This week I have a guest post from Patrick Young! Patrick is an educator and activist. He believes people with disabilities must live within a unique set of circumstances–the outside world often either underestimates them or ignores their needs altogether. He created Able USA to offer helpful resources to people with disabilities and to provide advice on navigating various aspects of life as a person with disabilities.
Technology is constantly changing and getting more sophisticated, and it’s all to help make our lives a little easier, especially when you’re living with a disability. What’s more, technology can help those with abilities to achieve their career goals. Below are some ways you can harness the power of technology to help you get to where you want to be.
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The Job Hunt For Those With Disabilities
If you are currently seeking a job, consider using an online source like AbilityLinks, which provides a searchable database of active job listings for persons of all types of ability. They connect you directly with potential employees through virtual job fairs and have a wealth of helpful information on finding the job that’s the right fit for you. The AccessNow is a Google Maps-style app that allows you to search for the accessibility features you require. The app uses crowdsourcing to find and rate accessible locations — an invaluable resource.
You should have a reliable phone so that you’re always available to take a call or check email during your job hunt. Spending a lot of money on a smartphone may seem a little intimidating at first, but the features these devices provide can make the job hunt, as well as doing work as a freelancer or contract worker, much easier, making it a solid investment.
If you’re lacking the skills and experience to get the job you desire, consider going back to school. An online program will allow you to look for work and find a new job while improving your skills. For example, earning your a master’s in information technology can improve your career prospects by giving you expertise in cybersecurity and data analytics.
Useful Apps for Your Work Space
These days, there truly is an app for everything. Whether you work at home or in an office setting, there are apps that can help you be successful in your day-to-day tasks and interactions. Dragon Anywhere, for example, is a professional mobile dictation app that makes it a breeze to create, edit, and send documents of any length right from your mobile device. It also becomes more accurate as it learns your voice. This voice-to-text app helps you create documents quickly from anywhere without needing to sit at a desk and type.
Petralex is a phone-based hearing aid app that works right from your phone. You can use whatever headphones are most comfortable, and it can be adjusted for your needs right from the app without the help of a specialist. It has the ability to record speech and even convert it to text as well as to provide assistance for listening to music and video with amplified sound.
If the buttons on your smartphone are too small, or you find it difficult to type accurately on your phone, you can try Big Keys Keyboard. This app lets you adjust keys and emojis to any preferred size, and it also includes a numeric keypad for ease of typing numbers.
Adaptive Devices
Sometimes you might need more than an app to help you with certain functions of modern life, like using your smartphone or working on a computer.
The Dot Watch is a simple and powerful watch that can help seeing- and hearing-impaired users connect to their smartphone. It translates text messages to Braille, and you can read them at your own pace or save messages to refer to later. It also fields incoming calls with a gentle vibration, letting you know who is calling so you can pick up or decline. The watch also displays notifications from any app on your phone, including your favorite weather, calendar, or e-mail app along with social media or news platforms.
Many jobs require the use of a computer. There are a lot of adaptive devices that can help make these tasks easier, such as the Air Mouse from Enabling Devices. This is a hands-free device that responds to head movements to right and left click and perform functions of the mouse.
There are millions of people with a range of needs and accessibility challenges. Technology can be used to help break down barriers when it comes to pursuing a career, thus creating more inclusion and alleviating stress and worry on your professional journey.
Be sure to follow Patrick on Able USA for more helpful resources!