Download full textERIC Number: ED289314
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1983-Sep-12
Pages: 8
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Curbcuts and Computers: Providing Access to Computers and Information Systems for Disabled Individuals.
Vanderheiden, Gregg C.
Computers have the potential of creating new barriers and widening the gap between disabled and able-bodied people, because computers are extending the capabilities of non-handicapped individuals at a greater rate than for the handicapped. Access to standard computers and standard software must be provided to handicapped individuals by either modifying the software, which is prohibitively expensive, or by providing transparent access via a keyboard emulator or tactile and voice devices. The analogy of building sidewalks and not including curbcuts is used to describe the situation of advancing technology failing to include access points for the handicapped. (JDD)
Descriptors: Access to Computers, Accessibility (for Disabled), Assistive Devices (for Disabled), Communication Aids (for Disabled), Computer Software, Disabilities, Futures (of Society), Information Processing, Input Output Devices, Normalization (Handicapped)
Trace Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Waisman Center, 1500 Highland Ave., Madison, WI 53705-2280 ($1.10).
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Trace Center.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A
Note: A product of the Trace Research and Development Center on Communication, Control, and Computer Access for Handicapped Individuals. Excerpted from Keynote speech presented at Computers for the Disabled sponsored by the Office of Continuing Education, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Closing the Gap at the Indiana Governor's Conference on the Handicapped (October 13, 1983). For related documents, see EC 201 271-280.
