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Accessible Computing -- Past Trends and Future Suggestions: Commentary on “Computers and People with Disabilities”

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Alan F. NewellAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS), Volume 1, Issue 2

Article No.: 9, Pages 1 - 7

https://doi.org/10.1145/1408760.1408763

Published: 01 October 2008 Publication History

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Abstract

This article gives a personal perspective on Glinert and York's 1992 paper, focusing on whether and how the situation has changed over the past 15 years, and makes recommendations for the future of the field of accessible computing with a particular focus on the needs of older people and people with cognitive dysfunction.

References

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Corriette B(2023)The Affective Impact of Electronic Travel Aids on the Sense of Independence and Quality of Life for the Blind and Visually Impaired Using Public Transit in the U.S.2023 11th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction Workshops and Demos (ACIIW)10.1109/ACIIW59127.2023.10388101(1-3)Online publication date: 10-Sep-2023
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Bayor ABrereton MSitbon LPloderer BBircanin FFavre BKoplick S(2021)Toward a Competency-based Approach to Co-designing Technologies with People with Intellectual DisabilityACM Transactions on Accessible Computing10.1145/345035514:2(1-33)Online publication date: 21-Jul-2021
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Index Terms

Accessible Computing -- Past Trends and Future Suggestions: Commentary on “Computers and People with Disabilities”
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing profession
      1. Assistive technologies
    2. History of computing
  2. User characteristics
    1. People with disabilities

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Reviews

Reviewer: Molisa D. Derk

Newell attempts to do something that is badly needed: raise awareness of the relatively slow progress of computing accessibility for the disabled. In the first section, he focuses on the period of time since 1992, commenting on how software for the blind has outpaced software for those with other, more common disabilities. The rest of the paper focuses on the need for software that is designed for older people. While many of his points are well taken, it seems that his approach is very nearly ageism. He explains that older users are more likely to suffer from impaired sight and other disabilities. However, it would make more sense to focus on the disabilities per se, rather than the age of the person with the disability. He says that older people are less likely to be "desirous of learning to use" computer technology, while not citing any reference for this. Even if this is true, the paper does not point out that those who will be "older" in the near future have been using computer technology for years, and will have a very different attitude than what he describes. Newell closes the paper with a good discussion on the drawbacks of inclusive design, again centered on the "older" user, and suggests some improvements. Even with its drawbacks, this paper is a good contribution to the discussion of how we could?and should?bridge the digital divide. Online Computing Reviews Service

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing Volume 1, Issue 2

October 2008

65 pages

ISSN:1936-7228

EISSN:1936-7236

DOI:10.1145/1408760

Issue’s Table of Contents

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 October 2008

Accepted: 01 August 2008

Revised: 01 August 2008

Received: 01 December 2007

Published in TACCESS Volume 1, Issue 2

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Nuwagaba EGaruzooka FKutosi G(2023)COVID-19 as a Barrier to Access for Learning by Persons With Disabilities in Higher EducationFostering Diversity and Inclusion Through Curriculum Transformation10.4018/978-1-6684-6995-8.ch011(192-212)Online publication date: 16-Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-6995-8.ch011
Corriette B(2023)The Affective Impact of Electronic Travel Aids on the Sense of Independence and Quality of Life for the Blind and Visually Impaired Using Public Transit in the U.S.2023 11th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction Workshops and Demos (ACIIW)10.1109/ACIIW59127.2023.10388101(1-3)Online publication date: 10-Sep-2023
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Bayor ABrereton MSitbon LPloderer BBircanin FFavre BKoplick S(2021)Toward a Competency-based Approach to Co-designing Technologies with People with Intellectual DisabilityACM Transactions on Accessible Computing10.1145/345035514:2(1-33)Online publication date: 21-Jul-2021
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Miraz MAli MExcell P(2021)Adaptive user interfaces and universal usability through plasticity of user interface designComputer Science Review10.1016/j.cosrev.2021.10036340:COnline publication date: 1-May-2021
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Begnum M(2017)Universal Design Approaches Among Norwegian ExpertsUniversal Access in Human–Computer Interaction. Design and Development Approaches and Methods10.1007/978-3-319-58706-6_1(3-20)Online publication date: 16-May-2017
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Ability-Based Design: Concept, Principles and Examples

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Accessible skimming: faster screen reading of web pages

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Ability-Based Design: Concept, Principles and Examples

User-Sensitive Inclusive Design

Accessible skimming: faster screen reading of web pages

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