Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
addressing a key societal need, universities can further demonstrate their
importance and relevance to society as a whole.
Another key element of the CanAssist model is the engagement of commu-
nity. That is, CanAssist enables true partnerships between the university and
the community at large, utilizing and leveraging the considerable combined
resources of both. These partnerships encompass government at all levels -
municipal, provincial and federal - and include business and industry, em-
ployers, charities, foundations and public sector agencies, as well as private
individuals.
CanAssist is unique in being an interdisciplinary, university-based, service
organization that develops and delivers technologies and services across the
entire disability and age spectrum. To our knowledge, there are not any other
similar organizations in North America.
7.2 The Need and Opportunity
Almost one in seven Canadians - roughly 4.4 million people - live with a
disability. As Canada's population ages the proportion of people with dis-
abilities will likely rise dramatically. Many of these Canadians face enormous
challenges and barriers that not only make it dicult for them to accom-
plish the basic tasks of daily living but also severely limit their ability to
participate in society.
Many of those with disabilities lack personalized equipment and technol-
ogy that might allow them to better address the physical and/or cognitive
challenges or limitations presented by their condition. Further, people with
disabilities live in a world where too often little or no consideration is given to
their special needs [
3
]. For example, consider the growing trend of miniatur-
ization of devices (i.e., cell phones, digital and video cameras, MP3 players,
etc.), while those devices are simultaneously becoming more feature laden.
This combination makes operation of increasingly tiny and complex devices
dicult for those who are lacking in dexterity, sight impaired, or facing cog-
nitive challenges. Similarly, computer interfaces designed only for use with a
regular keyboard and mouse (with attendant pull-down menus) as primary
input devices are often not accessible to many people with disabilities. Thus,
rather than benefiting from the wonderful opportunities offered by the Inter-
net, many people with special needs are marginalized and excluded.
The fundamental issue behind inaccessible technology is the lack of eco-
nomic incentives for the majority of manufacturers (e.g., of consumer elec-
tronic products) to address the needs of those with disabilities. Manufacturers
often assume that the market is too small to warrant attention. Manufactur-
ers who target, for example, a demographic of young successful professionals,
may consider the production of fully accessible devices to be inconsistent with
their brand or the image they wish to project [
2
]. Even those manufacturers
