Background: Addressing a Significant Need

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Importance of the Problem: The Need and Target Population

Customers with and without disabilities adopt wireless technologies. Wireless information and communications technologies play an increasing role in education, employment, healthcare, and other aspects of independent living for people with and without disabilities.  With more than 60% of the U.S. population using wireless services, access to these services has become vital to full participation in society.1, 2  Recent environmental disasters further emphasize the importance of including these technologies in planning effective responses to these events.

The Wireless RERC’s Survey of User Needs revealed that people with disabilities are significant users of wireless products and services.3  Mobile phone companies are responding to this market.  Cingular Wireless offers hardware and software solutions for blind customers.  Nokia has created a hands-free adapter for cell phone users who have limited hand use.  Motorola has just patented an “elderly-adjusting” cell phone that increases font size and simplifies the menu structure automatically, based on speech patterns. 

Video phones and video relay services are making it possible to have telephone conversations in sign language.  As multimedia features such as streaming video make their way to mobile devices, it will not be long before video relay services are available on a mobile platform. Current limitations include image quality and limited bandwidth availability but image quality will improve as screen technology advances.4

Wireless technologies are also becoming part of the unique social and cultural fabric of the deaf community.  Short Messaging Service (SMS) text messaging is a part of the new wave of alternative communication for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.  In a study of deaf teenagers, mobile instant messaging via the T-Mobile Sidekick was the preferred method of electronic communication for many of the teens.  Several teens reported using the device to communicate with hearing people.5  

Wireless technologies are emerging and converging.  Computing is leaving the desktop and moving to hand-held systems.  Third generation (3G) mobile wireless technology make it possible to exchange information and perform activities anywhere and anytime. "Smart" phones, with larger, high-resolution displays and the functionality of personal digital assistants (PDAs), are challenging laptops for mobile computing needs.  Even video iPODs are emerging as a viable platform for mobile computing with their large data storage, ease of use, and multi-media capabilities. 

High speed, low cost wireless Internet access through Wi-Fi has spread rapidly into homes, businesses, campuses, and community facilities.6 Cellular wireless data networks bring broadband services, low-cost, and low-power indoor wireless networking to link appliances and sensors in homes and offices.  Data applications such as email, messaging, and Internet traffic are generating greater demand for broadband services.

As customers shift away from traditional voice services, the industry could face a tipping point at which it becomes more cost effective to drop traditional voice services and move exclusively to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).  In rural areas where broadband services have been slow and expensive to deploy, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) may provide a wireless solution to the “last mile” connection problem.

Emergency broadcasts and 911 telephone services are being adapted to exploit new wireless data networks and mobile devices. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated that all cell phone networks support Enhanced 911 (E911) so that a person calling 911 from their cell phone can be located.  Carriers are using GPS (global positioning system) and triangulation to meet this mandate.   The FCC, along with other Federal organizations, has made access to the Emergency Alert System (EAS) for persons with disabilities a priority. 

Location-based services enable greater community participation.  Wireless carriers are exploiting the potential of GPS technologies to provide consumers with location-based services.  Verizon Wireless’ VZ Navigator offers turn-by-turn directions to nearly fourteen million points of interest in the US.  Verizon’s Chaperone program and Sprint Nextel’s Family Locator plan offer real-time location-tracking of children’s cell phones either online or through text messaging.  USA Today reports that about 1/3 of US cellular subscribers express a strong interest in cellphone-based navigation assistance services.7 While GPS technology is effective for location-based services in an outdoor environment, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is one of many promising technologies for indoor location-based services.

Wireless sensors and location tracking technologies are also enabling smarter applications that can exploit situational context. Smarter devices that know where they are and what is going on can anticipate user needs and reduce the user interface requirements. Electronic products will increasingly support alternative wireless command and control options (as additional or alternative interfaces).  Bluetooth access to mobile cameras, printers, PDAs, and cell phones already exists.  New battery technologies, such as the environmentally-friendly chip-size fuel cells made by WiSPI, are also helping make these indoor wireless tracking technologies a reality.   The timing of these developments could not be better for enhancing greater community participation and independence by people with disabilities in public spaces such as hospitals, airports, and museums.

Customers with disabilities face barriers in wireless technologies. People with disabilities who choose not to adopt wireless technologies often do so as a result of poor product design and lack of accessibility.8 A 2004 study conducted by the National Council on Disability (NCD) reported several reasons for the lack of adoption of technology on behalf of the disability community.  Those reasons include the fact that “users with disabilities are often asked to pay high prices for phones with feature sets that are not useful to them; rapid changes in technology often cause decreases in accessibility; users are reluctant to adopt technologies that have been frustrating in the past; users have difficulty finding devices that match their functional capabilities because of the lack of familiarity sales associates have with accessibility features; and users are reluctant to invest in technologies that have an unproven accessibility record.”9

Reliability of wireless devices is a major concern of people with disabilities, especially considering the growing dependence of all people on wireless telecommunications technology.  For emergency communications, reliability is as important as accessibility.  Not only are people with disabilities concerned about the reliability of wireless technologies during an emergency, but they are also concerned about the reliability of wireless networks.  For personal use, an unreliable wireless network service is a mere inconvenience. But as healthcare services become more dependent on wireless networks, the healthcare industry and consumers alike are much more concerned with the reliability of wireless networks.

The proliferation of wireless technologies has generated some interference and "growing pains" with assistive technologies as these two separate fields develop.  Compatibility of hearing aids and mobile phones is just one example.  Many older devices are not interoperable with newer technologies, causing people with disabilities to become late adopters of wireless technologies.10 

Scarce information for and about customers with disabilities.  The array of choices in wireless products and services can be bewildering and intimidating, especially to customers with disabilities.  Wireless retail staff have insufficient technical expertise to be of help in making such decisions.  As a result, customers with hearing, physical, or visual limitations tend to rely on information from their peers, especially about new technologies.11  Incorporation of user review input through commercial websites such as CNet and Amazon.com suggests greater opportunities for peer-to-peer exchange among customers with disabilities. 

These internet tools also promise access to valuable research data to the businesses related to the site.12  This is especially important in facilitating more effective communication between the wireless industry and customers with disabilities.  A major concern associated with deployment and use of wireless and other technologies by people with disabilities is their lack of awareness that a given technology exists, or that it could be of benefit.   Wireless RERC user needs research and industry observations reveal frustration among consumers that wireless products do not meet their needs, as well as industry frustration that customers with disabilities are unaware of product features intended to enhance usability for them.

Diversity in abilities impacts usefulness and usability.  Approximately 10 million people in the US are blind or visually impaired and cannot easily access information conveyed by conventional electronic displays.  Over 40 million Americans have a mobility impairment that impacts their ability to lift or hold devices or handsets, access equipment, or use conventional keyboards and touch screens.  More than 24 million Americans have significant hearing loss and have difficulty using cell phones and receiving information during emergency situations; another 1.7 million Americans have difficulty communicating their thoughts and needs to others and are likely to be excluded from most electronic communications media.9

Income is not proportional to wireless use.  People with disabilities are estimated to have over $175 billion in discretionary spending power--more than twice the spending power of American teenagers and almost 18 times the spending power of the American "tweens" market.13  On the other hand, reports by the National Organization on Disability (NOD) indicate that people with disabilities are three times more likely than their non-disabled counterparts to live in poverty, with annual household incomes below $15,000.14 Interestingly, the National Center for Health Statistics recently reported that adults living in poverty are more likely than higher income adults to live in a household with only a wireless telephone.15  Even in the developing world, the poorest segments of the population are often the adopters of wireless technologies.16

Seniors are adopting wireless technologies too. It is important to note the correlation between age and disability.  This correlation is noteworthy in light of the rapidly growing population of older Americans that comprises the “baby boomer” generation.  The first of these turn 60 this year.  A survey by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) reported that wireless telephones have become an essential part of life for many older Americans, with respondents age 50-64 being almost as likely as those age 18-49 to report having cell phone service.  In addition, respondents age 65 and older were found to be the fastest-growing age group of cell phone users.  When asked why they own a cell phone, respondents age 50-64 were equally as likely to cite security in case of an emergency as they were to cite convenience.  Users 65 and older reported security as their primary reason for owning a cell phone.17

Enhancing usefulness and usability for all customers. Competition has become intense in the mobile wireless industry, and low prices have become the norm. Gaining and keeping customers now depends less on price and more on meeting customer needs.  Early adopters of wireless technologies sought cutting-edge products, but today’s wireless customers are less enamored by technology for its own sake.  As more are incorporated into wireless handsets, ease of navigation, clarity of use, and display quality become increasingly important, according to J.D. Powers’ most recent study of consumer satisfaction with wireless phones.18

Attention to these usability issues within the wireless industry bodes well for customers with disabilities.  Design flaws that annoy or inconvenience non-disabled customers can render wireless products unusable for customers with age- or disability-related limitations.  Addressing usability issues that we all face to some degree is the essence of universal design, as defined by architect Ron Mace and articulated in the Principles of Universal Design.19

Wireless technologies offer security, independence, and participation. Applying the Principles of Universal Design to wireless technologies offers the industry opportunities to gain and keep customers.  People with disabilities represent a significant portion of wireless subscribers, along with their network of friends and family.  In the Wireless RERC’s survey of over 1,200 people with disabilities, the percentage of wireless subscribers was found to be similar to that among the general population.3 The survey also reported that 49% of respondents use mobile phones daily, 29% use text messaging daily, and 17% use global positioning system (GPS) devices 1-2 times per week.  Nearly 40% of survey respondents planned to purchase a wireless device in the next year.  For wireless customers with disabilities, security and ease of communication are invaluable to their quality of life, and typically worth the challenges to owning or using wireless technologies.

Constant technological advancement is a fact of life in the wireless industry.  Almost anything that can be imagined can be achieved.  The greater challenge facing the wireless industry is to guide this advancement – how best to apply the potential of wireless technologies to the needs of people of all ages and abilities?

Proposal for a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies

Recognizing the potential benefits as well as roadblocks to access that mobile wireless technologies present for people with disabilities, the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) established a priority for funding a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) in this area in 2001.  Georgia Tech and Shepherd Center competed successfully for this priority and established the Wireless RERC to encourage universal access and investigate promising applications of mobile wireless technologies in support of independent living and community integration of people with disabilities. 

Over the past five years, the Wireless RERC has become a recognized leader on issues and solutions related to accessibility and usability of mobile wireless products and services by people with disabilities.  Based on indicators such as published research; conference, seminar and symposia presentations; policy and regulatory filings; engineering standards development; and technology patents and licensing agreements, the Wireless RERC has had an exceptionally productive five years.  These "outputs" are summarized in Appendix A of the application.  More importantly, however, the Wireless RERC is beginning to make a significant impact on the field of wireless technology and universal access, as evidenced by:

• The inclusion of key points from RERC regulatory filings in Report and Order rulings by the FCC pertaining to issues of telecommunications access and emergency communications.
• Based on work of the V2 technical group, the adoption of five standards by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) defining a framework for the universal remote console.
• Significant licensing agreements for both assistive technology and universal design applications of the Communication Assistant personal captioning system developed by Wireless RERC researchers;.
• Significant licensing of the Bluetooth accelerometers developed by Wireless RERC researchers, and use by researchers in autism, wheeled mobility, aging, and military applications, and by the wireless industry for mobile gaming applications.
• Collaborative partnerships with a host of organizations representing the interests of people with disabilities, companies in the mobile wireless industry (Cingular Wireless, Nokia, Motorola, Research in Motion) and fellow RERCs (AAC, Accessible Transportation, Hearing Enhancement, Low Vision, Successful Aging, Technology Transfer, Telecommunications and IT Access, Wheeled Mobility, and Work).

Recognizing the continued and expanding importance of wireless technology, NIDRR has proposed to continue the priority for an RERC to "facilitate equitable access to and use of future generations of wireless technologies for individuals with disabilities."  Moreover, recognizing the importance of working with industry and promoting inclusion of users with disabilities in the mainstream, NIDRR requires that the RERC  "…emphasize the Principles of Universal Design in its product research and development."  Building upon five years of success in the field, we are pleased to submit this application in response to the NIDRR priority.   The proposed work takes full advantage of the collaborating partners' -- Georgia Tech and Shepherd Center -- expertise in human factors, Universal Design, participatory research, technology policy, advanced technology and engineering research excellence, and understanding of issues affecting people with disabilities.