URL: http://www.govtech.net/magazines/story.phtml?id=2530000000000945 Enabling Technology Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 require all technology to be accessible to people with disabilities. What effect will this have on state and local governments and the technology they purchase? By Darby Patterson - February 2001 When the Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990, a cry of alarm rose from the private and public sectors. The prophets of doom claimed the law would put people out of business and raise the costs of products and services. A decade later, those predictions have failed to materialize. But as 2001 rolls on, the naysayers are at it again. Amendments to Section 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act require the federal government to purchase only those IT products and services that are accessible to people with disabilities. As a result, there is renewed controversy about what effect the ADA will have on American governments and businesses. Cynthia Waddell, a vigorous crusader for disability rights and accessibility, is on a mission to dispel those concerns and tell the public how the new standards will advance the electronic future for everyone. "The benefits of accessible technology extend far beyond the disabled community," Waddell said. "It allows people with low technology devices to access high technology." The benefactors, according to Waddell, include a worldwide community of 750 million disabled people, 54 million of them in the United States. Making a Difference According to a Harris poll conducted earlier this year, disabled individuals use the Internet twice as much as the mainstream population, and it has made a difference in their lives. Half of disabled users surveyed said Internet access has significantly improved their lives while only one-quarter of the non-disabled users reported lifestyle enhancement. Waddell, who wears two hearing aids and often depends upon captioning technology in her use of the Internet, is an attorney who was previously the compliance officer for the city of San Jose, Calif. It was there she became immersed in the challenges that evolving technology presents to sight and hearing impaired people and those with mobility limitations. "What I didn't know then," she remembered, "was that, as I was trying to solve disability issues for the city of San Jose, it really was an international issue." Waddell has since broadened her horizons by taking a position with PSINet's Accessibility Center of Excellence, a unique training and consulting service provided to governments and companies to facilitate compliance with disability laws. She is working feverishly to educate businesses and government about the details and the timeline for compliance with the new regulations, which are scheduled to take effect in June. In the spotlight are technology standards that allow people with disabilities to actively use the Internet and communications technologies, including telephones, wireless devices, copy machines and Web pages. At the same time, accessibility adaptations should have a positive effect on the general marketplace, creating compatibility and integrated systems that do not currently exist. According to Gregg Vanderheiden, executive director of the Trace Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, challenges in using the Web are universal. For example, who hasn't come across a Web page that runs off the screen, making content a guessing game? "If that page were laid out to be more flexible, it could be viewed on a narrower screen or a [handheld device]," he said. "The key to access is basic flexibility." Designing for All Users Difficulties arise when features on a Web page can only be deciphered by one sense, such as sight or hearing. For example, a graphic element might convey important information. But for a blind person, the content is invisible if the graphic is not coded for accessibility. Screen-reader software allows a blind user to access content conveyed by the graphic. The text will be read out loud or accessed through the user's refreshable Braille display. By coding the graphic for accessibility, the content is revealed to two senses. The same is true for audio content and the hearing impaired. A system that permits captioning is a flexible and inclusive system. People with disabilities will use specialized software to enable their computers to talk to them in ways that suit their needs. There is access software that translates information on a screen into speech or Braille. Captioning for the hearing impaired is created through transcription or webcasts, and other technologies allow folks to manipulate computer commands without using their hands. All these adaptive technologies require friendly computer systems and flexible Internet pages to work. Of course, the elements that construct accessible technology require a little education and upfront time. However, experts agree that it's far more economical and efficient to make an initial investment rather than retrofit a design. The road map, Section 508, makes clear to designers of Web pages and applications what must be done. "It's not much work to do once you know how," explained Vanderheiden. "The challenge is developing strategies for doing it so that when you program, it's second nature. It's a learning curve." The variety of browsers, he added, presents challenges because applications and design can behave differently depending upon the browser used. "The goal is to change the way products are designed by using standard market mechanisms to create a market with a preference and let industry compete to address those features," said Vanderheiden. According to Waddell, the expansive definition of electronic information, which includes multiple electronic devices, and technology as outlined in Section 508, will send ripples throughout government and electronic-government companies. On the surface, it seems like a simple e-commerce issue -- purchase only accessible products. However, a short leap of logic says that private technology companies hoping to sell to the federal government will pay close attention to 508 requirements. "The federal government is the largest consumer of information technology in the world," Waddell said. "It has created a market incentive to ensure functionality of elements in the design of technology. It will be hard for a vendor to say they will make accessible technology for government and not for others. A two-tier system doesn't make sense." Waddell added that before the final rules were released, 45 major IT companies had voluntarily committed themselves to an accessibility program. Making a Commitment It is also important for states to note what the new Section 508 requirements will not do. For example, the law will not require that workstations of non-disabled employees be fully accessible to persons with disabilities. Desktop computers do not have to be equipped with refreshable Braille displays, but they must be compatible with the adaptive technology should a person with a disability need it. In addition, agencies do not have to procure electronic information technology to satisfy Section 508 requirements if the purchase presents "undue burden" or is "commercially unavailable." Finally, the requirements cover the development, maintenance and use of products and services purchased on or after Aug. 7, 2000. Agencies will not be required to retrofit and rebuild systems that existed before that date. Last September, President Clinton embarked on a tour that focused on adaptive technologies in public schools. Among the technologies viewed by the former president's entourage was Eye Gaze, LC Technologies' communication and control system for people with complex physical disabilities. A video camera mounted below the computer observes one of the user's eyes, tracking where it is traveling on the screen. By looking at various keys displayed on the screen, a person can synthesize speech, control the environment, type, operate a telephone, run computer software and access the Internet. In other words, become enabled through technology. Another application, Jaws for Windows (JFW), is a screen reader that speaks everything on the computer screen. There is also a Braille Window that works with JFW and reads the words in Braille. This function is critical to people who are blind and deaf. These technologies address some severe disabilities. However, much of the controversy and litigation about accessibility has been inspired by more basic events, such as inaccessibility of information on government sites or the inability to make ATM transactions, that are second nature to the mainstream community. Section 508 in the Workplace Sometimes, access is inextricably linked to livelihood. In the 1980s, when the switch from DOS to Windows was made, screen readers wouldn't function, and blind employees were left without access. It was a relatively quiet blood bath that cost jobs and launched several court actions. According to one federal manager, who wished to remain anonymous, "It took much too long, and many, many lives were disrupted." There are other sound business reasons to create accessible Web design. According to surveys, approximately 70 percent of people in the United States with severe disabilities can't work. Assistive technology could open new windows on the world for people who have been isolated from the economic mainstream. Darby Patterson is an electronic government program analyst at the Center for Digital Government, the knowledge-management and research division of e.Republic. Darby Patterson Center for Digital Government S I D E B A RARE YOU ACCESSIBLE? There are a growing number of resources for information about accessibility requirements. Cynthia Waddell of PSINet's Accessibility Center of Excellence said the World Wide Web Consortium is one of the best references for information. The group has developed a set of content accessibility guidelines that was a source for the Section 508 regulations. The W3C was created to "lead the Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability." Another online resource is the Bobby site, named for its ability to police sites for accessibility. A company can submit its Web site for an online assessment of usability. Waddell, however, said the service might tend to create confusion. "Once Bobby was the only thing out there. Today, Bobby is a primitive-level diagnostic." She cautioned not to equate analysis on the site with ADA compliance. In addition, e-government companies like PSINet are beefing up to become part of the solution. Waddell says she is thrilled to have found a home in the private sector where she can talk about the little-discussed physical side of the digital divide. "You hear people talking about the digital divide in terms of economics, education and location but seldom in terms of disabilities," she said. An optimist and a fighter who has turned her own physical challenges into a powerful communications tool, Waddell intends to help shape the future of the Internet. She envisions an Internet that responds to "user preference" without any special or adaptive tools -- an Internet that doesn't care how the user interacts, whether with hands, eyes, voice or in some yet unimagined way. "When a person sits in front of a computer, their user preference will already be known and the system will dynamically adjust," she predicted. "That's where we want to be in the future." S I D E B A RADA AND VOICE RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY In 1990, Congress enacted the Americans With Disabilities Act. This ruling specifies that all publicly accessible facilities must provide access to all persons, regardless of physical ability. Voice recognition can play a significant part in providing compliance to the ADA. The following are several ways speech recognition can improve accessibility to facilities and information. Elevator Control If you've ever watched Star Trek, you no doubt will remember scenes where Captain Kirk enters what looks like an elevator, grabs a handle and says, "Bridge." When the door opens, he's on the Enterprise's bridge. The technology to perform this task is not that difficult to implement. Low-cost, embeddable devices are available that can allow elevator users to speak their desired floor number and actuate the elevator's controls. Rumor has it that a similar system was implemented by Apple engineers in one of their corporate buildings when the Quadra 840AV computer was introduced. They supposedly removed the existing controls and replaced them with a blank panel with a microphone attached. The computer was placed on top of the elevator car and was wired into the elevator control panel. With today's technology, it is no longer necessary to go to that level of trouble. Devices, such as the VoiceDirect 364 from Sensory Inc. , and others can be adapted to augment the existing controls and provide voice control to elevators. Door Control Some wheelchair users may not have sufficient mobility to press the door opener switches on public buildings. Devices similar to those described above can be used to augment these switches. Office Systems In an office environment, repetitive stress injury is always a concern. Continuous speech dictation systems, such as ViaVoice from IBM and Voice Xpress from Lernout & Hauspie, show great promise in their ability to alleviate this potential problem. While not ideal for a noisy office environment, once trained, the systems perform admirably where there is not substantial background noise. These systems may also offer assistance to employees who are motion or visually impaired. In fact, a personal computer equipped with a voice-recognition package and a speech-synthesis package allows persons with virtually no visual acuity to access data from and create and organize data for the computer. Continuous speech-recognition systems can also be used to assist in filling out forms by physically and visually challenged persons. In addition, telephone systems can be updated to support voice activated dialing for hands-free operation. Web Access Systems from InTouch Systems, IBM and others provide unified messaging via telephones. This type of environment allows users to access e-mail, voice mail and Web sites -- all from a telephone. Access to the information is provided by a bi-directional speech-based interface. When the user is prompted for the type of information requested, the user can reply with a touch-tone key press or by speaking. If the material to be delivered is not already in audible form, the system translates the text to speech using speech synthesis. -- By Peter Hermsen VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List. To join or leave the list, send a message to [log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations. VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html