Business Week



   ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY by John M. Williams September 29, 1999
   From NASA, a Web Search Tool for the Blind
   "Illiad" can grab text -- and even some graphics -- and deliver it via
   e-mail to visually impaired surfers
   When we think of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration
   (NASA), most of us envision U.S. astronauts landing on the moon, the
   Hubble Telescope, or robots scouring the surface of Mars. All the work
   of great scientists who have dared to boldly go where no man (or
   woman, for that matter) has gone before.
   It may surprise you to know that, as part of NASA's decades-long
   mission to discover commercial applications for its space-related
   technology, the agency also develops assistive technology products.
   Take the "Iliad," a navigational tool on the Information Superhighway.
   An acronym for Internet Library Information Access Device, Iliad is a
   powerful NASA browser that can retrieve text-based information quickly
   off the Internet.
   It was originally developed as a classroom aid for teachers -- who are
   among NASA's biggest consumers of information about the space program.
   Many teachers have limited computer access, so they needed a simple,
   time-saving way to quickly search the Web. But NASA soon realized that
   Iliad had more than one audience. Just so happens its text-based
   e-mail interface is ideally suited for Internet users who are either
   blind or visually impaired. That's because blind and visually impaired
   Web surfers much prefer using text-based e-mail search tools over
   graphical Web browsers (see BW Online, 8/25/99, "A Browser That
   Reveals the Web to the Blind").
   FOR SEEING EYES ONLY. Internet accessibility has been an issue for
   blind and visually impaired users ever since the Net took off a decade
   ago. Early on, all software primarily ran in text-mode under MS-DOS.
   Blind users could access information using DOS-based screen readers
   and e-mail programs. But as computers and software technology expanded
   to reading graphical material, text-based software became almost
   obsolete. To add to this problem, Web designers rarely, if at all,
   include accessibility features when designing sites.
   It's not just that blind people can't see the graphs and charts.
   Problem is, information in charts and graphs can't be read as text by
   most browsers. That's where the Iliad system comes in. Not only does
   it search out text-based information on the Web but it can also strip
   the coding from some graphical material and present the information in
   a text-based format. Then blind and visually impaired cyber-surfers
   can use computer-voice programs to have the data read to them by their
   computers, or magnify the text to read via enlargement programs. They
   can also print out the information in braille.
   Robert Shelton, a blind computer scientist, was one of the members of
   the NASA team that developed Illiad in 1995 at the Johnson Space
   Center in Houston. "When I took over the project, I was new to the
   Internet. Iliad has opened up the Internet as a resource for me,"
   Shelton says. He uses Iliad, as do other members of his team, when he
   needs to do Web searches.
   QUICK TURNAROUND. Iliad was designed to be quick and extremely easy to
   use. Blind or visually impaired users send an e-mail message to the
   Iliad home address and type in the search request using keywords. The
   program allows users to send keyword queries to multiple search
   engines on the Web. The program screens out highly graphical and
   duplicate documents, performs searches off-line, and has search
   results e-mailed as full-text documents, all in a quick turnaround
   time -- usually 15 to 30 minutes.
   Specialized options include sending keywords to a single Web search
   engine, receiving search results with embedded hyperlinks or as an
   HTML document, and retrieving documents from a specific Web address.
   Of course, the receiver must then have the means either to magnify the
   text, have it printed in braille, or have it read. Fortunately, most
   computers today come equipped with zoom-text features. And
   text-to-speech software can be purchased for only a few hundred
   dollars. Most Iliad users receive the results of their searchers as
   individual text documents in their e-mail.
   The project is sponsored by NASA's Performance Computing &
   Communications Program education effort, the Learning Technologies
   Project. A few years ago, NASA's Technology Transfer Office at Stennis
   Space Center in South Mississippi upgraded the accessibility of Iliad
   to the blind audience, with the help of the Rehabilitation Research &
   Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision at Mississippi State
   University.
   MINIMAL REQUIREMENTS. "Computer users who are blind or severely
   visually impaired realize that cyberspace is jammed with exciting
   information," says Brenda Cavenaugh, research scientist at Mississippi
   State. "Unfortunately, the vastness and highly graphical nature of its
   resources often make it difficult to locate specific topics. With
   Iliad, you can search the Web without having to use a graphical
   browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator."
   The Iliad Web site is located on the campus of the University of Texas
   in Austin, and at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The American
   Foundation for the Blind in New York is exploring the possibility of
   hosting Iliad on its server as a permanent home. Since becoming
   operational in spring 1998, the Iliad site has had more than 10,000
   visits, with the NASA site averaging approximately 1,000 search
   requests each month.
   There's no charge and hardly any minimum hardware requirements to use
   Iliad. All you need is a computer (even an antique pre-Commodore 8088
   will do), a modem of any speed, and an Internet service provider to
   access the site. Iliad is also accessible from a mobile phone.
   To receive instructions on using Iliad, send an e-mail message to
   [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], or [log in to unmask]
   Leave the subject line blank, and type "start iliad" (without the
   quotes) in the body of the message. You'll get an e-mail back that
   will walk you through your first session.
   Iliad should be promoted to a greater degree among the major teachers'
   organizations and other teaching outlets in the country. It also would
   be ideal for a commercial venture. Any risk takers out there?

   Williams writes about assistive technology every week for BW Online.


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