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This paper is excerpted from a document entitled The Information Infrastructure: Reaching Society's Goals Report of the Information Infrastructure Task Force Committee on Applications and Technology Published by: U.S. Department of Commerce, Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Last Updated: September 7, 1994
DRAFT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
This paper is intended for public comment and discussion. Your comments can be sent to any of the addresses below:
In a competitive global economy, our country does not have a single person to waste opportunity must be open to everyone... I believe our entire nation will share in the economic and social benefits that will result from full participation of Americans with disabilities in our society.
- President Clinton, 12/1/92
On September 15, 1993, the Administration issued "The National Information Infrastructure(NII): Agenda for Action," which formalized several federal NII policy development mechanisms and enumerated the guiding principles and goals for future policy development. A portion of the vision is as follows:
A major objective in developing the NII will be to extend the Universal Service concept to the information needs of fundamental fairness, this nation cannot accept a division of our people among telecommunications or information "haves" and "have- nots". The Administration is committed to developing a broad, modern concept of Universal Service one that would emphasize giving all Americans who desire it easy, affordable access to advanced communications and information services, regardless of income, disability, or location.
The National Information Infrastructure: Agenda for Action addresses responsiveness to the usage requirements of people with disabilities as a founding principle. Providing choices in the modes of information representation and manipulation will break down existing barriers and accelerate progress toward the full participation of people with disabilities in society as envisioned by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The technologies that deliver for the NII will be the technologies that LEAD the way in L iberating Expressiveness, Amplifying Dignity forall Americans.
Ensuring that the NII accommodates the rights of the 49 million Americans with disabilities to equitable communication and information access amplifies innovations and economic returns from national investment in the NII. Existing Federal, State, and local investment activities underway are demonstrating that accommodating people with disabilities is finally gaining recognition as a driving force for advances in human and organizational performance. As this investment strategy gains momentum, information technology developers are weighing in on the broad- based, competitive advantages of this universal design approach, that readily accommodates individual needs associated not only with disability, but also worker re-training, aging, illiteracy, and high performance, critical mission information environments. Adoption of universal design will stimulate the deployment of applications that all consumers will value for convenience, customer choice, and equal opportunity.
Americans with disabilities represent a large customer base already discussing with industry and government how they envision the information infrastructure will work for them. Most important is customer choice. Until now, choice of the mode or form in which information is represented or communications conducted has not been available. Due to this inflexibility, many people with limitations of hearing, vision, or information processing have been inconvenienced by, or excluded from using these single modality services. Newspapers and documents available in a visual mode only, excluded or inconvenienced customers who were blind until the choices of auditory or Braille modes became available. Auditory-mode-only telephones excluded deaf individuals until multi-modality telephone services were developed that today incorporate hearing relay operators who convert communications between users of auditory-only devices and visual-only devices.
If future telephones or information appliances accommodated the choice of either visual mode (typing) or auditory mode (speaking), direct communications could be achieved and communicating parties would no longer be handicapped by single-modality services that are not compatible. Greatly anticipated as well are visual communications appliances that accommodate a range of needs from sign language transmission to handwritten note-sharing as an alternative to auditory mode only for conversations.
As the NII takes shape, being in the minority in terms of information mode requirements, due to a disability, need not be a significant handicapping condition, if a useful alternative mode is available. People who flexibly accommodate to either auditory or visual modes of information transmission, frequently fail to realize how single-modality services hamper and inconvenience access by people who are unable, due to a sensory mode limitation, to also alternate between both modes.
Many people who can accommodate either visually presented information or auditorially presented information, but not both, due to hearing or vision loss, are now high demand users of on-line services that readily accommodate their choice of mode(s) and media, including visual display (standard or magnified), Braille display, or machine-generated speech. This pattern of early and sustained demand by people with disabilities can enhance the evolution of NII services. It will ensure that the full range of information mode choices unavailable in the past, can now be provided to enhance learning and communications by individuals and organizations.
Two of the world's most valuable information technologies, the typewriter and the telephone, emerged from early efforts to accommodate greater choice in information mode by people whose disabilities made them less adaptable to mode differences. The typewriter was invented as a private writing device for a blind member of a royal family. Other developers of early typewriters also designed for blind people. Modality choice of writing device was critical to these early users. Realization of commercial advantages and transfer of this technology to business came much later.
When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he was attempting to convert speech to a visual representation in order to accommodate a greater choice of information modalities for his wife who had a hearing loss. Unfortunately Bell's invention failed to accommodate conversion of information from auditory to visual mode as intended. Instead the telephone extended the range of the auditory mode and broke down distance as a barrier to spoken communication. The originally intended benefits to deaf people have been late and inadequate. Only in the last 30 years has a usable choice for telephone access by deaf people become available. At that time, deaf people began purchasing and adapting old Western Union teletypewriters (TTYs) that only enabled communications with other TTY users. Communications between TTY users and standard telephone users has only become widely available in the last 2 years due to the establishment of ADA mandated state relay services.
Like the typewriter, transfer and extension of text messaging took a long time and could have taken even longer. One of the lead engineers of the originial Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), the predecessor of Internet, was very accustomed to modality choice because he used a text messaging device (TTY) when communicating with his wife by telephone due to her hearing loss. This exposure positively influenced the inclusion of text messaging as an ARPANET application even though it was not part of the orginial planning. Today the value of this electronic text messaging or e-mail capability to people around the world is beyond estimation and choice of information mode is becoming an inherent feature in well-designed information applications.
Another contemporary ARPA example of choice driving innovation is infrared-based eye-tracking. This technology has been matured and commercialized by a small business, that targeted individuals with severe disabilities as the first customers of this hands- independent and body-movement-independent intelligent interface device. Today, this eye-tracking product is being sold around the world to a small, but growing number of people with extensive mobility limitations for whom keyboard use is not an option.
This product, after being commercialized and matured by users who demanded high performance and reliability, is now being purchased by federal and private sector laboratories. Oak Ridge Laboratories is exploring its use to control tele-robotic vehicles in hazardous environments. A number of usability laboratories world-wide have purchased a related product that enables user performance measures to drive advanced designs of visual interfaces. A head- mounted display incorporating eye-tracking is next; it will accommodate not only people with disabilities but anyone in high demand, high performance environments, including national security.
Speech recognition, a technology increasing in power and potential, also originated through ARPA resources. Quadriplegic individuals have become recognized by the speech recognition industry for the significant contributions they've made to maturing a technology that is likely to revolutionize human-computer interactions in the near future. These pioneer users, without functional use of a keyboard, were driven not by device novelty, but by true performance demands and the need for choice of information input mode that accommodated effective interactions with a computer. Other user groups who have begun to derive significant benefits from speech recognition are people with learning disabilities and people whose repetitive strain injuries preclude continued use of a keyboard.
Another powerful telecommunications advance was spearheaded recently by a person with a profound hearing loss who worked with an engineer to overcome her dependence on text telecommunications. She wanted another choice. The resultant product is elegant in its simplicity and cost effectiveness. With this product, she is able to use both standard and cellular phones directly. All amplification is provided by her existing hearing aid. While the cost-per-unit is approximately $80, there are immense long-term benefits and value of this technology to a segment of the hearing impaired population around the world.
The General Services Administration, Clearinghouse on Computer Accommodation (COCA), has been tracking these little-known innovation synergies for a number of years. Through the Congressionally chartered Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer, COCA has recently begun serious discussion with the Army Research Laboratory and other labs that exhibit strong interest in user interfaces that accommodate choice.
COCA became aware of this innovation dimension during the past decade while assisting federal agencies in identifying and shaping their investments in technology to fully accommodate people with disabilities. Public Law 102-569, Section 508, (1992 Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) is the source of this Federal policy.
As implementation of federal accessibility statutes proceeds, federal agencies are discovering that purchasing information systems that accommodate a wide range of user interface requirements promotes productivity and ensures access to work-related and public information by people with disabilities. Organizations are benefiting from the ability to recruit and retain quality employees and the ability to effectively interact with all clients, including those with disabilities.
Agency experiences with user interface options that incorporate maturing technologies such as speech synthesis, speech recognition, or infra-red technologies also provide an effective means for evaluating near-term applications with potential benefit to all users. Many employees in "hands-busy," "eyes-busy," or noisy environments can benefit today from flexible interface alternatives that have already been adopted by people with disabilities.
Applications with user interfaces that accommodate choice of alternative displays and keyboards are also being employed to minimize or prevent the visual fatigue and repetitive strain injuries associated with keyboard-intensive environments. As the work-force ages, accessible information services must support the requirements of people who develop age-related limitations of vision, hearing, or mobility. As planning by the Federal Government increasingly addresses a comprehensive information infrastructure, planning for choice represents a solid foundation to maximize the value of information applications and acceptance by users.
As awareness of disability-driven innovations becomes recognized, and societal dependence on technology for community participation and economic growth continues, breaking down barriers and building choices will become recognized as an innovation driver globally. E.H. Sibley summarizes this strategic opportunity:
"In reflecting on the problems of the multiple language and character sets faced by the world, it appears that a large portion of the potential computer user population is at a disadvantage. They must use difficult interfaces or learn another language. When we add up the cost of not having good input/output devices for the many people who can compute but find it cumbersome, we can conclude that the cost of efficient new devices would pay for themselves many times over. Particularly at a time when the world's political barriers are being removed, perhaps our new opportunity frontier should be to remove the barriers to computing for all humanity, be they different in language, representation, or device needs."[endnote 1]
The recent report on High Performance Computing and Communications: Toward a National Information Infrastructure by the Office of Science and Technology Policy also acknowledges this opportunity. Addressing intelligent user interfaces, the report states, "A large collection of advanced human/machine interfaces must be developed in order to satisfy the vast range of preferences, abilities, and disabilities that affect how users interact with the NII."
The NII affords a unique opportunity in the design of human interface technologies to formalize collaborations among early demand user groups with a wide range of preferences, abilities and disabilities in order to reduce the lag time between technology transfer and user acceptance.
The Electronic Industries Foundation has reported that "manufacturers who have found ways to simplify the user interface have seen positive consumer response in terms of increased sales and decreased product returns... A growing body of research suggests that there are ways to design products that can accommodate functional limitations, and actually enhance their ease of use for everyone."[endnote 2]
The use of generic performance benchmarks such as those developed by Pirkl and Babic (1988) would stimulate the design needed to ensure customer choice. The benchmarks include:
These findings are congruent with the growing recognition that technological advance only provides a competitive advantage for a short time; superior design and manufacturing doing it right for the customer and quickly the first time ensures true economic advantage in a customer driven, global economy.
This section outlines how significant benefits are anticipated in at least five areas. The public will be particularly interested in how building choice in NII:
An individual with limited mobility may not have easy access to public libraries, places of employment or business, or retail outlets. Although these facilities may be "accessible" for the wheelchair user, getting to and from such locations often poses a serious challenge. Loss of hearing or sight are obvious barriers to information access.
The capacity to communicate with, and collect information from almost any point on the globe from one's home has already expanded the ability of persons with disabilities to participate in an information oriented society more effectively than ever before.
Federal policy promoting the coordination of a NII holds great promise of protecting the gains already made in information access by persons with disabilities. However, if the design and development of the NII does not accommodate the technical requirements for choice needed to provide universal access, then information utilization by persons with a variety of disabilities will be set back to the days before the development of computers.
At present, even without the development of a coordinated infrastructure, people with disabilities are carrying out electronic banking, shopping on-line, telecommuting, providing information services to others, all from their homes. In the office setting via electronic document processing, visually impaired and blind employees have access to vital information equal in some cases to their sighted colleagues. The economic impact of developing an information system that fails to accommodate the choice of modes of operation including access devices that convert electronic information into a form that can be used by a person with a disability (i.e., Braille displays, speech synthesizers, or voice input processors) will be far greater than the cost of ensuring this universal access in the infrastructure from its inception.
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There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until personal experience has been brought home."
John Stuart Mill 1800-1873
What follows is a list of personal experiences that offer insight into how the NII can benefit citizens with disabilities.
I am a C7 quadriplegic who has completed a course in desktop publishing. I have been disabled for two years and very eager to get back into the work force. I have learned I'm still employable regardless of my disability. I recently learned about telecommunications and the different networks for communicating. With electronic mail I communicate with various people from all around the world. My life has really opened up with my career change and the electronic information systems.
I am a C5 quadriplegic living in the Silicon Valley and a current intern with the Networking and Communication Department. I have been disabled for ten years from a motor vehicle accident in 1983.
I use computer telecommunications daily in numerous different functions. Telecommunications has opened up a new world, allowing me to communicate via e-mail with colleges, government agencies, and organizations. The future success of telecommunications is phenomenal, especially for the disabled community. It not only allows a person unable to go out into the community to access endless amounts of information, but also permits disabled persons, such as myself, to eventually return to the workforce (via telecommuting) and become productive citizens again.
I have a dream of some day starting a nationwide bulletin board for attendant care for the disabled community. It would be an attendant registry that would permit disabled persons to hire attendants anywhere in the United States and find qualified and compatible employees.
I am 17 years old. I am an oral, profoundly hearing- impaired student who is fully mainstreamed in the 12th grade at the Park School in Baltimore, MD. I did not really have access to e-mail until early October, when a friend of mine proposed that we e-mail each other...e-mail turned out to be easier than I thought, and it has been wonderful because it has enabled me to communicate with my friends from around the Atlantic Seaboard region.
The "electronic super-highway" is a boon for deaf/hearing impaired people because it enables them to communicate via the written word, which is a very effective alternate means of obtaining vital information in a relatively short period of time. It is my hope that the White House will make access to the information highway universal.
Thank you for allowing me to voice my concern regarding this matter. E-mail is such a wonderful thing and I am fortunate to be living in an age where communication opportunities (especially for the deaf/hearing impaired) are expanding.
I am using e-mail every day on campus at Gallaudet University, and because of my social shyness, it is much easier for me to socialize on the keyboard. I also find it great for research, and am doing my best to learn about Internet services as quickly as possible. I have been hard of hearing since birth, 50db equilaterally.
Rodney, a senior at Rogers High School, Puyallup, Washington, has no use of his arms or legs and uses a mouth wand to operate a computer. He began using a computer at age 6, and learned to read and write in this manner.
When asked a question, Rodney balances his wand on a box strategically placed near his terminal. A computer he says "is sort of like running water. You don't know what you'd do without it."
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, by the year 2000, the U.S. population of those over 65 years will be greater than 34 million, this figure world wide will be over 419 million. The Bureau projects that in the next 50 years, the U.S. population will increase overall by 19.8 percent; however, the population of those 65 years or older will increase by 117 percent, more than doubling from 31.6 million to 68.5 million. By designing the NII to meet the needs of people with disabilities, the NII will also have the flexibility and competitive advantage of accommodating the freedom of choice and independence desired by this unprecedented number of older people. A well-designed NII that accommodates a wider range of vision, hearing, and mobility differences will normalize and not stigmatize our aging society. Personal and economic loss associated with past age- discriminatory designs can be minimized.
The NII will increasingly be a key factor in the independence, productivity, commerce, and community participation of a significant percentage of older people in our society. User acceptance will be accelerated by designs that make the NII easier and simpler to use. Those over the age of 50 control over 50 percent of America's discretionary spending funds (Ostroff 1989), and those over 65 control 77 percent of all assets (Pirkl and Babic 1988).
Full implementation of the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 will ensure not only full access to broadcasting by deaf Americans, but will also provide the choice of text captioning that may serve as a powerful application to reduce illiteracy in this country. According to the most comprehensive literacy study ever done by the U.S. government, the literacy levels of 90 million people in the United States is deficient.[endnote 3] This situation represents a direct threat to the U.S. economy. Another significant benefit of television with text captioning will be its usefulness as an effective learning technique for people who are learning English as a second language.
With 70 million personal computers in use, strain injuries have skyrocketed. The U.S. Department of Labor figures show repetitive stress injuries represent 60 percent of all job-related illnesses. Estimates of the annual cost to business is $20 billion.[endnote 4] Pilot demonstrations of speech recognition for all workers are underway in several large companies as a strategy to increase productivity and decrease keystrokes. Again, pioneer users of this technology have been people with disabilities who needed a choice other than a standard keyboard. NII applications must interoperate with intelligent user interfaces accommodating a wide range of user needs and preferences such as speech interfaces.
There are approximately 750 million people with disabilities in the world. Meeting the needs of people with disabilities in the NII will provide U.S. companies an early competitive advantage in the global marketplace.
The global advantages of the increasing U.S. market responsiveness to people with disabilities was noted in the 1993 report of the Commission of the European Communities. The report, European Technology Initiative for Disabled and Elderly People - Call for Proposals, states as follows:
"Technology transfer from the major European Information Technology industry to the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, with the knowledge of the customer, will be critical to the competitiveness of the European Rehabilitation Technology industry. This technology transfer opens new markets for European technology. It also helps counter the threat posed to European industry by US legislation in favor of people with disabilities which is both forcing the Information Technology industry to take their needs into account and stimulating a strong rehabilitation technology industry in the US."
Deploying technologies such as real-time captioning, originally developed to accommodate deaf individuals could also enhance international commerce activities. For example, U.S. economists working on General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) spent many hours transcribing and comparing notes from working sessions before strategizing on next steps. Delegates with limited English proficiency may experience even greater difficulties processing meeting content when it is only presented in spoken English. This situation may tend to increase misunderstanding and decrease trust, resulting in costly negotiation delays. Deploying real-time captioning would provide all delegates with a written English transcript of the proceedings at the end of the meeting. The captioning equipment would also provide to the entire group a real-time text display of the speaker's words that would serve to enhance language comprehension by delegates with limited English proficiency.
The technical solutions employed today to magnify text displays for low vision users are identical to solutions being evaluated in Saudi Arabia to make English software applications readily translatable to Arabic. This approach can be applied to any foreign language and may reduce barriers to market entry for U.S. software developers.
This section addresses the emerging consensus on universal design and convergence of policy and design practices in both the public sector (Federal, State, foreign governments) and the private sector that are becoming examples and support mechanisms for NII applications to break down barriers by building in customer choice.
Since 1988, statutory requirements for federal agencies have been in place to ensure that agency investments in information technology integrate requirements to meet the needs of people with disabilities are met. This policy is based on two laws, Public Law 100-542 and Public Law 102-569. Public Law 102-569, Section 508 addresses the requirement that Federal investments in information technology be conducted in a manner that ensures access to computer and telecommunications products and services by employees with disabilities and citizens with disabilities accessing public information services. Public Law 100-542, the Telecommunications Accessibility Enhancement Act, mandates a proactive approach within the government to advancing accessibility to the Federal telecommunications system by individuals with hearing or speech limitations.
These laws do not represent a radical new direction for federal agencies, but serve to reinforce existing mission requirements under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This Act requires federally conducted or federally sponsored programs to be accessible to persons with disabilities and mandates that management policies must not discriminate in the hiring, placement, and advancement of persons with disabilities.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) has adapted and extended many of the existing responsibilities of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for implementation outside the Federal Government. The law requires barrier-free access to places that serve the public, such as theaters, restaurants, and museums. State and local government services, transportation, and telecommunications services must also be accessible. Discrimination on the basis of disability in private sector employment is also prohibited.
Protecting the rights of access to the evolving information infrastructure by customers with disabilities is a national responsibility as a result of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As implementation of ADA continues, accessibility to the information infrastructure represents an important area for Federal, State and private sector sponsored pilot demonstrations to conduct performance benchmarks and showcase early benefits and successful implementation strategies.
In 1984, GSA created an interagency committee that is now called the Council on Accessible Technology. The Council, comprised of senior executives from 30 agencies, promotes the planning and investment in information infrastructure that demonstrates the flexibility of choice needed to accommodate people with disabilities.
The Council advances the business practice of including persons with disabilities in the design, pilots, and early implementation of all new government information infrastructure investments.
Last Fall, the Council co-hosted with the Department of Commerce a seminar entitled "Universal Design: Accommodating Diversity and High Performance." The seminar was attended by approximately 200 people from Federal and State Governments and industry. The seminar took place in conjunction with the Department of Commerce' Sixth Annual Accessible Computer Technology (ACT) Exhibit.
At the Department of Commerce's Seventh Annual ACT Exhibit, on Oct. 5/6, 1994, the Council, together with the Committee on Application and Technology, will be showcasing Federal, State, and private pilot demonstrations of applications that exemplify how the needs of people with disabilities can be met in the NII. The Clearinghouse on Computer Accommodation will assist in pre-selection of applications that meet existing accessibility guidelines.
The Council will conduct a similar showcase of NII applications that are usable by people with disabilities at Interchange ' 94, October 12/13, 1994.
Since 1984, the GSA Clearinghouse on Computer Accommodation (COCA) has served as a model demonstration center for advancing accessible information environments, services, and management practices in order to stimulate the governmentwide capacity-building needed to meet statutory requirements. The center provides technical consultation, presentations, training, and assistance to federal agencies. The center also serves as a pilot demonstration site and market need/market utilization conduit between federal agencies and laboratories, universities and industry.
COCA facilitates a network of Federal employees with disabilities and their support personnel that provides early customer feedback on new service delivery technologies and practices. Coordinating with COCA and this network, the Computer/Telecommunications Accessibility Resource Exchange (CARE), is now a part of many agency programs. CARE members piloted with GSA developers, the first accessible information kiosk. GSA continues to advise and provide accessible kiosk services to customer agencies. Current projects underway include:
Last summer, COCA piloted a program that exposed future human interface designers to the government's need for an accessible information infrastructure. Stanford University participated in the program and inquiries for future participation were received from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Due to changing research priorities, Federal laboratories committed to dual-use technology and high performance technology are also beginning to approach COCA to discuss collaborative efforts. In this manner, market demand will be stimulated for alternative modes of computer interaction needed by persons with disabilities. The synergistic goals of dual-use technology and accommodation of diversity can be achieved. It is anticipated that this technology push initiative will be complemented by a market pull within the labs for user interfaces offering greater flexibility to accommodate a wider range of abilities, disabilities and preferences.
(MTPPD) serves persons with disabilities within and outside the Department. MTPPD also supports the Department's Nationwide Office Automation for the VA (NOAVA) implementation to ensure employees with disabilities receive equal access to NOAVA OA systems and platforms.
The MTPPD program provides training to employees within the VA and from other federal agencies. The cost-reimbursable training addresses both adaptive technology and common application packages. Other program services include consultations, tours, equipment demonstrations, and product evaluations. Document scanning and converting services, including brailling, are available to agencies on a cost- reimbursable basis.
CREATE is the vehicle responsible for planning and coordinating Department-wide activities in increase awareness of accessible technology issues and explore ways to ensure that the information environment is usable by people with disabilities. CREATE hosts the Accessible Computer Technology Exhibit hosted annually in October to increase awareness and effective use of commercially available products and services that accommodate people with disabilities.
The Accessible Technology Program has established the TARGET Center to support USDA employees nationwide and other federal agencies. TARGET provides evaluations, demonstrations, resource information, needs assessments, and training on accessible technology. The center uses open systems concepts to highlight accommodation solutions available on personal computers. TARGET demonstrates how accessible technology optimizes productivity and job retention of career employees by reducing worker compensation costs and disability retirements from end-user computer injuries.
The CAP Office assists DoD activities to procure adaptive equipment which provides access to computer systems and telecommunications as required by Public Laws 102-569 and 100-542. The CAP Office provides technical, educational and financial support to assist employees, supervisors and managers identify and procure appropriate accommodations. The CAP Office conducts special projects to assist DoD activities to ensure an accessible work place. Projects include working with DoD components to ensure that training centers, libraries, and programs are accessible; and coordinating with system acquisition activities to ensure that accessibility is considered in the procurement of DoD systems. CAP also established the Technology Evaluation Center (CAPTEC), a facility dedicated to the evaluation and testing of emerging technology. The CAPTEC assists DoD supervisors and employees in choosing appropriate adaptive equipment for creating work environments that are accessible to persons with disabilities.
The Computer/Telecommunications Accessibility Program (CAP) was established to ensure the IRS makes electronic information accessible to people with disabilities. CAP assists the managers and employees in selection and procurement of appropriate adaptive technology. The CAP office works with acquisitions and procurement personnel to ensure that accessibility is included in information technology procurements. CAP has a demonstration center with adaptive equipment.
The National Security Agency's CCAT provides demonstration of assistive technology devices and professional resources for agency employees with hearing visual or physical limitations. The goal of the center is to provide assistance and identify alternative solutions for persons with disabilities.
In 1994, Congress re-authorized Public Law 100-407, the Technology-Related Assistance For Individuals with Disabilities Act (P.L.103-218). Administration of the law continues to be conducted by the NIDRR. The states have received grants for "systems change" activities to eliminate barriers that impede information and acquisition of assistive technology services and devices through implementation of consumer-responsive systems.
Project Enable is a full featured computer bulletin board system providing information on disability, rehabilitation, employment, and education. It is used primarily by people with disabilities and their families, educators, students, and rehabilitation workers who participate in over 150 special interest discussion groups.
The Trace RERC studies access problems of people with disabilities to computer and information systems, and disseminates information on solution strategies. Trace works with computer manufacturers and software producers to outline how existing products can be made more accessible to people with disabilities. Through Trace efforts, disability access features are being built into commonly used operating systems. Current cross-disability goals include working with a broad coalition to:
DO*IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internet- working, and Technology), University of Washington: DO*IT enables high school students with disabilities to explore careers in science, engineering, and mathematics through "mentorships" conducted via Internet with practicing engineers and scientists from around the world, many of whom also have disabilities.
Provides assistance to higher education in developing computer support services for people with disabilities. Project EASI provides information and guidance on campus applications of adaptive computer technology for access to information, instruction, research, and employment. Project EASI's Internet server hosts an active discussion about computer/telecommunications access issues.
WGBH has pioneered advances in accessible programming for more than 20 years since captioning the first nationally broadcast program. WGBH is working to make all programming accessible to the nation's 24 million deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. Instrumental in the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990, they also launched Descriptive Video Service (DVS) in the same year. DVS makes television accessible to millions of people who are blind or visually impaired through narrated descriptions of key program elements.
NCAM was established in 1993 with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. NCAM is taking steps to accelerate media access to populations that have been underserved or denied access. Project examples include:
WID focuses on creation of public policy that will give people with disabilities access to the information age. WIDnet is a network that focuses on disability policy.
CSLI's Archimedes Project works to improve access to information for individuals with disabilities by influencing the early design stages of emerging technologies. The project:
DACX is working to solve accessibility issues presented by the Xwindows graphical user interface. Membership includes the major Xwindows vendors including DEC, IBM, SUN, and representatives from academia. The purpose of DACX is to develop solutions which will allow users with disabilities to access systems running the Xwindows GUI. The group has succeeded in developing access utilities for users with motor impairments. It is also working on developing necessary "hooks" for screen reading programs. Access-related software developed by DACX is distributed through the Xwindows Consortium.
ICADD promotes standards for producing documentation for "print disabled" individuals. Membership includes representatives from industry, academia, and government from many countries around the world. The purpose of ICADD is to develop and encourage the document transformations that print-disabled persons are working toward. ICADD has succeeded in implementing accessibility in existing International Standards Organization (ISO) standards such as the Standard Generalized Mark-up Language (SGML)
Electronic Industries Association's Consumer Electronics Group and the Electronics Industries Foundation (EIF) are currently working to create a Seal of Accessibility for consumer electronics products.
When completed, the Seal will certify that designated mainstream products can be used by persons with functional limitations associated with aging, a temporary injury, or permanent disability, and that the products meet the accessible design guidelines established by a committee comprising manufacturers, disability experts, consumers, and representatives of organizations serving the needs of people with disabilities. The seal should help manufacturers during the design process and consumers during the selection process.
Promotes recognition of industrial design excellence as a strategic tool for competitiveness in the domestic and global marketplaces. Industrial designers make products easy to use, safe, comfortable, appealing, and ecologically responsible. One of the 18 gold medal winners for 1994 was James Pirkl, designer of a book on Transgenerational Design: Products for an Aging Population which highlights the marketplace advantages of well-designed products that also accommodate older people and people with disabilities.
There are three major European program efforts underway to accelerate the productive application of technology on behalf of people with disabilities. The largest of the three is Technology Initiative for Disabled and Elderly (TIDE). TIDE is a community research and development initiative in the field of rehabilitation technology designed to stimulate the creation of a single market in Europe. TIDE assists elderly and disabled people to live independently and participate more fully in the social and economic activities of the community.
The main goal of the RACE program (Research and Development on Advanced Communication in Europe) is to develop technology and infrastructure in order to prepare for the introduction of broadband network services and to promote European industry competitiveness in this field.
This activity includes delivery of services to the largest possible cross-section of the user population, including people with disabilities. The project includes development of a standard reference manual of specifications for designers that will provide the necessary knowledge about human factors to ensure network accessibility to all users.
Member States of the European Union recognize the importance of education, employment, and accessibility for people with disabilities. Institutions of the European Union have issued resolutions to promote equality of opportunity and integration of people with disabilities.
Canada's information infrastructure planning has also begun to address integrating the needs of people with disabilities. Canadian representatives have requested information about U.S. plans.
"Information, which will be education, which will be employment, which will be income, which will be possibility, must flow to all Americans on terms of equal accessibility without regard to physical condition. And we are committed to doing that."
- President Clinton 5/13/94
This section addresses examples of user expectations of important NII capabilities. These capabilities will be needed to address the national goal of equal accessibility in communications, commerce, and community among people with and without disabilities. The examples are grouped under the four functional capability areas identified in the Vision for a 21st Century Information Infrastructure report of the Council on Competitiveness:
This May 1993 report envisions:
The information infrastructure of the 21st Century will enable all Americans to access information and communicate with each other easily, reliably, securely and cost-effectively in any medium voice, data, image or video anytime, anywhere.
This section addresses the scaling opportunities afforded through the NII to establish the leadership, policy, and marketplace roles and alliances necessary to ensure that the design of the NII will meet national expectations for breaking down barriers. These expectations can only be fulfilled by building choice and full usability for people with disability into the development of the NII.
Although the Federal Government in its role as a major employer and information technology consumer is taking steps to use its "buying power" to communicate to industry its need for information technology products and services that are usable by people with disabilities, this process must be scaled up in priority and include pilot demonstration activities in order to shape the capabilities needed earlier in the technology design cycle.
Agencies are demonstrating progress in formulating access policies and meeting current employee accommodation needs; however, increased attention is needed on leveraging market demand to ensure long-term uninterrupted access as future technologies are introduced and the information infrastructure proceeds. The current restricted usefulness of graphical user interfaces by blind users represents inadequate foresight in the marketplace to changing needs. Today blind users face graphics-mode-only applications whose designs neglect to accommodate choice, thus providing marginal utility of popular applications that have been fully utilized for more than a decade. Discussions in recent White Papers on the information infrastructure will need to be expanded in order to adequately address requirements of people with disabilities to the NII.
At a time of rapid technological change, the needs and requirements of customers with disabilities must be fully integrated in all technology development, replacement, and refreshment initiatives. Realizing the full benefits of the NII also depends on the development of open system standards. Without these open systems, small firms developing application devices important to individuals with disabilities will be crowded out of markets by larger, more established firms.
Fortunately, industry champions for improved access within large computer companies report that they are actively seeking greater evidence that equitable access is a high priority customer requirement of the government's information infrastructure.
Although the Federal Government is commonly associated with technology push R&D funding, within the information technology arena, the Federal Government also has a unique role as buyer for the largest and most complex information environment in the world. The ability of the Federal Government to demonstrate technology foresight in the marketplace can have a significant impact on the quality of life of people with disabilities. This consumer foresight can accelerate the readiness of the U.S. information industry to respond to similar application challenges beyond the Federal marketplace and abroad. The Federal Government should strengthen its investment commitment to universal design in order to achieve not only equal access to NII by all Americans, but also to recognize the innovation incentive it provides to industry to better prepare for consumer interface demands globally.
The Office of Science and Technology Policy is currently providing an example of LEAD by Design by assessing how well a new White House information service can be used by people with disabilities. This action will signal in a manner that echoes tapping on the Liberty Bell during the first transcontinental call our national commitment to an information infrastructure that will deliver in terms of global competitiveness and in a manner that liberates the expressiveness and amplifies the dignity of all Americans.
Deploying the National Information Infrastructure (NII) in a manner that promotes universal service, access to government information, and technological innovation with performance benchmarks for customer choice, equal opportunity, and convenience will provide the needed context for the following actions:
Full participation by citizens with disabilities in the design, pilot demonstrations, and implementation of NII applications is a national priority. Collaborative support mechanisms within the Federal and State Governments and private sector need to be strengthened to serve as communication conduits between citizens and NII developers. NII investments need to include performance benchmarks to ensure that applications can be fully utilized by people with disabilities.
The NII must accommodate choice in order to deliver on its promise of universal access. The unprecedented convergence of information technologies only amplifies the possibilities - accommodating choice provides a focal point for early and far reaching benefits.
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[2] EIA Seal of Accessibility Development Plan Version 1.0 09/17/93
[3] U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Adult Literacy Survey, funded by Federal and State Governments
[4] Smithsonian, June 1994
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This paper is intended for public comment and discussion. Your comments can be sent to any of the addresses below:
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Committee on Applications and Technology
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Please also send comments to the author:
Susan Brummel
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Email: Susan.Brummel@GSA.GOV