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WATA Bulletin: Fall 2003

Contents:

UW receives grants for research on AT

The University of Washington has received three significant grants to conduct research on assistive technology (AT). All three began on October 1, 2003. WATA plays a significant role in the development and implementation of these projects.

The Role of Assistive Devices in Promoting Health and Reducing the Onset and/or Severity of Secondary Conditions Among Adolescents or Adults with Spina Bifida is funded to the UW Center for Technology and Disability Studies in the Center for Human Development and Disability (WATA's home). This project has been funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and represents a collaboration between the CHDD, and the Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Public Health. Kurt L. Johnson, Ph.D., is the principal investigator and will be joined by Dagmar Amtmann, Ph.D., Brian Dudgeon, Ph.D., Fred Connell, M.D., and Jeff McLaughlin, M.D.

People with spina bifida may confront a variety of barriers ranging from limitations in mobility to learning disabilities. Very little is actually known about the use of AT by people with spina bifida, but there is every reason to believe that AT should play an important role. This project will estimate how widely AT is used by adolescents and young adults with spina bifida, and how much it costs. A survey of adolescents and young adults with spina bifida will ask them about their use of and satisfaction with AT and their unmet AT needs. Finally, exemplary case studies of the use of AT will be developed to serve as models for individuals with spina bifida, their families, and health care workers.

Assisted Cognition in Community, Employment and Support Settings (ACCESS) is funded to the UW Center for Technology and Disability Studies in the CHDD by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). NIDRR also funds WATA and the National Center for Accessible Information Technology in Education at the UWCTDS.

This project is a collaboration between the CHDD, the departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Computer Sciences and Engineering. Johnson is the principal investigator, Henry Kautz, Ph.D., is the co-principal investigator. Gaetano Borriello, Ph.D., Patricia Brown, Ed.D., Mark Harniss, Ph.D., and Brian Dudgeon, Ph.D., will serve as co-investigators.

Project ACCESS will investigate the use of assisted cognition as a tool for caregivers in supporting individuals with disabilities in living, working and fully participating in community activities. The project will demonstrate the use of assisted cognition devices in increasing independence and decreasing reliance on the family/friend/caregiver network and community support staff.

National Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is funded to the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine by NIDRR. George Kraft, M.D., is the principal investigator. Johnson heads one of the three cores and several projects on this grant, including one with Amtmann to identify best practices in the use of AT by people with MS. Earlier research indicates that many people with MS appear not to be familiar with AT that may be of benefit to them, so investigators are pleased to have the opportunity to conduct this research.

Updated guidelines bring device-independence to World Wide Web accessibility practices

Jeff Witzel, Senior Computer Specialist, UW Center on Technology and Disability Studies

As anyone who is a regular user of Web technology has realized, the only thing constant in this market is change. The constant arrival of new devices, browsers and assistive technologies has turned the quest for a common set of standards into a difficult undertaking.

Representing a variety of global technology interests, the W3C was created to "lead the Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its operability." (www.w3c.org/2002/12/uaag10-pressrelease) The organization's first set of accessibility standards, titled Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0) (www.w3.org/tr/wai-webcontent) was published in May of 1999 by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the W3C. WCAG 1.0 guidelines were similar to the Section 508 standards in many areas, provided an initial framework for sites seeking accessibility compliance. These guidelines mostly spoke to HTML developers, meaning that they had a somewhat specific application. (HTML was then the de facto standard for Web development, although it is sharing the stage today with an increasing number of new languages.)

In order to update this framework for an increasingly diverse technological playing field, the W3C is currently working to finalize its latest version: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) (www.w3.org/tr/wcag20). These new guidelines provide standards that specify how Web content is to be published in a manner that is accessible to all users, and across a variety of devices and technologies.

The completed WCAG 2.0 document will provide various checkpoints for accessiblity compliance, as well as techniques for implementation using a variety of different technologies. Rather than concentrating on any s pecific programming language or device, the new specification is fundamentally based upon a core set of four principles designed to aid in the achievement of accessibility on the Web.

The four overarching guidelines for accessible Web development are:

  1. Perceivable: Make content perceivable by any user.
  2. Operable: Ensure that interface elements in the content are operable by any user.
  3. Understandable: Make content and controls understandable to as many users as possible.
  4. Robust: Use Web technologies that maximize the ability of the content to work with current and future accessibility technologies and user agents.

By creating information technologies that are at once universally perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, Web developers can assure that the content of their websites will reach the widest possible audience.

An increasing number of people are accessing the Web using different devices such as cell phones, handheld display units, or in-car computers. Accessible Web design works much more effectively for these users as well. The fact that these cornerstones of accessibility will also be of great potential benefit to users without disabilities is significant, as it creates additional motivation for Web developers to create accessible sites. Examples of circumstances in which users without disabilities may reap the benefits of accessible design include using handheld devices in dark settings; working with mobile technology in a noisy environment; accessing information while driving, accessing information via a voice-operated browser, or searching a database of videos by locating specific text embedded in the captioning.

The process of developing global guidelines is not one that happens overnight, and the W3C and its contributors have been working on progressive revisions of the new guidelines. The WCAG 2.0 document is currently in no way intended to supersede its predecessor, WCAG 1.0. Efforts are being made to ensure backwards compatibility between the two versions, which means that the WCAG 2.0 will not "completely change the definition of accessible content." (www.w3.org/tr/wcag2-req)

The ultimate goal is a clearer picture of what exactly is meant by accessible content, which will in turn provide for consistent access for everyone to information published on the World Wide Web.

Calendar of Events

Possibilities: TASH 2003, Dec. 10-13, Chicago

The TASH conference is the largest and most progressive international conference that focuses on strategies for achieving full inclusion for people with disabilities. This invigorating conference, which brings together the best hearts and minds in the disability movement, features over 450 breakout sessions, exhibits, roundtable discussions, poster sessions and much more. For more information: TASH, 29 W. Susquehanna Ave., Suite 210, Baltimore, MD 21204, 1-800-482-8274, 410-828-8274, or www.tash.org/2003conference.

Technology, Reading & Learning Difficulties (TRLD 2004), Jan. 29-31, San Francisco

Conference focus is utilization of technology for reading, learning disabilities, staff development, adult literacy and more. Preview the latest educational technology and try out software in TRLD's Software Lab. Attend how-to sessions and hands-on workshops geared to actual classroom applications. For more information: Educational Computer Conferences Inc., 19 Calvert Court, Piedmont, CA 94611-3435, 510-594-1249, toll-free 888-594-1249, or www.trld.com.

Technology and Persons With Disabilities
March 17-22, Los Angeles

CSUN's 19th Annual International Conference on Technology and Persons with Disabilities is the longest-running and largest annual university-sponsored conference of its kind. It is a major training venue for professionals involved in the field of disability and technology. For more information: Center On Disabilities, California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, CA 91330-8340, 818-677-2578 or www.csun.edu/cod/conf.


For calendar updates, visit the Web at:
http://wata.org/calendar.htm
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The WATA Bulletin is supported by grant H224A3006 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education, to the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Olympia, WA.

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