Full Description
This book outlines the development of the Trace R&D Center as an institution for furthering accessible and assistive technologies. The book walks readers through the Center's nascent attempts to solve individual challenges with augmentative communication devices through contemporary efforts to establish global frameworks and infrastructures for accessibility. This book is premised on the Center's mission to maximize the potential of people with disabilities by harnessing evolving technologies while at the same time dismantling the barriers created by those same technological advancements. Readers will learn how this has been done in the past and why this practice should be a fundamental and integrated feature in new technology planning and implementation. The book touches on pre-internet technologies before exploring the huge implications of, first, the personal computer and, second, the Internet. In parallel with the massive growth in scale rendered by the launch of the Web, the book traces the expansion of the Center's focus from the individual to the universal, particularly in working to establish accessibility standards and infrastructures. Learning from the successes and failures of the Center, the book outlines many past challenges and future directions for the development of technologies for people with disabilities from the research and industry perspectives.
Contents
Trace Center Origin and Evolution.- Augmentative Communication (1971-).- Pre-Internet/Pre-Web Summative Information (1970s-1990s).- Computer Access (1980-).- Electronic Consumer Products and General Accessibility (1990-).- Web Access (1990-).- Telecommunication Access (1990-).- Kiosks and Information—Transaction Machine Access (1999-).- Accessibility Infrastructure (2010 -).- Move to University of Maryland (2016).- Elements that Have Defined the Trace Center.- Some Lessons Learned from Trace's First 50 Years.- Trace's Focus for the Next Decade(s) (2021-).
