Assistive Technology

Technology Affinity Group

MN - Network and Education for Assistive Technology

Knox DD - Assistive Technology & Remote Supports

iLink Support Technologies delivers health and behavioral support, home security, in-home care, and emergency support to a customer’s home when it is needed.

COVID-19 is a long-lasting and complex disaster situation involving a public health emergency and an economic crisis, with particularly acute impacts for older adults, people with disabilities, and others with certain health conditions. States are responding with changes in policies and procedures to ensure individuals have access to public benefit programs (e.g. Medicare Savings Programs, LIS/Extra Help, SNAP, and LIHEAP). ADvancing States has a new brief highlighting where states are with benefit access and enrollment since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results in the brief comes from the 2021 ADvancing States Membership Survey: COVID-19 Benefits Access and Enrollment, a follow-up to the 2020 survey.

A panel of State Units on Aging senior leadership discuss their use, and the impact of, Joy for All robotic Companion Pets. They share the intended use cases, distribution methods, volume of pets distributed (if appropriate), and specific stories of impact. Leaders also speak to their plans regarding the ongoing use of Companion Pets to combat social isolation and loneliness post-pandemic.

The Assisted Living Research Institute has created a resource page detailing comprehensive research and insights on medical alert systems. The webpage provides a practical, clear overview of assistive technology options for fall prevention. On the page, there are also sections dedicated to helping individuals learn more about medical alert systems and compare them.

NVISION Eye Centers have created a resource page designed to increase access to information on various methods, features, and tools that can be used to improve internet accessibility for the visually impaired. The webpage provides a practical, clear overview of assistive technology options including built-in computer tools, internet browser extensions, and phone apps. There is also a list of references provided on the webpage for independent research.

The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG) has published a First Public Working Draft of W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 3.0. They are seeking input from evaluators, developers, designers, project managers, policy makers, people with disabilities, and others — particularly on the structure and the draft conformance model.

ACL recently released the Annual Report on Centers for Independent Living for program year (PY) 2019. CILs offer support for individuals with disabilities who want to live independently in their communities. The CIL program provides financial assistance to local CILs and other CBOs. This annual report includes data from CIL annual program performance reports, federal program staff oversight and compliance activities and publicly available information on grantee websites between 9/30/18 - 9/29/19