Change in ICT Design for Visually Impaired Urged
From: Silicon Republic - 05/04/2006
By: Elaine Larkin

Information technology will leave the visually impaired behind if the issue
of accessibility is not realistically addressed, according to the Visually
Impaired Computer Society (VICS), part of the Irish Computer Society. The
lobby group says the use of tactile, audio, or large print as human computer
interface features would make computer products more accessible for the
visually impaired, but the conventional computer screen prevents them from
using electronic systems. "At present the vast majority of ICT products are
completely unusable by those with vision problems except by means of
expensive and inelegant bolt-on interfaces," says IT professional Ronan
McGuirk, founding member of VICS. McGuirk has authored a paper that calls for
the implementation of the Design for All (DFA) principles during
specification, design, and manufacturer of ICT products. VICS, which plans to
introduce the paper May 12 in Dublin, says it would be cheaper to incorporate
accessibility during the design stage than to do so later on, and adds that
better labeling is needed to make accessible products easier to identify.
VICS Chairman Tony Murray says Apple, which has built a screen reader into
its operating system for the new Mac, is one of the few companies that has
embraced the process. Murray, a software engineer at AIB, adds that VICS is
at work drafting a paper on standards for accessible products. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single6377

Links:
VICS
http://www.vicsireland.org/

Ronan McGuirk
ronan.p.mcguirk@aib.ie

Tony Murray
tony.murray@vicsireland.org
tony.g.murray@aib.ie

VICS - Services: To promote and advise on the development of accessible
computer technology to people with vision impairments; to promote the use of
computers among people with vision impairments and to endorse employment
opportunities in the area of computers. VICS has also set up a
computer-training course for its members.