Danger,danger! Evaluating the accessibility of Web-based emergency alert sign-ups in the northeastern United States

People with disabilities need access to emergency-related information at the same time that the general public receives that information. Many county and municipal-level governments suggest that citizens sign up on a Web page to receive emergency alert information. While the messages being sent out via e-mail or text message might be accessible, the sign-up processes are often inaccessible, preventing people with disabilities for signing up for these important information services. In this paper, all of the county-level emergency alert sign-ups in Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland, were evaluated for accessibility. A total of 156 evaluations took place (6 evaluations for each of the 26 counties evaluated). Of the 26 counties evaluated, 21 of them had accessibility violations. Legal, policy, and design-related implications are presented in the following discussion.     

Toiling together for social cohesion: International influences on the development of teacher education in the United States

This article examines the ways in which the very idea of teacher education in the United States was transplanted from foreign lands. Teacher education, particularly normal school training, was based on a model imported from despotic Prussia, a model that was popularised by French and American visitors to the northeastern German land. Although normal schooling naturally was altered in the American context, the subsequent forms of teacher training, particularly in the emerging universities, owed a great debt to international models as well. This article also explores the ideology of the common school movement, which sought social cohesion, because that ideology helps explain why the Prussian model of teacher training became so attractive to conservative educational reformers in a democratic society.     

The red thread and the white kimono: Japanese women, omote and ura

A portrait of modern Japanese middle class urban woman is presented from a dual perspective: Omote, public outside self, and Ura, private inside self. An almost Stereotypic outward submissive presentation is correlated with a special inner strength commanded as the Japanese woman satisfactorily fulfills the role of home manager. This strength is understood to be a particular characteristic of Japanese women which supports the existence of the well known “psychology of dependence.” Data from interviews with 30–50 year old Japanese women, collected over a four year period, is placed within the historical context of women 's traditional role in Japan.     

In practice: The multimedia CD as a new approach to first‐year reading programs

Buffalo State College's search for a text for its common reading ended not in the selection of a book but in the creation of a CD.The CD is now being used to spark conversations across the campus.