Papers

The Aware Home Research Initiative (AHRI) at Georgia Tech is devoted to the multidisciplinary exploration of emerging technologies and services based in the home. Starting in 1998, our collection of faculty and students has created a unique research facility that allows us to simulate and evaluate user experiences with off-the-shelf and state-of-the-art technologies. With specific expertise in health, education, entertainment and usable security, we are able to apply our research to problems...

The near universal deployment in the United States of a wide variety of information and communications technologies, both wired and wireless, creates potential barriers to use for several key populations, including the poor, people with disabilities, and the aging. Equal access to wireless technologies and services can be achieved through a variety of mechanisms, including legislation and regulations, market-based solutions, and awareness and outreach-based approaches. This article discusses...

Wireless technologies, especially those deployed by municipalities, have been offered as one way to enhance access to society at large, including people with disabilities and others on the wrong side of the digital divide. One of the promises of municipal WiFi, is free or low-cost service promised in the public interest of citizens. This paper presents research on the current state of municipal wireless network design and policies with regard to people with...

Determining patterns in data is an important and often difficult task for scientists and students. Unfortunately, graphing and analysis software typically is largely inaccessible to users with vision impairment. Using sound to represent data (i.e., sonification or auditory graphs) can make data analysis more accessible; however, there are few guidelines for designing such displays for maximum effectiveness. One crucial yet understudied design issue is exactly how changes in data (e.g.,...

Since 2001, the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies (Wireless RERC) has taken an active role in promoting accessibility of emergency alerting systems for Americans with disabilities. Among federal government initiatives is a new rule that will take effect in 2010, requiring that emergency alerts be sent using Short Messaging Service (SMS) from all cell phone towers in areas affected by emergencies. This paper shares consumer input on wireless emergency...

Since the baby boom decades of 1946–1964, decreasing fertility rates and increasing lifespans have led to worldwide growth of the elder population. This growth is already challenging healthcare systems, family structures, and national economies. The growing population of elders is also focusing attention on the changes in mental, physical, and sensory abilities that come to everyone who lives long enough and to those with chronic disabilities due to accident or illness. This new focus...

In the July-August 2008 issue of Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, Greig and colleagues described a small, qualitative study of features of mobile phone handset design, documentation, and use that either enhance or hinder usability for people with aphasia. The authors noted that, despite considerable difficulties, study participants appreciated the social participation that mobile phones support. Findings to date of the Wireless RERC’s Survey of User Needs (SUN) reinforce...

It is critical that next-generation warning systems be developed such that persons with disabilities are given equal access to emergency alerts. This paper discusses research and development activities to provide next-generation, mobile emergency alerting systems to people with disabilities. A framework for prototyping mobile phone-based emergency alert systems and multiple systems built on this framework are presented. Results from field trials indicated support and the need for accessible...

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) offer a promising technology for citizens with disabilities to participate in local e-governance planning and implementation, provided that underlying issues of social exclusion and technology accessibility are properly addressed. Existing research suggests that for citizens with disabilities gateway issues such as technology access, usability, community- and government-receptivity are barriers to participation in local e-governance. Results...

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can play an important role in leveraging social networks for emergency communications and recovery involving persons with disabilities, provided that proper consideration is given to the strengths and weaknesses of the distributed nature of online resources in relation to the instrumental, psychological and social needs of persons with disabilities in the context of disasters or other emergency events. Emergency and disaster events inherently...