National and Global Public Inclusive Infrastructures

© 2010 Trace Center - University of Wisconsin -Madison

National and Global Public Inclusive Infrastructures

Gregg Vanderheiden Ph.D.

Trace R&D Center

University of Wisconsin- Madison

AEGIS

2010-10-08


Everything should be made as simple as possible – but no simpler

Albert Einstein

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Key Problems Looming - Many causes

1. Internet will no longer be optional – yet many can not access or use it

Essential for participation in education, employment, commerce, civics, health and safety

2. Access solutions don’t exist for everyone• Not available for some types, degrees & combinations of disability, or functional limitation

3. Current solutions won’t work for all of the new technologies emerging

- Cloud computing, Web 2.0, 1 million authors of next gen apps

4. Access solutions are too complex

• Not just for many users, but also public access points, companies, and even governments

5. Access solutions are hard to find & find out about

• Many do not know that any solutions exist – so it doesn’t occur to them to even search for one

6. Many can’t afford the high cost of access solutions they need

• Again, not just users. Public access points and even governments can’t afford the cost for all

In addition people need access to all the computers they encounter, at work, home,

community, etc. Not just one that is set up for them somewhere.


Underlying Problems / Needs(Things that contribute to the primary problems/needs)

Limited market/sales for AT Vendors

Contributes to cost – and is vicious cost/sales circle

High cost for new innovators to get into the market – get to market

Contributes to limited new products, - limited innovation,

Part of reason solutions don’t exist for many disability types

High costs of Marketing

Contributes to cost for all

Limits ability of new players to get into the market – or survive


Situation and Approach

Addressed by Assistive Technologies

Addressed by Universal Design

(built-in)


4 part Strategy

1. Foster innovation in accessibility and expand the market for innovative vendors

2. Maximize the portion of accessibility that can be addressed through ordinary market mechanisms -- and minimize the portion that must be served through government or philanthropic intervention.

3. Maximize the accessibility of mainstream products.

4. And figure out how to provide basic access for those that regular market forces still cannot reach, even with the above.


National and Global Public Inclusive Infrastructures

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Three Key Goals

Simplify • To users - Public Access Points - Companies - Gov

Provide solutions for all (all types of disabilities, literacy, &

aging)

• One Size does NOT fit all ----

Provide solutions for emerging technologies• Technology is getting away from us

• Need to empower and facilitate developers of all types

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What if…


What if we had Auto-Personalization…

What if we had…

Interfaces that automatically change into a form that

users can understand and use

Content that automatically comes, or is changed into, a

form that people can understand and use


What if…

An elder – with any set of abilities or limitations

1. Could quickly and easily determine what would help them - and

then to store that information safely for future use.

2. Then use those stored preferences to invoke the access

features, technologies and services they need - anywhere on

any device they need to use


What if…

We could make it so that when anyone approached a computer or

other device…

…. the device would automatically change to something that would work

for them

- Something that was simple

- Something that was familiar

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For example

• If an older person wanted to be able to communicate

with children and with nieces and nephews

- Email

- Chat

- Picture sharing….

Instead of finding this….

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Instead what if ….

Email

Chat (text, voice and video)

Picture sharing

could look like this….

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What if……..


Today some children have assistive technologies at school – but

they cannot use them at home – or the library – and therefore cannot

do homework or independent work…

What if … The child was able to sit down to any computer (home,

library, grandparents house) and their assistive technology would

appear and allow them to work.

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Today many teachers are overwhelmed with all the different types of

AT for their different students, and having to set-up each computer

before each different child uses it – and then re-set the computer

after.

What if… the teacher could teach – and the computers would

automatically change to meet the needs of each new student as they

sat down or wheeled up to the computer.

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Today children often lose their AT and all their setup when they

graduate – or even just change schools

What if … They could go to a new school – and all their AT would

look and behave the same as their last school

And they could take it with them when they graduate and transition to

work as well


Today libraries and public access points often only carry a few

pieces of AT – so they meet the needs of only some of their patrons

What if … They could rent an “AT-in-the-Cloud” service

- and now when patrons come in – they sit down to any computer –

and any AT they need shows up and is set up just for them.

And the library only pays for the AT that patrons use. No more

expensive AT that is purchased but not used. No more situations

where the AT they have doesn’t match the patrons abilities.

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And when a new patron came in

• – a librarian could just sit them down to any computer

• – call up a cross-disability accessible wizard (speech, text and sign)

• and the patron would enjoy interacting with the Wizard while it created

the profile of their needs

• and stored it on a USB stick - or in the cloud.

Then, whenever they came back – or went to any other place – that

profile would set up their computer for them


A person who cannot read for any reason -- gets a link to a book on

Amazon. They go there but the book is not available in a version

that their book reader can read aloud.

What if … They were automatically directed to book service where

there was an electronic version of the book that they can have read

to them.

• If they qualify and subscribe to Bookshare – (this too is in their profile)

it automatically takes them to Bookshare and they download it for free.

• If not – it automatically takes them to Bookaccess and they can buy the

book – in a form they can use.

• No hunting. No looking for things. No special keystrokes


Imagine

There is a hurricane or tsunami coming toward a person who is blind

and the evacuation route is provided as a map -- that they cannot

see…

What if - The information automatically came as a description of how

to evacuate - in text

• which is read aloud to them or they can print it on their Braille printer.


What if

A person who is deaf – and tries to play a movie -- but it has no

captions

Could have their computer automatically search the entire Internet

for any registered set of captions for the movie - and then play them

in parallel with the movie (translating them if they are not in the

user’s language)

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What if …

Instead of a student not being able to take all the classes they want

because each class uses a different lab with different computers and

they can’t get them all adapted to meet their needs…

They could use any computer in any lab.


What if

Countries that don’t have AT, or only have a couple types

Could localize a set of both free and commercial AT and make it available in

their language to all people in their country

• And the set for their country would then update automatically when the

other AT was updated for other countries – so it would continue to work

as new mainstream technologies were released

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What if …

In the future

• People just wear a ring.

• And when they walk or roll up to a device, they just touch the ring to the

device and it changed into a form they can use.

- For an elder – it might make it simpler and with larger text

- Any computer

- Any phone

- Their thermostat

- Their oven

- Their clothes washer

- The TV control in the hotel

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Video at NPII.ORG/

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Building a Public Inclusive Infrastructure

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The NPII (GPII) Concept

Building a disability, technology and platform independent

‘inclusive infrastructure’

• To grow all types of access (BI, AT, CS, AOD)

• To spur innovation (new solutions) (Idea-to-market)

• To increase markets and lower costs (More solutions – more served)

• To address the problems of complexity (Simpler for all)

• To provide access to emerging cloud technologies (Future proof)

• To create an internationally scalable base that facilitates the

creation of affordable solutions for all - everywhere (Outreach)

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Key Components -

Three Key Functions - “Three legs of a stool”

1. Provide a way for people to determine what would help them

- and then to store that information safely for future use.

2. Provide a way to use their stored preferences (and permissions)

to invoke the access features, technologies and services they need

- anywhere, anytime, on any device they need to use

3. Provide the tools and infrastructure needed to allow diverse

developers and vendors to create new solutions

- and easily and cost effectively move them to market and to users.


1) A way for people to determine what would help them - and then to store that information safely for future use.

There is a Fix for that• Awareness progthem – and where to start looking.ram so that everyone knows that there

are things that can make ICT easier for

Extended Usability Wizard• On-line evaluation tool that allows people to find out how what types of things would make

ICT easier for them to use.

Private Preference & Permission System• Ability to securely and privately store their preferences so they can uses them later to shop

and to change things to work for them.

Matchmaker• To find everything that matches a person's needs & preferences.

Safe Source• Open marketplace: all that is safe to download and try.

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2) A way to use their stored preferences to invoke the access features, technologies and services they need - anywhere on any device they need to use.

Private Preference & Permission Server (see also above)• Also provides users with the ability to privately and anonymously use their preferences and

settings anywhere.

Unified AnyWhere Delivery System• Infrastructure for delivering any combination of settings and AT (commercial and public) --

anywhere, anytime, any device.

Auto-Personalization Services• Automatically personalizes the user interface on devices and adapts content based on user

preferences and needs.

Caption & Description Finder• Finds captions, descriptions, or other supplemental information for video or images if they

exist anywhere.

Assistance On Demand• Infrastructure to build and deliver automated and human Assistance on Demand services

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3) Tools and infrastructure to allow diverse developers andvendors to create new solutions - and easily and cost effectively move them to market and availability to users who need them.

Tool Kit & Parts Store & Development environment

• Components to facilitate others in building access solutions and services.

- Built in, Platform, Network Services (computer, and human)

Assistance on Demand Infrastructure (see above)

• Infrastructure also makes it easy for vendors to create and offer new automated and human

services on demand

Safe Source/Marketplace (see above)

• A marketplace that makes it easy for users to find all that is available, would also make it

easy for new developers to get their products seen and disseminated to users.

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Summary

Where tech is going – many people with disabilities and aging can’t currently follow- Yet access to BROADBAND is rapidly becoming critical to participation

Government can’t currently afford to develop all solutions and provide access to all- - And Private Sector can only (afford to) reach 15% with current approach

NEED A PARADIGM SHIFT

Need to find ways that government can invest a relatively small amount that will

facilitate private sector solutions

- Infrastructure (Develop and op) - to lower costs, increase competition & innovation, and

enable new approaches (that are more efficient, simpler, and address more

disabilities)

- Awareness - to grow the market, lower costs, reach more people

- Tools - to lower bar for new researchers, innovators, and vendors; to increase interoperability

- Research Support - to create a community of practice; to allow sustained effort or

researchers to make careers in this area

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Opportunity

We have an unprecedented opportunity to change accessibility in very

fundamental ways

make it cost less to develop and deploy

and reach more people (we currently get to 15% or so)

and serve disabilities and aging groups we don't now

We also have a chance to build access that will work with the new

technologies that are coming (that won't work with many of our current

access strategies)

Finally, we have the opportunity to build something that can be replicated

locally in other countries

countries that don't have good access technologies or infrastructure

allowing them to create their own full range of access solutions– by localizing

solutions from an NPII and delivering them via their own NPII.

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Thanks

Contact informationGregg Vanderheiden [email protected] 692-5281 (cell)

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The contents of this presentation were developed in part with funding from the National Institute on

Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education, grant number H133E080022.

However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education,

and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

National and Global Public Inclusive Infrastructures

Technology

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