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Delivering Broadband Accessibility for People with Disabilities
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Posted by Laura Ruby
Director, Accessibility Policy & Standards for Trustworthy Computing
How can the United States ensure that people with disabilities share fully in the benefits of broadband technologies and services? This was the focus of a conference today in Washington, DC, involving government officials, consumer advocates, industry leaders and academics. Speakers included Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski and Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. I participated in a roundtable discussion moderated by representatives of two of the conference co-sponsors, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation and the American Association of People with Disabilities.
The conference was timely because next week the FCC will deliver to Congress a National Broadband Plan to extend the benefits of broadband to all Americans. The plan recommends steps to better understand and address the needs of people with disabilities, stimulate innovation in accessibility solutions, and ensure access to the government’s electronic and information technology.
The need for action is well documented. The FCC recently published findings that the online activities of broadband-using people with disabilities are comparatively narrow in scope; that is, they do fewer things online. They face barriers that will also hinder millions of other Americans as the nation’s population ages. Microsoft, which has been working to integrate accessibility into our processes and products for 20 years, commissioned a 2003 study by Forrester Research, which found that 60 percent (101.4 million) of working-age adults are likely or very likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology.
The FCC’s call for biannual reports and further studies of accessibility is important because the resulting data will help shape future product development. We hope the FCC will seek input from industry as to the kinds of data that will help us best meet customers’ needs. The FCC’s plan to develop an online clearing house of information on accessible technologies will foster greater awareness of the variety of solutions available.
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Promoting An Accessibility Ecosystem of Choice and Opportunity
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Posted by Laura Ruby
Director, Accessibility Policy & Standards
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held a field hearing last Friday in Washington, D.C, on broadband access for people with disabilities. The event, part of the agency’s efforts to develop a National Broadband Plan, included a technology exhibit of some of the options and programs available to improve accessibility.
Microsoft had an opportunity to demonstrate some of the enhancements in Windows 7 that make it easier for people to see, hear, and use a computer. These include the new lens mode and full-screen mode in Windows Magnifier; our resizable on-screen keyboard with text prediction, hover and scan modes; and new speech recognition and multi-touch technologies. We also showed how Microsoft’s Silverlight plug-in enables closed-caption support of HD streaming media and rich Internet applications.
Microsoft has long been committed to developing innovative accessibility solutions and to integrating accessibility into broader product planning, research and development, and testing. We’re also committed to improving the interoperability of our software with the hundreds of assistive technology products that third-party developers have created to work with Windows. These specialized hardware and software products provide additional accessibility features for those with significant vision, hearing, dexterity, language, or learning needs.
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