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Virtual Ability

Monday, February 23, Noon to 1 PM Pacific Time

When you can be any avatar, why wear a wheelchair? As Gentle Heron, Alice Krueger has quietly helped a community of people with disabilities to take flight in Second Life. Imagine what it means to be visually or hearing-impaired within a virtual world interface, the challenge of typing with your toes, or using voice recognition software to soar across the sims. Virtual Ability, Inc., a 501©(3) non-profit, conducts individualized skills assessments, helps people use specialized hardware and software, and provides customized training and orientation to the growing number of people with disabilities exploring Second Life. The community provides a safe haven as people with diverse needs explore new ways to connect via virtual worlds. Join host Robert Bloomfield and guest Alice Krueger, as we learn about what technology offers to provide accessibility to virtual worlds.

Guest Biographies

Fayandria Foley

Fayandria Foley is event chairman for Second Life’s 2009 Relay For Life, the signature fundraising event for the American Cancer Society. Fayandria founded Second Life’s Cancer Survivor and Caregiver groups. Fayandria is a five-year melanoma cancer survivor in March of 2009 and has participated in the Second Life Relay For Life for the past five years as a survivor, a team captain, team management planning committee chair, co-event chair, and event chair. Fayandria was the fundraising chair of pastoral counseling center for three years and is an active weekend manager of a Ronald McDonald House in Texas. Fayandria is employed in education.

Alice Krueger

Alice Krueger is president of Virtual Ability, Inc., a US non-profit corporation, and works part time from home for an education research firm as a technical writer and editor. As a woman with Multiple Sclerosis, she found it increasingly difficult to participate in her real life community. No longer able to leave home to work, volunteer, or socialize with friends, she turned to SL to fulfill these basic human needs. Ms. Krueger is the mother of three young adults with disabilities and has been a special education teacher. She has made several RL presentations, including to the Health 2.0 conference, in which she demonstrated the benefits of SL for people with various kinds of disabilities. She enjoys working with educators, academics, librarians, artists, and the heads of SL sailing clubs to provide services to people with disabilities in Second Life that can enrich and improve their real lives. Gentle Heron is Ms. Krueger’s SL avatar. Gentle can stand and walk without crutches.