Bradford McKeon
ENC 1102
Core 3 Rough Draft
As I began to wonder how the blind survived in today’s technological age, I learned more and more that technology can actually be a positive thing for the visually impaired in terms of digital literacy. After extensive searching I have decided to use the help of specific researchers to prove my point. Those qualified researchers that have published works in a journal or a book will help me to illustrate my argument that digital literacy can actually be helpful for the blind.
I judged my sources on certain criteria that I wanted each one to meet. I chose to use researchers who have a credible background, meaning they have a degree in a relating field or work for an accredited university or company. I was careful to make sure that each source pertained to my topic of the visually impaired and digital literacy. I did not want to pick a source that just made a small reference to my topic once within the article. I tried to locate journal articles and books as well as “.gov” and “.edu” websites.
Hasselbring, Ted and Candyce Williams Glaser. “Use of Computer Technology to Help Students
with Special Needs.” The Future of Children 10.2 (2000): 102-122. Web. 18 Mar. 2010.
In this journal article the authors Ted Hasselbring and Candyce Williams Glaser do a technological review of the different technologies available for the visually impared. Hasselbring is the Bryan Professor of Special Education Technology at the University of Kentucky; and Glaser is a research associate at the Learning Technology Center. They reviewed technologies such as “Screen Readers” which translate text on the screen, to written speech and found them to be very beneficial to the students learning. While they did not actually study a blind person using the equipment, they instead reviewed how the technologies worked, and would help in the classroom. They stated in their article, “For example, descriptive video services (DVS), which provide narrative verbal descriptions of visual elements, have proven useful in helping students who are blind or have low vision to use educational programs in regular classrooms.” This technological review will help me with my argument that technology can actually help the visually impaired with literacy, and that it is not true to say that digital literacy presents major barriers for the blind.
