Recognition

CAST Web Site Named Top Resource by ISTE (March 2004)

In the new book 101 Best Web Sites for District Leaders published by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), author Susan Brooks-Young cites www.cast.org as a top resource for "district leaders who are dealing with issues of individualized learning and universal student access to the curriculum." ISTE is a professional organization with a worldwide membership of educational technology leaders and home of the National Educational Technology Standards Project.

CAST Featured in Leading & Learning with Technology (February 2004)

CAST's work in Universal Design for Learning was featured in the February 2004 issue of Leading & Learning with Technology, a magazine for members of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a professional membership organization for K-12 administrators, teachers, and technology specialists. "Universal Design for Learning: Meeting the Needs of All Students" was written by Kirsten Lee Howard, a special educator from Virginia.

CAST Director of Research Guest Speaker on CN8 NITEBEAT (February 2004)

Bart Pisha, CAST's Director of Research, appeared on the television program NITEBEAT to discuss how CAST's research and development is helping children with learning disabilities. The prime time news program airs live on the Comcast Cable Network, reaching millions of listeners from Philadelphia to Boston.

CAST's Mei Kennedy Named to Clerc Center National Mission Advisory Panel (October 2003)

Mei Kennedy, Project Director of CAST's Thinking Reader for the Deaf Project, has accepted an invitation to serve on the National Mission Advisory Panel for the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University. The 15-member advisory panel, which helps the Clerc Center set priorities for research, demonstration, and dissemination, represents educators and administrators, parents, members of the deaf community, and alumni of the Clerc Center's demonstration schools. Kennedy will serve on the panel through 2008.

CAST's Work Featured in New Book on Education Technology (October 2003)

CAST's work is featured in Better Teaching and Learning in the Digital Classroom, a book of collected essays for K-12 school practitioners published by the Harvard Education Press. In his introduction, editor David Gordon says CAST researchers demonstrate "a bold vision of how digital text can be used to transform -- or rescue, really -- the K-12 experiences of millions of students with special needs." Using software based on Universally Design for Learning, "students who otherwise would not be able to keep up with grade-level work because of learning or physical disabilities are now able to participate in the same learning activities as their peers," he writes.

CAST's Bart Pisha Named Theme Editor for IDA Quarterly (September 2003)

CAST Director of Research Bart Pisha was invited to edit the fall 2003 issue of Perspectives, a quarterly newsletter of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). Focusing on the themes of assistive and universal design technologies, Dr. Pisha contributed the articles "Assistive Technologies: Making a Difference" and "When They Learn to Read, Can They Read to Learn?" With 13,000 members worldwide, IDA is a non-profit scientific and educational organization dedicated to the study and treatment of dyslexia.

2002 Tech Museum of Innovation Award Laureate

November 8, 2002: CAST was among 25 finalists honored by the San Jose-based Tech Museum of Innovation Awards for technical innovation work benefiting humanity at a black tie awards gala on November 7. Named a "Tech Laureate" in the education category, CAST was recognized for its work to develop "Thinking Readers," computer-based learning environments that support physical access to standards-based educational texts and the development of reading comprehension skills. The awards drew 460 nominations from 59 countries in the fields of education, equality, health, the environment, and economic development. "CAST's selection as a finalist provided a great opportunity for us to meet and learn about innovators from around the world in our field, education, as well as others. It was truly inspiring," said Chief Resource Development Officer Ada Sullivan, who represented CAST at the awards.

AAES 2000 Excellence in Access Award Recipient

In recognition of the development of Bobby: A Free Internet Public Service for Web Accessibility, the Association of Access Engineering Specialists (AAES) selected CAST to receive an Access Advancement Award in the AAES 2000 Excellence in Access Awards. The Excellence in Access Awards recognize significant innovative technical contributions to the access engineering profession; CAST's work to develop Bobby is recognized for "establishing or adapting, through work or reputation, a body of knowledge new to access engineering such that it is accepted theoretically and/or successfully implemented in the industry, thus expanding the access engineering universe." CAST joins six other organizations (AG Bell Association, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, FutureForms, Lucent Enterprises Network Group, Lucent Technologies, and Siemens Enterprise Networks) in accepting this honor.

2000 Ron Mace Designing for the 21st Century Award Recipient

CAST was one of seven organizations to receive the first Ron Mace Designing for the 21st Century Award. The award, which honors the late architect Ron Mace's unparalleled contribution to Universal Design, comes in recognition of CAST's work to extend the boundaries of Universal Design to education and learning. "(CAST's) pioneering work in Universal Design for Learning has created unprecedented opportunity for curricula that responds to the reality of human diversity," said Valerie Fletcher, Executive Director of co-sponsoring organization Adaptive Environments. The review committee for the competition was composed of Adaptive Environments, HalfthePlanet.com, the Center for Universal Design, the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Universal Design at SUNY Buffalo, and Rhode Island School of Design. CAST received the award at the Designing for the 21st Century International Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, June 16, 2000.

1999 Computerworld Smithsonian Award Finalist

CAST was named a finalist in the 1999 Computerworld Smithsonian Awards for Bobby: A Verifier of Web Site Accessibility, in recognition of Bobby's impact on Web accessibility throughout the world. As one of five finalists in the Education & Academia category, CAST was among those honored in an Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. in June 1999. In 1993, CAST won a Computerworld Smithsonian Award in the same category. CAST's submission materials on Bobby have become part of the Smithsonian's Permanent Research Collection for the benefit of future generations. To learn more about the Awards, its sponsors, and past recipients, visit http://innovate.si.edu/ .

1999 LD ACCESS Foundation Award Recipient

CAST's work to create accessible learning environments for students with learning disabilities was recognized by the LD ACCESS Foundation at an Inaugural Gala and Awards Ceremony in New York on June 14, 1999. Drs. David Rose and Anne Meyer received the Innovation Award on behalf of CAST, joining other honorees whose work has had a profound impact on the lives of individuals with learning disabilities. LD ACCESS was established in 1996 to protect the rights of learning-disabled adults at the post-secondary level, enhance their lives with research and technology, ensure employment opportunities, and advocate for their full participation in a challenging world.

"Boston Sunday Globe" Article

Bobby, CAST's free public service for Web accessibility, was the subject of an article entitled, "Peabody 'Bobby' Patrols Cyberspace," in the Boston Sunday Globe on January 10, 1999. With the Internet becoming an increasingly important part of everyday life, the article examines Bobby's role in ensuring that Web sites are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.

1998 SAP/Stevie Wonder Vision Awards

"New York Times" Article

Urban Telecommunications Initiative

WNET "People in Motion"

National Association of Social Sciences Award

Software Publisher's Association's 1995 Excellence in Software CODIE awards

Smithsonian Oral History Project

The Annenberg Washington Program

1993 Computerworld Smithsonian Award Recipient

"Scientific American Frontiers"

"The Machine that Changed the World"