Bridging the Gap? Access to telecommunciations for all people
Chapter 3. Are products and services reaching the market?
Executive summary
The previous chapter has shown that there are clearly more services and products available to people with limited abilities and older people than say fifteen or twenty years ago. This is not to say that all the problems have been solved. Far from it, there is still a great sense of frustration amongst this population that more products and services have not already reached the market.
It is true to say that many of the problems of fifteen years ago relating to basic telephony services have been solved at least on technical level. This again however, does not necessarily mean that a product or service is readily available. New challenges and opportunities are also emerging especially in mobile and Internet services and it is vital that "Design for All" is introduced as early as possible in the design phase if similar accessibility problems are not to be faced all over again with forthcoming services.
The aim of this chapter is therefore to explore the various reasons why products may or may not have been made available and to identify the different gaps that still have to be bridged. The reasons may stem from wide variety of areas ranging from technological ones linked to research and development, industrial awareness, education and finally the area of legislation, standardisation and regulation. All these areas are reviewed in detail (sub-chapters 3.1 to 3.5).
3.1 Development in Telematics Research for Disabled and Older People between 1989 and 2001
Jan Ekberg, Julio Abascal, Leonor Pereira, Viveca Arrhenius, Mathijs Soede, Patrick Roe
3.1.1 Introduction
The general consensus is that technical development in the area of telecommunications equipment and services for people with limited ability moved very fast between 1989-2001 but the consensus disappears as soon as the reasons behind this development are discussed and especially how much of it was due to research efforts.
The development in telecommunications and information technology is the large 'Mainstream" innovation area. The task undertaken by relatively small groups to focus also on the development of problems of people with limited ability is a major effort that can only be successful by trying to convince the policy makers in the mainstream. For this purpose, figures showing a growing percentage of persons with special needs are used, but it has also been demonstrated that solutions can be found that are both good for people with limited ability and for the population at large. Basically, this amounts to swimming up-stream, which appears to be successful due to clever management of ideas and efforts in convincing others. This at least is part of the purpose of this chapter: to show that this statement is a plausible correct statement. The COST 248 project studied the future telecom user. In the analysis and the scenario studies they proposed, they showed that the changes and thus the future can be influenced but that it is a matter much larger and wider than the technology itself; culture and societal changes are connected strongly and determine for a large part how (telecommunications) technology will spread and develop.
The work of the R&D community involved in the problems of people with limited ability has also effected the politicians. The fairly recent initiatives of e-Europe and e-accessibility (ESDIS - Group supported) are the result of these efforts. Although the tasks undertaken by these groups seem rather modest in ambition, it should certainly have a major effect for the target groups.
It is proposed in this chapter to take an overall look at research carried out over the last 10-15 years in the field of telematics and see if any correlation can be found with the development of telecommunication services and equipment as reviewed in the previous chapter.
However, it would be unrealistic and it is not our intention to try and prove that success stories are specifically due to good research, nor will it be possible to try and trace the transfer of information of failed projects, where useful information was nevertheless gained and passed on to the industrial environment on how not to tackle a particular problem.
The intention is to analyse what the main research items were in 1989, 1993, 1996 and 1999. The study is mainly based on the COST219 surveys carried out 1989 and presented in the COST 219 book "Issues in Telecommunications and Disability" [COST 219, von Tetzchner, S. (Ed.)] and the synopsis of the TIDE programmes and the Telematics for the Integration of Disabled and Elderly people. Examples of achievements are also collected from the Web.
Some research projects have been deliberately left out because their activities were also covered by research inside the TIDE Programme (Technology Initiative for Disabled and Elderly people), which will be analysed in detail in the following sub-chapter 3.2. Projects in the Concerted actions like "Technology and blindness", "Technology and deafness", "Technology and mobility impaired" as well as for instance the Handynet (data base) project of the Helios programme have not been separately analysed because their close connection to research inside TIDE. That is also true for COST A5 Ageing and Technology, COST A4 Impact of the social environment upon creation and diffusion of technologies and COST 220 Communications protocols and user interfaces for keyboard displays for telecommunications use by disabled people. There were also inside the RACE (Research in advanced Communications in Europe) programme projects with very close connections to COST 219 and TIDE. We could mention for instance Application Pilot for people with special needs APPSN , Telecommunity, Integration of people with special needs by IBC IPSNI, Interfacing the disabled to industry-standard computing environments. INDICES, Textual and Graphical User interfaces for Blind people GUIB and the Usability issues for people with special needs.
By then comparing what was available 10 years ago and what is available today we can try to see if there is a correlation between the achievements and the research efforts. Are there more products and services than earlier in areas that have been covered by public funded research? Or did the areas develop just because industry saw possibilities to introduce new products and services?
For reasons of clarity and to help the comparison, the examples are grouped under the same headings as in sub-chapters 2.1.2 to 2.1.4, namely "Personal communications", "Support of daily living" and "Access to information". Two further sub-chapters will look into research in the area of manipulation and control and general studies. Projects dealing with prosthetics and medical rehabilitation are not included in this overview.
3.1.2 Personal communication
As already highlighted in sub-chapter 2.1.2, personal communication for people with limited ability is an area that has seen a great amount of development, with quite a number of new products reaching the market place.
Some of these products have been developed for the general market and can therefore not be directly attributed to any research projects focusing on people with limited ability. This is the case for example of speech recognisers (that help blind people control a computer, for example) and SMS messaging (a solution for deaf and speech impaired people to communicate directly with all mobile phone users). Indeed these are two examples of groups of disabled people benefiting from technological developments driven by the market at large.
Other products can, on the other hand, be directly attributed to research projects carried out. Indeed, it was sometimes not obvious whether to put some of the examples in the equipment and services chapter (2.1) or this R &D chapter. The examples given in sub-chapter 2.1.2 include the Benefon mobile rescue phone (MORE), The Spanish mobile text telephone based on the Nokia 9000, the Finnish multimedia project videophone and word and Bliss Cat programs. Another area mentioned that has seen a high level of development is relay services. It is interesting to note that some of these products stem from research projects on a European level and others from research carried out at a national level.
Table 3.1 summarises the main topics of research projects carried out at a European level during this period. As already mentioned, there are clearly some direct links between research and resulting products (mobile rescue telephone phone, Bliss and Pictogram solutions, tools for relay centres). It is of course impossible to estimate with any degree of precision what percentage of products reaching the market are directly due to research projects carried out in the field, and clearly some products have come to exist due overall market trends. However, what can be said is that without this research effort both at a European and national level, less products and services for people with limited ability would have appeared on the market in what seems a frustratingly slow process for all the people in need of these products.
Table 3.1 - Main topics of research projects in personal communication
3.1.3 Support of Daily Living
Table 3.2 clearly shows that the topic where an increasing amount of research is being carried out is the smart home area. Environmental control systems were already developed in the beginning of the 1980's. They were not meant to be installed before the need was urgent. In 1993 a smart home project analysed how the emerging local area networks could be used in homes inhabited by disabled people and older people. In 1999 there was, as already mentioned, a lot of activities in the area, and in 2000 already 10% of all service home flats are from the very beginning equipped with smart home technologies in
Table 3.2 - Main topics of research projects in the area of support for daily living
Scandinavia (STAKES, newsletter Apuva 1/2000 page 6). The extremely expensive technology that was originally meant for big offices has now, as a result of tedious research, been applied to the needs of disabled people and older people and become very cheap.
Sub-chapter 2.1.3 gave some examples of the numerous products reaching the market in this area. Here again some of the products can be attributed to the considerable research effort being made in this area, although once again it is impossible to put a figure on this percentage.
Figure 3.1 - Different industries involved in smart houses
One factor impeding progress has been the adoption of a common standard [COST 219bis, van Berlo (Ed.)]. Another difficulty has been that many different industries have to be involved for progress to be made. Figure 3.1 illustrates this point. The issue here is that due to the research, the industries are gradually taking the responsibility to make low-cost products available on the market.
Further examples of research programmes in this area are given in the remainder of this sub-chapter.
Activation of older people
Portuguese research began in this area in 1989 with several R&D European projects and these research projects are currently included in the FMH research centre: CIPER. (www.fmh.utl/ciper).
The support programmes have been developed since then with the aim of promoting and maintaining autonomy and increasing it when possible. The programme addresses the perceptive, cognitive, physical and social abilities of older people.
Two terminals were used: videotelephone and a personal computer with an ISDN line and videoconference card (multimedia terminal). The interaction between the users and the equipment was specified so that it could be established in Portuguese and in the easiest possible way.
The activities especially appreciated were quiz and puzzle games and physical exercise. The older people were able to perform the activities without help or just with distance help. Research shows that some behavioural improvements can be observed, particularly concerning their participation level and interest in using technology.
Figure 3.2 - Older person using the equipment
Home care. An example of a new tool for environmental adaptation to reduce handicap: indoor location
Spanish R&D groups have been involved in indoor location of non-autonomous people through different research project actions. One of the most implicated institutions is the University of Zaragoza. They are still working on this but have already obtained a precision of 10 cm, which is enough for many applications.
Indoor location was already pursued in the project SACLP in the bridge phase of the TIDE Programme with the am of facilitating the detection of risk situations and raising the alarm. Microwaves failed to give satisfactory results due to their interaction with buildings. A PhD thesis work and several national and international projects have resulted in a system that is sufficiently precise to provide support for different applications for the older and disabled population, such as:
- detection of risk situations in shelter homes with non-autonomous people (people with dementia or mental disability) to seek advice or raise the alarm: SCALP and ESCAPE projects;
- detection of wandering patterns or assessment of level of anxiety and behaviour prediction (escapism, crisis) ESCAPE project;
- guidance of indoor navigation for people with sensorial or mental disabilities through voice messages: SANAI project;
Currently the work is being carried out to implement the location system in a shelter home for people with mental disability where: project DELTA. The aims are:
- adaptation of environmental control to the abilities and needs of the individual;
- support for re-education and accommodation of behaviour for kids;
- detection of crisis situations;
- detection of abnormal situations: falls, going out of the residence, going out in the cold or rain, too long stances in certain rooms etc.
3.1.4 Access to Information
Information dissemination improved dramatically during the 1990's. From a situation where the information was practically only available in printed form (catalogues, leaflets etc) we have arrived to a web based information system providing on line information about for instance assistive devices, manufacturers, distributors and vendors and training courses. The goals of Handynet(1) have been achieved today thanks to the availability of servers, linking facilities to the source of information and fast and relatively cheap telecommunications networks. Handynet showed what had to be done, that there was a need and made the field ready to realise the implementation we have to day as soon as the general development was able to meet the technical and financial boundary requirements.
A lot of good case studies can be found in the INCLUDE Web server. Also at www.prosoma.lu you can find examples of good practice. Also the success stories from PROMISE give a very good overview of what was available between 1997-1999.
Table 3.3 - Main topics of research projects in the area of access to information
(1) Handynet was a European information system within Helios programme (Handicapped People in the European Community Living independently in an Open Society) founded in 1988 by the EC Council of Ministers
Table 3.3 shows that the emphasis of projects has moved from developing input/output hardware and software modules for Personal Computers in 1989 to a predominance of research in the area of Web technology in 1999, with the emphasis being on access issues in 1993. Once again, research in this area has contributed, sometimes directly (TIDE-TURTLE) and sometimes more indirectly, to the appearance of products and services for people with limited ability in this area.
It should also be mentioned here that all public information sources in Europe, are now, or should be, in the process of making information more easily accessible. The W3C guidelines on Web accessibility [W3C] (www.w3.org/tr/wai-webcontent/) have played an important role and are currently being implemented step by step whilst raising awareness of this issue. Research and development was needed for long time to achieve this implementation. Although the leader in this area is the USA, the involvement of several European R&D institutes has been crucial to reaching this phase.
3.1.5 Manipulation and Control
Table 3-4 shows that the emphasis has moved from projects dealing with environmental control solutions for mobility impaired people in 1989 to enlarging the scope of remote controls to take into account the needs of older people in 1999.
Table 3.4 - Main topics of research projects in the area of manipulation and control
Most recently, a growth of applications in VR can be expected due to the fact that force feedback systems are coming more available than in the past. Manipulation and control includes sensors and motor co-ordination. Research has often not studied the two combined. Multi-modality has been used in display and information systems but not so often in controlling and manipulation. Haptic feedback, which is of interest in remote control, can also, with even more potential, be used in virtual reality. Software created objects can be sensed and scanned by feeling some pressure on the skin in case of haptic feedback.
3.1.6 General Studies
The research at the beginning of the 1990's was mostly dealing with mobility, vision, hearing and speech issues but very soon the interest for language, cognition and ageing issues increased. In 1999 almost 60% of the projects declared that their research would benefit older people.
Another issue that way very popular at the end of the 1990's is the "Design for All" issue that is considered in more than 25% of the projects.
Table 3-5 summarises the mains topics of the general studies carried out during this period. It can be seen that the trend has moved from developing theoretical models in 1993 for how telecommunications devices and services should be built in order to be directly accessible for as many as possible or to be adaptable to disabled persons' needs to developing tools in 1999 for assessing users' abilities as well as choosing corresponding assistive devices in 1999.
Table 3.5 - Main topics of general studies
3.1.7 The eEurope Initiative and eLearning
On 8 December 1999 the European Commission launched an initiative entitled eEurope-An Information Society for All, which proposed ambitious targets to bring the benefits of the information society within reach of all Europeans(2). The initial note focused on ten priority areas, from education to transport and from healthcare to people with disabilities. Action line no. 1 stressed the importance of Education in the ICT domain and action line no. 7 dealt explicitly with the fact that information and communication technologies (ICT) should be used to improve the quality of life and job chances of people with disabilities.
The eEurope initiative underwent critical reviews in the first months of the year 2000. Mr. Francisco Godinho, then adviser to the Portuguese Minister of Science and Technology, organised an email discussion forum via the Internet. This forum had 92 members, comprising 20 countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Ireland, Greece, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Brazil, Argentina, United States, Australia and South Africa). Members of the European Commission also participated in the discussions. A feedback report was prepared for the Commission, suggesting that much more attention should be paid to education and especially ICT supported education for persons with special needs.
The Commission then prepared a special note (called suggestion IC) for the members of the European Council (i.e., the Prime Ministers of the European Union) in which a pan-European plan for implementing the eEurope action was suggested. The subsequent eEurope 2002 Action Plan, agreed by Heads of State and Government in Feira (Portugal) set out a roadmap to achieve eEurope targets (June 2000).
(2) The home page of the eEurope action is at: europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/index_en.htm Most of the documents mentioned here can be downloaded by following "library" link.
In March 2001, during the meeting of the EU ministers in Stockholm, an update to this plan was put forward(3) by the Commission and accepted by the Council.
In order to ensure that this "Objective 2 - Investing in people and skills - European youth into the digital age" is met, the European Commission adopted the eLearning Action plan on March 28, 2001(4).
In parallel to eLearning, an eAccessibility action(5), promoting ICT technology access for persons with a disability, has also been set up by the European Commission but, except for the creation of centres of excellence, no link with the eLearning plan is foreseen.
3.1.8 Nordic Research
The Nordic Development Centre for Rehabilitation Technology (NUH) is a subsidiary of the Nordic Co-Operation on Disability (NSH) in Stockholm. NUH was set up in 1990. It is financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers and is situated in Helsinki, Finland within the Finnish National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES). The main aim of NUH is to contribute to the joint Nordic development of new assistive technologies for persons with disabilities. The NUH:
- Initiates and contributes to the financing of projects
- Maintains and develops Nordic networks
- Disseminates knowledge and experience on research and development in the field
- Participates in Nordic and international co-operation
(3) europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/news_library/pdf_files/communication_en.pdf
(4) europa.eu.int/comm/education/elearning/
(5) europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/action_plan/eaccess/index_en.htm
Since 1990 NUH has initiated and financed more than 60 projects in the Nordic countries, which have resulted in new products, guidelines and a better understanding of the impact of new technologies on the lives of persons with disabilities. Projects have been run by enterprises, research institutions, service providers in the public sector and disability organisations. In disability policy the Nordic countries have common goals to strive for; to achieve the equality and the full participation of persons with disabilities in society. Furthermore, the service provision systems are similar in the five countries and they are based on public funding. Also disability organisations have a strong influence on shaping the disability policies of each country.
The Nordic research supported by NUH differs from the European research supported by the Commission especially in the definition of the goals. The goals of the Nordic cooperation is to develop a better infrastructure for the Nordic production of assistive technology devices and to develop Nordic top expertise in some areas of assistive technology. It includes thus support for product development, evaluation, and especially work to build cooperative networks and assess new ideas and prepare proposals, which can then be financed by other organisations. The development of final exploitable products are thus more handled over to the industry and the national industrial funding schemes.
3.1.9 National Programmes
Technology Research and Development Programmes in Spain
The first Spanish action for Assistive Technology, called PITER (Integrated Project for Rehabilitation Technology ), was introduced in the 3rd national plan for Research and Development (1996-99). The technical background of this action was elaborated by the National Centre for Personal Autonomy and Technical Aids (CEAPAT), with the collaboration of the Technological and Industrial Development (CDTI). Actors in the field were also involved: industry, R&D centres, user organisations, universities, etc..
For this programme, new methodologies were introduced for the implementation and follow up, as well as for the participation of users. CEAPAT also took part in the financial support of the project.
Under this programme, 25 projects were funded in two different calls. 29% of them dealt with systems for training in assistive technologies, 8% dealt with access to computers and new technologies, 8% with assistive devices, 13% with domotic environment, 13 % with accessibility to information and 29% with mobility. The results of PITER can be found in the National study on the impact of new technologies for people with disabilities: acceso3.uv.es/impacto.
Furthermore, IMERSO gives direct technical and financial support to innovative projects through the plan for Technical Support, with the purpose of promoting research and development in assistive technologies and of preparing for National Plans.
Looking to the future, the 4th plan (2000-2003): National Plan for research, Development and Innovation, co-ordinated by the new Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology, includes Assistive Technology in the Social and Sanitary Area, Furthermore, technology for people with disability and older people is considered in different programmes, such as PROFIT.
Technology research and development programmes in Finland
Technology programmes for funding development and research are relatively
new in Finland; the first programmes were launched in the 1990's. Technology
programmes are used to promote development in specific sectors of technology
or industry, and to pass on results of the research work to business
in an efficient way. Programmes have proved to be an effective form
of co-operation and networking for companies and the research sector.
The main financier of the programmes is National Technology Agency of
Finland (Tekes). akseli.tekes.fi/Resource.phx/plaza/tekes/technology.htx
iWEL is a technology programme (2000-2003) for funding innovation,
product development and research by the National Technology Agency of
Finland (Tekes). The aim is to take information and communication technology
solutions and turn them into well-being applications. The focus is on
solutions that can promote healthy and balanced living. Such technology
is especially well-suited to the ageing population, the disabled and
those suffering from long-term illnesses as it gives them a better chance
of living independently. Personal safety and security devices, logistic
services, electronic services, telemedicine and telemonitoring are some
of the iWELL products. tekes.fi/eng/technology/tekno_tiedot.asp?id=215
User-Oriented Information Technology USIX (1999-2002) is a multi-discipline
technology programme by Tekes set up to increase Finnish know-how in
the development of products, applications, services and contents based
on information and communication technologies. USIX comprises R&D
projects involving major Finnish companies and research institutions.
Electronic services and participation is one of the key programme areas.
Participants are encouraged to develop applications related to key programme
areas, which could be used in mobile networks, wireless local area networks,
DigiTV, Internet, PCs and hand-held devices. There are also working
groups and seminars and a number of publications will be produced.
tekes.fi/eng/technology/tekno_tiedot.asp?id=195
Satakunta Macro Pilot (1998-2000) is the largest Health Care and Social Services development project in Europe with 29 participating municipalities and several sub-projects. The aim is to make the field more user-friendly and efficient by utilising new technology and creating new activity models. Developing Client-Based Services aim to make clients' information more portable for experts and for clients themselves. Citizens can receive personal social and health information e.g. via Internet at home as well as at information kiosks in pharmacies and libraries. Another goal is to support Independent Living at home as long as possible by the development of safety and shopping services. Macro Pilot's overall goal is to develop a health care and social services system, which is efficient and seamless for the consumer and crosses traditional organisational boundaries. At the same time Data Security and Privacy is improved, e.g. by adopting a new Social Insurance Card. makropilotti.fi/englanti/
3.1.10 Discussion
Although research activities have contributed to the development of a single European market for AT(6) , a single European assistive technology market has not yet been achieved, which has partly hampered the take-up of research results. There is however a range of technological achievements and a committed group of both researchers and users.
A lot of pre-normative and pre-competitive Research and Development results have been achieved. They have helped to demonstrate the impact, which technology can have in empowering individuals to participate in society(7).
Dissemination of information is still a bottleneck although a high production of peer reviewed technical and scientific publications based on the research results have been produced(8). A good strategy has not yet been found for ensuring that for instance, that Design for All information is available when needed and available in the appropriate form for the actual situation.
(6), (7), (8) Evaluation of the Bridge Phase of TIDE, Brussels 17.11.2000, COM(2000)727 Final
A lot of research has been developed for disabled and older users. Most have had adults in mind and few have taken the specific requirements of children into account. We should also remember that some countries had in the nineties big publicly funded research programmes dealing with telematics and disability.
Table 3.6 - Research activities on some topics
It is interesting to notice that E-mail and SMS as well as the introduction of a vibrating alarm into the mobile phone have been developed practically outside the TIDE-COST research area.
As already highlighted in sub-chapters 3.1.2 to 3.1.4, in all other areas there is a correlation between public EU research into services and equipment for disabled people and older people and products accessible to these people in the market place with national research programmes also playing an important role.
3.1.11 References
COST 219 publication 4) Research for Handicapped People, 16.2.1989.
COST 219, von Tetzchner, S. (Ed.), Issues in Telecommunications and Disability, ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels, Luxemburg 1991, EUR 13845 , ISBN 92 826 3128 1, Catalogue No. CD-NA-13845-EN-C Spanish version 1993 Fundesco ISBN 84-8112-006-5. Portuguese version 1994 Lisboa ISBN 972 9301 08 5.
COST 219bis, van Berlo, A. (Ed.). Design Guidelines on Smart Homes. EC. 1999.
TIDE Pilot Action, The Synopses, March 1992, CEC, DGXIII/79/92.
Technology initiative for disabled and elderly people, TIDE, Bridge phase-synopses December 1994, CEC, DGXIII, Luxembourg, ISBN 92-826-9595-6.
Telematics for the integration of the disabled and elderly, Synopses of projects January 1999, Luxembourg, ISBN 92-828-4628-8.
TIDE-HEART project, line C, European Service Delivery Systems in Rehabilitation Technology.
W3C, Vanderheiden G., Chisholm W., Jacobs I. (1999), Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
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