On Tuesday, congress passed a bill that will attempt to bridge the gap between people with disabilities to new technology. Previous laws dealing with people with disabilities mandated improvements such as ramps to buildings, but with the continual advancements in technology, “today individuals with disabilities need online ramps to the Internet,” said Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts. This bill, The 21st Communications and Video Accessibility Act, “covers things like captions on Internet video, Internet phone services that work with hearing aids, television menus that can be seen by people with vision loss and even touch screens that the blind can use” (Valentino-DeVries).
Many companies have yet to comment on the new regulations, most likely because they are unaware of how they will meet these needs. However, Apple has begun their research to improving their products for the handicapped. Already, they have been developing a system in which users can move their finger on the screen and hear which icon they are touching, and then click appropriately. Also, after a while, users will begin to know where some of the apps are on the phone.
This Legislation will prove which companies are willing to present their products in the best way for a large and diverse customer base. There have been arguments already about this regulation because companies feel that since there is a low demand for “blind or deaf friendly” phones, it will cut into their companies profits. Surely the companies that emerge and do their best to help this issue will receive positive customer feedback, and will benefit from it.
This is a really interesting article and I would be really interested to see where all of this ends up. I like the fact that congress is trying to reach out to the disable and make the world a little more friendly for them.
ReplyDeleteIt's amusing to see that Apple is one of the first companies to actually act upon this. I remember that earlier you wrote a blog about Apple's mission statement (maybe it was Harry, not too sure) and I remember that their mission statement was more focused towards their benefits and profits than their consumers. This makes me wonder if Apple is creating this new product to benefit the people or if they're just doing this in order to gain a larger profit.
A bill of this type is very technology forward. It is great that technology is expanding in a manner to aid the blind and deaf, however it presume this creates a great challenge for members of the consumer electronics industry. I have never heard of any of these accommodations so while companies have a range of options, they also must be very creative in what they decide to do. This research I imagine will take a lot of time and effort, but could payoff if done right. Companies have the opportunity to excel in what is now virtually a nonexistent market and make a name for themselves.
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