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Findings and Recommendations of the National Task Force on Technology and Disability
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The Vision of an Accessible Nation

George Peck, Financial Analyst-
  		 
“The Internet brings a world of information into a computer screen, which has enriched the lives of many with disabilities. Yet, technology creates challenges of its own.’’

— President George W. Bush
CAPTEC AT Center
June 19, 2001

“For most people, technology makes life easier, broadens horizons, or for the young, provides an earlier start to learning. However, for people with disabilities, technology changes the most ordinary of daily activities from impossible to possible.’’

The National Council on Disability
May 2000 6

“The more I see computer technology evolving, the more I need specialized technology so I can use it. I used to think that with all the new technology there would be solutions, but now it’s causing more barriers than solutions.’’

— Larry Scadden
Retired Senior Program Director
National Science Foundation’s Program for Persons with Disabilities
August 2002

Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in our lives, transforming the way we live, work, learn and play. A myriad of activities once performed without information technology can now be performed online. New uses of technology such as the ability to find directions over a handheld global positioning device empower us and enrich our lives.

For those with functional limitations, technology can make the difference between living independently, working competitively and fully contributing to society, or becoming more dependent and less able — or unable — to participate.

The Task Force envisions a future in which all technology, products, services, systems and physical environments are designed to be usable by people with the widest range of abilities in a manner that is both technically and commercially feasible. These products hold the greatest promise for more fully engaging all citizens in the workforce, educational institutions, the marketplace and society. The practice or process of trying to design products in this fashion is known as universal design (UD) or “design for all.”

AT came into existence when humans first used a cane. Today, AT provides alternate ways of providing transportation for those who cannot walk, communicating for those who cannot speak, reading for those who cannot see or read print, using the telephone for those who cannot hear and remembering for those who forget. We have seen a dramatic increase in the sophistication and availability of AT and its use by people with functional limitations.

Moreover, making products more accessible to people with disabilities also makes products easier for others to use. Originally conceived to allow people using wheelchairs to cross streets safely and quickly, curb cuts have become features valued by delivery people, parents pushing baby strollers, bicycle riders, skateboarders and many others. Voice recognition software allows the operation of a keyboard for people with disabilities, for doctors to record notes and for people in general to conveniently and more safely use voice commands over the telephone. Using voice recognition technology, drivers can have their hands free while using the mobile cellular phone.

Similarly, a federal law requiring most TV sets to be equipped to receive and display closed-captions was enacted initially for the benefit of TV viewers who are deaf. As a result, unanticipated benefits for captions emerged. In noisy environments such as airports, train stations, restaurants and bars, captions were turned on so people could see what was being said. Even on Capitol Hill and in Executive Branch offices, staff members use captions to follow House and Senate activities while handling other business. Captions also offer a tremendous benefit for individuals who are learning the English language, including children and foreigners. Consequently, in the future envisioned by the Task Force, careful monitoring of technology trends, coupled with strong policy tools, will improve accessibility such that new technologies do not challenge an accessible nation. People will realize that making products more accessible to those with disabilities also makes them easier for others to use.

Today, technological changes are occurring so rapidly that we need to simultaneously remove barriers to technology and continually adapt the currently available technology. Sometimes new technologies are automatically more accessible than the old ones, although in too many cases technological engineers and designers do not take accessibility for the disabled into consideration. In an accessible nation, industry, government and academia will recognize the value of UD and the benefits of AT will become commonplace.

  
“Technology changes, but civil rights do not.”

— Cynthia D. Waddell
International Center for
Disability Resources on
the Internet (ICDRI)

Many Uses for Reader’s Digest Large Edition

Many products geared toward the disability market are now finding wider and more imaginative applications.

The Reader’s Digest Large Edition for Easier Reading is useful not only to people with vision impairments, says spokesperson Lesta Cordil, but also to a much larger market – it helps millions of people learning English as a second language, millions of children learning to read, and millions of adults with literacy problems.

— Patricia Digh
America’s Largest Untapped Market: Who They Are, The Potential They Represent.
FORTUNE MAGAZINE
March 2, 1998.
http://www.cabln.org/
consumer.htm

 

New Technologies May Cause New Access Issues

Older technologies that are usable by people with functional limitations are sometimes replaced by new technologies, which are not.

Digital cellular telephones when they were first introduced interfered with hearing aides and did not work well with text telephones (TTYs), thus creating a challenge for many people who were hard of hearing or deaf.

Automated customer call centers challenge those who cannot speak quickly or clearly, or enter long number strings before automatic systems "time out".

ATMs challenge people who cannot see information displays.

As LCD displays and push buttons replace dials on stoves and other devices, they create a new barrier for those who are blind. Devices that rely on a mouse or keyboard challenge people with limited mobility.

  Mark Peck, Financial Analyst. Photo collage shows him at hs computer, his hand control and driving a car.

Mark Peck,
Financial Analyst

Soaring is one of Mark Peck’s favored activities, whether at work or play. Peck’s recent love is piloting a sail plane (glider). An avid enthusiast, gliding offers a freedom unknown to him in previous years. He admits he is keen on creating new images for people with disabilities, especially since there tend to be few examples of successful people with disabilities in the media.

As a financial advisor, Peck takes immense pleasure in assisting his multi-generational clients to meet and surpass their financial milestones. “My business is real rewarding to me, both personally and financially,” says Peck.

Born with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), a connective tissue disorder, Peck’s father was instrumental in teaching his son to accept his disability and get on with living. “As a kid, I was real fortunate because my father was on the cutting edge of technology,” says Peck. “He made a walker for me out of metal and basic welding techniques based on a very rough sketch drafted by our family doctor.”

Using his ingenuity, Mark’s father also installed an electric elevator inside his family home. Likewise, Mark is an inventor. He crafted a floating device so his daughter, because she shares the same medical condition as Mark and cannot swim, can enjoy the family pool. “I rigged PVC together and attached sponge noodle floaters on each end so she’s able to be up to her armpits in the swimming pool. People with our condition have to be creative,” relates Mark. “At home we have macramé door pulls looped around the door handles so we can conveniently pull the doors closed.”

As a law student and young entrepreneur, Mark used public transportation to attend classes and later to visit clients to develop his financial services business. “Driving eventually became a must in terms of flexibility and for meeting clients living long distances away. Getting my driver’s license required me to go through the state rehabilitation services, which directed me to a center that handles driving education for people with disabilities. Later I bought a van equipped with a lift.”

Peck would like to see public air transportation made more accessible. “Currently, I have to be carried onto the plane and into my seat. My wheelchair is usually thrown when someone puts it into storage. Wheelchairs aren’t cheap. Vehicles for people with disabilities are also more expensive.” Slashing the cost of technology is extremely important to Peck. He says, “Foot pedals with push rods on the brakes and gas pedal, and the wheelchair lift, can all be done a lot cheaper. The real significant piece [of legislation] is tort reform to allow the technology to come to market without the fear of law suits,” concludes Peck.

  
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