Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 10
The Fast Pace of New Emerging
Information and Communication
Technologies: The Need
for Regulations and Standards
Gary E. Birch
Abstract
Information and communication technologies (ICT) are directly or
indirectly a form of assistive technology. Indeed, many forms of new emerging
ICT have the potential to provide opportunities for persons with disabilities
to obtain inclusion in the mainstream of society to an extent never before
accomplished. However, due to the rapid and ubiquitous insertion of these
technologies into our society and given that most of these technologies are not
accessible to persons with disabilities they are forming new barriers rather
than opening up new opportunities. New strategies need to be adopted to deal
with this trend and, particularly in the relatively near term, it is argued that
the most important strategy is the development of enforceable regulations and
standards that impact the accessibility of these new emerging technologies.
10.1 Introduction
Many emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) have
significant potential to enable persons with disabilities and promote their
inclusion in mainstream society. This is in part due to the ever-increasing
power of these devices to accomplish various technological tasks. The most
significant factor, however, is that these new technologies are being incorpo-
rated into the mainstream of our society almost ubiquitously, including in
areas such as employment, recreation, and various forms of service delivery.
Combined with the fact that these technologies are changing at a very rapid
pace, this lays the foundation for a perfect storm of inaccessibility for per-
sons with disabilities. As new technologies come onto the market, they are
not inherently accessible for a large majority of persons with disabilities and
therefore become barriers rather than tools that allow them to take part in
