Inclusive Technologies

More than 10 years ago the UN agreed to 22 “rules” which national governments should follow to improve the lives of their citizens with disabilities. These rules cover medical care, educational opportunities, social integration — all the usual, important areas. During the last few years to UN has performed a survey, asking both national govvernments and 2 disability organizations in each country how much progress has been made. The results appear in “Global Survey on Government Action on the Implementation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities”. It’s shocking — shocking I say! — to discover that only half the responding countries have taken any significant action regarding assistive technology or accessibility. Those of us in advanced countries that certainly answered ‘yes’ to every question on the survey know only too well how piecemeal our programs are, and how insufficient.
UN Enable - Global Survey

Panasonic is showing off a compressed air exoskeleton whose “muscles” may allow disabled users to move and manipulate better. At a mere 4 pouns, it’s sleek and probably less expensive than the giant hydraulic gizmos we’ve seen.
Robotic jacket | CNET News.com

Simi Linton, one of the most insightful and energetic leaders of accessibility cultural studies has started a blog called “Disability Culture Watch”.  This definitely deserves space in your feed reading diet!
Disability Culture Watch

Disabled or not, many mobile users are lost in a world of features they never wanted and can’t use.  Worse than that, these unwanted “bonuses” make products so complicated that basic functions are hard to find.  This is especially true for people with visual or cognitive disabilities.

A new survey shows how dissatisfied consumers are, and how clueless technomarketers are.
Cellphone users complain about ‘function fatigue’ - Yahoo! News

We’re familiar with remote instruction, technology that lets a distant student see and hear what’s going on in the classroom.  Now we’ve got a robot that takes it one step further.  The distant student can control the behavior of a small ‘bot, moving around the school by remote control, aiming its camera, raising its hand, and influencing the classroom in ways we can’t even guess yet.
Robotics lets a girl be part of the class - The Boston Globe

A care facility in Anaheim, CA, was apparently the scene of some vicious abuse of its disabled residents.  Two points stand out.  First, we still have not addressed the awful cultural attitudes towards people with disabilities; abuse is a symptom of social contempt as well as misplaced economic priorities.  Second, new technologies can illuminate these dark corners in the hands of next-gen muckrakers.
Abuse in California care facility