Research

October 2018 was celebrated as National Disability Employment Awareness (NDEAM), and the contributions and achievements of people with disabilities were recognized and honored at events and in publications. The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) 2018 theme for NDEAM was “America’s Workforce: Empowering All.” In keeping with the theme the Partnership for Employment and Accessible Technology (PEAT), focused on Empowering All through...

The file below is a PDF of the Wireless RERC's 08/03/2018 Re:Wireless Newsletter for consumers.  If you have trouble accessing the file or need it in an alternate accessible format, please contact Ben Lippincott at 678-992-9309 or ben@imtc.gatech.edu.

You can also view the newsletter at this web address:  https://conta.cc/2ONVWS3

The file below is a PDF of the Wireless RERC's 04/05/2018 Re:Wireless Newsletter for consumers.  If you have trouble accessing the file or need it in an alternate accessible format, please contact Ben Lippincott at 678-992-9309 or ben@imtc.gatech.edu.

You can also view the newsletter at this web address:  ...

This is a PDF of the Wireless RERC's 04/13/2017 Re:Wireless Newsletter for consumers.  If you have trouble accessing the file or need it in an alternate accessible format, please contact Ben Lippincott at 678-992-9309 or ben@imtc.gatech.edu.

Thursday, March 2, 2017 - 4:20 PM PST - Wireless RERC researcher, John Morris, gave an update on data collected from the Wireless RERC's Survey of User Needs (SUN).  His presentation provides an analysis of the impact of demographic variables and disability type on smartphone use by adults with physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities based on 2015-2016 national survey.

Thursday, March 2, 2017 - 9:00 AM PST - Wireless RERC researcher, Salimah LaForce, presented Strategies to Effect Policy Change at the 32nd CSUN Assistive Technology Conference.  Through the lens of Wireless RERC policy activities, her presentation outlined how to identify and develop policy assessments or appropriate policy responses to federal rulemakings.

This document provides a description of some apps that can be used to enhance WEA access. It explains different apps, their features and where you can locate them to better understand WEA messages and aid in responding to WEA the messages appropriately. Provided are links to more information for each app.

 This paper chronicles the Wireless RERC’s user research efforts from 2001-2011 and offers lessons learned through these efforts.  The authors hope that this model will be of value to other research organizations for including people with disabilities in development of technologies that are truly assistive and supportive. 

The paper considers the limits of human attention and how wearable interfaces should be developed to complement, not interfere, with normal human capabilities. Most interfaces on desktop computers do not have this problem; desktop interface designers can assume that the user is solely concentrating on the digital task. However, a major advantage of a wearable is that users can take it anywhere and use it anytime.

When we as developers and designers create a system that requires user interaction-whether it is computer software, a kitchen appliance, or a door knob-we often fall victim to a common mistake: we use ourselves as the model for our system's potential users. Even developing for an "average user" is a pitfall that results in numerous users whose needs are overlooked. The average user might account for the largest spike under a bell curve, but nonaverage users account for a much...