On this episode, the AT Help Desk team are joined by accessibility expert Dawn Campbell, who works as a business development manager for Accessibil-IT. We’re going to get into web and digital document accessibility, exploring what document accessibility is, its history, why document accessibility is important, and where you can get help.

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Sara works as a brand ambassador in gig-based promotional activations. She has autism and ADHD, and part-time roles allow her to be involved in the community, while also having time to recover and avoid burnout.

“I experience challenges such as sensory sensitivities to sound, the need for specific and structured tasks, and time to decompress after social activities to avoid overstimulation,” she shares. “These factors can make traditional work environments overwhelming, so I focus on roles that allow me to work independently on focused, repetitive tasks which align with my strengths.”

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Joanne is employed by a regional health authority, performing clerical and timekeeping processes. Her job involves working with many different departments.

“Over the last year, I developed a gradual hearing loss in both ears,” she shares. “This became noticeable when I had to ask colleagues to repeat themselves or I unintentionally didn’t respond to them. This affects communication and understanding as one of my duties is to interact with colleagues and employees and participate in meetings.”

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Writing Apps have evolved a lot over the past decade. Where previous apps tended to focus on one area of difficulty, most modern writing apps now offer a suite of functions designed to bolster your writing from start to finish. DocsPlus very much fits into the latter category, offering writing support from first draft to polished final product. Let’s take a closer look at these tools and how they could be useful for struggling writers.

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Mandy is self-employed, owning a residential duct cleaning business with her husband. She has hearing loss, and her audiologist referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services.

“I received funding towards [the] cost of hearing aids,” she shares.

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Dawn is a bookkeeper, having worked for the same employer for 15 years. She has Inclusion Body Myositis, an inflammatory muscle disease. She is losing the grip strength in her hands, has weakness in her legs, and has significant fatigue. This makes her job much harder, particularly because it involves a lot of typing, and affects her ability to get to and from work.

After learning about WorkBC Assistive Technology Services online, Dawn decided to apply for help. She received an ergonomic and assistive technology assessment to find assistive technology solutions to help her both in the office and to allow her to work from home.

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For over a decade, smartphone cameras have been used to help blind and low-vision individuals connect with the world around them. We’ve looked at some of these apps before, including “Be My Eyes” and “Seeing AI”, and while those apps are still very much worth using, today we are going to take a quick look at a new entry in this space.

TapTapSee is an app for iOS and Android that is designed to help blind and low-vision individuals identify the world around them without the use of a third-party. This is an important distinction because unlike some of the visual assistant apps that already exist in this category such as the aforementioned app “Be My Eyes”, TapTapSee is designed to be used independently.

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Jamie works in administration for a company, handling duties in finance and human resources. She has profound hearing loss.

“[I have] constant anxiety going into meetings, if my phone rings, if someone comes to ask a question or talk to me,” she shares. “[I have] headaches, fatigue. I miss instructions on work projects and often have to ask for clarification. This causes delays in my work, and anxiety and embarrassment. I miss things in meetings and have to ask later.”

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Eliana works as a lead drafter for a construction firm in the Lower Mainland. Her job involves working with drafting software, as well as managing her team and communicating with the fabrication department.

“I was born with hearing loss in both ears and since the age of five, I wore hearing aids. Without the right hearing aids, I would not be able to hear and understand other people’s speech,” she shares. “Right now, I am gaining more responsibilities at work. I [was] in need of brand new hearing aids that enable me to hear properly during meetings, one to one conversation, and making phone calls.”

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Nand works full-time as a janitor. He has hearing loss, which can make it difficult to communicate with his co-workers. His audiologist referred him to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for funding for hearing aids.

“[Assistive Technology Services] helped me pay for hearing aids, which helps me keep my job,” he says.

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