Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
society like their able-bodied counterparts. The old paradigm of developing
retrofit solutions to access mainstream ICT is failing persons with disabilities
because in the current paradigm these “fixes” cannot keep up. This points to
the need to invent new strategies to deal with today's unprecedented pace of
new ICT introduction.
The need for this issue to be addressed is becoming better recognized
both within the community of persons with disabilities and in the worldwide
stakeholders community. Perhaps the best recent example is contained in the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [
13
]. This convention,
among many other important issues, specifically calls for the accessibility of
information and communication technologies and related services (see, e.g.,
Articles 9 and 21). As of July 2009, 62 countries have ratified this convention.
Currently, Canada recently ratified and the US is in the process of working
towards ratifying this convention [
12
].
In this chapter, a few examples that demonstrate the accessibility barriers
that are caused by mainstream ICT are given and three possible strategic ar-
eas that could work to solve this emerging problem are outlined. One of these
strategies is the development of regulations and standards. This area will be
discussed in greater detail with an attempt to make the case that appropri-
ate technologies for people with disabilities will only be reliably available,
at least in the relative near term (next 5-10 years), with regulation and the
enforcement of standards that effectively mandate their deployment.
10.2 Examples of ICT: A Barrier or an Enabler
As discussed above, as emerging ICTs become generally available in our soci-
ety, the trend also opens up the potential for persons with disabilities to take
part in a wider range of activities. A few years ago, the Neil Squire Society [
1
]
held a number of focus groups with persons with mobility and vision impair-
ments to gain their input on public ICTs and ensuing challenges, barriers and
potential wireless solutions. Among the outcomes was the general consensus
that wireless technologies had promising potential to enhance inclusion. The
top three services that were identified during this process were banking, retail
(electronic payment) and transit.
There were many examples related to transit and banking including issues
related to accessing automated transit ticket systems or banking machines.
The proliferation of public services using automated dispensing machines
(kiosks for banking, buying transit tickets, getting information, etc.) is re-
vealing common barriers to persons with disabilities; however, if the machines
are improved, the services can be transformed into opportunities for enhanced
accessibility. For a detailed discussion on the use and accessibility of these
technologies, see Ripat et al. [
10
].
