Dear Curtises, and other fine fellows on the committee:
The enclosed is a quotation from the Federal Register on which
you might wish to comment. (There is only one more week to get
comments into government hands, so be quick about it.)
One oversight important to me is that special "one-off" projects
for special cases are not mentioned.
You computer jeniuses might take note of that, since there is the
occasional need for a customized configuration or a tricky one-
purpose program.
Here it is, your opportunity to throw in more than 2 cents of
worth.
Bill Gerrey
Meanwhile, I got an E-mail address:
david_esquith@ed.gov
Fax: (202) 205-8515
* * *
mail tvc@iglou.com
Subject: NIDRR's listed priorities via Bill Gerrey
Dear Dr. TVC,
Here is the section from the Aug. 25th Federal Register referring
to blindness and low vision. Public comments must be in hand by
September 26.
The only response channel they list is "snail mail" as follows:
David Esquith
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave. S.W.
Switzer Bldg., Room 3424
Washington, D.C. 20202-2601
Sorry for providing you with some reading; here comes the
quoted section:
Proposed Priority 2: Technology for Low Vision and Blindness
Background
The National Center for Health Statistics and other authorities
variously estimate the number of legally blind persons in the
United States at 400,000 to 600,000, with another 1.4 million
persons severely visually impaired. More than 10 million others
have some visual impairment that cannot be further improved
with corrective lenses. There are also large and rapidly increasing
numbers of older individuals with impairments in contrast, binocularity,
and adaptation, which significantly limit their performance
in a wide variety of everyday tasks.
Technological innovations arising from the development of
new scientific and medical knowledge can have a positive impact
on the lives of persons with low vision or blindness. While
progress has been made regarding educational and vocational
:aids, optical amplifiers for low vision, orientation and mobility
aids, and improved functional vision assessment, the need remains
for improvements in these areas. For example, there is a need
for new and innovative adaptive devices and development of systems
engineering solutions to assist in our efforts to prepare all
children with low vision and blindness to enter school ready
to learn through early identification, monitoring, and treatment
of visual impairments in neonates and infants.
A report of the Technology Research Working Group stemming
from the NIDRR Project Directors Meeting in January 1994, identified
the need for technology to improve access to visual displays,
including flat panel displays and devices that use liquid crystal
displays with low contrast. Research is also needed to maintain
access to new products with advancing technology used in the
home, workplace, and the community, such as solid state displays,
keypads, and compact disc technology.
Vision-related research is needed to provide access to public
facilities and mass transit. One of the main problems for persons
who are blind or visually impaired is locating the facility
in question (e.g., the bus stop, the subway entrance, ticket
vending machine, telephone, bathrooms, etc.), or for orientation
and mobility in large open areas or closed crowded spaces. New
techniques for orientation and mobility will increase independent
:mobility for persons with blindness and low vision and decrease
dependance on others for information and assistance. There is
also a need to research, develop, and evaluate new and adaptive
technology for persons with deaf-blindness, including tactile
communications for devices such as emergency alarms, doorbells,
and TDD phones.
Captioning technology and systems have been developed to
provide audio information in visual form for persons who are
deaf. A need exists for these same types of technology and systems
to provide visual information in audio form for persons who
are blind. As technology becomes increasingly graphic in nature,
especially with the proliferation of computer-generated imagery,
persons who are blind or who have low vision are increasingly
at risk of being denied access to communication formats that
are high in graphic content.
The feasibility of descriptive video has been investigated
(Technical Viability of Descriptive Video Services, June 1990,
prepared for U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special
Education Programs). A need exists to advance this technology
in order to increase utilization of descriptive video by persons
with low vision and blindness.
Proposed Priority
:
An RERC on low vision and blindness shall-
+ Develop technology and methods for the detection, monitoring,
and diagnosis of visual impairments in neonates and infants;
+ Develop technology and methods for orientation and mobility
in large open areas, including map reading, or crowded rooms
for persons with blindness or low vision;
+ Develop reduced-cost engineering solutions for increasing
utilization of descriptive video;
+ Develop technology and methods for improving access to
visual displays, including flat panel displays (e.g., develop
an adaptive template overlay technology for flat panel displays),
found in the home, in the community, and at work such as automatic
teller machines, home appliances, stereo equipment, and other
devices that use LCD and LED technologies;
+ Develop technology to maintain access to new products with
advancing technology used in the home, workplace, and the community,
such as solid state displays, keypads, and compact disc technology;
+ Develop technology, such as emergency alarms, doorbells,
and TDD phones, for persons with deaf-blindness to assist them
in their activities of daily living;
+ Develop technology and methods for improving access by
persons with low vision or blindness to electronic information
:systems; and
+ Develop an engineering design review method for application
to proposed new technology projects that first considers commercially
available or universal design interfaces before developing orphan
technology for individuals with low vision and blindness.
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