Access & Technology Briefly

Libraries for the Blind Launch Digital Audio Book Service

State libraries for the blind in Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Oregon, along with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), part of the Library of Congress, have partnered to launch an innovative digital audiobook service for visually impaired users. Unabridged (http://www.unabridged.info/) enables blind patrons to check out and download digital spoken word audio books directly to their computers. The digital audio books can then be played back on a PC, transferred to a portable MP3 playback device, or burned onto CDs. For more information, visit http://i-newswire.com/pr2127.html.

Proposal for the addition of Tactile Identifier the ID Cards by The Accessible Design Foundation of Japan

This document describes proposed recommendation for a tactile identifier to be included in the embossing process for various ID cards. The tactile identifier embossed in the corner of the Name and Address Area of ID cards functions as a card identifier for the visually-impaired to easily distinguish type of card, orientation as well as ownership of the card. As we can see from recent efforts by the United Nations to draft the "UN Disability Convention," people around the world have started to focus seriously on the removal of barriers for the physically-impaired in order to ensure them more healthful and socially equal life. In keeping with this goal, Accessible Design Foundation of Japan (the Kyoyo-Hin Foundation, formally the "E & C Project") has been conducting various types of research and surveys on problems visually impaired people encounter in their daily lives. One such survey on plastic cards was conducted in October 1993 in which it was found that the usability problem arose from the fact that all the cards had nearly identical shapes and sizes. To read the proposal online, visit http://www.kyoyohin.org/08tokyo/selfmark1.html .

'Thinking Cap' Controls Computer in New Experiment

Four people were able to control a computer using their thoughts and an electrode-studded "thinking cap," U.S. researchers reported on Monday. They said their set-up could someday be adapted to help disabled people operate a motorized wheelchair or artificial limb. While experiments have allowed a monkey to control a computer with its thoughts, electrodes were implanted into the animal's brain. This experiment, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, required no surgery and no implants. "The results show that people can learn to use scalp-recorded electroencephalogram rhythms to control rapid and accurate movement of a cursor in two dimensions," Jonathan Wolpaw and Dennis McFarland of the New York State Department of Health and State University of New York in Albany wrote. Read the report online.

Speech takes on search engines

A Scottish firm is looking to attract web surfers with a search engine that reads out results. Called Speegle, it has the look and feel of a normal search engine, with the added feature of being able to read out the results. Scottish speech technology firm CEC Systems launched the site in November. But experts have questioned whether talking search engines are of any real benefit to people with visual impairments. To read the BBC report online, visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4079005.stm.

National Education Technology Plan leaves millions behind

Today, the U.S. Department of Education released its National Education Technology Plan 2004, "Toward a New Golden Age in American Education: How the Internet, the law and today's students are revolutionizing expectations". This is the third such plan and was developed over the past several years with input from thousands of educators, students, administrators, and those in educational organizations, as well as the technology industry.   It acknowledges the importance of technology in academic achievement as well as the role of technology in the 21st century. The blueprint frames the direction for educational technology in American schools for years to come. WebAIM applauds the plan with the exception of one prominent omission. The plan does not mention the critical need for accessible technology for millions of students with disabilities. To read the entire WebAIM press release online, visit http://www.webaim.org/alert.

Disappointment over rail access in the UK

The announcement of the 2020 end date was made just three days after the Disability Discrimination Bill - which will improve the rights of disabled people - was published in the House of Lords. "Trains are a vital link in the accessible transport chain," said transport minister Charlotte Atkins. "It is important that disabled people have confidence that, when travelling by rail, the train that arrives will be accessible to them." Leonard Cheshire - a disability charity which has been campaigning on transport accessibility - says 2020 is "later than we would have liked". To read the BBC report online, visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4052277.stm.

Korean Scientists Succeed in Stem Cell Therapy

A team of Korean researchers claimed Thursday they had performed a miracle by enabling a patient, who could not even stand up for the last 19 years, to walk with stem cell therapy. During a press conference, the scientists said they had last month transplanted multi-potent stem cells from umbilical cord blood to the 37-year-old female patient disabled by a spinal cord injury and claimed she can now walk on her own. The team was co-headed by Chosun University professor Song Chang-hun, Seoul National University professor Kang Kyung-sun and Han Hoon, Ph.D, from the Seoul Cord Blood Bank (SCB). Read the Korea Times report online.

European Commission consultation to make ICT products and services more accessible

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on how to make the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies available to the widest possible range of citizens, including to older people and people with disabilities. This consultation is a first step in the Commission's endeavor to remove the technical challenges and difficulties that people with disabilities and others experience when trying to use electronic products or services such as computers, mobile phones or the Internet. The public consultation focuses on three key areas in which the European Union could promote eAccessibility: public procurement, certification, and the use of legislation. Interested parties have until 12 February 2005 to comment on these proposals. The results of the consultation will feed into a Commission Communication on eAccessibility to be adopted before June 2005. For more information, visit the EC website.

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