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Electronic Curb Cut Project

Information Technology for Independence: Community-Based Research.

Project Number: H133A021916u.
Principal Investigator: Bambang Parmanto, PhD.
Start Date: January 1, 2003.
Length: 60 months.
NIDRR Funding: 1.5 Million
Abstract: This project explores methods and technologies to mitigate barriers to computer and Internet use encountered by people with disabilities. These barriers include basic ownership and availability barriers, lack of accommodations for functional limitations, psychological barriers arising from lack of coaching or mentoring, and the inaccessibility of the majority of web sites for individuals with certain disabilities such as visual impairment or dyslexia. The playing field of computer ownership and Internet availability may be leveled in part by having public computer stations, such as at centers for independent living. Functional barriers can be mitigated with AT. AT cost issues and psychological barriers may be met partially through availability of devices and coaching. Provision and evaluation of these accommodations is the first major research task of this project. Computer laboratories are maintained in two community-based locations to test the range of accommodation possibilities, including the match of correct assistive device to the individual and appropriate coaching and mentoring. The second research task in this project is to develop and evaluate a new approach to Internet accessibility through use of a gateway server. This gateway should be able to deliver the contents of any web site, whatever its level of accessibility, by transforming the contents into the most accessible format for any user, as Google does for personal digital assistant (PDA) users. The gateway will promote the accessibility of the Internet without requiring that commercial web sites follow promulgated guidelines or standards for users with disabilities, something that web developers often seem to resist.
Descriptors: Internet; Accessibility; Computers; Independent living.