Serendipity, get your OATS

Every once in awhile, I run across something that makes me smack my forehead and say, “Why didn’t I know about this before?!” Today was one of those days. I was cruising through the Net, looking for tools to include in my Technology for Learning class, when the skies opened, the sun shone, and a voice from my computer said, “Open Source Assistive Technology Software. OATS. Find it and you will be satisfied.”

Ok, that’s not quite the way it happened. Here’s how it really went down.

Reading through Ron Graham’s Access Ability blog (using my new friend, Google Reader), I learned about Ohio State’s initiative to put free assistive technology in their students’ hands. A Very Cool Project, I might add, and yes, I wish I’d thought of it first. Several of the open source apps they included looked like they had potential for my class, so I went cruising through the list.

Aha! Hidden away in their list was a program called T-Bar. The description was intriguing, so I went Googling for it and ended up at OATS. (T-Bar is no more, looks like, but the same developer did have one called Vu-Bar that performs what I was looking for. Dyslexics, check it out!) Oh my… an entire site of open source AT apps. That means FREE, for those who aren’t familiar with the concept of open source.

I should just go home now. I think I’ve earned my paycheck today - all by reading blogs and following the serendipity trail. Woohoo!