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New Inventors tackle access to new media
Three inventions to help people with disability are featured in a special edition of the ABC1 television program The New Inventors screening on 10 March 2010.
One of the inventions is directly connected to access to new media – a web-based, free screen reader. This invention, the NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA), was invented by two men who are blind, James Teh and Michael Curran. There are existing screen readers, but these specialist pieces of equipment cost thousands of dollars. The NVDA is free to the user.
The other two inventions featured are a 3-in-1 wheelchair and a Speed Demon off-road buggy that can be driven through the steering wheel alone.
To celebrate these important innovations, James O’ Loghlin will be joined by a special panel of experts living with a disability: paralympian Kurt Fearnley, filmmaker and presenter Sofya Gollan, and Federal Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes.
The program will also feature Auslan interpreter Jemina Napier translating for Deaf viewers throughout the program, a first for The New Inventors.
For more information on mainstream and low-cost/free Internet and new media products, visit the New Media section of Media Access Australia website.
For more information on The New Inventors visit the ABC website.