Speech Technologies Impact the Accessibility Market
From: Speech Technology - 06/2005 - Vol. 10, No. 3, P. 10
By: Nancy Jamison

Speech technologies are being mainstreamed often to the exclusion of users of
assistive technology (AT), which include the dexterity, sight, hearing,
cognitive, and speech impaired - and this is ironic, given that handicapped
users frequently drive technology development. Market drivers for speech
technologies include the government, which has set up legislation designed to
make the provision of accessible products or services both a requirement as
well as an incentive for companies, and the development of accessible
mainstream products. Mainstream vendors must play a key role in boosting
product accessibility, partly through the incorporation of speech
technologies into product design. AT types for people with certain
impairments may not be suitable for people with other disabilities: Speech
technologies for sight-impaired individuals are useful as tools for conveying
information, while the hearing-impaired often use them for command and
control. Examples of speech technologies well suited to the vision-disabled
include text-to-speech, voice-activated dialing, and note taker products that
incorporate Braille. People suffering from hearing loss can take advantage of
interactive communication solutions that use software to convert speech to
text and video sign language in real time. Dexterity or mobility-challenged
people often use automated speech recognition (ASR) to command and control
both keyboard and software functions; ASR eliminates the need to use the
keyboard or mouse by enabling users to supply data to business and
productivity applications and dictate text into others. People with
cognitive, language, or speech impairments can use technologies that convert
spoken input into graphical images and are helpful for people undergoing
speech therapy. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.speechtechmag.com/issues/9_9/cover/11848-1.html