anatomy of the decline of the…

The article describes a vision screening program in Manitoba to identify high-risk children. Organizational strategies, instrumentation, and results of a study of the effectiveness of the screening process with 732 children are detailed. (Author)

This literature review took place during 2004, and shows that the braille debate over Grade 1 and Grade 2 has been ongoing for more than 70 years. Given the span of time and a remit that covered the English-speaking world, a chronological approach was taken, focusing on the two main strands of policy and empirical research, from the early 20th…

This article presents a systematic review of the research evidence on the effects of the characteristics of typefaces on the legibility of text for adult readers with low vision. The review revealed that research has not produced consistent findings and thus that there is a need to develop standards and guidelines that are informed by evidence.…

Described is a program (developed by a residential school for visually and multiply handicapped children in Canada) of consultant/itinerant services for local schools enrolling visually handicapped children. (Author/BD)

The large majority of the 300 blind and partially sighted students in British Columbia public schools are enrolled in regular day schools. Students are supported by a system in which textbooks and other materials are translated to braille, specialist teachers assist regular class teachers, and special equipment is made available.

By exploring the experiences of participants with DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) Talking Books, the study reported in this article not only discovered how people who are blind, visually impaired, and/or print-disabled read DAISY books, but also identified participants' perceptions of DAISY as being particularly useful in their…

The authors address the conditions of mainstreaming visually handicapped students in regular schools in Quebec. Types of schools for the visually impaired in Quebec are briefly described. Reported are findings from a study which evaluated different aspects of the mainstreaming of visually impaired students, including the perceptions of the…