IT+solutions+for+the+disabled

IT Solutions For Disabled People Disabled is the condition of being unable to perform as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness, as in a reading disability, a hearing impairment, or physical incapability. Diabled people are impaired individuals who’s physical or mental disabilities hinder their abilities to function normally (whether it be deaf, numb, blind or physicaly handicaped). This does not stop anyone with a disability form using adaptive technology, which is pretty much anything that modifies existing hardware or software for use of a disabled person. For computer use, big keyboards or modified mice are aslo part of the adaptive technology idea. Screen readers and magnifiers are two examples of adaptive technology relevant to Web development. "Adaptive technology is the name for products which help people who cannot use regular versions of products, primarily people with physical disabilities such as limitations to vision, hearing, and mobility."

For people that cannot readily use a mouse or a keyboard there is an easy way in which the adaptive technology can help them. Keyboard guards and overlays, which is often just a sheet of thick plastic with holes, guides the fingers to just the right key, slow keys and onscreen keyboards use software that can automatically discard keystrokes typed in too quick a sequence, and can display the picture of a keyboard on a screen that the user can click with the mouse. They even use the predicted text function, so that the next word of phrase or even sentence is guessed at by the computer. Everything from foot pedals to huge trackballs can be used as direct mouse replacements, but even a scrolling mouse or a bluetooth mouse is good adaptive technology. Switches and scanning software are useful, if a disabled person can perform an action like blinking an eye, flexing the wrist, jostling the knee or sipping and puffing on a straw, then the user can operate an on/off switch. Since computers are binary devices, that is all what is needed in order to manage the PC. Software has gotten better at interpreting and predicting the intent behind the signals. The onscreen keyboard may divide and subdivide itself into quadrants for the user until the right letter appears under the cursor and also predicts the words that are going to be typed.

People with limited manual mobility can acquire special software which enables non-manual methods of computer use, such as eye-driven keyboarding, or speech recognition software. Robotic arms are also in development and a number of low-fi assistive devices are available such as jelly buttons, head wands and sip-and-puff devices.

For relatively minor visual impairment, all that is needed is a slight screen magnification. This can blow up the size of text, menu-bars, icons, and everything else to any necessary size. Software designed just for this purpose can also scroll text horizontally within a window of fixed position, alter foreground and background colours, and turn the mouse cursor into a moving magnifying glass. If the user can not see the monitor, a screen reader is needed. A screen reader reads the context of the monitor out loud. This includes menu-bars, icons, and text. A partially blind person would rely totally on a Braille keyboard. Nylon or metal pins controlled by motion activated software protrude upward through a grid, forming the cells used in Braille writing. Characters are replaced either automatically at intervals or after a switch is pressed. Typical Braille displays reveal two to four lines of text, but truly gigantic displays, as big as 24 inches screens can also be found with obviously high prices There are multiple Advantages and Disadvantages of these computer aids. The main advantage is that they allow people with disabilities to have access to the daily information, helps to bring down cultural and geographical boundaries even for the disabled, and extends human faculties. The designs are followed by a set of legislation to create an appropriate solution to encourage communication with the outside world. However some of the products are not reliable enough, sometimes resulting in misinterpretation from the user's signals, the software and hardware designed for impaired people is still very expensive and not widely available. As well as this the lack of security features do not exclude the possibility of some software misguiding the user if not properly operated. Social and Ethical issues involved with this matter are, Reliability because many of the devices are still in the development stage and may become unreliable if used incorrectly. A person using a screen reader must ensure that the machine works in the first place, if it is calibrated correctly, speech recognition software has some issues and may become unreliable if it misinterprets the speech being used. Integrity, while not really that important in this issue, because with users have to respect the creators rights to the program and not misuse it. Security, as the degree of security for information systems determines society’s confidence in the information contained in the systems. Many times the hardware designed does not include any security features. This way the data of the impaired people becomes less secure and could be stolen more easily. Multiple issues concerning Privacy and Anonymity to ensure that the IT system allows privacy and that people from the outside do not need to know about the disabilities. Intellectual Property because someone created the program and it should not be edited or misused. When it comes to designing the products and the IT devices, the manufacturer's have to follow the Safety and Ergonomic standards when creating the products. Impaired people must be able to use the software and hardware with least complications. Equality of Access, as IT not only has the potential to offer universal access to information, regardless of distance, age, race, gender or other personal characteristic, but can help a blind person use braille's keyboard and without a screen to write e-mails or explore websites. The gap between the technology and the impaired is smaller only when the communication between the software and the user is correct. Many of the IT systems bring hope to people who cannot use the computers as easily as normal individuals. Many of the developing and existing IT solutions enable the disabled people to access the information stored on the electronic devices much easier than before. Globalization and Cultural Diversity is easier with communication through, and the improved ease of use of the IT solutions to enable the impaired people to break down the boundaries. Now they can access the Internet and use its resources to find out about the current news, exchange emails from other countries etc. A specific social implication is how People and Machines interact. The machines must be an enhancement of the human faculties, without taking them over.



Sophie