**People with Disabilities and the National Information Infrastructure
(NII)**

This paper is excerpted from a document entitled The Information
Infrastructure: Reaching Society\'s Goals Report of the Information
Infrastructure Task Force Committee on Applications and Technology
Published by: U.S. Department of Commerce, Technology Administration,
National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Last Updated: September 7, 1994\
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DRAFT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT\
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This paper is intended for public comment and discussion. Your comments
can be sent to any of the addresses below:\
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In a competitive global economy, our country does not have a single
person to waste opportunity must be open to everyone\... I believe our
entire nation will share in the economic and social benefits that will
result from full participation of Americans with disabilities in our
society.\
\
- President Clinton, 12/1/92\
[\
PART I: What Is the Application Arena?\
]{.underline}On September 15, 1993, the Administration issued \"The
National Information Infrastructure(NII): Agenda for Action,\" which
formalized several federal NII policy development mechanisms and
enumerated the guiding principles and goals for future policy
development. A portion of the vision is as follows:\
\
A major objective in developing the NII will be to extend the Universal
Service concept to the information needs of fundamental fairness, this
nation cannot accept a division of our people among telecommunications
or information \"haves\" and \"have- nots\". The Administration is
committed to developing a broad, modern concept of Universal Service one
that would emphasize giving all Americans who desire it easy, affordable
access to advanced communications and information services, regardless
of income, disability, or location.\
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The National Information Infrastructure: Agenda for Action addresses
responsiveness to the usage requirements of people with disabilities as
a founding principle. Providing choices in the modes of information
representation and manipulation will break down existing barriers and
accelerate progress toward the full participation of people with
disabilities in society as envisioned by the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA). The technologies that deliver for the NII will be the
technologies that LEAD the way in L iberating E xpressiveness, A
mplifying D ignity forall Americans.\
\
[LEAD by Design: Breaking Down Barriers, Building Choice\
]{.underline}Ensuring that the NII accommodates the rights of the 49
million Americans with disabilities to equitable communication and
information access amplifies innovations and economic returns from
national investment in the NII. Existing Federal, State, and local
investment activities underway are demonstrating that accommodating
people with disabilities is finally gaining recognition as a driving
force for advances in human and organizational performance. As this
investment strategy gains momentum, information technology developers
are weighing in on the broad- based, competitive advantages of this
universal design approach, that readily accommodates individual needs
associated not only with disability, but also worker re-training, aging,
illiteracy, and high performance, critical mission information
environments. Adoption of universal design will stimulate the deployment
of applications that all consumers will value for convenience, customer
choice, and equal opportunity.\
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Americans with disabilities represent a large customer base already
discussing with industry and government how they envision the
information infrastructure will work for them. Most important is
customer choice. Until now, choice of the mode or form in which
information is represented or communications conducted has not been
available. Due to this inflexibility, many people with limitations of
hearing, vision, or information processing have been inconvenienced by,
or excluded from using these single modality services. Newspapers and
documents available in a visual mode only, excluded or inconvenienced
customers who were blind until the choices of auditory or Braille modes
became available. Auditory-mode-only telephones excluded deaf
individuals until multi-modality telephone services were developed that
today incorporate hearing relay operators who convert communications
between users of auditory-only devices and visual-only devices.\
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If future telephones or information appliances accommodated the choice
of either visual mode (typing) or auditory mode (speaking), direct
communications could be achieved and communicating parties would no
longer be handicapped by single-modality services that are not
compatible. Greatly anticipated as well are visual communications
appliances that accommodate a range of needs from sign language
transmission to handwritten note-sharing as an alternative to auditory
mode only for conversations.\
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As the NII takes shape, being in the minority in terms of information
mode requirements, due to a disability, need not be a significant
handicapping condition, if a useful alternative mode is available.
People who flexibly accommodate to either auditory or visual modes of
information transmission, frequently fail to realize how single-modality
services hamper and inconvenience access by people who are unable, due
to a sensory mode limitation, to also alternate between both modes.\
\
Many people who can accommodate either visually presented information or
auditorially presented information, but not both, due to hearing or
vision loss, are now high demand users of on-line services that readily
accommodate their choice of mode(s) and media, including visual display
(standard or magnified), Braille display, or machine-generated speech.
This pattern of early and sustained demand by people with disabilities
can enhance the evolution of NII services. It will ensure that the full
range of information mode choices unavailable in the past, can now be
provided to enhance learning and communications by individuals and
organizations.\
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Historical and Current Evidence of the Benefits\
Two of the world\'s most valuable information technologies, the
typewriter and the telephone, emerged from early efforts to accommodate
greater choice in information mode by people whose disabilities made
them less adaptable to mode differences. The typewriter was invented as
a private writing device for a blind member of a royal family. Other
developers of early typewriters also designed for blind people. Modality
choice of writing device was critical to these early users. Realization
of commercial advantages and transfer of this technology to business
came much later.\
\
When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he was attempting to
convert speech to a visual representation in order to accommodate a
greater choice of information modalities for his wife who had a hearing
loss. Unfortunately Bell\'s invention failed to accommodate conversion
of information from auditory to visual mode as intended. Instead the
telephone extended the range of the auditory mode and broke down
distance as a barrier to spoken communication. The originally intended
benefits to deaf people have been late and inadequate. Only in the last
30 years has a usable choice for telephone access by deaf people become
available. At that time, deaf people began purchasing and adapting old
Western Union teletypewriters (TTYs) that only enabled communications
with other TTY users. Communications between TTY users and standard
telephone users has only become widely available in the last 2 years due
to the establishment of ADA mandated state relay services.\
\
Like the typewriter, transfer and extension of text messaging took a
long time and could have taken even longer. One of the lead engineers of
the originial Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), the
predecessor of Internet, was very accustomed to modality choice because
he used a text messaging device (TTY) when communicating with his wife
by telephone due to her hearing loss. This exposure positively
influenced the inclusion of text messaging as an ARPANET application
even though it was not part of the orginial planning. Today the value of
this electronic text messaging or e-mail capability to people around the
world is beyond estimation and choice of information mode is becoming an
inherent feature in well-designed information applications.\
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Another contemporary ARPA example of choice driving innovation is
infrared-based eye-tracking. This technology has been matured and
commercialized by a small business, that targeted individuals with
severe disabilities as the first customers of this hands- independent
and body-movement-independent intelligent interface device. Today, this
eye-tracking product is being sold around the world to a small, but
growing number of people with extensive mobility limitations for whom
keyboard use is not an option.\
\
This product, after being commercialized and matured by users who
demanded high performance and reliability, is now being purchased by
federal and private sector laboratories. Oak Ridge Laboratories is
exploring its use to control tele-robotic vehicles in hazardous
environments. A number of usability laboratories world-wide have
purchased a related product that enables user performance measures to
drive advanced designs of visual interfaces. A head- mounted display
incorporating eye tracking is next; it will accommodate not only people
with disabilities but anyone in high demand, high performance
environments, including national security.\
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Speech recognition, a technology increasing in power and potential, also
originated through ARPA resources. Quadriplegic individuals have become
recognized by the speech recognition industry for the significant
contributions they\'ve made to mature a technology that is likely to
revolutionize human-computer interactions in the near future. These
pioneer users, without functional use of a keyboard, were driven not by
device novelty, but by true performance demands and the need for choice
of information input mode that accommodated effective interactions with
a computer. Other user groups who have begun to derive significant
benefits from speech recognition are people with learning disabilities
and people whose repetitive strain injuries preclude continued use of a
keyboard.\
\
Another powerful telecommunications advance was spearheaded recently by
a person with a profound hearing loss who worked with an engineer to
overcome her dependence on text telecommunications. She wanted another
choice. The resultant product is elegant in its simplicity and cost
effectiveness. With this product, she is able to use both standard and
cellular phones directly. All amplification is provided by her existing
hearing aid. While the cost-per-unit is approximately \$80, there are
immense long-term benefits and value of this technology to a segment of
the hearing impaired population around the world.\
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[Federal Evidence of Benefits\
]{.underline}The Center for IT Accommodation, has been tracking these
little-known innovation synergies for a number of years. Through the
Congressionally chartered Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology
Transfer, CITA has recently begun serious discussion with the Army
Research Laboratory and other labs that exhibit strong interest in user
interfaces that accommodate choice.\
\
CITA became aware of this innovation dimension during the past decade
while assisting federal agencies in identifying and shaping their
investments in technology to fully accommodate people with disabilities.
Public Law 102-569, Section 508, (1992 Amendments to the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973) is the source of this Federal policy.\
\
As implementation of federal accessibility statutes proceeds, federal
agencies are discovering that purchasing information systems that
accommodate a wide range of user interface requirements promotes
productivity and ensures access to work-related and public information
by people with disabilities. Organizations are benefiting from the
ability to recruit and retain quality employees and the ability to
effectively interact with all clients, including those with
disabilities.\
\
Agency experiences with user interface options that incorporate maturing
technologies such as speech synthesis, speech recognition, or infrared
technologies also provide an effective means for evaluating near-term
applications with potential benefit to all users. Many employees in
\"hands-busy,\" \"eyes-busy,\" or noisy environments can benefit today
from flexible interface alternatives that have already been adopted by
people with disabilities.\
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Applications with user interfaces that accommodate choice of alternative
displays and keyboards are also being employed to minimize or prevent
the visual fatigue and repetitive strain injuries associated with
keyboard-intensive environments. As the work force ages, accessible
information services must support the requirements of people who develop
age-related limitations of vision, hearing, or mobility. As planning by
the Federal Government increasingly addresses a comprehensive
information infrastructure, planning for choice represents a solid
foundation to maximize the value of information applications and
acceptance by users.\
\
[LEAD by Design as an NII Innovation Driver\
]{.underline}As awareness of disability-driven innovations becomes
recognized, and societal dependence on technology for community
participation and economic growth continues, breaking down barriers and
building choices will become recognized as an innovation driver
globally. E.H. Sibley summarizes this strategic opportunity:\
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\"In reflecting on the problems of the multiple language and character
sets faced by the world, it appears that a large portion of the
potential computer user population is at a disadvantage. They must use
difficult interfaces or learn another language. When we add up the cost
of not having good input/output devices for the many people whom can
compute but find it cumbersome, we can conclude that the cost of
efficient new devices would pay for themselves many times over.
Particularly at a time when the world\'s political barriers are being
removed, perhaps our new opportunity frontier should be to remove the
barriers to computing for all humanity, be they different in language,
representation, or device needs.\"\[endnote 1\]\
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The recent report on High Performance Computing and Communications:
Toward a National Information Infrastructure by the Office of Science
and Technology Policy also acknowledges this opportunity. Addressing
intelligent user interfaces, the report states, \"A large collection of
advanced human/machine interfaces must be developed in order to satisfy
the vast range of preferences, abilities, and disabilities that affect
how users interact with the NII.\"\
\
The NII affords a unique opportunity in the design of human interface
technologies to formalize collaborations among early demand user groups
with a wide range of preferences, abilities and disabilities in order to
reduce the lag time between technology transfer and user acceptance.\
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The Electronic Industries Foundation has reported that \"manufacturers
who have found ways to simplify the user interface have seen positive
consumer response in terms of increased sales and decreased product
returns\... A growing body of research suggests that there are ways to
design products that can accommodate functional limitations, and
actually enhance their ease of use for everyone.\"\[endnote 2\]\
\
The use of generic performance benchmarks such as those developed by
Pirkl and Babic (1988) would stimulate the design needed to ensure
customer choice. The benchmarks include:\
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-cross-sensory redundant cuing, feedback, and modes of operation that
supports choice\
-reduced complexity of operations\
-adjustable product/user interfaces designed for a variety of
populations and accommodation levels\
-designing beyond basic needs in a manner that enhances user\'s
independence, self-respect, and quality of life.

These findings are congruent with the growing recognition that
technological advance only provides a competitive advantage for a short
time; superior design and manufacturing doing it right for the customer
and quickly the first time ensures true economic advantage in a customer
driven, global economy.\
\
[What is the Public Interest in Investing in NII and People with
Disabilities?\
]{.underline}This section outlines how significant benefits are
anticipated in at least five areas. The public will be particularly
interested in how building choice in NII:\
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-removes communications and information access barriers that restrict
business and social interactions between people with and without
disabilities\
-removes age-related barriers to participation in society\
-reduces language and literacy-related barriers to society\
-reduces risk of information worker injuries and\
-enhances global commerce opportunities\
\
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[Removes Communications and Information Access Barriers that Restrict
Interactions Between People with and without Disabilities\
]{.underline}An individual with limited mobility may not have easy
access to public libraries, places of employment or business, or retail
outlets. Although these facilities may be \"accessible\" for the
wheelchair user, getting to and from such locations often poses a
serious challenge. Losses of hearing or sight are obvious barriers to
information access.\
\
The capacity to communicate with, and collect information from almost
any point on the globe from one\'s home has already expanded the ability
of persons with disabilities to participate in an information oriented
society more effectively than ever before.\
\
Federal policy promoting the coordination of a NII holds great promise
of protecting the gains already made in information access by persons
with disabilities. However, if the design and development of the NII
does not accommodate the technical requirements for choice needed to
provide universal access, then information utilization by persons with a
variety of disabilities will be set back to the days before the
development of computers.\
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At present, even without the development of a coordinated
infrastructure, people with disabilities are carrying out electronic
banking, shopping on-line, telecommuting, providing information services
to others, all from their homes. In the office setting via electronic
document processing, visually impaired and blind employees have access
to vital information equal in some cases to their sighted colleagues.
The economic impact of developing an information system that fails to
accommodate the choice of modes of operation including access devices
that convert electronic information into a form that can be used by a
person with a disability (i.e., Braille displays, speech synthesizers,
or voice input processors) will be far greater than the cost of ensuring
this universal access in the infrastructure from its inception.\
\
\
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[Personal Experiences of How the NII is Reducing Barriers\
]{.underline}There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be
realized until personal experience has been brought home.\"\
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John Stuart Mill 1800-1873\
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What follows is a list of personal experiences that offer insight into
how the NII can benefit citizens with disabilities.\
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Reduced Barriers to Full Participation in Society\
I am a C7 quadriplegic who has completed a course in desktop publishing.
I have been disabled for two years and very eager to get back into the
work force. I have learned I\'m still employable regardless of my
disability. I recently learned about telecommunications and the
different networks for communicating. With electronic mail I communicate
with various people from all around the world. My life has really opened
up with my career change and the electronic information systems.\
\
[Reduced Barriers to Business and Employment\
]{.underline}I am a C5 quadriplegic living in the Silicon Valley and a
current intern with the Networking and Communication Department. I have
been disabled for ten years from a motor vehicle accident in 1983.\
\
I use computer telecommunications daily in numerous different functions.
Telecommunications has opened up a new world, allowing me to communicate
via e-mail with colleges, government agencies, and organizations. The
future success of telecommunications is phenomenal, especially for the
disabled community. It not only allows a person unable to go out into
the community to access endless amounts of information, but also permits
disabled persons, such as myself, to eventually return to the workforce
(via telecommuting) and become productive citizens again.\
\
I have a dream of some day starting a nationwide bulletin board for
attendant care for the disabled community. It would be an attendant
registry that would permit disabled persons to hire attendants anywhere
in the United States and find qualified and compatible employees.\
\
[Reduced Communication Barriers\
]{.underline}I am 17 years old. I am an oral, profoundly hearing-
impaired student who is fully mainstreamed in the 12th grade at the Park
School in Baltimore, MD. I did not really have access to e-mail until
early October, when a friend of mine proposed that we e-mail each
other\...e-mail turned out to be easier than I thought, and it has been
wonderful because it has enabled me to communicate with my friends from
around the Atlantic Seaboard region.\
\
The \"electronic super-highway\" is a boon for deaf/hearing impaired
people because it enables them to communicate via the written word,
which is a very effective alternate means of obtaining vital information
in a relatively short period of time. It is my hope that the White House
will make access to the information highway universal.\
\
Thank you for allowing me to voice my concern regarding this matter.
E-mail is such a wonderful thing and I am fortunate to be living in an
age where communication opportunities (especially for the deaf/hearing
impaired) are expanding.\
\
[Reduced Information Access Barriers\
]{.underline}I am using e-mail every day on campus at Gallaudet
University, and because of my social shyness, it is much easier for me
to socialize on the keyboard. I also find it great for research, and am
doing my best to learn about Internet services as quickly as possible. I
have been hard of hearing since birth, 50db equilaterally.\
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Reduced Barriers to the \"Basics\" in an Information Society\
Rodney, a senior at Rogers High School, Puyallup, Washington, has no use
of his arms or legs and uses a mouth wand to operate a computer. He
began using a computer at age 6, and learned to read and write in this
manner.\
\
When asked a question, Rodney balances his wand on a box strategically
placed near his terminal. A computer he says \"is sort of like running
water. You don\'t know what you\'d do without it.\"\
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[Removes Age-related Barriers to Participation in Society\
]{.underline}According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, by the year
2000, the U.S. population of those over 65 years will be greater than 34
million, this figure world wide will be over 419 million. The Bureau
projects that in the next 50 years, the U.S. population will increase
overall by 19.8 percent; however, the population of those 65 years or
older will increase by 117 percent, more than doubling from 31.6 million
to 68.5 million. By designing the NII to meet the needs of people with
disabilities, the NII will also have the flexibility and competitive
advantage of accommodating the freedom of choice and independence
desired by this unprecedented number of older people. A well-designed
NII that accommodates a wider range of vision, hearing, and mobility
differences will normalize and not stigmatize our aging society.
Personal and economic loss associated with past age- discriminatory
designs can be minimized.\
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The NII will increasingly be a key factor in the independence,
productivity, commerce, and community participation of a significant
percentage of older people in our society. User acceptance will be
accelerated by designs that make the NII easier and simpler to use.
Those over the age of 50 control over 50 percent of America\'s
discretionary spending funds (Ostroff 1989), and those over 65 control
77 percent of all assets (Pirkl and Babic 1988).\
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[Reduces Language and Literacy Related Barriers to Society\
]{.underline}Full implementation of the Television Decoder Circuitry Act
of 1990 will ensure not only full access to broadcasting by deaf
Americans, but will also provide the choice of text captioning that may
serve as a powerful application to reduce illiteracy in this country.
According to the most comprehensive literacy study ever done by the U.S.
government, the literacy levels of 90 million people in the United
States is deficient.\[endnote 3\] This situation represents a direct
threat to the U.S. economy. Another significant benefit of television
with text captioning will be its usefulness as an effective learning
technique for people who are learning English as a second language.\
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[Reduces Risk of Information Worker Injuries\
]{.underline}With 70 million personal computers in use, strain injuries
have skyrocketed. The U.S. Department of Labor figures show repetitive
stress injuries represent 60 percent of all job-related illnesses.
Estimates of the annual cost to business is \$20 billion.\[endnote 4\]
Pilot demonstrations of speech recognition for all workers are underway
in several large companies as a strategy to increase productivity and
decrease keystrokes. Again, pioneer users of this technology have been
people with disabilities who needed a choice other than a standard
keyboard. NII applications must interoperate with intelligent user
interfaces accommodating a wide range of user needs and preferences such
as speech interfaces.\
\
[Enhances Global Commerce Opportunities\
]{.underline}There are approximately 750 million people with
disabilities in the world. Meeting the needs of people with disabilities
in the NII will provide U.S. companies an early competitive advantage in
the global marketplace.\
\
The global advantages of the increasing U.S. market responsiveness to
people with disabilities was noted in the 1993 report of the Commission
of the European Communities. The report, European Technology Initiative
for Disabled and Elderly People - Call for Proposals, states as
follows:\
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\"Technology transfer from the major European Information Technology
industry to the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, with the knowledge
of the customer, will be critical to the competitiveness of the European
Rehabilitation Technology industry. This technology transfer opens new
markets for European technology. It also helps counter the threat posed
to European industry by US legislation in favor of people with
disabilities which is both forcing the Information Technology industry
to take their needs into account and stimulating a strong rehabilitation
technology industry in the US.\"\
\
Deploying technologies such as real-time captioning, originally
developed to accommodate deaf individuals could also enhance
international commerce activities. For example, U.S. economists working
on General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) spent many hours
transcribing and comparing notes from working sessions before
strategizing on next steps. Delegates with limited English proficiency
may experience even greater difficulties processing meeting content when
it is only presented in spoken English. This situation may tend to
increase misunderstanding and decrease trust, resulting in costly
negotiation delays. Deploying real-time captioning would provide all
delegates with a written English transcript of the proceedings at the
end of the meeting. The captioning equipment would also provide to the
entire group a real-time text display of the speaker\'s words that would
serve to enhance language comprehension by delegates with limited
English proficiency.\
\
The technical solutions employed today to magnify text displays for low
vision users are identical to solutions being evaluated in Saudi Arabia
to make English software applications readily translatable to Arabic.
This approach can be applied to any foreign language and may reduce
barriers to market entry for U.S. software developers.\
\
[PART II: Where are We Now?\
]{.underline}This section addresses the emerging consensus on universal
design and convergence of policy and design practices in both the public
sector (Federal, State, foreign governments) and the private sector that
are becoming examples and support mechanisms for NII applications to
break down barriers by building in customer choice.\
\
[National Laws and Policies\
]{.underline}Since 1988, statutory requirements for federal agencies
have been in place to ensure that agency investments in information
technology integrate requirements to meet the needs of people with
disabilities are met. This policy is based on two laws, Public Law
100-542 and Public Law 102-569. Public Law 102-569, Section 508
addresses the requirement that Federal investments in information
technology be conducted in a manner that ensures access to computer and
telecommunications products and services by employees with disabilities
and citizens with disabilities accessing public information services.
Public Law 100-542, the Telecommunications Accessibility Enhancement
Act, mandates a proactive approach within the government to advancing
accessibility to the Federal telecommunications system by individuals
with hearing or speech limitations.\
\
These laws do not represent a radical new direction for federal
agencies, but serve to reinforce existing mission requirements under the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This Act requires federally conducted or
federally sponsored programs to be accessible to persons with
disabilities and mandates that management policies must not discriminate
in the hiring, placement, and advancement of persons with disabilities.\
\
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) has adapted and
extended many of the existing responsibilities of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973 for implementation outside the Federal Government. The law
requires barrier-free access to places that serve the public, such as
theaters, restaurants, and museums. State and local government services,
transportation, and telecommunications services must also be accessible.
Discrimination on the basis of disability in private sector employment
is also prohibited.\
\
Protecting the rights of access to the evolving information
infrastructure by customers with disabilities is a national
responsibility as a result of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As
implementation of ADA continues, accessibility to the information
infrastructure represents an important area for Federal, State and
private sector sponsored pilot demonstrations to conduct performance
benchmarks and showcase early benefits and successful implementation
strategies.\
\
[Efforts of Federal Agencies\
]{.underline}General Services Administration, Council on Accessible
Technology\
In 1984, GSA created an interagency committee that is now called the
Council on Accessible Technology. The Council, comprised of senior
executives from 30 agencies, promotes the planning and investment in
information infrastructure that demonstrates the flexibility of choice
needed to accommodate people with disabilities.\
\
The Council advances the business practice of including persons with
disabilities in the design, pilots, and early implementation of all new
government information infrastructure investments.\
\
Last Fall, the Council co-hosted with the Department of Commerce a
seminar entitled \"Universal Design: Accommodating Diversity and High
Performance.\" The seminar was attended by approximately 200 people from
Federal and State Governments and industry. The seminar took place in
conjunction with the Department of Commerce\' Sixth Annual Accessible
Computer Technology (ACT) Exhibit.\
\
At the Department of Commerce\'s Seventh Annual ACT Exhibit, on Oct.
5/6, 1994, the Council, together with the Committee on Application and
Technology, will be showcasing Federal, State, and private pilot
demonstrations of applications that exemplify how the needs of people
with disabilities can be met in the NII. The Clearinghouse on Computer
Accommodation will assist in pre-selection of applications that meet
existing accessibility guidelines.\
\
The Council will conduct a similar showcase of NII applications that are
usable by people with disabilities at Interchange \' 94, October 12/13,
1994.\
\
[General Services Administration (GSA) Center for IT Accommodation
(CITA)\
]{.underline}Since 1984, the Center for IT Accommodation has served as a
model demonstration center for advancing accessible information
environments, services, and management practices in order to stimulate
the governmentwide capacity-building needed to meet statutory
requirements. The center provides technical consultation, presentations,
training, and assistance to federal agencies. The Center also serves as
a pilot demonstration site and market need/market utilization conduit
between federal agencies and laboratories, universities and industry.\
\
CITA facilitates a network of Federal employees with disabilities and
their support personnel that provides early customer feedback on new
service delivery technologies and practices. Coordinating with CITA and
this network, the Computer/Telecommunications Accessibility Resource
Exchange (CARE), is now a part of many agency programs. CARE members
piloted with GSA developers, the first accessible information kiosk. GSA
continues to advise and provide accessible kiosk services to customer
agencies. Current projects underway include:\
\
-working with Government Printing Office, National Institute of
Standards and Technology, and Internal Revenue Service to ensure
development of electronic document services that are accessible\
-providing guidance on developing accessible CD-ROMs\
-developing a tutorial to assist blind users becoming oriented to
Windows\
-preparing a CITA handbook as a model for universal access in electronic
document preparation\
-evaluating Internet browsers, including Mosaic and Lynx to enhance the
access modes supported

Last summer, CITA piloted a program that exposed future human interface
designers to the government\'s need for an accessible information
infrastructure. Stanford University participated in the program and
inquiries for future participation were received from the Georgia
Institute of Technology and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
University.\
\
Due to changing research priorities, Federal laboratories committed to
dual-use technology and high performance technology are also beginning
to approach CITA to discuss collaborative efforts. In this manner,
market demand will be stimulated for alternative modes of computer
interaction needed by persons with disabilities. The synergistic goals
of dual-use technology and accommodation of diversity can be achieved.
It is anticipated that this technology push initiative will be
complemented by a market pull within the labs for user interfaces
offering greater flexibility to accommodate a wider range of abilities,
disabilities and preferences.\
\
[Microcomputer Training Program for Persons with Disabilities (MTPPD)\
]{.underline}(MTPPD) serves persons with disabilities within and outside
the Department. MTPPD also supports the Department\'s Nationwide Office
Automation for the VA (NOAVA) implementation to ensure employees with
disabilities receive equal access to NOAVA OA systems and platforms.\
\
The MTPPD program provides training to employees within the VA and from
other federal agencies. The cost-reimbursable training addresses both
adaptive technology and common application packages. Other program
services include consultations, tours, equipment demonstrations, and
product evaluations. Document scanning and converting services,
including brailling, are available to agencies on a cost- reimbursable
basis.\
\
[Department of Commerce (DoC) Committee on Resources for Electronic
Accessible Technology to End Users (CREATE)\
]{.underline}CREATE is the vehicle responsible for planning and
coordinating Department-wide activities in increase awareness of
accessible technology issues and explore ways to ensure that the
information environment is usable by people with disabilities. CREATE
hosts the Accessible Computer Technology Exhibit hosted annually in
October to increase awareness and effective use of commercially
available products and services that accommodate people with
disabilities.\
\
[Department of Agriculture (USDA) Technology Accessible Resources Gives
Employment Today (TARGET) Center\
]{.underline}The Accessible Technology Program has established the
TARGET Center to support USDA employees nationwide and other federal
agencies. TARGET provides evaluations, demonstrations, resource
information, needs assessments, and training on accessible technology.
The center uses open systems concepts to highlight accommodation
solutions available on personal computers. TARGET demonstrates how
accessible technology optimizes productivity and job retention of career
employees by reducing worker compensation costs and disability
retirements from end-user computer injuries.\
\
[Department of Defense Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP)\
]{.underline}The CAP Office assists DoD activities to procure adaptive
equipment which provides access to computer systems and
telecommunications as required by Public Laws 102-569 and 100-542. The
CAP Office provides technical, educational and financial support to
assist employees, supervisors and managers identify and procure
appropriate accommodations. The CAP Office conducts special projects to
assist DoD activities to ensure an accessible work place. Projects
include working with DoD components to ensure that training centers,
libraries, and programs are accessible; and coordinating with system
acquisition activities to ensure that accessibility is considered in the
procurement of DoD systems. CAP also established the Technology
Evaluation Center (CAPTEC), a facility dedicated to the evaluation and
testing of emerging technology. The CAPTEC assists DoD supervisors and
employees in choosing appropriate adaptive equipment for creating work
environments that are accessible to persons with disabilities.\
\
[Internal Revenue Service Computer/Telecommunications Accessibility
Program (CAP)\
]{.underline}The Computer/Telecommunications Accessibility Program (CAP)
was established to ensure the IRS makes electronic information
accessible to people with disabilities. CAP assists the managers and
employees in selection and procurement of appropriate adaptive
technology. The CAP office works with acquisitions and procurement
personnel to ensure that accessibility is included in information
technology procurements. CAP has a demonstration center with adaptive
equipment.\
\
[National Security Agency Center for Computer Assistive Technology
(CCAT)\
]{.underline}The National Security Agency\'s CCAT provides demonstration
of assistive technology devices and professional resources for agency
employees with hearing visual or physical limitations. The goal of the
center is to provide assistance and identify alternative solutions for
persons with disabilities.\
\
[Federally Sponsored Activities\
]{.underline}Department of Education (DoEd) National Institute on
Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)\
Technology-Related Assistance Act Funded States\
In 1994, Congress re-authorized Public Law 100-407, the
Technology-Related Assistance For Individuals with Disabilities Act
(P.L.103-218). Administration of the law continues to be conducted by
the NIDRR. The states have received grants for \"systems change\"
activities to eliminate barriers that impede information and acquisition
of assistive technology services and devices through implementation of
consumer-responsive systems.\
\
[Project Enable, West Virginia Research & Training Center\
]{.underline}Project Enable is a full featured computer bulletin board
system providing information on disability, rehabilitation, employment,
and education. It is used primarily by people with disabilities and
their families, educators, students, and rehabilitation workers who
participate in over 150 special interest discussion groups.\
\
[Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Communications and
Information Technology Access, Trace Center, University of Wisconsin,
Madison.\
]{.underline}The Trace RERC studies access problems of people with
disabilities to computer and information systems, and disseminates
information on solution strategies. Trace works with computer
manufacturers and software producers to outline how existing products
can be made more accessible to people with disabilities. Through Trace
efforts, disability access features are being built into commonly used
operating systems. Current cross-disability goals include working with a
broad coalition to:\
\
-identify ways that manufacturers can build access directly into next
generation systems to accommodate the widest possible number of
customers\
-identify strategies to allow customer choice of mode of operation.

[National Science Foundation (NSF)\
]{.underline}DO\*IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internet- working, and
Technology), University of Washington: DO\*IT enables high school
students with disabilities to explore careers in science, engineering,
and mathematics through \"mentorships\" conducted via Internet with
practicing engineers and scientists from around the world, many of whom
also have disabilities.\
\
[Selected Non-profit and Academic Activities\
]{.underline}Project EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information)\
Provides assistance to higher education in developing computer support
services for people with disabilities. Project EASI provides information
and guidance on campus applications of adaptive computer technology for
access to information, instruction, research, and employment. Project
EASI\'s Internet server hosts an active discussion about
computer/telecommunications access issues.\
\
[WGBH-Caption Center, Boston, MA\
]{.underline}WGBH has pioneered advances in accessible programming for
more than 20 years since captioning the first nationally broadcast
program. WGBH is working to make all programming accessible to the
nation\'s 24 million deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. Instrumental in
the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990, they also launched
Descriptive Video Service (DVS) in the same year. DVS makes television
accessible to millions of people who are blind or visually impaired
through narrated descriptions of key program elements.\
\
[Corporation for Public Broadcasting/WGBH National Center for Accessible
Media (NCAM), Boston, MA\
]{.underline}NCAM was established in 1993 with funding from the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting. NCAM is taking steps to accelerate
media access to populations that have been underserved or denied access.
Project examples include:\
\
Closed Caption University \-- empowering individual public television
stations to caption their own programming\
Access Primer and Toolkit \-- primers for stations interested in
technology applications such as captioning, descriptive video, and
foreign language (especially Spanish) translations and tips on building
relationships with deaf, blind, and minority-language communities\
International Broadcasting \-- study of how countries around the world
are providing access to their TV systems\
Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) Project \-- is experimenting with using
the VBI of the television signal instead of the third audio channel in
routing descriptive video or Spanish video\
Print Access Project \-- to digitize newspapers and deliver them into
the home fully accessible to blind, low-vision, and other print-disabled
people.\
World Institute on Disability (WID)\
WID focuses on creation of public policy that will give people with
disabilities access to the information age. WIDnet is a network that
focuses on disability policy.\
\
[Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and Information
(CSLI)\
]{.underline}CSLI\'s Archimedes Project works to improve access to
information for individuals with disabilities by influencing the early
design stages of emerging technologies. The project:\
\
-applies basic research about information and communications to the
design of access for people who are disabled\
-educates those who will develop the next generation of technology about
the advantages for the whole community of designing general access. In
both instances maximum leverage is obtained by emphasizing design rather
than retrofit.\
-Private Sector Activities\
-Disability Action Committee for Xwindows (DACX)\
DACX is working to solve accessibility issues presented by the Xwindows
graphical user interface. Membership includes the major Xwindows vendors
including DEC, IBM, SUN, and representatives from academia. The purpose
of DACX is to develop solutions which will allow users with disabilities
to access systems running the Xwindows GUI. The group has succeeded in
developing access utilities for users with motor impairments. It is also
working on developing necessary \"hooks\" for screen reading programs.
Access-related software developed by DACX is distributed through the
Xwindows Consortium.\
\
[The International Committee on Accessible Document Design (ICADD)\
]{.underline}ICADD promotes standards for producing documentation for
\"print disabled\" individuals. Membership includes representatives from
industry, academia, and government from many countries around the world.
The purpose of ICADD is to develop and encourage the document
transformations that print-disabled persons are working toward. ICADD
has succeeded in implementing accessibility in existing International
Standards Organization (ISO) standards such as the Standard Generalized
Mark-up Language (SGML)\
\
[Electronic Industries Association (EIA)\
]{.underline}Electronic Industries Association\'s Consumer Electronics
Group and the Electronics Industries Foundation (EIF) are currently
working to create a Seal of Accessibility for consumer electronics
products.\
\
When completed, the Seal will certify that designated mainstream
products can be used by persons with functional limitations associated
with aging, a temporary injury, or permanent disability, and that the
products meet the accessible design guidelines established by a
committee comprising manufacturers, disability experts, consumers, and
representatives of organizations serving the needs of people with
disabilities. The seal should help manufacturers during the design
process and consumers during the selection process.\
\
[Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), Industrial Designers
Society of America and Business Week Magazine\
]{.underline}Promotes recognition of industrial design excellence as a
strategic tool for competitiveness in the domestic and global
marketplaces. Industrial designers make products easy to use, safe,
comfortable, appealing, and ecologically responsible. One of the 18 gold
medal winners for 1994 was James Pirkl, designer of a book on
Transgenerational Design: Products for an Aging Population which
highlights the marketplace advantages of well-designed products that
also accommodate older people and people with disabilities.\
\
[International Activities\
]{.underline}There are three major European program efforts underway to
accelerate the productive application of technology on behalf of people
with disabilities. The largest of the three is Technology Initiative for
Disabled and Elderly (TIDE). TIDE is a community research and
development initiative in the field of rehabilitation technology
designed to stimulate the creation of a single market in Europe. TIDE
assists elderly and disabled people to live independently and
participate more fully in the social and economic activities of the
community.\
\
The main goal of the RACE program (Research and Development on Advanced
Communication in Europe) is to develop technology and infrastructure in
order to prepare for the introduction of broadband network services and
to promote European industry competitiveness in this field.\
\
This activity includes delivery of services to the largest possible
cross-section of the user population, including people with
disabilities. The project includes development of a standard reference
manual of specifications for designers that will provide the necessary
knowledge about human factors to ensure network accessibility to all
users.\
\
Member States of the European Union recognize the importance of
education, employment, and accessibility for people with disabilities.
Institutions of the European Union have issued resolutions to promote
equality of opportunity and integration of people with disabilities.\
\
Canada\'s information infrastructure planning has also begun to address
integrating the needs of people with disabilities. Canadian
representatives have requested information about U.S. plans.\
\
[PART III: Where Do We Want To Be?\
]{.underline}\"Information, which will be education, which will be
employment, which will be income, which will be possibility, must flow
to all Americans on terms of equal accessibility without regard to
physical condition. And we are committed to doing that.\"\
\
- President Clinton 5/13/94\
\
This section addresses examples of user expectations of important NII
capabilities. These capabilities will be needed to address the national
goal of equal accessibility in communications, commerce, and community
among people with and without disabilities. The examples are grouped
under the four functional capability areas identified in the Vision for
a 21st Century Information Infrastructure report of the Council on
Competitiveness:\
\
-widely accessible and interoperable communications networks\
-digital libraries, information databases and services\
-information appliances and computing systems\
-trained people to build, maintain, and operate these resources.

This May 1993 report envisions:\
\
The information infrastructure of the 21st Century will enable all
Americans to access information and communicate with each other easily,
reliably, securely and cost-effectively in any medium voice, data, image
or video anytime, anywhere.\
\
[Widely Accessible and Interoperable Communications Networks\
]{.underline}Expectations of business owners with disabilities will be
met for commerce, information, health, and manufacturing networks that
offer the visual and auditory redundancy needed to accommodate their
choice of modes of communications and information processing in a manner
that is also transparent to and convenient to their customers.

Education networks should accommodate the needs of parents, children,
and teachers to have alternative modes of communication and information
sharing available to accommodate situations when one or more of the
communicating parties has a disability associated with hearing, seeing,
or speaking. For example, text messaging might substitute for telephone
conversations between a parent and teacher. Multi-media learning
applications would support redundancy options allowing student choice of
information presented either visually or auditorially/tactile or both.

Accommodating people with disabilities will be a tangible and widely
recognized citizen benchmark for responsive and respectful service.
Citizen expectations will be met for equal access and improved services
at all levels of government service delivery. For example, 911 emergency
service calls will accommodate text telephone users who are deaf or
speech impaired.

Enhanced service/routing features on 800-number arrangements need to
accommodate people with disabilities by detecting text telephone users
and routing their calls to a data server when voice telephone calls to
the same number are routed to a recorded voice response unit. 800
numbers placed to an information service agent would automatically patch
to the nearest State relay operator service if the agent failed to
respond with a device capable of communicating directly to a text
telephone.

The 800 number service capability should also provide in a similar
manner an automatic linkage option to the language translation services
industry when needed by a caller or information services agent to
complete a communication transaction when a common language is not
available to the two parties.\
The large federal investment in Federal laboratories and the technology
transfer and dual-use programs should meet citizen\'s expectations by
contributing to advanced communications and information services that
are designed to accommodate all user choices of modes of operation. This
will be achieved through the Federal Laboratory Consortium and other
organizations.

Expectations by hearing impaired and speech impaired executives that
their requirements for real-time captioning through text or sign
language inserts will be available in standard video conferencing
environments will be met. This capability will also accommodate
participants at international conferences who experience language
barriers. Blind participants will be able to receive transmitted text by
Braille if desired.

Participants in courtroom proceedings including judges, jurors, and
attorneys will be accommodated as requested using the suite of service
choices described above to accommodate hearing loss, vision loss, or
language differences.

Wireless voice and data service offerings and equipment will be able to
accommodate people with disabilities in a manner that represents a
significant improvement from what is commercially available today in
terms of interoperability, competitive offerings, and user choice and
customization options.

The access component between the customer premises equipment and the
user with a disability will be designed with as much care and attention
to flexibility and interoperability as the access component between the
customer premises equipment and the transport carrier.

Expectations from current users with disabilities that uninterrupted
choice of access mode to existing network utilities and services will
continue as the technologies advance. This currently includes electronic
mail (video mail, multimedia mail, etc.), directory service, security
service, electronic commerce, and bulletin board systems.

Expectations that students with auditory or visual limitations will also
be able to benefit from the commercially prepared multi-media and
\"real-time video\" capabilities employed for individual and group
learning.

Expectations from community members that electronic town meetings and
government provided kiosk services will accommodate full participation
by all.

Expectations from blind people as well as those learning English that
descriptive video services would become a standard option. Descriptive
video services provide a spoken description that accompanies visual
events.

[Digital Libraries, Information Data Bases and Services\
]{.underline}Federally funded activities of the High Performance
Computing and Communications Program, will address the needs of people
with disabilities to use these services and include people with
disabilities in their pilot projects. This includes projects such as NSF
funded digital libraries research, NASA developed prototype digital
libraries, ARPA funded hypermedia systems with intelligent user
interfaces and National Institutes of Health developments in medical
datebase management.\
Expectations of people who are print-handicapped due to vision problems
or have problems handling printed materials due to dexterity limitations
will be met. These members of society will be able to access all
publicly and commercially available electronic information services
using their choice of access modes.\
The Government Printing Office \"Access\" Act of 1993 will accelerate
services that are fully usable by people with disabilities including:\
-an electronic directory of federal electronic information\
-on-line access to the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, and
other appropriate publications and\
-an electronic storage facility for federal electronic information.

Expectations of retirees for intensive, early, and satisfied use of NII
education, commercial, and leisure applications will be closely tied to
the ease with which their age-related choices for large print,
amplification, and speech-based interfaces are met.

[Information Appliances and Computing Systems that are Easy to
Use]{.underline}\
Expectation that information appliances or customer premises equipment
that used to include only telephones, PCs/workstations, fax machines,
optical character scanners, LANs, modems, video equipment, cellular
phones, pagers, personal digital assistants, and notebook/laptop
computers will now also include braille displays, braille computers,
alternative keyboards, captioning systems, closed circuit televisions,
CD-ROM drives, text telephones, text-to-speech devices, voice
recognition systems, augmentative communication devices, assistive
listening devices, and wireless personal communication services.\
Expectation that end-to-end telecommunications service will fully
deliver to people with disabilities and include not only transport
service, but also equipment and software choices needed for end to end
connectivity. These services will offer user preference of modality or
combination of modalities in which to present information or
communication including:\
voice-oriented\
data-oriented\
video-oriented (including video conferencing)\
multi-media oriented\
wireless-based

Older Americans will not be resistant to change as sometimes predicted
if new appliances accommodate age-related vision, hearing, or dexterity
limitations through better designed technologies offering greater range
and mode options than are available today.

The capability to accommodate people with disabilities will be
recognized as an essential performance measure during selection from
among competing appliances. This benchmark will ensure the flexibility
of choices needed to access all communications networks and services and
also accommodate learning preferences, noisy environments, hands busy
environments, and high performance environments, including national
security.

Expectation that executives with disabilities while on travel will be
able to secure an equivalent level of access to information and
communication services as their non-disabled colleagues through
well-designed information services such as kiosks, e-mail, and
FAX-on-demand that accommodate choice.

Trained People to Build, Maintain, and Operate these Resources\
Expectation that designers will invite people with disabilities to be
beta users of all new products and service offerings recognizing that
this class of user is both more demanding of functionality and more
likely to quickly adopt a capability that offers real advantages. This
design approach has unfailingly promoted greater ingenuity and
innovation for many years, however, it has not been well known or
consistently applied until recently.

Expectation that designers with disabilities are more likely to
stimulate increased design foresight for range of functionality and mode
options in their organizations.

Businesses that offer separate special customized products and services
to meet needs of people with disabilities in a manner that accommodates
choice as an afterthought will be at a distinct disadvantage to
businesses fully integrating the choices of people with disabilities
early through universal design and pilot demonstrations that include
people with disabilities.

Businesses will advertise their products and services as
\"access-screened\" in a manner similar to being \"green\" or
environmentally conscious. Perhaps a AAAS rating for \"Application
Adequacy for Accessibility Services\" or a Seal of Accessibility as
advanced by the Electronics Industry Association could be utilized.

Businesses will expect federal pilot demonstrations to demonstrate how
the accessibility of products and services can be advanced in the NII.
There will a strong emphasis on access performance and reliability
benchmarks for universal design in public and private interoperability
testbed labs.

Businesses will expect opportunities to showcase how they are investing
in universal design to competitive advantage.

[PART IV: How Are We Going To Get There?\
]{.underline}This section addresses the scaling opportunities afforded
through the NII to establish the leadership, policy, and marketplace
roles and alliances necessary to ensure that the design of the NII will
meet national expectations for breaking down barriers. These
expectations can only be fulfilled by building choice and full usability
for people with disability into the development of the NII.\
\
Strengthen Market Pull \-- Current Effort Level Can Not Ensure
Uninterrupted Access\
Although the Federal Government in its role as a major employer and
information technology consumer is taking steps to use its \"buying
power\" to communicate to industry its need for information technology
products and services that are usable by people with disabilities, this
process must be scaled up in priority and include pilot demonstration
activities in order to shape the capabilities needed earlier in the
technology design cycle.\
\
Agencies are demonstrating progress in formulating access policies and
meeting current employee accommodation needs; however, increased
attention is needed on leveraging market demand to ensure long-term
uninterrupted access as future technologies are introduced and the
information infrastructure proceeds. The current restricted usefulness
of graphical user interfaces by blind users represents inadequate
foresight in the marketplace to changing needs. Today blind users face
graphics-mode-only applications whose designs neglect to accommodate
choice, thus providing marginal utility of popular applications that
have been fully utilized for more than a decade. Discussions in recent
White Papers on the information infrastructure will need to be expanded
in order to adequately address requirements of people with disabilities
to the NII.\
\
At a time of rapid technological change, the needs and requirements of
customers with disabilities must be fully integrated in all technology
development, replacement, and refreshment initiatives. Realizing the
full benefits of the NII also depends on the development of open system
standards. Without these open systems, small firms developing
application devices important to individuals with disabilities will be
crowded out of markets by larger, more established firms.\
\
Fortunately, industry champions for improved access within large
computer companies report that they are actively seeking greater
evidence that equitable access is a high priority customer requirement
of the government\'s information infrastructure.\
\
[Leadership by Example\
]{.underline}Although the Federal Government is commonly associated with
technology push R&D funding, within the information technology arena,
the Federal Government also has a unique role as buyer for the largest
and most complex information environment in the world. The ability of
the Federal Government to demonstrate technology foresight in the
marketplace can have a significant impact on the quality of life of
people with disabilities. This consumer foresight can accelerate the
readiness of the U.S. information industry to respond to similar
application challenges beyond the Federal marketplace and abroad. The
Federal Government should strengthen its investment commitment to
universal design in order to achieve not only equal access to NII by all
Americans, but also to recognize the innovation incentive it provides to
industry to better prepare for consumer interface demands globally.\
\
The Office of Science and Technology Policy is currently providing an
example of LEAD by Design by assessing how well a new White House
information service can be used by people with disabilities. This action
will signal in a manner that echoes tapping on the Liberty Bell during
the first transcontinental call our national commitment to an
information infrastructure that will deliver in terms of global
competitiveness and in a manner that liberates the expressiveness and
amplifies the dignity of all Americans.\
\
[New Roles and Alliances\
]{.underline}Deploying the National Information Infrastructure (NII) in
a manner that promotes universal service, access to government
information, and technological innovation with performance benchmarks
for customer choice, equal opportunity, and convenience will provide the
needed context for the following actions:\
\
Due to the high stakes requirements of people with disabilities,
establish a citizen participation mechanism or use an existing
capability such as Americans Communicating Electronically (ACE) to
ensure that citizens with disabilities have the means to give input and
feedback directly to NII planners and developers throughout the process.
This is the NII category of customer with great need and at great risk
for being well-served by the NII.

Establish pilot demonstration partnerships among regional associations
of people with disabilities; regional business innovation and/or
industrial design consortiums; regional federal laboratory consortiums;
and regional rehabilitation engineering centers.

Increase collaboration among committed individuals involved in next
generation design within universities, industry, and Federal
laboratories to provide the focused technology push to human interface
technologies that will readily accommodate capabilities required by
people with a wide range of preferences, abilities, and disabilities.

Increase collaboration among Federal, State and private sector
organizations to operationalize performance benchmarks and showcase
pilot demonstrations of infrastructure capabilities that also offer
improved and uninterrupted access by people with disabilities.

Human interface technologies that accommodate a wide range of user needs
will become recognized as a critical technology in the missions of the
Federal High Performance Computing and Communications Program, the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Federal
Laboratory Consortium, and the Technology Reinvestment Project of the
Advanced Research Projects Agency.\
Increased educational opportunities for human interface designers to
learn how to meet customer requirements for accessibility through
university/industry/disabled community partnerships that improve
industry foresight to this changing global need.

[Incorporating the Needs of Americans with Disabilities in New National
Legislation\
]{.underline}How should the Communications Act of 1994 (S.1822) protect
and advance universal service in a manner that more explicitly includes
people with disabilities?

How should the Antitrust Reform Act of 1993 (H.R.3626) and the National
Communications Competition and Information Infrastructure Act of 1993
(H.R. 3636) fully reflect public interest in universal design, universal
access, and customer choice?

How should intelligent interfaces that accommodate disabilities and
abilities be acknowledged as a competitiveness factor in the National
Competitiveness Act of 1993 (S.4)?

[Performance Benchmarks for Accessibility\
]{.underline}How should the design needs of people with disabilities
become operationalized as an integral aspect of all NII development
initiatives?

What performance benchmarking mechanisms are needed to ensure that
innovations such as information kiosks, electronic town meetings,
electronic voting and other interactive services can be fully utilized
by people with disabilities?

How can the design needs of people with disabilities be an integral
principle of ongoing federal programs advancing the NII such as the
High-Performance Computing and Communications Program?

What mechanisms are needed to coordinate and accelerate the technology
transfer benefits between federal programs serving people with
disabilities and High-Performance Computing and related advanced
technology and technology reinvestment programs?

How should application guidelines for universal access be integrated
into the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
grants program designed to support demonstrations of new
telecommunication technology applications?

What mechanisms exist for regulatory agencies such as the Federal
Communications Commission to communicate with disabled citizens on
telecommunications issues?

[Conclusion]{.underline}\
Full participation by citizens with disabilities in the design, pilot
demonstrations, and implementation of NII applications is a national
priority. Collaborative support mechanisms within the Federal and State
Governments and private sector need to be strengthened to serve as
communication conduits between citizens and NII developers. NII
investments need to include performance benchmarks to ensure that
applications can be fully utilized by people with disabilities.\
\
The NII must accommodate choice in order to deliver on its promise of
universal access. The unprecedented convergence of information
technologies only amplifies the possibilities - accommodating choice
provides a focal point for early and far reaching benefits.\
\
Endnotes\
\[1\] E.H. Sibley, Communication of the ACM, May 1990\
\
\[2\] EIA Seal of Accessibility Development Plan Version 1.0 09/17/93\
\
\[3\] U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics, National Adult Literacy Survey, funded by Federal and State
Governments\
\
\[4\] Smithsonian, June 1994\
\
[References]{.underline}\
Committee on Physical, Mathematical, and Engineering Sciences, Federal
Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology, Office of
Science and Technology Policy. (1994) High Performance Computing and
Communications: Toward a National Information Infrastructure.\
\
World Institute on Disability (1994) Telecommunications and Persons with
Disabilities: Building the Framework, The Second Report of the Blue
Ribbon Panel on National Telecommunications Policy\
\
U.S. General Services Administration, Center for IT Accommodation (1991)
Managing Information Resources for Accessibility Future Communications
Services Working Group of the Interagency Management Council, November
(1993) Networking for a Reinvented Government: Federal
Telecommunications Requirements and Industry Technology Assessment\
\
Acquisition Working Group of the Interagency Management Council (1994)
Post-FTS2000 Acquisition Alternatives White Paper Overview\
\
Council on Competitiveness (1992) Vision for a 21st Century Information
Infrastructure Technology for Economic Growth: President\'s Progress
Report, November 1993\
\
Making Software More Accessible for People with Disabilities, Trace
Research and Development Center, 1992.\
\
Commission of the European Communities (1993) European Technology
Initiative for Disabled and Elderly People - Call for Proposals\
\
Wolkomir, Richard. (1994) \"When the work you do ends up costing you an
arm and a leg.\" Smithsonian, June 1994\
\
Huston, Jonathan. General Services Administration, Universal Access
Interfaces, unpublished paper, August 1993\
\
Ostroff, Jeff. 1989. Successful Marketing to the 50+ Consumer. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall.\
\
Pirkl, James J. and Anna L. Babic. 1988. Guidelines and Strategies for
Designing Transgenerational Products: A Reource Manual for Industrial
Design Professionals. Acton, MA: Copley Publishing.\
\
Pirkl, James J. 1994. Transgenerational Design: Products for an Aging
Population. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold.\
\
President\'s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, (1992)
ADA SUMMIT\
\
National Council on Disability, Study on the Financing of Assistive
Technology Devices and Services for Individuals with Disabilities: A
Report to the President and the Congress of the United States, March 4,
1993\
\
Scott, Neil. Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and
Information, Universal Access Technologies, unpublished paper, March
1994\
\
[Public Comments:]{.underline}\
This paper is intended for public comment and discussion. Your comments
can be sent to any of the addresses below:\
\
[Post]{.underline}:\
\
Committee on Applications and Technology\
National Institute of Standards and Technology\
Building 415, Room 102\
Gaithersburg, MD 20899\
Phone: (301) 975-4529\
Fax: (301) 948-7242\
Email [cat_exec@nist.gov](mailto:mcat_exec@nist.gov)\
\
Please also send comments to the author:\
\
Document compliments of [Susan Brummel
Turnbull](mailto:susan.turnbull@gsa.gov)