The importance of Web sites that can be accessed and used regardless of an individual?s disability is critical. One barrier to improved accessibility of Web sites relates to the gap between Web authors? technical knowledge of Web accessibility guidelines and a broader understanding of the challenges facing disabled people when interacting with Web sites.This thesis describes the development and evaluation of a Web accessibility auditing methodology with the dual aims of accurately identifying accessibility barriers present in a Web site, and presenting the audit findings and recommended actions in a way that informs, educates and engenders an improved understanding of accessibility amongst the audience.The methodology was piloted amongst a sample of Web sites, validated against other published accessibility evaluation methodologies, and adopted for subsequent audits carried out on a commercial basis. The impact on recipient organisations and individuals of a sample of 14 commercially commissioned audits was then evaluated. Audit recipients were surveyed, and each Web site audited evaluated to identify any changes to accessibility, and the presence of evidence of changes or improvements to accessibility strategy.Strong indications were found that the audits had a positive impact both on individuals and on the commissioning organisations. The audits were identified as having a particularly positive educational and motivational impact on recipients who did not identify themselves as having expertise in Web accessibility. There was also evidence that the design approach promoted by the audits had been adopted and applied by some of the commissioning organisations. The majority of respondents cited the recommendations for improvement as the most valuable feature of the audit. This illustrates a tension between the importance of presenting specific recommendations for actions and providing richer narrative accounts of evaluation stages to encourage a more holistic appreciation of accessibility.The particular benefits of the study are found in the identification of evidence of impact of commercially-commissioned Web accessibility audits over a period of time to recipients of varying characteristics. A number of areas for further investigation have been identified, focusing on investigating the potential value of the accessibility audit in providing more ?experiential? evaluation stages.

O objetivo da pesquisa foi investigar a relação de uma família do grupo étnico-linguístico Yao com um filho deficiente. Para a coleta de dados foi realizado um trabalho de campo no Distrito de Sanga, província de Lichinga, Moçambique. Foram feitas cinco visitas a uma família, com duração aproximada de duas horas diárias, sendo realizadas observações da rotina e conversas com a família, principalmente com a mãe. A família é constituída por dez pessoas, sendo a mãe, seis filhos, entre eles um jovem de 16 anos com deficiência intelectual, e duas avós, uma materna e a outra paterna e um neto. A família apresenta um nível sócio-econômico baixo, não recebem nenhum auxílio financeiro governamental e o sustento vem basicamente da atividade agrícola de subsistência. Todos os membros da família são analfabetos e só falam a língua Yao, sendo necessário o auxílio de uma intérprete para a coleta de dados. Além das observações e conversas com a família, foram realizadas também entrevistas com o líder da comunidade, o curandeiro, a parteira e os agentes sociais. A partir da sistematização dos dados foram propostos os eixos de análise, a saber: dinâmica familiar e participação do jovem Bernardo na rotina da família e da comunidade; explicação da mãe sobre a condição do filho e aspectos referentes à relação entre a família e a pesquisadora. Sobre a dinâmica familiar pode se notar relações afetuosas entre todos membros da família e inclusive no tratamento em relação à Bernardo. Todavia, segundo relato da mãe, não confirmado pela observação, Bernardo fica acorrentado porque invade as casas da vizinhança e pega seus pertences. As interações entre Bernardo e os membros da família são esporádicos, pois o jovem não se comunica verbalmente e fica praticamente o tempo todo isolado, de pé, parado em um canto do terreno da casa. Não passou pelos rituais de iniciação comuns na cultura Yao. A condição de Bernardo, foi explicada pelo curandeiro à mãe, pois a mesma não obteve esclarecimento satisfatório dos médicos. Segundo o curandeiro, a doença de Bernardo é causada pela presença do espírito do irmão gêmeo falecido no momento do parto. A partir do confronto dos dados coletados com outros estudos pode-se notar que várias manifestações decorrentes da presença da deficiência apontadas pela literatura não foram observadas na relação entre a família o jovem Bernardo. Todavia, o pouco tempo de permanência no campo não permite afirmações mais seguras, assim como se torna difícil avaliar o quanto este jovem está incluído ou não na família e na comunidade sem conhecer mais profundamente as referencias culturais. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa se encerra apontando a necessidade de se realizar mais estudos para se conhecer os significados da deficiência nos diversos grupos étnico-linguísticos de Moçambique e avaliar mais precisamente as condições necessárias para se promover uma melhor qualidade de vida das pessoas com deficiência / The aim of this work was to investigate the relationship of an ethnic-linguistic Yao family with a disabled adolescent. For data collection a fieldwork in Sanga District, province of Lichinga, Mozambique was done. There were five visits to a family, which last about two hours a day, the visits held routine observations and conversations with the family, especially with the mother. The family consists of ten members, including the mother, six children, a 16 year old with intellectual disabilities, and two grandmothers (one maternal and one paternal). The family has a low socioeconomic status, receive no financial aid from the government. Their support comes primarily from subsistence agricultural activity. All family members are illiterate and only speak the Yao language, requiring the assistance of an interpreter for the data collection. Besides observations and conversations with the family, interviews with community leader, healer, midwife and social agents were also carried out. After data systematization, axes of analysis were set: family dynamics and participation of the young Bernardo in the family routine and in the community; mothers description about the condition of child and aspects concerning the relationship between the family and the researcher. On family dynamics, it can be noted an affectionate relationships between all family members including Bernardo. However, according to the mothers\' reports, unconfirmed by observation, Bernardo is chained because he invades homes in the neighborhood and takes their belongings. Interactions between Bernardo and family members are sporadic because he cannot communicate verbally, and is almost constantly isolated, in his feet, standing in a corner of the house; he has not passed the initiation rites of culture Yao. The condition of Bernardo, was explained by the healer to the mother, because she did not obtain satisfactory clarification from doctors. According to the healer, Bernardos illness is caused by the presence of the spirit of his twin brother died at birth. Comparing data collected in this work with other studies it may be noted that various manifestations about the presence of disability by the literature were not observed in the relationship between young Bernardo and his family. However, the short time spent in the field does not allow definite statement , as it is difficult to assess how much this young man is included or not in the family and in the community without a deeper understanding of the cultural references. In this sense, this research concludes pointing out the need to perform more studies in order to know the meanings of disability in various ethno-linguistic groups from Mozambique and evaluate more precisely the necessary conditions to promote a better quality of life for people with disabilities

This work is concerned primarily with the five seasons the castrato soprano, Giovanni Battista Velluti spent in London between 1825 and 1829. This time-place is unique in operatic history insofar as it sees the meeting of the new, exhaustively detailed, descriptive musical-critical journalism that emerged in the nineteenth century as it encountered the last operatic castrato in the last decade of his public performing career. Beginning with a historiographical overview of writings about the castrati, spanning from the early eighteenth century to the present day, the introduction establishes the methodological and thematic placement of this dissertation. Chapter 1 details the events of the last fifteen years of Velluti's career. These almost exactly overlap the period of his presence in English periodicals and the focus of the next chapter, the late, English, literary Romantic. The Romantics were deeply interested in music and were the principal intellectual creators of the music critical style that arose in the 1820s. Their cognition will be explored to the extent it can found utilized in writing about the voice, the otherness of disability and horror and fear of the other intruding upon the personal space of the self. Chapters 3 and 4 will proceed from literarily expressed cognitive understanding to the operatic voice of the 1820s: not only the castrato, but female singers, tenors and countertenors. While chapter 4 establishes the manner in which these voices functioned in their various, clearly audible registers, chapter 5 will then explore the meanings that each of these registers conveyed, especially regarding perceived gender and disability. These meanings are reinforced by excerpts of poetry and prose, fact and fiction, from England and the Continent. Chapter 5 examines the two ornamentational styles of Velluti, as they survive in published and manuscript sources from the 1810s and 1820s, comparing them to other singers of his time and reading them as literary texts. Velluti's highly literary rather than purely melodic ornamentation lends itself particularly to this cross-disciplinary approach. The work concludes with a short chapter concerning the end of Velluti's life and the last two castrati, one undoubted, one dubious, to appear on the English concert stage.

Thesis(M.A. (Social Work)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / Disability is most prevalent in low income countries and communities. Cerebral palsy c is one of the disabilities that is affecting a sizeable number of children in low income countries. This study sought to explore the psycho-social challenges faced by caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in Dzivarasekwa Suburb in Zimbabwe. The study had the following objectives: to identify the psycho-social challenges facing caregivers of children with cerebral palsy, to appraise individual characteristics of caregivers which predispose them to stress, social exclusion and other psychosocial challenges, to establish which coping mechanisms are employed by caregivers of children living with cerebral palsy in response to the challenges they are facing and also to suggest possible solutions/ strategies social workers may employ to improve caregiving of children with cerebral palsy. The study used a qualitative approach in exploring the psychosocial challenges caregivers face. The qualitative approach was useful as participants were able to participate freely giving a more realistic picture of their challenges. The research used an exploratory-descriptive case study design in exploring challenges faced by caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in Dzivarasekwa Suburb. Data was then collected using in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions. Participants were caregivers of children with cerebral palsy, a hospital psychologist as well as social workers for a local NGO supporting the rehabilitation work at a local hospital. Data were analysed used the Thematic Context Analysis method. The research concludes that caregivers are subjected to stressing conditions, lack the financial means of caring for a child with CP; caregivers employ negative strategies to the problems they face which include using the children to beg, prostitution among others. The study recommends that, government should lead initiatives for supporting children with disabilities and their families, formation of support groups for parents of children with cerebral palsy, and continuous training of frontline workers in disability to avoid burn out.

As it is generally conceived, knowledge belongs to the individual: we imagine how a lightbulb suddenly illuminates above the scientist's head, a muse whispers in the philosopher's ear, cogs slide into place as wheels turn in the thinker's mind, and, "Eureka!" an idea is born. As an individualistic experience, knowledge is secure in the repository of the mind, a "steel trap" as it is so often referred, which can only be breached by the most sophisticated and precise methods. From these popular representations of knowledge, one can extrapolate further to conclude that knowledge is not made, it is received. All of these metaphors of knowledge present a passive subject waiting for knowledge to be imparted from the Cosmos. Much like knowledge, a disability and, reflexively, the knowledge of disability, is an individually sited matter; disability is something to be had, possessed, or owned, not shared. Similar to knowledge, disability is not actively produced, it just "is." And disability, too, is internally located, often being attributed as the outcome of physiological malfunction. It follows then, that because both knowledge and disability are separately regarded as individualistic phenomena, as located with(in) the individual, and as existing independently of him or her, that knowledge of disability would also share these characteristics. This study's objective, however, is to prove just the opposite: to position disability as a form of knowledge, and therefore, the knowledge of disability as the endpoint of an ongoing process of social interaction. I use discourse analysis to analyze interviews conducted with staff members of a university office responsible for providing academic accommodations to students with disabilities, in conjunction with documents authored and disseminated by this organization. My study conceives discourse as language in action. By this I mean that discourse creates the very social structures it is presumed to describe. I also understand discourse as reflexive, meaning that embedded within discourse are larger social and moral norms. Believing that analyzing discourse allows for normative beliefs on knowledge and disability to be clearly displayed, I ask the following questions: By what assumptions do members organize disability in their daily practice? What role does communication play in these processes of social organization? What resources or forms of evidence are necessary to determine, to produce knowledge of, disability? And does everyone have equal access to these resources? This study's findings hold broad implications for diverse stakeholders. For the field of Communication, this study affirms the need for revised ways of understanding communication, as it shows how antiquated ideations of communication as a linear exchange of information narrowly define what counts as knowledge. Additionally, this study also contributes to Disability Studies in that rather than arguing disability as a social artifact from an exclusively conceptual standpoint, it empirically makes a case for disability as the product of social interaction. For the organizational members consulted in this study, I offer recommendations for their praxis. The final, and arguably the most important, party that this study has implications for is the student with a disability. Because this study promotes a more inclusive approach to disability, and because it encourages a lesser burden of proof with respect to knowing disability, this study is of particular interest to the individuals who are classified as "disabled."

In 1990, the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) was enacted to support disabled Americans as they sought to procure equality in society and the workplace. Despite these intentions, full implementation of the ADA has been fraught with court challenges and legislative amendments. As it currently stands, it is unclear as to how the judicial system is collectively interpreting a qualified disability. Using Clark and Connolly's interpretation of legal textualism as the theoretical foundation, the purpose of this case study of the Americans with Disabilities Act was to better understand and explore how the judiciary is currently interpreting qualified disability post-ADA amendments. Data for this study included court interpretations and post-ADA amendment cases among the 12 United States Circuit Courts. These data were coded through a multi-stage coding procedure that included evaluating coding, cycle coding, hand coding, and subcoding. Coded data were analyzed using a thematic analysis procedure. The key theme emerging from this study indicated that the ADA amendments still do not promote congressional intent in the judiciary. This study has implications for positive social change by informing Congress, legal practitioners, legal scholars, social scientists, and the disability community on the ways in which the judiciary is interpreting ADA amendments collectively among the 12 federal circuit courts.

The purposes of the study were to determine the level of priority of importance of administrative problem areas and specific problem items preventing the implementation of special programs for the educable mentally retarded in Utah. The study was conducted using a survey of twenty-seven school districts in the state of Utah lacking a sequential program for the educable mentally retarded in grades one through six. A questionnaire was sent to 184 selected respondents, including school board chairmen, superintendents, and elementary principals. Responses were received from 92 percent of the original selection. The respondent was asked to rank each of the problem items according to one of five choices, major, moderate, average, minor, or no problem to implementation. Results were evaluated on the basis of agreement among the rankings of the respondents, the relationship of the rankings, priority of the administrative areas, priority of the problem items, and individual group rankings. Statistical treatment revealed significance at the .01 level for the level of agreement and relationship among the rankings of the administrative problem areas. Further treatment revealed the priority of administrative problem categories in order of major importance to be: (1) professional personnel, (2) pupil personnel; (3) supervision , (4) communications, (5) research, (6) finance, and (7) policy. Individual problem items used in the questionnaire were ranked by priority of importance as perceived by the respondents as a combined group as well as by individual groups. There were sixty-two problem items ranked in order of priority. The conclusions arrived at as a result of the analysis of the data included: (1) there was a high level of agreement among the perceptions of the administrators in ranking the importance of the problem areas and specific items , (2) the respondents as individual and combined groups perceived the category of obtaining and retaining qualified professional personnel as the major problem to implementation of the special program, (3) the individual problem of greatest concern was the obtaining of a qualified classroom teacher for the educable mentally retarded, (4) communications are needed to inform the parents, public, and school faculty to gain support for t he educational needs of the educable mentally retarded, (5) administrators recognize the need for early identification of the potential retardate, accurate diagnosis and educational placement as important to program implementation, and (6) it appeared that present school policies are adequate in meeting the needs of program implementation of the educable mentally retarded.

The Neurological Impress Method is a system of unison reading in which the student and the instructor read orally together. The theory underlying the method is that the auditory feedback from the reader's own voice and from someone else's voice accurately reading the same material establishes a new learning process. The effectiveness of the impress method with students identified as having a specific learning disability was examined. The subjects were 16 sixth through ninth graders, ranging in age from 13 to 16, and assigned to a special school setting. Each student had been receiving special education services for at least two years and was reading at least two years below grade level as indicated by a standardized reading achievement test. The experimental group received tutoring in the impress method 15 minutes daily, four days a week, to comprise a total of 10 hours of training in the technique. Pre- and posttesting were done to assess reading instructional levels and attitudes toward reading. Scores in both achievement and attitude were compiled,and a statistical analysis was performed that determined the results to be significant. It was concluded that the Neurological Impress Method is an effective remedial procedure for use with learning disabled students. The procedure produced significant results which were manifested by improvements in reading achievement and development of improved attitudes toward the reading process.

The current project investigated the brain-behavior relationships between fusiform volume and orthographic processing in children with Reading Disability (RD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It was hypothesized that there would be differences in fusiform volume between those with and without RD. Individuals with and without ADHD were not expected to differ in fusiform volume and an interaction in the RD/ADHD group was not expected. Children with RD/ADHD were expected to have similar volumes to children who have RD. It also was hypothesized that size of the left fusiform segments would be correlated with three orthographic processing tasks and tests of reading achievement (i.e., Orthographic Choice, Homophone/Pseudohomophone Choice and the Colorado Perceptual Speed Task; Letter Word Identification, Word Attack, and Reading Fluency). Results indicated that there were no group differences in fusiform volume between children with and without RD as well as with and without ADHD. There were also no relationships between the left fusiform and any of the orthographic or reading achievement measures. However, all three measures of orthographic processing were significantly related to the right posterior fusiform. Additionally, Homophone/Pseudohomophone Choice and Reading Fluency demonstrated a trend with the right anterior fusiform. The findings reported in this study were largely unexpected and suggest that further research examining the relationship between right fusiform volume and orthographic processing is warranted.

The unprecedented size and scope of the American Civil War fundamentally redefined the relationship between state and citizen. Through its conscription laws, the Union government empowered itself to standardize and evaluate the bodies of its citizens; the concurrent General Law pension system extended this standardization into the realm of disability. The government served as both national physician and national accountant, distributing millions of dollars a year to men it deemed unable to earn up to their potential due to wounds and diseases contracted in the Union's defense. Moreover, since so many disabilities were the result of disease - and therefore invisible to the naked eye - the state also asserted its power to certify to the taxpayers that these veterans were indeed among the "deserving poor," not idlers or parasites. This became especially important as pension-related expenses ballooned to the second-largest line item on the budget, and the "veteran vote" became the most important single-issue bloc in American politics. Veterans were themselves voters, however, and could negotiate at least some of the terms of their disability through the political process. This established that disability is discursively constructed - it is a social position, not a permanent physical impairment. Veterans' organizations might sweep socially problematic old soldiers up into Homes, but veterans always retained their influence at the ballot box. Thus, the same political process which enabled the state to seize unprecedented powers of surveillance also kept these new powers at least somewhat in check.