A generic term referring to those animals specially trained to help people with disabilities with various activities. Such trained animals and their use are protected under the ADA. No such animal may be excluded from lodging, public accommodations or public agencies. The use of a guide dog by blind people is covered by this provision […]

ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII code is the numerical representation of a character such as “a” or “@” or an action of some sort. This code uses the language of numbers that computers understand. It is usually used so that documents can be easily imported from one application to another. […]

This is a specially trained animal such as a dog or monkey whose purpose is to help its human owner in some way such as picking up dropped items, alerting to visitors, opening doors, providing balance or providing companionship to enhance mental well-being.

Analog recordings refer to the methods developed in the last century where all tones were recorded continuously. Reel-to-reel tape recordings and vinyl records are the best examples.

ADA The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a complex set of laws. Each Title deals with a specific segment of the U.S. economy. Title I: Private Employment Title II: Public Agencies Title III: Public Accommodations Title IV: Telecommunications Title V: Miscellaneous The law assigns regulatory and investigative responsibilities to various agencies. Each responsible agency […]

These are the standards set by the National Library For The Blind And Physically Handicapped Materials Development Center. Dot height: .020 inches Dot spacing .09 inches Character spacing: .240 inches Line height: .40 inches Interpretation: From dot 1 of the first braille cell to dot 1 of the next is .24 inches. Therefore, one inch […]

One eye can’t see well even though there doesn’t seem to be any sort of physical problem. It is commonly referred to as “The Lazy Eye” disease. It interferes with binocular vision (seeing with two eyes) that limits depth perception and causes substantial eyestrain on the fully functioning eye.

“Alternate Format” is an industry term referring to any alternate approach to presenting print information to a person with a disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) groups the standard alternate formats (braille, large print, audio narration, oral presentation, electronic file) along with other “aids and services” for other disabilities (sign language interpretation, sighted guide) […]

A large variety of disorders and diseases have their typical onset in later life. Each of the following terms is more fully discussed in its own glossary entry. Macular Degeneration: The most common of causes of vision loss in the elderly, this disease affects millions of people in the United States alone and is the […]

A software program used for viewing and exporting PDF files. It has an export function turning such files in to text files, which can, under some circumstances, make such documents accessible through Speech Synthesizer Programs.