Disabled let down by mobile firms

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2278295.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2278295.stm</a><br /><br />Technology can be a wonderful thing for everyone, but it can be a great equalizer for the disabled. In many cases, the disabled can perform equal to their non-disabled friends because of technological enhancements not available 100, 50 or even 20 years ago.<br /><br />But in order to work, there have to be some social changes. The US has some of the strongest legislation in the world to enable disabled people fair access to the same facilities everyone else has. Larger companies have people that do nothing but cater to the unique needs of the disabled. It seems it is a bit different in Europe as Colin Hughes found out. Mr. Hughes suffers from muscular dystrophy and is unable to hold a phone to his ear.<br /><br />Enter mobile technology. A bluetooth headset coupled with a SonyEricsson T68 should answer all his problems, right? Well, sort of. The technology was capable, but SonyEricsson UK was unwilling to help with the necessary software updates to allow complete hands free operation, eliminating the need to reach up to the headset and press the "answer" button, something that was very difficult for Mr. Hughes to do. He called SonyEricsson US and got everything he needed, free of charge.<br /><br />I would be interested in hearing how mobile technology (PDA related or not) has helped you or someone you know that is disabled. I'd also like to know whether or not you had to contact customer service with special requests to facilitate your needs and were they willing to help out. Thanks to ejph for the link.

[kiwi]

wow.. normally I hear how things are hard to get done in nth america compared to Europe!.. Good one SE US!!

[PPCRules]

My father-in-law was bedridden and unable to speak for 7-8 years following a stroke. Through donations from the VFW and American Legion, this rather large, portable speech generation box was obtained for him. At $4000, I'm sure this was the best commercial technology at the time. It would have probably served him very well, but where the whole idea fell apart was the lack of available and knowledgable assistance, so the unit never got set up appropriately and he was never trained well enough to make good use of it. He therefore rejected it and went back to pointing at a letter board, a system he had mastered and found effective enough.

So, I would say, as intriging as new technological solutions are, and as they become cheaper and more available, unless there is support for getting them in place and the recipients being assisted to the point of them accepting the solution, many people will continue to not be served the way they could be. The technology part can only get us so far, then the service sector has to perform.

[Toddard]

There was a show in this series on a while ago where host Alan Alda was presenting this subject. He talked with a young woman who had a severe disability; she had to use a laptop keyboard to type out her messages, then a program converted her text to speech. The camera focused on her hand as she took 2-3 seconds to hit each letter. After 10 seconds, she had the first word. The camera hung on long enough for the audience to get a taste of just how long this was going to take, then finally cut to the point that she had completed typing in her thought. I was thinking the whole time, "Why doesn't she have text completion for her laptop?" This would cut down her input time dramatically.

For that matter, why doesn't Microsoft make this feature part of the Accessability suite in Windows?

[bjornkeizers]

I think i'm rather more qualified then most to reply to this topic :lol: First some background: I have a "disability", in particular, my poor eyesight. I have a hereditary condition meaning that I was born with cataract in both eyes, resulting in the surgical removal of both my lenses while I was very young. This means that, with the aid of either glasses or contacts, I have 20 percent vision compared to a "normal" person.

Technology has helped me overcome most of the problems associated with this, particular where school is involved. I cannot read normal books, so books are translated into a digital format for me, which I can read on any standard laptop. [quite nice, because I don't have to carry not a single book or pen]

Another area where technology has helped is reading: I *love* to read, for hours on end, at least an hour or two every day. Because a normal paperback is impossible for me to read, let alone for an extended period, I use Ebooks on my Ipaq, and before that my palm. I usually convert these myself, and read them on the MS reader. It means i'm now able to read books which I otherwise could not read.

Do I want or need customer service for any of this? No. I know what my needs are, and there's plenty of good software out there to cater to them: whether I want to change my fonts, colors, screen orientation, sounds or whatever. I find that most other people know nothing about our needs, and how to help, and therefore do more harm then good.

[deo]

Hi There, i too am disabled. I broke my neck 12 years ago in a car accident where i severed my spinal cord completely at the c5 level, and i would just like to say technology really helps me out everyday. I've owned an ipaq for a year now and i use it for many things mp3s,contacts,notes,reminders and a few unsual i guess, i play "wheelchair rugby" and at club meetings i take the fitness session where i use "stoptime 2" heavily, its a great app you can program a multitude of linked times so you can develop a complex exercise with sprints and rests. :lol: But back to the point about disability, unfortunately disabilities are so varied whats good for one person could be useless for another. Also when companys design products the ergonomics will understandably be for a able bodied person and with the current trend of small is best dosent help matters. I cant expect companys to make things more friendly for me that would be naive but maybe they could be more aware.

Anyway ppc's rock............. :lol:

Keep up the good work everyone

Darren

[Aly]

Well I dont like the trend. now this accesibility stuff is hard intigrated into Win2K and up.

I dont like to be threated like a disabled person. The vast majority doesnt need it. Optional HELL yes. but hard intigrated (costing CPU time and being annoying - No)

[Ed Hansberry]

Well I dont like the trend. now this accesibility stuff is hard intigrated into Win2K and up.

I dont like to be threated like a disabled person. The vast majority doesnt need it. Optional HELL yes. but hard intigrated (costing CPU time and being annoying - No)
All of it is disabled by default. You have to turn it on.

[Jimmy Dodd]

Well I dont like the trend. now this accesibility stuff is hard intigrated into Win2K and up.

I dont like to be threated like a disabled person. The vast majority doesnt need it. Optional HELL yes. but hard intigrated (costing CPU time and being annoying - No)
All of it is disabled by default. You have to turn it on.

Was that a pun???

[Ed Hansberry]

All of it is disabled by default. You have to turn it on.

Was that a pun???
erm... not until you made it one. :oops:

[Aly]

Sorry for so late :=)
no it's allways on.
got Win2K or XP? Hit shift a few times rapidly or keep it pressed down for a while.

I dont really mind it but I do get support calls from people "who dont know what happend"

[Ed Hansberry]

Sorry for so late :=)
no it's allways on.
got Win2K or XP? Hit shift a few times rapidly or keep it pressed down for a while.
Not if you disable it in the Accessibilites control panel. Hit Settings then uncheck the "use shortcut."