Access for All From: ACM - Communications of the ACM - 08/2008 - pages 12-14 By: Peggy Aycinena Accessible technologies are improving the lives of millions of physically impaired people around the world. Countless people interface with assistive technologies today either because they use them, develop them, or both. Some technologies have existed for years, but many more are rapidly emerging, motivated by fast-paced developments in science and engineering and by the allure of enormous potential markets. Newly emerging technologies include mobile video phones for people who use sign language in combination with texting; enhanced optical character recognition and speech-synthesis tools that read books aloud; machine-learning algorithms and positioning sensors that enable a person in a wheelchair to better navigate an environment; improved speech recognition hardware for more accurately inputting verbal commands to a computer, wheelchair, or handheld device; and tools for designing more accessible Web sites. Read the entire article at: http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1380000/1378709/p12-aycinena.html?key1=1378709&key2=5407563221&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&CFID=5936964&CFTOKEN=73195118