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The Archives
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07.27.09Cultural Change and Technology: Presentation on the ADAIn 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law on July 26th. Virtual Ability Inc. held a day-long series of events to commemorate this Act, and I was invited to provide some remarks, which follow: I don’t live with a disability, so all I can do is listen, or imagine. And here’s what I picture: I picture being frustrated because if you’re in a wheelchair, there’s only one entrance to my office building with a ramp. I picture being frustrated because if you’re blind, there’s no Braille signage where I work – how would you know what button ...
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01.05.09IBM releases ARIA for the blindJust a few weeks ago, IBM launched a prototype of its Virtual Worlds User Interface for the Blind, an "accessible rich Internet application" (ARIA) that will help blind people navigate and interact with Second Life, with the goal being to eventually branch out to other virtual worlds. The user interface allows for blind users to "see" the virtual environment by sending text-based information to the user along with recorded verbal descriptions. Information on items in the virtual worlds is provided by sighted users, who annotate objects and locations for future use by the blind users. When a blind user comes ...
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