My Top Ten Of 2011: Number 5

2011 will be this odd sort of year where I’ll look back at those 365 days and scratch my head as to what was the “next big thing” in the areas of trends or innovations in Assistive Technology only to come away with a blank stare. Because nothing really stood out. Well nothing that did not jump right out at me and say “hey! Right here! I’m Number one!”. Even the panel’s choice for number five has a need for some time and distance before one can say what the impact is, or was, or will be?, on the landscape of Assistive Technology.

http://blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=6449

Some will argue that the story linked to above should have been the number one.. of any lists, polls, discussions, musings, water cooler quarterbacking or well-meant conglomerations of the Sub-Genius [hail bob reference here]. Or, like comments made by Dark Nexus made on the panel’s stories, one may wonder just how we arrived at our decisions anyway. Coin tosses, slips of paper drawn from a box or dart boards were not used or harmed in the making of our Top Ten I can assure you. and I can see why someone would wonder “why?”. My only answer is that when looking at this stuff all day, all week and okay all year, you can lose the forest from the trees. Inside baseball happens with every tech podcast and blog, therefore, I will lay that down as to part of the “why?” in my selections. However, in the case below the decision purely came from the splash on social media and the remarks made at the summer shows. To say this was a quick way to get someone to comment, okay a sure fire way honestly, would be an understatement. And this is why I chose this story for number five.

RFB&D Becomes Learning Alley
What’s more confusing than an odd series of letters in an abbreviation for a long running service? Well for starters this name change comes to mind at the top of that list of possible answers. While the name reflects a broader focus, it still remains a mystery to some out there why this was the choice for rebranding. However, it did make for some interesting conversations in the confusion of the word “Ally” for the various screen readers. A five, “come and stumble down the learning Alley with me”. Trust me, if you are reading this without a screen reader, it’s a funny phrase.