iPad Features list

Earlier this year, I began thinking a lot about iPads and their features.  It seemed to me that there were some very unique aspects to the way iPads and other mobile tablets had been created and that, as many of us were involved in assessing whether an iPad would be a good tool for people with disabilities, we ought to be able to describe their features.

I asked everyone I could think of.  "What do you think are the unique features of iPads and other mobile tablet devices?  How are they different than AT options we have had previously?"  For a while I wrote down all the answers. Then I tried to synthesize the results.  I got a lot of help from Nichole Lakusta and others.

The list is posted in the Resources Section of the QIAT web site. You can click here to get to it. I hope it will be useful to you in your AT Considerations.  I imagine a group of people sitting down and asking, "What are the essential features of a device that would help this person do things that are difficult or impossible because of their disability?" The chart may help teams identify features when the conversation moves to iPads.

And a warning.  This list is only about the features of the iPad itself.  You also need some sort of way to identify the apps that you would use if you were really going to use the device for real tasks in a real area of concern.  I would pair this with an app evaluation rubric. So this is only the beginning.  Please share your feedback, ideas and any other resources of this nature with us!