Slashdot Mirror

ewoudenberg writes "A Washington Times article reports that researchers managed to gain entrance to the Internet and technology conference in Switzerland last week only to discover that the summit's badges contained undisclosed RFID chips. The badges were handed out to more than 50 prime ministers, presidents and other high-level officials from 174 countries, including the United States."

Eric S. Johansson sent us a discussion document he's written about Linux and handicap access. I've included the full text below (with permission). Given the way my wrists have felt lately, this is something that really makes me think. What do you folks-what's the work being done for handicap access? For everything from RSI to vision impairment, I think this will become more important. There has been a significant discussion in the linux community about making Linux available to ordinary users but there remains one group of users who are not able to use Linux in any form. I am referring to handicapped users. Whenever there has been discussion about handicapped users, it has been most frequently in the context of blind users. There are far more handicaps than simple blindness. There are a multitude of partial-vision handicaps, mobility handicaps, and aural handicaps. All of these handicaps need accommodation for Linux to reach the mainstream. Why handicap accessibility is important Microsoft is making a major push in the area of handicap accessibility. They are under tremendous pressure from handicap accessibility advocates and governmental regulators to make their applications handicap friendly. To their credit, they have a far greater range of accessibility aids and adaptability than is currently present in the Linux/X11 environment. Alternative input devices such as tablets, speech recognition, special keyboards are available to users. You can use alternative output devices such as text-to-speech screen readers. Contrast this to the Linux world. While there are a few notable exceptions, Linux is "unfriendly" to people with disabilities.

For me, the two most compelling reasons for building handicapped accessibility into any operating system are 1) it's the law and 2) more importantly, it's the right thing to do.

Love it or hate it, the 'Americans with Disabilities Act' is the law. In a nutshell, it requires reasonable accommodation for handicapped people in public buildings and in the workplace. One of the major positive effects of ADA has been the creation of the design concept known as "universal access" or "universal design". The original goal was to create a design philosophy for constructing buildings that would be equally usable by handicapped and non-handicapped people. One of the unexpected side effects was that many of the design features that made it easy for handicapped people also were better for non-handicapped people. The reason for the side effect is that many of the physical tools (kitchen utensils, door knobs, sink faucets, etc.) that we use are kept out of habit and tradition. When examined for usability, better designs become quickly apparent and usually cost no more than the traditional design.

On the negative side, ADA creates liabilities for public and private sector employers. The reason this liability is a particularly insidious is that when it comes to computers, an employer may have no choice but to discriminate on the basis of a handicap because there is no way to accommodate the handicapped user. Employers are damned if they do and damned if they don't. This liability in turn becomes a problem for the operating system manufacturer and the application vendor. Vendors like Sun and Microsoft recognize the liability and have research groups working on addressing the problem.

More importantly, building handicapped accessibility is also the right thing to do. Depending on which statistics you believe, there are between 45 and 54 million disabled Americans. Workplace injuries continue to generate hundreds of thousands disabled people each year. The software development field alone generates some 50,000 handicapped people a year. By the time we reach roughly 60 years of age, about half of us will be disabled as a side effect of living on this planet. Any way you look at it, that's an awful lot of people to exclude from a computer-intensive society.

By not making computers handicapped accessible, you are telling some 20 percent of our population that they cannot hold a high-paying job, get additional education, or take advantage of the benefits of the Internet.

I know of all this first-hand. I was disabled in 1994 because of too many hours at the keyboard. I have recovered from my injury to the point where I can drive a reasonable amount, prepare food, and yes, use a keyboard to some extent. I'm still disabled because there are many things I can't do without causing myself tremendous amount of pain. I have experienced job discrimination and public embarrassment because of my handicap. Yet I've been lucky. I've been able to reinvent myself and develop a work life with computers thanks to speech recognition systems. But far too many of my peers have just fallen off the economic ladder when they became injured/disabled. When talking with them about what's gone wrong and how to fix things, it comes up over and over again that computer handicap accessibility isn't good enough yet for most jobs.

Today, computer handicap accessibility is very primitive. Accessibility efforts have focused on very select communities such as the visually handicapped and the profoundly physically handicapped. Accessibility aids such as screen readers, unicorn sticks, sticky keys, and paddle switchs are useful only if you have no other place to turn. Whenever I read articles or see programs showing some profoundly disabled person laboriously keying in characters so they can send email, I think people are astonished and pleased not because the accessibility aid worked well but because it worked at all!

The closest thing we have to a general accessibility aid for mildly handicapped people is speech recognition, but even that falls short, because it is optimized for a specific task. Speech recognition is tuned beautifully to English language dictation. Try to write code, however, and you'll soon find your throat feeling like you've been gargling broken glass.

When you step back and look at the entire handicap accessibility repertoire, it is apparent that accessibility aids are primarily point solutions that need to be done and redone with every revision of every operating system and application. A case in point is T. V. Raman's Emacspeak work. It's a wonderful example of adapting an application to a specific handicap. It's also a wonderful example of what's wrong with the state of computer handicap accessibility.

Emacspeak works extremely well as a tool for blind users using Emacs. It is extremely flexible, configurable and works with a wide range of Emacs Lisp based applications. The downside is it only works with Emacs and it only works with blind users using text-to-speech. It is a well done single point solution for a very targeted population.

Flaws with current computer handicap accessibility There are many flaws in the current approaches to handicap accessibility. Some of the major flaws are:

1. Additional development requirements for application developers
2. Narrowly targeted accessibility aids
3. No general model for accessibility
4. Accessibility aid and application bound together on same machine

Application developers today need to go through extra effort to enable their application for both visually and physically handicapped users. This is a flawed approach for a couple of reasons. First, if you do not live with a disability, it is very difficult to catch all of the usability flaws. Second, based on personal experience, anything requiring extensive additional work tends to get dropped as deadlines loom near. That means extra work for handicap accessibility is the first thing that dropped from a project.

Most accessibility aids, by their very nature, are targeted to a specific handicap. For example a unicorn stick does absolutely nothing for a blind user and a screen reader is overkill for a color blind user. Without a general model for accessibility, developers would need to build multiple user interfaces for a given application. It is my believe that a general model for accessibility would allow developers to add handicap accessibility to their applications with little or no effort.

Another flaw in the available computer handicap accessibility tools is that the adaptation and the application are bound together on the same machine. This forces the handicapped user into using a single machine which has been adapted for them. If your job requires you to use multiple machines, then you have to enable every single one of those machines with the same accessibility aids and configuration files and then try to keep those configurations in sync as your use evolves. If your enabled machine fails, you cannot work until the machine is repaired or replaced and all accessibility aids are restored.

With barriers like these, is it any wonder that handicapped people continue to have the double-digit unemployment rates even times like these?

Considerations for handicap accessibility There are better ways to solve the computer handicap accessibility issue than those provided by current solutions on the marketplace. The general case solution for handicap accessibility is a "hard problem" and I can't do it full justice here in this forum. The only aspect of handicap accessibility that I can speak to is that of a person with sore hands. However, with biases declared and out in the open, I will try to describe some of the requirements for building handicapped accessibility infrastructure.

A user should be able to

• Modify or customize the interface to meet their handicap needs and thought processes.
• Create incidental scripts easily to aid in task automation.
• Rely upon applications to have all functionality, data, and state available for query by a common accessibility scripting environment.
• Have the ability to store, retrieve, and act on state and context specific information.
• Count on applications having the capability to invoke actions in the common accessibility scripting environment.

The need for a changeable interface comes from the different characteristics of each person's handicap. For example, someone using speech recognition has a different user interface experience from someone using text-to-speech. Incidental scripts are important because limited mobile or vocal capacity should be conserved when performing repetitive tasks. The next two items come out of the need for an accessibility aid to drive an application. Speech recognition needs to know context in order to improve recognition accuracy. Text-to-speech needs to be able to find out what's on the screen and then read that back to the user. Data persistence is important in order to remember what is valid to hear or say in a given context. The last item comes from the need of an application to signal a user. When email arrives, instead of not hearing a voice saying "you've got mail," deaf users could have a light flash on their desktops triggered by the application calling a handicap accessibility script.

A long-term goal for handicap accessibility is to provide enough information so that an agent could explore an application via the interfaces listed above and generate an accessible user interface matching the persons handicap.

Conclusion Many of these problems became apparent to me from personal experience. There are many others that we could add from the blind, deaf, and severely physically handicapped communities. Once such an accessibility infrastructure is implemented, handicapped users would be empowered to adapt their corner of the online world to their needs. Given the right boot-strapping tools, we can pull ourselves up the rest of the way.

I wasn't kidding when I said this was a difficult problem to solve. It will require coordination and communication between multiple project groups. It will cause serious changes to GUI toolkits. Each of the requirements carries potential security risks. But it will provide the means to make a positive change in the lives of millions.

Are you up for it?

Write me at esj@inguide.com

When I put out my call for Geek Christmas Gift ideas, I had no idea what I was in for. But after the storm of email that followed was washed away, I was left with a list of toys that any geek would be excited to give or get this year for whatever holiday it is you celebrate this time of year. Hit the link below and read the list if you're curious. Random Stuff There were a few things that were suggested, that, well, I bet Santa won't come through for them. Hemos asks for Nanites. Thats all he wants. Nanites. Somebody smack him. Nima Negahban says "I would like the beowolf cluster avalon for christmas, dont worry about it fitting it under the tree. " david yates wrote in and simply said "Half naked Princess Leia ,as Jabba's prisoner, action figure." I'm sure his mother is proud. He can have the Action Figure, I want 1976 Carrie Fisher. Games Everyone and their brother wrote in to say that Nintendo 64's and Playstations are great. And the game of choice is definitely Zelda 64. I second that motion. I suggested it to my dad as a Christmas Present. Terrible idea- now I gotta wait until xmas to find out if he got it, and if he *didn't* I gotta buy in on Dec 26. Hard as hell to find. Folks suggested other things like the original Kings Quest or Leisure Suit Larry. Prince of Persia. Commander Keen. Ultima. All those games that aren't around any more, but with their original packaging. Finding a 5.25" drive to play them with might be a tad tricky tho. Clothing It's a well known fact that its better to be clothed at least part of the time. And no self respecting geek should be without a vast array of appropriately political t-shirts to pad out your closet full of suits, jackets, and ties (cough). Daniel suggested checking out the Free BSD Mall for BSD clothing. Jonathan Moore suggested the ever popular KMFMS t-shirts for your local microsoft hater. If thats a bit to exotic for you, how about the classic that Doug Boettcher sent us: the Hack Naked shirt. Since we're mentioning all these t-shirts, we ought to mention that CopyLeft has several shirts including my Don't Fear the Penguins ones, and Slashdot ones too. Software Several folks wrote in to say that they were buying Linux CDs from any of the various places that sell them, and giving them away to the needy. I tend towards Linux Central, and in addition to them Cheap Bytes OpenBsd.org and The Linux Mall were all suggested as places where you can buy the stuff we like. Hardware By far the largest catagory for gift ideas was of course Hardware:The Gift that Costs to much. Of course, anyone would want a a Palm III- it's hard to think of a better stocking stuffer. And besides, they're practically money in the bank now that you can use them to collect automobiles of the rich and famous. But if you've already got a Pilot, James A. Hillyerd suggests a GoType keyboard as the perfect accessory. If the pilot isn't your bag, but you want to read on the road, Mahlen Morris suggested A Rocket E-Book which is basically a tablet computer that is designed to replace books You can get them here. And apparently they have some sort of deal with Barnes & Nobles so you can get content to read on it. They're pretty sweet looking- someday we'll have a wireless version with net access, then we can forget paper. But for now, this'll do.

Have trouble remembering passwords? Digital Persona sells sweet hardware that that you can use to do finger print identification. Suggested by Andrew Lepisto. The pdQ was suggested by Adam D. McKenna. Its a cel phone with an integrated Pilot. Another fairly common suggestion for geek gifts was cel service from your local provider, and a cel modem for the laptop equipped gift getter. Sean McPherson suggested a Kodak DC210+ digital camera. Saves big bucks on film, and is supposed to be supported by SANE. I'm actually planning on getting a Digital Camera before the upcoming string of conferences, and I'll probably look at this one (unless Santa already has one in his bag for me, although at $400 a pop, I highly doubt it) Steven McDonald suggests that we look at DVD RAM Drives as a new huge backup device for storing your MP3s and Porn. Oh, and legit data too.

Mike Miller sent us several suggestions including the Happy Hacking Keyboard. I played with one at ALS- they're not bad. Just as cool are the new Color Gamesboys. I suppose tetris wouldn't be vastly improved by color, but its still pretty sweet. For those with a hugeass budget, How about your very own Alpha Cluster? Obviously Jakob is a lot more hopeful for Saint Nick than I am this year *grin*. How about a vt320 Terminal? Daniel Morrison suggested it, and I think it sounds pretty cool. I had a terminal attached to one of my Linux boxes for awhile. I Let it tail log files and stuff. Kinda fun for reading documentation and stuff too. Can't afford a Multi-Head X-Server, video card, and spare monitor anyway. Plus you can run them into another room and check your email from your kitchen/dining room/bathroom.

Matthew J. Allen sent us a pricey one, but its oh so sweet: Remember those Huge Flat LCD Screens from SGI? I sure do. I wake up after erotic dreams about them. (SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE:Hey SGI: Give Rob one of those things for banner ads. You've got a spare one just sitting around, right?). Matthew also suggested an Iomega Clik Drive if you're on a more reasonable budget. Those things do look pretty sweet. Do cables piss you off? How about the gift of a tangle free workspace? Scott Donovan sent us a link to Cordless Mice and Keyboards from Logitech that will free you up for spinning on your swivel chair really fast until you fall over from getting dizzy instead of getting tangled up in your keyboard cable.

Toys By far the single most suggested toy of all was the Lego Mindstorms. The robotic legos are quite possibly the coolest toy in the history of toys. They aren't cheap, but they are oh so sweet. Else you could consider X-Files Action Figures suggested by E. Waugh. Home Entertainment and Audio Gear The Panasonic Portable DVD Theater was sent in by Joel Telling. Its a tiny portable DVD player obviously designed to make me froth at the mouth like a rabid dog. Several folks wrote in to suggest something I would like, but I wouldn't want to froth on. The Empeg Car CD Player. We've mentioned this before, and although they won't be ready for christmas, they are pretty amazing. 2.1 gigs of MP3s in a car stereo. They need a 9 gig version mounted in a home stereo component too.

Jon Jones (is that a real name? *grin*) wrote in to send a link to ADB I/O which you can use to automate your home for the ultimate in comfort and/or laziness. For the true audio junkie, how about the THX Speakers sent in by Chad R. Henry. Sure, they cost more than my car, but I bet they sound amazing. If you're on a more modest budget Cambridge SoundWorks has some slightly more reasonably priced speakers that I'm told sound awesome. Andrew Hobgood suggests checking out Panasonic SJ-MJ70 MiniDisc Player (portable). Pretty sweet if you aren't willing to chance it on the Diamond Rio (which was also one of the most common suggestions). Frankly any geek should be excited to get either. Rob Sheehy pointed out that Philips has 42 inch widescreen flat TVs that you could hang on your wall if you happen to be rich and wanna watch letterbox movies. This one has a VGA input too.

Random Terry A. Braun suggests that geeks need to get into making our own beer. Sounds like a great idea to me, although I tend to screw up toast. But if you're man enough to try it, you can get Your Own Grain Mill. Alan Mathews wrote in to suggest a A dilbert M&M dispensor McPhee's has some strange stuff, including a Punching Nun suggested by Glen Lipka Tom Berger suggested A VI Command Set Mug STriker RedWolf sent us a link to a chocolate bar shaped like a Pentuim II Chip.

Jason Grundy suggests the $6 card game Kill Dr. Lucky and a Card both from the aptly titled Cheapass.com. Rob Pelkey sent in a pair of gift ideas that are a world apart. The first is An Authentic Moon Rock and the second is a Jesse Ventura T-Shirt or Bumper Sticker. One is probably worth a little more than the other. The concept kitchen has this wierd Finger Stylus Thingee that you can use instead of a pen for some pen machines. Kinda wacky. Sent to us by Wyatt Earp.

Justin Higgins suggests that geeks should all own a copy of the Star Wars Radio Drama. Sure, it costs almost a hundred bucks, but at 15 CDs, it balances out to almost be a bargain. They ought to package it on 1 CD full of MP3s, throw a copy of the script on the disc and sell it for $20. I'd never heard of the Leatherman Wave before, but several folks emailed me to say they are cool. And then I noticed that they were actually advertising here. Shows how much attention I pay to who advertises on my own site I guess. But still several people raved about them, claiming that they're ideal for mucking around inside computer cases with. And Traci Earl sent a link to a site that makes nice Leather Cases for them.

Do you think stuffed animals are stupid? Well how about a Stuffed Plush Space Shuttle? Dave Brunberg sent us that gem. Stirling Westrup sent in a link to something called the Hoberman Sphere which basically is a crazily designed sphere thingee that expands from 9.5" to 30". Crazy looking. If you're looking for something caffienated that you can put in your mouth, several folks reminded us about caffienated penguin mints.

Wrap Up Well this was fun guys. Spending hours looking at crazy things that I can't afford has convinced me to take up cracking banks as an evening hobby. But what is quite obvious is that 1998 is a good year to be a geek. And maybe in 1999 Hemos can have his nanites. Nah.

And lastly, with all the commercial hub bub that tends to go on during this season, don't forget the true meaning of Christmas: Ham.