Below is information about a news conference announcing the release of a
major report on the universal design of products, so they are available to
all including people with disabilities.  The report was prepared for the
national Council on Disability by the Georgia Tech Applied Research
Institute, one of the world's leading research organizations.  In addition
to the press, the public is welcome and encouraged to attend this important
event, learn about the findings, and hear from the speakers.  The National
Press Club is about two blocks from the Metro Center stop on the Washington
metro.

The report will be available on ncd.gov on October 28, the day it is
released.  For those unable to attend, the news conference will be
videotaped.  An open-captioned webcast will be available on the National
Press Club website the day following the news conference and on the NCD
website a few days later.

Kelly


    News Advisory

    NCD #04-463
October 19, 2004
Contact: Mark S. Quigley 202-272-2004

    Government, Industry, and Consumers to Address Universal Design at
National Council on Disability News Conference

    WASHINGTON-The National Council on Disability (NCD) will release a
report on universal design at a news conference at 10:00 a.m., October 28 at
the National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC.

    Through its report, Design for Inclusion: Creating a New Marketplace,
NCD aims to educate designers and manufacturers of ATM machines, cell
phones, distance learning software, personal digital assistants,
televisions, and voice recognition software about how electronic and
information technology intersects with the needs of people with
disabilities.

    Speakers include:


The Honorable Joel I. Kahn, Ph.D., Member, National Council on Disability

The Honorable Phillip Bond, Under Secretary for Technology Affairs, U.S.
Department of Commerce

PJ Edington, Governmental Programs Executive, Accessibility, IBM

Jamal Mazrui, Technology Specialist, Federal Communications Commission

Brad Fain, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Georgia Tech Applied Research
Institute

Laura Ruby, Manager, Regulatory and Industry Affairs, Microsoft

Ken Salaets, Director, Government Relations, Information Technology Industry
Council

Kelly Pierce, Co-founder, Digit-Eyes

John Yeh, President, Viable Technologies

    For more information, contact Mark Quigley or Joan Durocher at
202-272-2004. table end




National Council on Disability
Design for Inclusion: Creating a New Marketplace
News Conference
The National Press Club
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Thursday, October 28, 2004

SPEAKERS

Joel Kahn, Member, National Council on Disability
       Introduction of Panelists
       Main Findings and Recommendations

Phillip Bond, Under Secretary for Technology Affairs, Department of
Commerce
Remarks

P.J. Edington, IBM, Governmental Programs Executive, Accessibility
Industry Remarks

Industry panelists:
Laura Ruby, Microsoft, Accessible Technology Group
Ken Salaets, Director, Government Relations, Information Technology
       Industry Council

Jamal Mazrui, Federal Communications Commission
Consumer Remarks

Consumer panelists:
Kelly Pierce, Co-founder of Digit-Eyes: The Chicago Blind Computer User
      Network
James Meadours, Self-Advocacy Project Coordinator for State of
Louisiana
John Yeh, Viable Technologies

QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD

Brad Fain, Georgia Tech Applied Research Institute
     Consumer and Industry panelists




National Council on Disability Releases Report on the Universal Design of
Electronic and Information Technology

The National Council on Disability (NCD) will conduct a news conference to
highlight the release of its report on the universal design of electronic
and information technology (E&IT).  The report is entitled, "Design for
Inclusion:  Creating a New Marketplace" and will be released on October 28,
2004, at 10:00 a.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The report looks at how designing with access in mind can significantly
increase the size of targeted markets for E&IT and that good business
practice dictates that designers and engineers avoid unintentionally
excluding large populations of consumers from accessing and using the E&IT
they develop and manufacture. The report discusses how people with
disabilities are at the highest risk of exclusion and how incorporating
universal design processes when developing E&IT is one solution to
accommodating people with disabilities that also improves the usability of
the products for the rest of the population.

Through this research, NCD aims to educate designers and manufacturers about
how electronic and information technology intersects with the needs of
individuals with disabilities.  Currently, many people within corporations
have never heard of universal design, and many of those who have do not
understand that it is more than just a design for disability. This research
aims to provide industry with the knowledge of universal design methods that
they need to clearly see how their complex products could be made accessible
in a cost-effective way.  As part of the research, six product lines were
analyzed from the telecommunications, software, consumer electronics, and
digital services industries for both accessibility and usability.  At a time
when the incorporation of universal design is crucial, NCD hopes that the
information provided in this report will motivate and drive the development
of more universally, accessibly designed E&IT.