>From: Mark Quigley <MQuigley@NCD.GOV>
>Subject: NCD Explores Emerging Technology Trends
>and Provides Strategies for Change
>Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:48:23 -0500
>
>NEWS RELEASE
>
>NCD #06-528
>
>December 27, 2006
>
>Contact: Mark S. Quigley
>
>202-272-2004
>
>202-272-2074 TTY
>
>
>
>National Council on Disability Explores Emerging
>Technology Trends and Provides Strategies for Change
>
>WASHINGTON¯The National Council on Disability
>(NCD) today released Over the Horizon: Potential
>Impact of Emerging Trends in Information and
>Communication Technology on Disability Policy
>and Practice
>(http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2006/emerging_trends.htm),
>a policy paper that explores key trends in
>information and communication technology,
>highlights the potential opportunities and
>problems these trends present for people with
>disabilities, and suggests some strategies to
>maximize opportunities and avoid potential problems and barriers.
>
>The technologies used in information and
>communication products are advancing at an ever
>increasing rate. Devices are getting smaller,
>lighter, cheaper, and more capable. Electronics
>are being incorporated into practically
>everything, making a wide variety of products
>programmable, and thus more flexible. Computing
>power is increasing exponentially.
>
>According to NCD chairperson John R. Vaughn,
>"The more reliant society becomes on technology
>to perform fundamental aspects of every-day
>living, how we work, communicate, learn, shop,
>and interact with our environment , the more
>imperative it is that people with disabilities
>have access to that same technology, and the
>more costly will be the consequences of failure to ensure access."
>
>
>
>This paper discusses technology trends that
>present opportunities for universally designed
>products, and for improved availability,
>usability, and affordability of assistive
>technology that can have significant impact on
>quality of life for people with disabilities.
>The first trend discussed is the ever-increasing
>computational power plus the decreasing size and
>cost of technology-resulting in technology that
>is more portable, affordable, and for which it
>is easier to build in access. Second, advances
>in interface technology are creating new
>opportunities for better assistive technologies,
>more accessible mainstream technologies, and
>entirely new ways for users to control both.
>Third, new advances will soon enable people to
>be connected to communication and information
>networks, at any time, wherever they are-making
>real time assistance only a button press or
>voice command away. Finally, the proliferation
>of virtual places via the World Wide Web is
>changing the way we approach communications,
>education, work, and commerce - increasing
>access to goods and services without the need to leave home.
>
>Many of the same technological advances that
>show great promise of improved accessibility,
>however, also have the potential to create new
>barriers for people with disabilities. The
>following are some emerging technology trends
>that are causing accessibility problems.
>
>* Devices will continue to get more
>complex to operate before they get simpler. This
>is already a problem for mainstream users, but
>even more of a problem for people with cognitive
>disabilities and people who have cognitive decline due to aging.
>
>* Increased use of digital controls
>(e.g., push buttons used in combination with
>displays, touch screens, etc.) is creating
>problems for people with blindness, cognitive, and other disabilities.
>
>* The shrinking size of products is
>creating problems for people with physical and visual disabilities.
>
>* The trend toward closed systems, for
>digital rights management or security reasons,
>is preventing people from adapting devices to
>make them accessible, or from attaching
>assistive technology so they can access the devices.
>
>* Increasing use of automated
>self-service devices, especially in unattended
>locations, is posing problems for some, and absolute barriers for others.
>
>* The decrease of face-to-face
>interaction, and increase in e-business,
>e-government, e-learning, e-shopping, etc., is
>resulting in a growing portion of our everyday
>world and services becoming inaccessible to
>those who are unable to access these
>Internet-based places and services, particularly
>when the Web sites are not created in accordance
>with Web accessibility standards.
>
>In addition, the incorporation of new
>technologies into products is causing products
>to advance beyond current accessibility
>techniques and strategies. The rapid churn of
>mainstream technologies, that is, the rapid
>replacement of one product by another, is so
>fast that neither assistive technology nor
>technology-specific accessibility standards are
>keeping pace. Without action, the gap between
>the mainstream technology products being
>introduced and the assistive technologies
>necessary to make them accessible will increase,
>as will the numbers of technologies for which no
>accessibility adaptations are available.
>
>The paper sets forth the following issues for action:
>
>
>* Maximize the effectiveness of assistive
>technologies and lower their cost. Key strategy:
>Foster results oriented R & D all the way to commercial availability.
>
>
>* Maximize the accessibility of
>mainstream information and communication
>technology products, so that people with
>disabilities and seniors can use standard
>products as they encounter them. Key strategies:
>Increase funding for research, proof of concept,
>and commercial hardening of approaches to
>accessible design of mainstream products to advance understanding in this area.
>
>
>* Ensure that access to the Internet and
>other virtual environments is provided, as it
>has been to physical places of public accommodation.
>
>
>* Address new barriers to the
>accessibility of digital media caused by digital
>rights management, including when visual and audio rights are sold separately.
>
>
>* Base all policy regarding information
>and communication technology accessibility on a
>realization of the importance of the business
>case. Where a solid business case cannot be
>built based on market forces alone, create
>accessibility regulations and effective
>enforcement mechanisms that provide a clear
>profit advantage to those who comply and a disadvantage to those who do not.
>
>
>* Create accessibility laws and
>regulations that are not technology specific,
>but are based on the functions of a device.
>
>
>* Ensure that up-to-date information
>about accessible mainstream technology and
>assistive technology is available to and being used by the public.
>
>
>"The policies we adopt today will determine
>whether the technology of the future empowers
>people with disabilities, enabling them to work,
>learn, communicate, shop, and live independent,
>productive lives as full and equal members of society," Vaughn concluded.
>
>
>
>For more information, please contact Julie
>Carroll or Mark S. Quigley at 202-272-2004 or 202-272-2074 TTY.
>
># # #
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Mark S. Quigley
>
>Director of Communications
>
>National Council on Disability
>
>1331 F Street, NW Suite 850
>
>Washington, DC 20004
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