t08/17/98 -- Copyright (C) 1998 The Washington Post [Article 319806, 96 lines]

                  Adapting Technology For Diverse Workplaces
                     A Reston Lab Tests Tools for Disabled
                               By Sarah Schafer
                         Washington Post Staff Writer

     Ed Mahan isn't blind, but he spends most of his days using a computer
outfitted with a Braille keyboard, a monitor that talks to him and a printer
that embosses rather than spits ink onto paper.
     Mahan works in Unisys Corp.'s Assistive Devices Lab in Reston, tucked in
the back of the company's Federal Systems Division building. The laboratory
was created two years ago as part of a $280 million contract by which the
company oversees 55,000 workstations at the many offices of the Social
Security Administration.
     The agency wants to recruit from the country's population of disabled
people, who according to some studies have a 70 percent rate of unemployment.
The contract requires that disabled employees be equipped to do the same
computer work as other employees.
     As a result, Mahan and five co-workers spend their days testing things
such as oversized keyboards, speech-recognition programs and Braille printers.
At present about 700 of the workstations at the agency have some form of this
special technology.
     Indeed, in workplaces across the country, "assistive technology," special
hardware and software that helps disabled people use everyday office
equipment, is becoming more common.
     Interest groups such as the National Organization for Disability have
worked to keep it growing. "There's a lot of focus on this right now," said
Jennifer Sheehy, director of public affairs at the organization.
       In November ABC-TV viewers will be able to see some in action when the
network airs a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock classic thriller "Rear Window."
Christopher Reeve, NOD's vice chairman, will star in the movie and use
adaptive technology, including a voice-controlled system that operates some
household appliances.
     The Clinton administration has weighed in on the issue as well. Last
week, in recognition of the efforts of groups fighting for accessibility, the
administration reauthorized the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires
federal agencies to install information technology that enables disabled
people to work there.
     Last week, after a visit from Travis Roy, a Boston University ice hockey
player who was paralyzed in 1995 in his first college game, the mood inside
the lab was upbeat. The lab presented Roy, who was paralyzed in the first 11
seconds of that hockey game, with an upgrade of a computer system it designed
for him. He used it to write his book, "Eleven Seconds: A Story of Tragedy,
Courage, & Triumph," which was published in January.
     Ensuring equal access is an arduous task, as the folks at the Unisys lab
can attest to. They don't do blue-sky research. Rather, they experiment with
different, sometimes quirky products that are on the market, figuring out new
ways to combine or build on them. They train systems administrators to install
and maintain them. And they staff the all-important help desk.
    They have 46 different disability profiles, for such things as Parkinson's
disease, low-vision and impaired hearing. So far Unisys has completed
two-thirds of the Social Security project, including about 700 of the special
workstations.
     Each member of the lab's team is responsible for testing one area of the
workplace technology. For example, Mahan tests equipment to help the blind
user.
     At one station the computer has a speech synthesizer that announces the
user's every move within a software program.
     To demonstrate, Mahan turns off the computer monitor to show how he can
navigate on a dark screen. When he starts the computer, a robotic but somehow
British-sounding voice announces he is at the start menu.
     From there, Mahan hits an arrow key on his keyboard to scroll down the
list of options, all announced by the computerized voice, and clicks on each
required menu item until he has opened Microsoft Word. He flips on the monitor
to prove his success.
     The blind workstation is the most complex. In addition to the voice
program that reads the text, it has a Braille keyboard. Though keyboards are
normally for "inputting" data through typing, this one "outputs" the data. The
user, with fingers on the keyboard, can feel the tiny bumps used for
expressing words in Braille. The system also lets the user determine which
letters are capitals, bold or underlined.
     The workstation also has a Braille printer and a scanner so users can
scan in documents and then translate them into Braille using special software.
      Because of the complex technology involved, the workstation for the
blind is the most expensive, costing up to $20,000.
     The actual hardware and software costs only about $8,000, said Clare
McAndrew, the assisted technology team leader for the Social Security's office
of telecommunications and systems operations. And, she said, "the workstations
vary. . . . Sometimes it's just a  specialized keyboard, for others it's voice
recognition, for example, which is more expensive."
     "Training is a big part of the cost," she said. Lab members run around
the country to take care of that teaching.
     One of the more simple devices in the Unisys lab is a split keyboard, the
halves of which rise like a drawbridge so users can type with palms facing in
to ease the strain that can cause carpal tunnel syndrome. Other devices
include a miniature keyboard that attaches to the arms of a wheelchair and a
keyboard with oversized keys for typing.
     For Mehan and Dejan Ristic, who supervises mobility product testing, the
work is a constant reminder of their good fortune in living through serious
spinal cord injuries. Both suffered C-4 and C-5 injuries, the designations
referring to vertebra locations on the spinal cord. Actor Reeve, in a horse
riding accident, suffered a C-1 injury that shattered the vertebra connecting
his head to his body.
     Mahan was injured playing college football at the University of Richmond
and was paralyzed from the waist down. He regained movement, but still can't
feel anything below his knees. Ristic was injured when he tried to body surf a
huge wave and, he said, miraculously escaped paralysis.



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