Communications of the ACM

disability community,” explains Burgs-
tahler. “Oftentimes, leaders might know
a lot about their own community, like
blindness, but those people don’t tend
to know a lot about learning disabili-
ties or Asperger’s. Our programs are
all about leadership, and so we expect
students to learn about different dis-
abilities, and be advocates for the whole
community, not just themselves.”
Still, the relatively small market
sizes for those with specific disabilities
makes it difficult for mainstream tech-
nology or hardware providers to justify
the development, production, or distri-
bution of accessible technology aimed
specifically at each of those communi-
ties. That is where technologies that
have been successfully used in other
fields can and should be examined to
see how they might be used to address
accessibility issues.

“Unfortunately, for companies, it’s not always marketable to have every single add-on for every single disability, because you don’t know how big your audience will be,” Rector says.

However, Pröll says that looking at existing solutions in adjacent markets, and seeing how they can be adapted for use in accessibility, may help enlarge the overall potential market size for a specific technology.

“I’m using some face-tracking technology that is being used in the animation market,” Pröll says. “ Putting these technologies to use, and thinking about how people with disabilities can use it, is the approach we need to take.”

Further Reading

University of Washington Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology (DO-IT) Center http://www.washington.edu/doit/

Morelli, T., Liebermann, L., Foley, J., and Folmer, E.

An Exergame to Improve Balance in Children who are Blind. Foundations of Digital Interactive Games, April 2014 http://fdg2014.org/papers/ fdg2014_wip_ 13.pdf Eyes-Free Yoga: An Exergame Using Depth Cameras for Blind & Low Vision Exercise https://youtu.be/cm_ghJPqj70

Keith Kirkpatrick is principal of 4K Research & Consulting, LLC, based in Lynbrook, NY.

Policy (ODEP) serves as an advocate for those with disabilities, and the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) is an association of manufacturers supportive of the development of assistive technologies. However, because the needs and challenges of blind people are distinct from the needs of those with other impairments, such as hearing loss, muscular control issues, or other disabilities (such as dyslexia), there is no single advocate from the disabled community itself to push for greater innovation.

Nonetheless, another group operating out of the University of Washington is trying to address disabilities from a holistic perspective. The DO-IT ( Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering people with disabilities through technology and education. Working with school-age children and college students, DO-IT seeks grants and funding to promote awareness and accessibility; since its inception in the early 1990s, it has received grants totaling more than $55 million.

The Center’s largest program, Access Computing, provides funds to increase the participation of students with disabilities in the computing field. Led by Sheryl Burgstahler, founder of the DO-IT Center, and Richard Ladner, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, the program is designed to help disabled students get more involved in the computing field, which may lead to better integration of accessibility features in the applications and technologies of the future.

“There’s a need for leaders in the
positioning against the correct pose
geometry, and provides verbal instruc-
tions and auditory feedback to guide
the person into the proper position.

Rector chose Kinect because of its
open source software, as well as the
widespread availability of Kinect hard-
ware. She acknowledges the biggest
challenge was “documenting [the set-
up process] well enough so someone
with a screen reader can download and
install the software and [set up] the Ki-
nect’s cameras without assistance.”
Meanwhile, Eelke Folmer, an associ-
ate professor of computer science and
the head of the University of Nevada Re-
no’s Human Plus Lab, worked with Tony
Morelli of Central Michigan University,
John Foley of the State University of New
York (SUNY) Cortland, and Lauren Li-
eberman of SUNY Brockport to develop a
project called VI Fit, which creates modi-
fied, personal computer versions of pop-
ular Nintendo Wii games. The first title,
VI Tennis, uses a modified Wii remote
control to provide haptic feedback, along
with audio and speech effects, allowing
blind players to “see” the ball and play
a version of the game. Folmer has since
published adaptions of the Wii Bowling
game, as well as Pet-n-Punch, a game in-
spired by the Whack-a-Mole game.

“A lot of those kids don’t participate in regular physical activities because it’s not safe,” Folmer says, referencing a study conducted by his collaborator Lauren Liebermann, who found parents of the visually impaired often are concerned about the risk of falling or other hazards that come from exercising in an outdoor, uncontrolled environment. “I looked at these exercise games, and I thought they were pretty fun, you can do them independently, and they are safe to play,” Folmer says.

Another issue impacting the availability of assistive technology is a lack of a centralized push for accessible solutions from the disabled community. Because the needs and challenges of blind people are distinct from the needs of those with other impairments, such as hearing loss, muscular control issues, or other disabilities (such as dyslexia), there is no centralized advocate for increased accessibility.

Clearly, those with disabilities have backing from government and industry organizations. The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment