ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY AND EMERGING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

September 30, 1996

National Council on Disability
1331 F Street, N.W., Suite 1050
Washington, DC 20004-1107

202-272-2004
202-272-2074 TT
202-272-2022 Fax
http://www.ncd.gov

The views contained in this report do not necessarily represent those of the Administration, as this document was not subjected to the A-19 Executive Branch review process.

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY

Members

Marca Bristo, Chairperson
John A. Gannon, Vice Chairperson
Yerker Andersson, Ph.D.
Larry Brown, Jr.
John D. Kemp
Audrey McCrimon
Bonnie O'Day
Lilliam R. Pollo
Debra Robinson
Shirley W. Ryan
Michael B. Unhjem
Rae E. Unzicker
Hughey Walker
Kate P. Wolters
Ela Yazzie-King

Staff

Ethel D. Briggs, Executive Director
Speed Davis, Executive Assistant to the Chairperson
Billie Jean Hill, Program Specialist
Jamal Mazrui, Program Specialist
Mark S. Quigley, Public Affairs Specialist and Editor
Brenda Bratton, Executive Secretary
Stacey S. Brown, Staff Assistant
Janice Mack, Administrative Officer

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The National Council on Disability wishes to express its appreciation to Dr. Gregg C. Vanderheiden and Maureen Kaine-Krolak, OTR, MSEE, Trace Research and Development Center, Waisman Center and Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, for their work on this report.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Executive Summary

Briefly, What Is the National Information Infrastructure, and What Can I Do with It?

Components of NII

Where Is NII Going?

Implications for People with Disabilities

General Accessibility Guidelines

Goals

Options

Forces That Cause Change in Design and Accessibility

Strategies for Achieving Change

Conclusion

Additional Readings

Appendix: Mission of the National Council on Disability

PREFACE

The National Council on Disability would like to remind the reader that the topic covered by this paper is dynamic and changes daily. Even as this document was being finalized, telecommunication legislation was passed that significantly rewrote the rules of the game. Although most of the changes were anticipated and incorporated into this document, the impact of the legislation is still being analyzed.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

As part of its research agenda, the National Council on Disability (NCD) established a community-based, cross-disability consumer task force on technology in January 1995. Known as Technology Watch (Tech Watch), the 11-member task force provides information to NCD on issues relating to emerging legislation on technology and helps monitor compliance with civil rights legislation, such as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

This report falls under the purview of NCD's Tech Watch.

What Is the Information Superhighway?

In general, the National Information Infrastructure (NII), or the information superhighway, refers to a system of information networks and information services that will connect people across the country and internationally, and provide them with a variety of information. NII will connect the home, school, workplace, community, and eventually any other place on earth via local area network (LAN)-based, wireless, and satellite networks. Services will include all of those provided by the telephone, television, computer, and Internet systems today, plus many new services. NII should not be equated with the Internet. The Internet is the global network of computers that supports certain communication protocols, thereby facilitating electronic mail (e-mail), the World Wide Web, and other forms of information exchange. The Internet will be a major component, but in the long run, NII will be much more pervasive, much faster, and much more convenient.

Where Is NII Going?

Although no one knows exactly where NII is going, there are a number of clear trends, most of which have significant implications for individuals with disabilities.

One major trend is the convergence of the various communication, telecommunication, and computing fields. The lines between them are blurring rapidly. A second major trend is toward the client/server or net-centric model, in which the bulk of the program, data storage, and so forth, is located on a central system or a network, making available much more powerful capabilities at much lower expense. A related change is the development of "applets," small application programs that are downloaded from the network to the personal communicator/computer whenever they are needed. When the user is finished with them, they disappear, to be downloaded again when they are needed.

A close corollary to these developments is distributed serving, in which the product or service being purchased is made up of many components from different sources that are automatically combined.

Multimedia animation and virtual reality (VR) are also coming into much more frequent use. Although they have been somewhat limited to date because of slow network speed, use of both will be increasing as networks get faster. They will be appearing not just in entertainment, where their major use is today, but in education, shopping, and virtually every other aspect of daily life.

The form of access to NII is also changing and now includes information appliances and personal digital assistants, set-top boxes that provide access via the television set, public service terminals or kiosks such as automatic teller machines (ATMs), and public service vending/transaction terminals such as fare machines. Constraints for providing access will be slightly different for each of these forms.

In addition to these trends, the concept of a universal address or telephone number is beginning to be discussed. This number would be an identity that would follow people throughout their lives.

The concept of "smart cards," including wireless smart cards, is also being considered. These are small credit-card-sized devices with a computer in them. With the wireless variety, information about individuals and their preferences could be communicated to a device simply by approaching the device. Products or services could also be paid for without handling currency.

Implications for People with Disabilities

NII has the potential to level the playing field in many areas of life, but it can also pose new barriers.

Advantages

For people with disabilities, NII provides all the advantages provided to everyone else, plus some special ones. The special advantages include the following:

• Drastically increasing the ability of individuals with some types of disabilities (including visual, hearing, physical, and cognitive/language impairments) to access and use information.
  
  
• Decreasing the personal isolation that individuals experience because of restrictions in their ability to move about, communicate, or get together with others sharing their interests or situation.
  
  
• Allowing individuals to interact with others in a way that makes their disability invisible or irrelevant.
  
  
• Allowing convenient access to educational and medical services.

Disadvantages

Anyone who cannot afford or who cannot physically access and use NII will be at a severe disadvantage. Inaccessibility poses a special risk for individuals with disabilities. If access depends on third-party developers' ability to create special interfaces, people with disabilities are likely to always be left 6 to 12 months behind. In addition, multimedia trends pose difficulties for individuals with visual impairments, and pointing and gesture interfaces are difficult for individuals with physical impairments. Voice input can create problems for both individuals with hearing impairments and those with physical/speech impairments if no alternate input options are provided.

Barriers and potential barriers

Barriers to use of emerging communication and transaction technologies include

• The standard socioeconomic barriers;
• The complexity in the design of many of the products;
• The use of graphic interfaces;
• The use of touchscreens and pointing interfaces where alternate input techniques are not available;
• Virtual environments;
• Sound;
• Animation and interactive systems;
• The sealed nature of public systems, which must have built-in access accommodations if they are to be made accessible.

Although all of the above are potential barriers to people with disabilities, strategies are available today to provide access to the various types of environment. In some cases, the techniques are quite good, and provide complete and efficient access to the information/service. In other cases, rudimentary strategies have been developed, but further work is required. The interface field generally is evolving rapidly, and new technology and interface developments are creating new challenges.

General Accessibility Guidelines

Some general access strategies can be applied across all information systems. In the list below, the major disability groups that would be affected by each strategy are shown in brackets.

1. Visual information--All information that is presented visually (or stored as an image), should have an alternate or supplemental presentation (or storage format) that does not require vision (e.g., auditory format or ASCII text). [blindness, cognitive/language impairment]
   
   
2. Auditory information--All information that is presented auditorily (or stored as a sound file), should have an alternate or supplemental mode of presentation (or storage format) that does not rely on hearing (e.g., visual mode or ASCII text file). (Auditory information includes beeps or any other sounds that convey information.) [hearing impairment, deafness, cognitive/language impairment]
   
   
3. Eye-hand coordination controls--All controls that require eye-hand coordination (mice, trackballs, ordinary touchscreens), should have an alternate or supplemental mode that does not require eye-hand coordination (e.g., keyboard, Talking Fingertip touchscreen). [blindness, physical impairment]
   
   
4. Physical requirements--Any input or control mechanisms that require fine movement control, physical dexterity, reach, or strength should have an alternate mechanism (such as scanning or keyboard navigation) that does not have such physical requirements. Mechanisms that require simultaneous activation of two buttons, latches, and so forth, should be avoided. Timed responses should be avoided, or a mechanism provided for extending the times. [physical impairment, cognitive/language impairment]
   
   
5. Operation--The operation of the device/system should be as simple, predictable, and error tolerant as possible. [cognitive/language, low vision, physical disability, blindness]
   
   
6. Connectivity--Wherever possible, provide an external standard connection point should be available to connect alternate displays and/or alternate input/control mechanisms (e.g., infrared link or RS232 port with alternate display and control capability). [blindness, physical impairment]

Goals Regarding Accessibility and NII

Goal 1: Products should be both accessible and USABLE by people with disabilities.

Goal 2: Source materials (print, audiovisual, multimedia, VR) should be presentation independent or multimodal.

Goal 3: Public systems should be directly accessible by the widest possible constituency.

Goal 4: To the extent feasible, accessibility to all products should be direct (built-in), rather than requiring the user to modify the product or purchase assistive technologies in order to use the product.

Goal 5: Devices and systems should be flexible enough that people who lack one or more of the following capabilities can still use them: Vision; hearing; speech; fine movement control; reach; average cognitive skills; average ability to concentrate.

Although these goals may seem ambitious, some products already come close to achieving or do achieve all of these objectives. Achieving these goals would also increase the general usability and flexibility of next-generation systems for all users.

Options

Two general options exist for making products and systems accessible by people with disabilities. One is to design the products so they are directly usable by people with disabilities. The other is to design them so they can be adapted or used with assistive technologies. A third, hybrid option is to design products with both characteristics.

1. Built-in access

Built-in access has a number of advantages. It does not require individuals with disabilities to purchase or own special equipment. It is convenient because it does not require individuals to carry special assistive technologies with them. There is no delay between the moment a device is released and in general use and the moment that third-party manufacturers can develop access adaptations. The user is not left without access because third-party manufacturers deem the market for access devices too small. Individuals who are progressively losing their abilities (e.g., because of aging), and who may be in denial, are able to successfully access and use the systems for which they would not purchase or use an assistive technology because of the stigma. Built-in access is particularly effective if the access features are a natural part of the adjustability of the device and are routinely used by others.

The major difficulty with this approach is that it is not always practical to build access for every type, degree, and combination of disability directly into every instance of a product (e.g., dynamic braille displays for individuals who are deaf-blind).

2. Adaptation or use in conjunction with assistive technologies

This approach also has advantages. Individuals can use an interface that is familiar to them for controlling different appliances. Such an interface provides an access mechanism for individuals with severe or multiple disabilities, where building access directly into the product is not currently practical. On small or inexpensive systems, for which direct built-in access may be extremely difficult, a small connection link may be quite practical.

The disadvantages of this approach are the need for individuals to wait for assistive technologies to be developed for each new product, then to purchase those technologies and carry them about.

3. Hybrid approach

The hybrid approach is to build as much direct access into a product as is practical, and to work with assistive technologies as a fallback for individuals for whom direct access is not possible or practical. It combines the advantages of the first two options, while circumventing most of their individual disadvantages. The primary issue is to determine when accessibility should be directly built in, and when the device should be used with third-party assistive technologies. Usually it is not optimal or even realistic to expect users to carry special assistive technologies with them. However, for individuals with severe and multiple disabilities (e.g., deaf-blindness), there may be no other practical approach for some products. There may also be limitations on extremely small or inexpensive products.

Forces That Cause Change in Design and Accessibility

Three major factors can cause change:

1. Awareness that there is a problem and that solutions can be implemented economically.

Almost without exception, when researchers have visited companies to encourage more accessible (more universal) designs, executives were either unaware of the problems their current designs posed or unaware that cost-effective solutions could be easily implemented to make their products more accessible. (In many cases, executives were unaware that people with disabilities use their products.) Basic awareness is essential to progress.

2. Knowledge of specific, acceptable and effective solutions.

Once industry has been made aware of a problem, there have frequently been requests for more specific information related to the problems and solutions. Specific, detailed ideas and options have been requested, along with as much flexibility as possible. (Some industry members who have been embarrassed by moving forward with one implementation only to be criticized for not doing it right, also want some assurance of consensus within the disability community before proceeding.) Specific, practical, flexible and cross-disability approved guidelines are needed to move forward with any speed in this area.

3. Motivation to move the priority high enough to get it acted on.

Almost all company representatives have commented that both internal and external motivations were necessary to either get accessibility programs moving or keep them moving. A surprising number have said that legislation requiring accessibility would be helpful to their efforts by

• Raising the priority from "really should do this, really want to do this" to "really must do this" so that accessibility programs can compete with other "must do" priorities within the company; and
  
  
• Leveling the playing field by requiring the competition to also take the time initially to build the features in or to learn how to design more universally.

Other motivating forces mentioned included larger market (usually deemed negligible for any one feature); demand by customers; recognition in the press (e.g., if all product reviews in the press also evaluated product accessibility); and right thing to do (usually not enough by itself to move from "want to do" to "must do").

Strategies for achieving change

If the agents of change are awareness, knowledge, and motivation, then the strategies for causing change should be based on these agents. The strategies include those presented in the document "Policy Recommendations from the Universal Access Project," by Deborah Kaplan. There are recommendations specifically for government, for industry, for technical/research groups, and for consumers. All are considered key to bringing about the changes necessary to ensure NII access for everyone.

Strategies for increasing awareness

The need for increased awareness of access issues and strategies is not limited to industry designers and engineers. Researchers in both the public and private sectors must to be included in activities to increase awareness. Likewise, policy makers and people with disabilities must be more aware of the issues and strategies surrounding access to information systems.

Government agencies, such as NCD, can employ strategies such as defining access as a policy goal; ensuring that the topic of access is a high priority; including at least a section discussing disability access issues in any documentation on NII; assuming a leadership role in publicizing the benefits of access; including access in policy initiatives regarding universal service and universal access; and requiring that all grants dealing with NII include a statement describing how recipients will address issues of disability access. Agencies can also support efforts to secure broad input from disability groups, bring the different groups together to identify acceptable cross-disability access strategies, and promote activities that can heighten public and industry awareness of access issues.

Private industry can establish company-wide policy on accessibility, establish and implement internal disability access teams, encourage collaboration across all company divisions and segments to explore access issues, and ensure that product support mechanisms exist to allow appropriate communication and interaction with people with disabilities.

Technical and research groups can publish professional papers describing research and development efforts regarding disability access issues, publicize access-related research and development efforts, and participate in and disseminate information at disability- and nondisability-related conferences.

Consumers and disability constituencies can make access needs known to providers and give both positive and negative feedback, provide input to government and industry regulatory and policy boards such as NCD's Tech Watch, closely consider cross-disability access issues in contrast to those of their own particular constituency, work cooperatively with other disability constituencies, and participate in government- and industry-sponsored activities to promote awareness of access issues.

Strategies for Creation and Dissemination of Knowledge

The creation and dissemination of knowledge pertaining to access have two major components. First, research must be sponsored to develop answers and solution strategies to the many access issues posed by emerging technologies. Second, the knowledge obtained must to be disseminated to researchers, developers, manufacturers, policymakers, and consumers.

Government can create funding programs that target accessibility research, recognize that much government-funded research is conducted in areas that are complementary to accessibility research and require that accessibility be included in such research, foster university-industry research and development efforts, promote efforts between disability-oriented technology research groups and research groups focused on next-generation information system and human-computer interfaces, work at all levels to disseminate information to agencies having direct contact with individuals with disabilities, disseminate information to disability advocacy and consumer groups, publicize new information in appropriate journals and media, encourage consumer and user participation in educating policymakers regarding access issues, and include consumer feedback mechanisms for all NII development activities.

Industry can include people with disabilities in human factors and product design research and in alpha and beta testing cycles, provide access to early product betas and developer support for third-party access developers and manufacturers, and provide adequate training to product support staff.

Technical and research groups can, in addition to the strategies listed for government and industry, work closely both with groups representing a variety of disabilities and with industry.

Consumers and disability communities can educate themselves and others regarding existing and future technologies and related access issues, educate product and service providers as to specific product-and service-related access needs, and work within the framework of government and industry concerns.

Strategies for increasing motivation

Although legislating change is not the only mechanism for motivating change, a surprisingly large number of company executives have confidentially suggested legislation as the most effective mechanism for causing change within their companies. They have cited two key factors in coming to this conclusion.

First, without some type of forcing factor (i.e., legislation), providing access to people with disabilities falls into the important or very important category and not into the urgent or critical category. Second, almost all companies involved in information technology are in fierce competition with multiple rivals. Legislation or regulations that require everyone to address these issues have the effect of leveling the playing field, so the company that does address them does not risk potential disadvantage.

However, executives are quick to follow with an admonition that setting such legislation or standards in this area must be done carefully, or it could be very problematic. Unlike public telephones, elevators, and restrooms, which tend to be standard in appearance today, communication and information appliances and systems take on myriad different forms. Moreover, it is expected that the technologies in this area will continue to advance and evolve at an astonishing rate, making it difficult to predict what form, size, or shape the technologies of the future will have. Conversely, if access regulations are sufficiently general to allow for endless implementations, it becomes difficult to judge exactly what constitutes compliance. Probably the most effective strategy, therefore, is to set performance standards based on a reasonableness test. For example, a product should be usable by all individuals with disabilities whenever building such capabilities into products is reasonable and achievable. A measure of reasonable and achievable can then be based on whether other companies or competitors include such features in their products. This approach provides great motivation for companies to step forward and be among the first, since in doing so they demonstrate that accessibility is reasonable and achievable, thus compelling their competition (under the regulations) also to address the issue. Unlike their competitors, however, innovative companies will not have to consider redesign of their system to provide access. Thus, moving first provides companies a competitive advantage and saves them time and redesign.

NOTE: The legislation passed by Congress uses the term "readily achievable," which is not as strong as "undue burden" or "reasonable and achievable" but still applies in the situations described above.

Legislative or regulatory action is a critical strategy for providing motivation. It is not the only strategy, however, and is therefore presented along with other recommendations below.

Government can increase motivation by updating regulations to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to better account for information technology, adopt performance benchmarking for accessibility, encourage the private sector to work collaboratively with experts designing technological solutions to access barriers, include access and universal design requirements in existing or new legislation, set standards according to legislative mandates, apply standards and requirements to all government efforts, and include requests or requirements for disability access in all federal and state purchase requests.

Motivation can be increased by all players by providing documentation to industry of any increase in market size or market penetration that would result from incorporating access, stimulating customer requests for access features, promoting and achieving the inclusion of disability access features in product reviews, providing recognition or awards for particularly well-designed products or services, and developing cross-disability consensus regarding recommended access features.

BRIEFLY, WHAT IS THE NATIONAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE, AND WHAT CAN I DO WITH IT?

What is the National Information Infrastructure, or the information superhighway?

When people speak of the National Information Infrastructure (NII) or the information superhighway, they have various ideas of what the terms refer to. In general, NII refers to a system of information networks and information services that will connect people across the country and will provide them with a variety of information resources and services. Eventually, NII will be part of a much larger Global Information Infrastructure, or GII.) Connectivity will be possible in the home, school, workplace, community, and beyond, and will be accomplished via terrestrial, satellite, and wireless networks. Information that will be available includes print materials, sound recordings, graphics/pictures, movies, databases, and software. Services such as telemedicine, distance learning, publishing, and telecommuting will be possible; and federal, state, and local government services will be provided via these networks.

Much more than the Internet

Although many people equate NII with the Internet (our current electronic information highway system, which is a global network of computers that supports certain communication protocols, thereby facilitating e-mail, the World Wide Web, and other forms of information exchange), the envisioned and developing NII system is much broader than this. The information superhighway will allow information to be accessed in a variety of environments and via a variety of technologies, including the computer, the telephone, the television (via set-top boxes), and public information systems such as touchscreen kiosks.

As NII development progresses, a diverse range of industries will be involved in development efforts, including

• broadcast television,
• cable television,
• cellular and personal communications,
• computer hardware and software,
• consumer electronics,
• infotainment and advertising,
• publishing,
• local and long distance telephone companies,
• electric utilities,
• satellite providers, and
• wireless cable.

What use would I have for NII?

An extremely wide variety of things can be done on the current NII (let's call it a limited access highway), and even more will be possible on the NII that is emerging (let's call that the information superhighway, plus all its feeder roads and the driveways leading up to your house, school, company, etc.).

Following are some things that can be done using today's technologies, as well as some future capabilities. Many of the items listed under "tomorrow" are being demonstrated in laboratories today, but we do not yet have the bandwidth or connections to implement them. The situation is continually changing.

Technologies available today

Below are some services and activities that are possible on NII using today's technologies. In some cases, services and activities are possible using existing information infrastructure. In other cases, the technology is available to support the activity or service, but the connectivity (e.g., the wiring into homes and schools) is not.

Have a hobby?

Use the Internet to subscribe to newsletters about your hobby or to create and distribute your own newsletter. Participate in interactive discussions on topics of interest with people from your town or from anywhere in the world.

Need to communicate with your family in an emergency?

Send an emergency alert to everyone in your family simultaneously and have it arrive moments later. Various members of the family can easily contact other family members to make arrangements or to provide regular updates.

Trouble with your taxes?

Get any forms you need from the system. Complete the forms--the system can do all the math for you--and submit them. If you need help, you can make inquiries to the IRS or seek advice on assistance online from consultants or companies doing tax work. Or you can do the work yourself, tapping into public domain tax help systems.

Need a job, or simply curious about whether you could get a better job?

Use the system to confidentially search massive job databases. Set up a search that will automatically check the job postings every day, and alert you only if it finds job postings that meet your criteria. Or put your name, resume, and qualifications in a confidential job bank that prospective employers can search.

Want to buy a particular type of car?

Post the make, model, year, and other characteristics. Have the system return a list of all cars meeting your criteria that are for sale, with sellers listed in order by their distance from you. The list can include pictures, and the system can be customized to perform tasks such as periodic searching for a particular rare car.

Hungry?

Order a pizza via your system.

Paying bills?

Use your system to collect, list, and pay bills; transfer money between accounts; and quickly check any or all of your account balances.

Want to read a book?

Have full access to your library's card catalog to see which books are available. In the future, download any book instantly to a small reader the approximate size and weight of a paperback.

Want to travel?

Have the system describe various travel destinations and options. Tell the system where you want or need to go and obtain a list of all accommodations in the area. Customize the listings you order by distance from your destination, by cost, or by both. Get descriptions of the places that interest you, including pictures of the exterior, lobby, and rooms. Book a room with a keystroke or a click of the mouse.

Next, have the system find all the flights and list them with their costs. Pick a flight, and have the system show you all the available seats. Choose your own seat, and have the tickets sent to your house (or just log into an itinerary so that you need only identify yourself as you get on the plane). Making changes is easy, since your system knows all your arrangements.

Looking for a rare tool or stamp, or a hard-to-find pen or utensil?

Electronically search through hundreds of thousands of related products and have the system show you the best matches, until you find what you want.

Want to know what the weather's like?

Have instant access, from any location, to weather conditions anywhere in the world.

Want to know what the traffic's like?

From any location (including your car), have instant access to traffic conditions in any monitored location.

Want to go to a movie or see a play?

Get a listing of all movies, plays, or other entertainment in town, including starting times and locations. View promotional stills or videoclips from movies or plays of interest.

Want to stay home and watch a movie?

Access any movie at any time on your own television. It's like having a video store at your fingertips, except the movie you want is never out of stock. You can locate the desired movie without wandering around searching, or you can browse by title, topic, actor, or whatever category suits you.

Have a security problem at your home?

Set up a system with a surveillance camera that automatically calls you and lets you see what's going on if any sensors (fire, smoke, burglar, etc.) are triggered. If you see something suspicious or a problem, call the local authorities and patch them in so they can observe as well.

Need to send a message with explicit directions?

Send a message to anyone from almost any location, with voice, writing, or signed communications, along with sketches or drawings if needed.

Want to catch up on the news, but always miss the newscast?

Check on the status of any news stories at any time.

Need to conduct some research for school, work, or your hobby?

Ask your system to collect information from the millions of databases on NII and prepare a compilation of materials for you to peruse. Set the parameters of the search as narrowly or as broadly as you wish, and include parameters for how you'd like the information sorted. Ask your system to bring back articles, pictures, sound recordings, or videoclips/movies as needed.

Have a confidential medical question but feel awkward talking about it even anonymously?

Log into computer-assisted help lines that guide you to information on just about any topic, completely anonymously, with no human involvement.

Have a child in school?

Find out what the evening homework assignment is. Check on the school lunch for tomorrow (or for the week). Check on the school calendar for scheduled parent-teacher conferences, extracurricular activities, tutoring opportunities, and so forth.

Are you in school?

Use the net to learn about various schools, programs, or courses of study. Have the system compare the courses you've taken with those required for any degree, and get a report of what would still be needed to complete that degree. See what courses are offered and which ones still have openings. Register for courses and pay fees. Apply for financial aid. Use the system to communicate with your professor, and perhaps even take some online courses. Tap into any of a vast array of libraries and other resources on the net. Use the simulation programs on the net to carry out laboratory exercises, and so on, either on campus or at home. Use online tutoring services.

Having trouble finding someone?

Find any listed phone number or address anywhere in the United States.

Want to get a divorce?

Use the divorce kiosks in Nevada. (They work so well that even lawyers are using them to prepare filing papers for clients.)

Are you a scientist?

Use NII to connect massive computer systems across large distances. Study the stars; predict the weather; study molecular physics; run simulations of nuclear, biological, or other systems. Use high-speed, high-bandwidth communication channels to carry out experiments on equipment located across the country or across the globe; tie together remote scientists, equipment, and sites in collaborative efforts.

Are you a business person?

Use the system to link employees around the city, the state, the country, or the world to allow rapid exchange of documents and information and to carry out collaborative activities. Have an integrated data processing system, make information on your products available to anyone at any time, allow people to order (and possibly ship) your products to them at any time, and eventually (see below) conduct live virtual meetings.

Have a disability?

See all of the above for easier and more accessible ways of doing many of the things you do through slower or more travel-intensive means today.

Can't read the label on a can (because you are blind or have low vision, or the label is written in a foreign language)?

Call a friend and hold the can up so the friend can read the label to you. Or, in the future, use your system to grab an image of the label and send it to a service to read it back to you electronically (all without human intervention).

Want to have one mailbox where you get all your faxes, e-mails, voice messages, and so forth?

With centralized translators, you can have faxes, voice mail, e-mail, and so on, all changed into whichever form of communication is most accessible to you or most convenient for you--including print, electronic form, voice, and so on. You can also choose in what form you'd like to have the information presented at any time. Information can be presented in voice while you're driving your car, for example, or in print for your files or for tucking into your pocket.

Tomorrow's technologies

Want to travel to and see places you don't have the time, money, or physical ability to visit?

Travel to and explore places throughout the world, where you are able to see and hear everything exactly as if you were there and to move about freely. If you are older or have a mobility impairment, you can just point and move about effortlessly--even visiting with people, having dinner with them, and so on. (You supply your own food).

Want to communicate with someone in another country, but you don't speak the language?

Carry on a conversation with someone from another country, where you hear each other speaking in your own native tongues.

Want to carry on a face-to-face conversation with someone who is deaf, but you don't know sign language?

Speak to the person who is deaf, and have his or her terminal device convert your speech to text or sign language. When the individual communicates back using sign language, have your terminal device convert the sign language into speech.

As you look through the list, you will probably find many things you have no interest in, or would not be interested in paying for. However, you will likely find other activities that do interest you. Some of these activities are things you are able to do today, but in other ways. Others represent new capabilities that you would have--if you had access to NII.

For all the information, services, and capabilities that NII has to offer, it is important to recognize that people who have access will be able to do many things faster, easier, and during more hours of the day, but people without access will enjoy none of those advantages.

COMPONENTS OF NII

To make NII accessible and to better recognize existing and potential access issues, it is important to understand the various components. Although there are numerous ways of classifying NII components, for this discussion NII is divided into four categories:

1. Sources of information;
2. Transmission mechanisms (pipeline);
3. Translation and other services during the transmission process; and
4. Viewer-controllers.

1. Sources of information

The first component of NII is the information provider. Providers are the people who create the information or data that are sent over NII to others. Information must be produced either in accessible formats or in formats which can be easily translated into accessible formats. Examples of information sources include

• Publishers (books, magazines, newspapers, special newsletters)
• Libraries
• Government services (information on employment, financial aid, taxes, hours of service, services available)
• Most commercial companies (information on products, prices, deliveries, stock, hours)
• Companies whose products can be sent over the wire (movies, advice, newsletters, product or topic information)
• Local schools (homework assignments, homework aids, schedules, meetings, school lunch menus)
• Universities (course schedules, financial aid information, program descriptions, research opportunities, job openings)
• Clubs (announcements, newsletters, meetings)
• Online information services (CompuServe, Prodigy, Genie, eWorld)
• Your family (plans, schedules, coordination of emergencies, group letters/updates, gift lists at holidays)
• You (things you want to sell, your resume, services you can provide to others, personal newsletters, advice or information on a variety of topics)

2. Transmission mechanisms

Once connected to the information highway, the user has no idea exactly what channels the information will take, either coming or going. In most cases, the information will travel over many different transmission mechanisms along the way.

Some examples of different transmission mechanisms are:

• Telephone line
• The Internet
• Cable television wiring
• Special fiber optic links
• Microwave
• High-speed telephone/data lines (ISDN)
• Satellite
• Cellular telephone
• Radio carrier or subcarrier

3. In-transmission services

In the past, some telephone operating systems were barred from altering the signal in any substantive way between origin and destination. With the new Telecommunications Act, however, such barriers have been removed. As more general

NII services unfold, information may be translated between the sender and the receiver in many different ways. In many cases, these mechanisms increase accessibility options. Some examples of translations include

• Translation of fax or e-mail to voice
• Translation of voice to e-mail or fax
• Translation of fax to e-mail
• Translation of e-mail into fax
• Translation from one language to another
• Translation of text telephone (TT/TDD) to voice, or voice to TT/TDD (providing more direct, secure, and confidential communication)
• Frequency shifting (to better match the hearing profile of the receiver)
• Speech filtering (to increase the intelligibility of some types of speech)

With these translators, information can be made available in the form most convenient at any particular time (e.g., via voice for someone who is driving a car, but in printed form at home or at the office). It is also possible to convert information from a form that is inaccessible to some people into other forms that are accessible (e.g., converting a fax into e-mail or voice for someone who is blind).

4. Viewer-Controllers

This category includes all systems or devices used to receive and display information. (The sender of information is a source, as described above.) To be accessible, the viewer-controller must both be able to display the information in a form compatible with the person receiving it and have controls that are compatible with the individual's physical, sensory, and cognitive capabilities.

Viewer-controllers can take a wide variety of forms, including

• Computers
• Television sets (with special set-top adapter boxes)
• Standard telephones
• Telephones with video or touchscreens
• Kiosks (public information systems that look like a touch-sensitive television screen mounted in a cabinet)
• Ordinary fax machines
• Cellular telephones with built-in display screens
• Text telephones
• Special information appliances

How it will feel to use NII

The look and feel of information systems will vary greatly, depending upon their design, intended use, and the target audience. Some Internet-based systems will be quite sophisticated and will provide powerful search and retrieval software and techniques. They will be intended for use by people with more experience and knowledge who require exact or powerful tools.

Other systems will require no training and will be easier to use than a VCR or a microwave oven. In some cases, operation will be similar to changing channels on a television and then making selections from choices presented on the screen. Some systems will have as few as two or three buttons, while others will be activated by a touch on the particular items or topics on screen that are of interest. Other systems under development will allow you to talk to them and explain what topic is of interest.

WHERE IS NII GOING?

No one knows exactly where NII is going, although a lot of money is changing hands as people try to find out. A number of trends are clear, however, and most of them have significant implications for individuals with disabilities, as will be discussed in a later section. In this section, some terms and directions are introduced.

Convergence

One definite trend is toward a convergence of the various different telecommunication and computing fields. While people now might carry a cellular phone, a daily organizer, and a pocket or notebook computer, and use fax machines or desk computers for e-mail, printing, or writing, a merging of these technologies is beginning to develop. Small, portable devices will have the ability to connect people via voice, picture, transmitted documents (fax and e-mail), and so forth. In some cases, the functions will be carried out by small multifunctional portable computers. In other cases, the devices will look more like touchscreen telephones with a touch-sensitive display screen. Movies, telephone calls, documents, television shows, and more will all be going over the same channels, which may be run by the cable company, by the phone company, via satellite, or by combinations of these. Users, however, will not be aware of which mechanism is being used, and most won't care, as long as they can maximize quality and minimize price. As this convergence occurs, fax machines, phones, pagers, computers, and so on, will be seen less as devices and more as functions. Multiple devices or the same device may be used to carry out these functions at different times and in different environments.

Client/server model

Currently, most software that runs on personal computers is loaded onto the computer and run on the computer. No connection or communication with other computers is necessary to run the program. The program, the data, and the computing power are all resident directly in the personal computer.

The trend is increasingly toward a client/server model, where the computer in front of the user is connected via a network (over a local area network, via phone lines, or via wireless transmission) to other computers. When the user runs a program, part of the program may be running on the computer in front of the user, and part on the computer(s) at the other end of the connection. Similarly, the data or information the user is working with may be stored on the local device or may be stored on one of the other computers. Thus, when the user looks up a phone number, the local device may in fact be accessing databases stored on computers located anywhere in the world.

To look up something in an encyclopedia, the researcher would generally access large store of information on a remote computer. As the user looks at entries, individual pages may be temporarily sent to the computer for viewing. In addition, the user might find that small application programs or "applets" (see below) are downloaded to the computer where the user can run them to view simulations, access additional search capabilities, or experiment with a topic. When that page or experiment if finished, the information and applet(s) may be "thrown away," and easily accessed again at another time.

For any applications that need a lot of computing power, the processing may actually be done on a remote computer, with only the results sent back to the local computer to be displayed.

The result is an ability to have a much simpler and lower cost device in front of the user. This device can tap into and have available any amount of computing power or storage necessary, by simply taking advantage of computing power and storage at other locations connected via a network and available on request.

With smaller, more portable, and lower cost systems, it is possible to have terminals or access screens located around the house or to have systems that are small enough to be easily carried about.

Applets

The term "applet" comes from "application," with the suffix "et" added to signify smallness. An applet is a tiny application or program. When used today, it generally refers to a small application program that is downloaded over the network (usually the Internet) and that runs on a personal computer. The Java programming language developed by Sun Microsystems and recently licensed by Netscape, Apple, Microsoft, and others for inclusion in their Web browsers has greatly increased the focus on applets. Although it is difficult to characterize the immense potential of this technology in a few sentences, an example might give a glimpse of its potential impact.

Imagine browsing through a Web site on science education or automobile repair. You come to a location where a small demonstration might be the most effective means of communicating information to you. You could download a movie showing a simulation of a science experiment or automobile engine, but this would take a long time over your phone modem (perhaps 20 minutes to half an hour). Instead, a small applet or mini-program is downloaded, which you can then run. The applet would generate the simulation of the experiment or engine function. Now imagine that the same simulation allows you to not just watch the presentation, but actually interact with it. You are able to change the experiment (e.g., make the support beams wider or narrower) and see how that change affects the strength of the system; make adjustments to the engine and see how that affects its performance; and see how either system might fail under circumstances you can control. This type of interaction, of course, would not be possible with a video or film and would not be possible if you tried to run the application on a remote system, because of transmission delays.

All of these capabilities, including the ability to provide full motion, interactive video environments in two and three dimensions, are possible today using the Java, VRML (virtual reality mark-up language), and other extensions which are currently being released in the Netscape 3 browsers.

Multimedia animation

As more and more companies vie for people's attention on the information superhighway, competition is increasing. Only companies that can capture and hold people's attention are going to make money and survive. Four of the strategies they are using to do this involve creating

• A genuinely useful service;
• A fascinating and attractive appearance;
• An intriguing or interesting presentation; and
• A comfortable, easy-to-use, familiar feel.

Most of these strategies are tending toward graphic, multimedia interfaces. The major limitation that inhibits more use of multimedia approaches is the time it takes to transmit the multimedia information over phone lines. As faster mechanisms are developed to transmit information, and as techniques such as applets are allowing multimedia presentations that do not require as high a bandwidth, three-dimensional graphic- and sound-based interactive materials are increasingly used. Although the cost of creating such materials will keep them from dominating much of the public information portion of the network, this type of information is likely to increase on the commercial portions of the network. This increase will have clear ramifications for individuals with low bandwidth connections to the information superhighway(s), just as the move by CompuServe, America Online, etc., from text-based to graphic-based browsers has.

Virtual reality

The ability to create a virtual world on screen (or, using a special headset, all around the user), in which the user can move about and manipulate things, has many ramifications and uses. Some of the first applications, as one would imagine, are in the entertainment area. However, VR also has applications in travel, learning, and even in making systems more familiar and easier to use. For example, individuals who find it difficult to relate to computers and menus might find it much easier to go shopping via computer if all they had to do was to push a shopping button, point to a picture of a grocery store on the screen, and then find themselves standing in the front of a grocery store. They would be able to move up and down the aisles, as they are used to doing in a real store, and see the store products arranged on the shelves. To buy something, they would simply point to the product on the screen and pull it down to the basket at the bottom of the screen. They could point to different objects on the shelves and have the prices automatically shown. They could also obtain a price comparison between two similar products by simply drawing a line between them with their finger. A running total shown in the corner of the screen could show them how much they have spent. When they are finished, they would simply go to the virtual checkout counter, and the groceries would be charged to their account and delivered to their home.

Schools may use this technique to allow students to conduct physics and chemistry experiments as well as to study geography, world culture, history, and so on. The technologies will allow students to carry out individual experiments on virtual apparatuses and using virtual chemicals that would be too expensive or elaborate for individual schools to own, but which cost virtually nothing (in comparison) as simulated lifelike interactive presentations.

Information appliances and personal digital assistants

Advances in both electronic technologies and information architectures are allowing systems to become smaller and smaller. Already there is a small device called a Simon, which is the size of a fat cellular phone. The Simon is a cellular phone, a calendar, a to-do list, an address book, a sketchpad, a calculator, and a notepad. It sends and receives e-mail, has filing capability, can show local and international time, can send and receive faxes, has a PC-card (the credit card-sized modules that slip into the side of modern computers), and of course has a game. These and other personal digital assistants (PDAs) will increase in number and will decrease in size and cost. As they incorporate voice interaction, they can become indispensable tools for maintaining and organizing personal information as well as handling all types of communication and interaction, including Internet or NII/information superhighway interactions.

In addition to information appliances in portable forms, such appliances will begin to appear around the home. The United States already has more televisions than flush toilets. Eventually, an information screen may be found in most rooms of the house. Families and individuals will use these screens to view movies or television programs; look up information; store and retrieve recipes; talk to others using voice or voice and image; do our homework; and/or just read. Some of these screens will be mounted on walls; others will be on small tablets. As the display screens become fine enough to simulate the size and appearance of a regular printed page, it will be convenient to have something the size of a paperback book but a third the thickness and weight, without a cover to fold back, and which can be used to display, at any moment, a book currently being read or one that was just recommended to you by a friend.

This book tablet may be a single-function device (e.g., for displaying books) or may provide all of the other communication and personal organization functions described above (as could any of the wall or desktop panels).

Set-top boxes

The first steps toward these information systems are represented by the television set-top boxes. These are small boxes that sit on top of the television set and connect the television set to special information services via cable, telephone, or satellite. Such set-top box information systems are currently being piloted in a number of areas of the country. Although the systems are limited by the relatively poor display resolution of current television sets and a low information bandwidth, they represent the first step toward the true next-generation information systems. Although these systems can give some initial glimpses of what might be possible, it is important not to confuse the Internet and these cable-based information roads with what will be possible nor with what will happen as true information superhighways come into place over the next decade or two.

Public service terminals (kiosks)

As more and more services, especially government and public services, are made available via electronic channels, a problem of equity of access occurs. That is, how can access to these channels of communication be provided to individuals who do not have computers or "personal information terminals"? Two strategies are currently being used. One is to provide access via terminals in public libraries. A second is to provide information kiosks in public settings. These public information or service terminals allow access by everyone using those public facilities, regardless of personal resources.

In addition to providing access to information that might be available over electronic networks, electronic information kiosks are being used as building directories, as directories in shopping malls, and even to help locate products in individual supermarkets, department stores, and so on.

Public service vending (fare and ticket machines)

Another use of kiosks is to dispense products or tickets. Public kiosks are now being used to sell everything from baseball tickets to subway cards to renewal stickers for license plates. As kiosks that provide multiproduct or service vending are being developed, the interfaces on the kiosks tend to get more complicated and involve technologies such as touchscreen displays.

As more and more services are available via public terminals, the hours and locations at which the services are available via direct human contact tend to decrease. This decrease has implications for individuals who may have difficulty using the public service terminals/kiosks.

Universal address

The idea of a universal address or phone number has been a controversial topic. Rather than having a phone number or address tied to a particular phone or location, such universal phone numbers or addresses would be tied to an individual. As people traveled (during hotel check-in, for example), they could log in and let a central resource know where they were. Phone calls made to their phone number would then cause the phone in their hotel room to ring. An individual might have multiple phone numbers to provide different levels of access: for example a personal phone number, a public phone number, and a private business phone number. Notification of location could also be done automatically. Thus, if a person were wearing a badge and moving about an office building, phone calls could come to whichever phone was closest at the time of the call. For many individuals, the closest phone would be the small wallet-sized information appliance with phone function in their pocket.

Wireless smart cards

Another controversial item is a smart card that can be read from a distance. With such a card, a person can transmit information to another device without removing the card from a pocket. Prototype smart cards are approximately the size of a fat credit card. Unlike standard cards, however, these cards would contain electronics that allow them to store information about their user, store financial credit (or electronic cash), and store information about preferences. Many different functions have been proposed for such a smart card. One application would allow people who had purchased passage on an airline to forgo the use of a paper ticket and instead have their presence noted and their electronic ticket validated as they walked through the doorway to board the plane. Individuals could also set personal preferences and cause kiosks or other devices to behave according to those preferences by simply walking up to them. For example, the device would speak in the proper language, use spoken instead of printed instructions, or printed instead of spoken instructions, and so forth. Individuals could also pay for services or products without having to physically take out and manipulate their card (e.g., passing it through a card reader).

Distributed serving

In addition to the more straightforward applications and characteristics of the next-generation information systems are a number of other more subtle capabilities that may also have a significant impact on the types of services that are possible and which are delivered. For example, a shopper typically purchases a product from one location, and the product comes with all of the parts delivered from that location. As information is purchased over the networks, in a single order for a company's product, different components may be sent electronically from different sources. For example, if a person ordered a movie from Paramount Pictures and asked for it to be sent with captions, the digital information for the movie may come from Paramount Pictures and the captions from a captioning center. The two components would arrive essentially simultaneously at the purchaser's terminal/viewer, where they would be linked and the movie could then be viewed along with the captions. Simultaneously, a bill may be sent from the captioning center to Paramount Pictures for use of the captions. Similar arrangements could be made for ordering movies with sound tracks or captions in different languages. The same technique could be used to substitute descriptions for pictures or to provide other specialized services. Users may be able not only to select different levels of captions to go with their movie, but to select their preferred captioning service or language translation service whose price may be either included in the film or available as a surcharge if the individual wants something beyond what is standard.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

NII has the potential to level the playing field in many areas of life for people with disabilities. Because it has this high potential, the consequence of not making next-generation information system technologies and systems accessible is a serious one. This section will consider the benefits and advantages that will be available to people with disabilities in a highly accessible NII. It also looks at what might be some of the disadvantages for individuals with disabilities should NII not be accessible to them, as well as the potential barriers to providing access.

Advantages posed by the developments in NII

General Advantages

First and foremost, the advances in NII have the potential for providing a vast number of benefits to everyone, including people with disabilities. If the systems are designed in a way to make them accessible, they will yield the same myriad benefits discussed in the previous sections of the report.

Disability-Related Advantages

In addition to advantages for the general population, the next-generation and emerging technologies will provide additional benefits for people with disabilities. These technologies (if acceptable and usable) will be able to address some of the barriers and problems currently faced by individuals with disabilities and afford them special advantages. These advantages include the following:

• Drastically increasing the ability of individuals with some types of disabilities to access and use information.
  
  
• Decreasing the personal isolation that some individuals experience because of restrictions in their ability to move about, to communicate, or to easily congregate with others sharing their interests and situation.
  
  
• Allowing individuals to interact with others in a way that makes their disability invisible or irrelevant.
  
  
• Providing opportunities to participate in distance learning programs or to receive medical services from a remote location when travel is difficult.

Individuals with mobility or travel impairments will be able to shop, learn, travel, receive medical services, and work from their homes or other facilities. In some cases, NII developments may allow individuals with mobility impairments to go to their local office and carry out business that normally would have required them and their colleagues to travel around the country, which would be more difficult for them. This "mobility" can open new horizons for learning on all levels and allow individuals to "travel" to environments that they might not be physically able to get to or explore.

Individuals with physical manipulation difficulties can use the simulations or virtual environments to participate in activities they wouldn't be physically able to do. For example, an individual with severe athetoid cerebral palsy would not be able to easily construct mechanisms, operate delicate instruments, and carry out chemical experiments in the laboratory using fragile glassware. However, if the mechanisms, instruments, and glassware were all simulations on the screen (or in a virtual environment), these individuals would be able to participate in such activities using keyboard control or whatever other interface worked best for them.

With today's technologies, it is already possible to create new circuits, designs, and experiments using only simulators that can be replicated in real life with the same results. Thus, these strategies can be used not only in learning environments, but also in professional activities.

Individuals with sensory impairments can access information that was previously unavailable to them. For example, the vast libraries of books that exist in printed form but are inaccessible to people who are blind (except for the small portion of the libraries available in braille or on audio tape) will all be available and accessible when the primary mode for their distribution is in electronic form. Similarly, as speech recognition systems improve, it will be possible to transform materials that are spoken (e.g., recorded speeches) into print.

Individuals with cognitive impairments can request that information be presented at different levels of complexity or in different primary formatstechniques that will find increasing use in the attempt to create systems that are appropriate for individuals with a wide range of cognitive and language skills. The new systems also present the opportunity to have online help available at any time while a user is operating any of these technologies. Online help can take the form of computer-based help files, artificial intelligence assistance, or live contact with an expert or resource person (for an extra charge).

In addition to all the standard uses that NII technologies are designed for, it is possible to combine these new technical capabilities in ways that can provide even more powerful new capabilities and opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Three potential examples are provided: "Lean Cuisine," "Listening Pen," and "The Companion."

Lean Cuisine

Persons who are blind might sign up for a service offered by their phone company that will automatically convert any fax sent to them into electronic text, which is then sent to their e-mail; they might sign up for another service that provides voice access to their e-mail. Although such features might be used primarily by businesses wanting extremely high quality OCR (optical character recognition) translation and access to e-mail by phone, the person who is blind could also use these features to get access to the cooking instructions on the back of a Lean Cuisine frozen dinner. He would simply take the Lean Cuisine dinner and fax an image of its back (where the directions are) to himself. The fax would automatically be routed through the fax-to-e-mail converter (since that is the way he has it set up) and converted to e-mail. He would then dial up his e-mail and have the fax read to him. In this case, he would hear the directions from the back of his frozen dinner package.

Listening Pen

Persons who are deaf may carry a small directional microphone that looks like a pen or is worn as part of their eyeglasses. When talking with someone, they would point the pen toward the person's mouth. The speech would be picked up and sent out digitally over the net to powerful filter and speech recognition software running on a large computer. The result could be sent back to a small virtual display mounted on the deaf person's glasses, which would project the image so that it appeared to float in front of them. In this fashion, speakers would have their words literally written all over their face. Using voice print technology, it would even be possible for the speaker to be identified, if for example a person was sitting at a meeting where different people around the room were speaking in turn. By using remote computing connected via wireless networks, individuals who are deaf could have access to much more powerful speech recognition algorithms than they would be able to or care to carry with them all day. Instead, they may pay a small service charge to use search recognition algorithms, owned and maintained by a network service bureau, which would otherwise be too expensive for an individual to afford and changing too rapidly for an individual to keep up with.

The Companion

One hypothetical device, called "The Companion," brings together many of these concepts to show how a personal assistive technology in the future could help people with cognitive impairments. The device provides the following functions:

• Calendar reminder system that can awaken its users, remind them of appointments and their schedule for the day, alert them to items on the schedule that are different from their routine (a doctor's appointment or a regularly scheduled event that doesn't occur on this day).
  
  
• Cueing system that can help sequence users through their morning routine--dressing, simple meal preparation, and so on.
  
  
• Artificial intelligence to adapt the above functions to what is actually going on, to help detect when the users appear to be having a problem, to help them problem-solve when it detects a problem (or when users indicate they have a problem by pressing a "Help" button).
  
  
• GPS (Global Positioning System) that uses satellite information to pinpoint users' location at any time, so the system can answer questions and better understand where it and the users are.
  
  
• Access to the city and major building maps so the system can help provide directions on request.
  
  
• Camera and optical character recognition system that users can point at any sign or text, press a button, and have the sign or text read to them.
  
  
• Infrared link for communicating with similarly equipped computers, kiosks, information systems, ATMs, and so on.
  
  
• Electronic smart card/debit card for cashless money transactions.
  
  
• Communication link to a central resource service that has complete information about users and can link them to a resource person for more serious problem-solving and for all the situations in which the limited artificial intelligence of the current device is not able to help.

The use of such a system could best be exemplified via a short scenario:

Tim is awakened in the morning by his Companion, which reminds him what day it is, and what is the first thing he needs to do. It also reminds him that he has a meeting tonight with his counselor, and that he is supposed to show up at the alternate worksite this morning. Tim has worked out a routine with his Companion in which he sort of mumbles what he's doing as he goes through his morning routine, and the Companion notes whether any important activity seems to be missing or out of order and asks him simple questions that also act as reminders. Tim walks to the bus stop. As the buses pull up, he aims the Companion at the name on the bus windshield display and pushes the trigger. The Companion reads the name of the bus to Tim, notes the bus, and gives Tim some cues about whether the buses seem to be ahead or behind schedule. Tim's Companion knows exactly which bus stop they're standing at (from the satellite GPS) and what time it is, so that it can be sure Tim is where he should be and also give him some idea of when to expect the bus.

When the proper bus arrives, Tim gets on board, authorizes his smart card by voice to transfer the proper fare to the bus, and takes his seat.

On his way home from the meeting with his counselor, Tim is tired, falls asleep on the bus, and rides past his normal transfer stop. The Companion detects this and tries to awaken him, but it is tucked between Tim and the wall of the bus, where it is muffled, and Tim doesn't hear the signal over the noise of street construction. When Tim wakes up, he is in an unfamiliar neighborhood. He panics and gets off the bus, which drives away. He further panics and presses the Help button on his Companion. The Companion runs through a standard set of questions and comments to calm Tim and help him apply his own problem-solving skills. Tim aims the Companion at a number of street signs, pushing the button to have them read to him. The Companion knows where they are, but it is late, and the Companion does not have any information for this neighborhood with regard to the safety or potential resources for Tim. It advises Tim to call in, so Tim pushes the button to contact the central resource point. A specially trained resource person appears on the Companion's screen; by using the Companion's camera, Tim is also visible to the resource person. All of Tim's information is displayed directly on the screen in front of the resource person, along with whatever information the Companion can provide on the situation, including Tim's exact location. The resource person directs Tim to a local building that will be safe and calls a cab, since there are no buses that will easily get him back home from that location at this time of night.

Such a system would make a profound difference for the many people who are essentially able to live independently as long as they have some mechanism for helping them over rough spots, assisting them with specific activities they may have difficulty with (such as reading), and helping them get out of situations when things go wrong.

Great care must be taken, however, in designing these systems, to ensure that they function in the form of a benevolent companion that facilitates and amplifies the natural decision-making skills of the individual and that operates in either facilitative or suggestive mode rather than directing the individual. While many disabilities can be facilitated through the use of a prosthetic device that replaces the lost function with an artificial version (e.g., an artificial arm, an artificial ear, artificial vision), trying to replace an individual's cognitive abilities with an artificial brain risks a situation of providing an artificial intelligence with a body, rather than providing an individual with intelligence. However, a device that helps to strengthen or maximize the abilities of the individual while minimizing the impact on free will and decision making (or perhaps enhancing it) could significantly facilitate the ability to function and enhance the person's opportunities in life.

Devices such as the Companion do not exist today, but many of the components do. Also, the same principles apply for using the assistive technologies and setting up the daily routines and support structures of individuals with cognitive impairments. Further, with the rate at which technology, miniaturization, and artificial intelligence are progressing, it is likely that all of the capabilities described here will be available early in the next century (which is just a few years off)--and long before we are ready to program and apply them effectively.

Disadvantages posed by the developments in NII

General disadvantages

People who are unable to access and use the new communication, information, and transaction systems while their colleagues (and competitors) can will be at a severe disadvantage. This is true whether they cannot afford access or cannot physically attain it. However, the lack of access generally has greater impact on people with disabilities because they cannot effectively use many of the alternate strategies available today.

Disability-related disadvantages

In addition to the large potential disadvantage described above, other disadvantages arise that are unique to people with disabilities. The extremely rapid rate of development in this area makes it difficult or impossible for third-party vendors to create access technologies to keep up with the new information technologies. For example, individuals who make screen readers for people who are blind just cannot keep up with the different computer operating systems as they are released. On NII, we see even more rapid development, with Java, PDF (portable document format), and Macromedia Director all released as new presentation technologies on the Internet over a span of six months, with no access solutions, or even clear definitions of the potential access approaches, existing for any of them. Part of this problem can be addressed by building in accessibility rather than relying on third parties to try to catch up and add it later. Much work needs to be done in this area, as discussed below.

Another problem is that some of the multimedia technologies are being developed in a manner that makes access extremely difficult for people with any type of disability. Strategies are being developed to address this issue, but developers of these new multimedia technologies have limited awareness of the problem.

If accessibility is not built in, individuals with disabilities who try to secure the various third-party access hardware or software adaptations face a significant cost that often exceeds the price of the software or hardware for which access is sought.

Barriers and potential barriers to access and use by people with disabilities

Standard socioeconomic status barriers

Many individuals with disabilities are unemployed or underemployed, making it difficult for them to access and use some of these new technologies. The socioeconomic barrier is not unique to people with disabilities, however, and is treated in depth in other studies.

Complexity

A problem with current electronic systems is the level of complexity in their designs. Although some progress is being made in this area, the introduction of these systems increases the complexity of carrying out many tasks. For example, individuals who were previously able to operate simple fare machines are now find the more modern and flexible, multipurpose machines much more complicated and difficult (and in some cases impossible) to operate. The same thing is happening with phone systems; individuals who used to be able to call up and make a doctor's appointment or ask a question are finding themselves lost in touchtone-based phone routing systems they do not understand.

Graphic user interfaces

Graphic user interfaces on newer communication and information systems are somewhat complex, with subtle but important issues complicating a full understanding.

Graphic user interfaces can provide a significant barrier to individuals who use screen readers to access information on computers or other devices if information is rendered in purely graphic (i.e., not textual) form, which the screen reader cannot recognize.

The situation is quite different for the person who is not blind. Graphics can simplify the user interface for those who can see and can reduce the cognitive and language skills needed to operate devices, thus increasing their accessibility by individuals with cognitive and language disabilities.

On public systems such as ATMs, building directories, fare machines, information kiosks, and so on, it makes no difference to a person who is blind whether the information on the screen is displayed in textual or graphic form. Since an individual who is blind is unable to install a screen reader on these systems (e.g., an ATM), the systems are equally inaccessible in graphic or textual format. The only way to provide access in these cases is either to build a voice output mechanism directly into the system or to send a textual description of the screen contents to (and allow commands to come back from) some external access device via a connector such as an infrared link. In either case, it does not matter if the information is presented on screen in graphic form if it can also be presented in verbal (spoken text or braille) form either directly or via an assistive device using a standard external connector.

For example, a kiosk that displays the temperatures across the country only as different colors on a map of the United States poses a significant barrier to access. Unless the information is also available by specifying a location (via text), the temperature information is in all probability be completely inaccessible. Here, the differentiation between source, pipeline, and viewer is very important. If the weather information created by Company A is being displayed on a public kiosk designed by Company B, it will be impossible for Company B to make the temperature information accessible, unless Company A also provides the information in a fashion which can be queried and present in textual format. If the information is present from the source in an inherently graphical format, there is generally little that can be done at the viewer end, except as a very custom solution to a particular application.

There is, or course, some information which is inherently visual in nature, and which we do not know how to easily convey. For example, da Vinci's Mona Lisa or Picasso's Guernica are inherently visual, in the same way that Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is essentially auditory. However, these issues of access are not the issues of concern here. We are primarily concerned with those situations where a) information that is not inherently visual is translated into visual format to facilitate presentation to those with sight, and b) where the nonvisual format of the information is not preserved or made available so that those individuals without vision can also access the information.

Thus, graphic user interfaces are a two-edged sword. They can provide a benefit to individuals with some types of disabilities. If properly implemented, they may also be used by people who have visual impairments without imposing significant barriers. However, they are often implemented in ways that unnecessarily reduce access to or interpretability of information by individuals with visual impairments.

Touchscreen kiosks and products

The use of touchscreens on kiosks, portable electronic devices, cellular phones, and so on, poses another potential barrier to access. This type of interface has historically been particularly difficult to use by individuals who are blind, since the number and location of the keys or hot spots on the screen continually change during use, and there are no tactile indicators of the number or location of such keys. Recently, however, strategies have been developed to allow individuals with reading difficulties, low vision, and even complete blindness to directly and efficiently access and use touchscreen-based kiosks. Techniques such as the Talking Fingertip (described below), developed under funding by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), provide a means to access virtually all of the information and interface types on present-day touchscreen-based kiosks.

• Talking Fingertip: This feature enables users who have low vision, have print or language disabilities, or cannot read well due to literacy or second-language problems to gain access to all information displayed on a touchscreen. The Talking Fingertip feature causes a kiosk or other touchscreen-based information system to read aloud any words, phrases, buttons, or other objects on the screen whenever the user touches such objects. A special button below the touchscreen can be used either to temporarily invoke the feature (for people who have trouble seeing/reading only some items on the screen) or to confirm selections (if the Talking Fingertip is locked on). Users with poor motor coordination may choose to confirm selections in this manner, to avoid inadvertent selections.
  
  
• Talking Fingertip SpeedList: This feature allows people who have no vision to use any touchscreen kiosks or devices. Users can access all screen information (words, buttons, on-screen number pads, on-screen keyboards, etc.) by sliding a finger (or mouthstick, head pointer, prosthesis, or other assistive device) up and down the left edge of the touchscreen, where a list of all items on the screen is displayed and read aloud. To select an item on the SpeedList, the user moves a finger up and down the list and presses the button mounted below the touchscreen when the desired SpeedList item is reached. This feature can be used by people with vision, print, or language impairments, who otherwise couldn't see or understand the information on the screen. The SpeedList feature also facilitates use by people with upper extremity weakness, incoordination, or other mobility impairments.

Infrared data links

Now common on most new computers, this feature also has the potential to allow individuals with assistive devices to easily link to and operate kiosks and other public information systems. Using a modified Talking Fingertip technique, along with an assistive device with an infrared link, access to a kiosk has been demonstrated via infrared technologies.

Virtual environments

Although VR environments are most commonly thought of in connection with games or specialized research applications, they can also be used to render remote transaction systems much more user friendly by making them resemble people's existing shopping experiences.

For example, users may approach a store in a VR shopping environment. Moving forward, they enter the store and find themselves standing in the vestibule with various aisles arrayed in front of them, each with a different label designating the type of products in that aisle (housewares, hardware, lawn and garden, etc.). Moving forward and steering left or right, they can scan the products as they move down the aisle. If shoppers see something of interest, they can touch it and ask for a demonstration. The "store" fades away, leaving only the interested shoppers and the product (for example, a lawn mower or hedge clipper); a person who seems to appear out of thin air begins to demonstrate the product. At any point, shoppers can stop the demonstration. They then find themselves standing back in the store aisle, at which time they can select the item for purchase, having it show up at their door a few days later, or they can put it back on the shelf. Throughout the process, as shoppers move through the store, little cherubs fly in and out of their vision, carrying product or special offers.

NOTE: This type of multimedia visual, interactive, virtual environment can be made accessible and usable by individuals who are blind (even individuals who are deaf-blind) using strategies such as the Talking Fingertip SpeedList technique or the SpeedList technique combined with an assistive device and information system having infrared capabilities. Such strategies would give the user a verbal (text or braille, etc.) list of the items or choices available at any given moment without having to deal with the visual representation on screen. These same structures and strategies, which can be built into the system as it is constructed, can be used to allow power shoppers or users with slower systems to more quickly enter information, search information, make selections, and purchase products or services within this same virtual environment.

Sound

The increased use of sound on systems that used to be silent may pose another barrier. Signs, building directories, and computers used to be completely silent or involve fairly simple alerting sounds. As text-to-speech, digitized speech, and other sounds are increasingly incorporated into these systems, individuals who have hearing impairments or are deaf are finding it increasingly difficult to successfully use them. Add-on technologies are usually of limited value. Unless access is built into these