Wireless Inclusive RERC| Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA - Wireless Industry Updates

Proceedings of the Wireless RERC 2021 State of Technology Forum

Mz22 — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 18:44:16 +0000

Publication Type:

The Wireless RERC convened the Virtual State of Technology (SoT) Forum 2020One on March 23-24, 2021. The 2021 virtual SoT was a focused, robust event, with a lively, informed, and diverse group of attendees representing the research community, people with disabilities, industry, technologists, advocates, policymakers, and disability service providers who explored the state of, and emerging trends in, inclusive wireless technologies and applications.

The Forum Proceedings is an interactive document with papers, presentations, videos, and bios from the two-day event. Further, it opens with a summation of the event and closes with a chapter on key activities to pursue to ensure inclusion is always at the forefront of wireless technology, design, development, and deployment.

Date of Publication:

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

New Application Enables People who are Non-Verbal to Access Voice-Activated Smart Home Devices

Mz22 — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 19:08:37 +0000

Publication Type:

Products

August 11, 2021 – The IDEAL Group is pleased to announce the release of the Smart Home Helper (SHH). SHH is a free Android app (available on the Google Play Store) that enables individuals who are nonverbal and individuals with speech disorders such as stuttering, apraxia, and dysarthria to issue verbal commands to voice-activated smart home devices, using Android’s Text-to-Speech engine. SHH enables its users to issue smart home commands, in any one of 63 languages/dialects. Smart home voice commands can easily be created, organized, and shared with other users of the app. SHH development was funded by The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Inclusive Technologies’ (Wireless RERC).

About Voice-Controlled Smart Home Devices:

In the U.S., home-based, voice-controlled devices represent a rapidly growing market. Key players include Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, Samsung’s Bixby and the Google Assistant. According to 16best.net and IDC:

Over 60 million people in the U.S. own 157 million smart speakers.
At least one voice-activated smart speaker is owned by 53 million Americans.
The number of smart homes worldwide is expected to be 451 million in 2025.
Global smart home device shipments are expected to reach 1.4 billion in 2025.

Why SHH is important:

Given the benefits of voice-controlled smart home devices, those who lack the ability to speak, or who can speak clearly are not able to fully take advantage of these devices. The SHH was developed to level the playing field by enhancing the accessibility of these devices.

Nonverbal Statistics:

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 70 million people worldwide stutter (about 1% of the population). In the United States, this represents over 3 million people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Autism Speaks, an estimated 30,000,000 people with autism worldwide are nonverbal.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, dysarthria is a speech disorder that happens because of muscle weakness. Motor speech disorders like dysarthria result from damage to the nervous system. Researchers don’t know exactly how common dysarthria is. It is more common in people who have certain neurological conditions, such as:

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): Up to 30% of people with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) have dysarthria.
Multiple sclerosis (MS): Around 25% to 50% of people with MS get dysarthria at some point.
Parkinson’s disease: Dysarthria affects 70% to 100% of people with Parkinson’s disease.
Stroke: About 8% to 60% of people with stroke have dysarthria.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI): Some 10% to 65% of people with TBI have dysarthria.

Download Smart Home Helper from the Google Play Store

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.idealgroup.aaucommand

Smart Home Helper User Documentation

https://smart-home-helper.web.app/user-documentation

Acknowledgments:

The Smart Home Helper (SHH) and supporting materials were developed by The IDEAL Group with funding from the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Inclusive Technologies (Wireless RERC).

Date of Publication:

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Latest Eye-Tracking Device Claims Superior Functioning

dbright7@gatech.edu — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 12:49:49 +0000

July 19, 2021 – Two tech companies, Smartbox Assistive Technology and Smart Eye, collaborated to develop Lumin-i. This advanced eye-tracking product integrates with an augmentative and alternative communications (AAC) device. Lumin-I is the product of these two companies using what they consider the best of their respective technologies. Smart Eyes included their eye-tracking algorithm, which takes approximately 25 milliseconds to identify and respond to the user's gaze and translate the gaze into verbal communications. A unique aspect of Lumin-i is that it only requires a gaze recovery time of 17 milliseconds and can capture 60 frames per second. Lumin-i also has a large track box that measures a wider range of motion, specifically head motion, and ultimately grants users a reportedly more robust capability for communication and independence. Lumin-i was launched globally on July 19th and is available online at the Smartbox website. [Source: BusinessWire]

Leading AAC Provider Smartbox Launches Lumin-i: a New Eye Tracking Solution Developed in Collaboration With Smart Eye

Date of Publication:

Monday, July 19, 2021

Wireless RERC on the Record: RERC's CVAA Comments Encourage Increased Accessibility

dbright7@gatech.edu — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 15:51:45 +0000

Publication Type:

Policy Filings

July 6, 2021 – The Wireless RERC submitted reply comments in response to the FCC’s Public Notice Update on Commission's Fulfillment Of The Twenty-First Century Communications And Video Accessibility [GN Docket No. 21-140]. We agreed with the American Council of the Blind (ACB) statement that "The Commission should review how people with multiple disabilities are served by accessible communications technology and services. This should be done with a very wide lens to encompass all forms of sensory, cognitive, and physical disability." We cited that our studies have found that accessibility features are not uniformly available in all phone models, and gaps in the accessibility experience persist, especially for people with co-occurring disabilities. The comments of the Alliance of Automotive Innovation provided us the opportunity to state “that accessibility innovations should be co-created with consumers with disabilities and that the automotive industry adheres to CVAA requirements to include people with disabilities in the design and development phases of advanced communications features incorporated into connected and automated vehicles. It is essential to proactively include stakeholders within the disability community in AV design and development to enhance the utility of this technology for people with disabilities.”

In response to CTIA’s comments, we addressed ensuring that consumers with disabilities are aware of device features. At a recent focus group comprised of individuals who are blind, a participant, while discussing his use of the iPhone, stated he wanted to connect it to Alexa, "but I'm not sure if there is an Alexa app." We asserted that attending to issues of independent setup and accessible documentation and communication of device features speaks to the "usability" requirements of the CVAA. "A product or service is "usable" if it provides individuals with disabilities with the full functionality and documentation for the product or service, including instructions, product or service information (including accessible feature information), customer support, and technical support."^{^[1]} Regarding technical support specifically, CTIA commented that "Recently, Apple announced new accessibility features, including AssistiveTouch to watchOS, which allows users with mobility limitations to control their device, and SignTime, which enables people who are deaf and hard of hearing to communicate with AppleCare and Apple Retail staff in sign language." Excellent! We hope that such accessible and inclusive business practices become the industry standard. [Source: Wireless RERC]

[1]47 CFR §§ 6.3(l), 7.3(l), 14.21(c); see also 47 CFR §§ 6.11, 7.11, 14.20(d), 14.60(b)(4).

Date of Publication:

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Wireless RERC on the Record: Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and Emergency Alert System (EAS)

dbright7@gatech.edu — Thu, 06 May 2021 02:40:21 +0000

Publication Type:

Policy Filings

May 2021 — The Wireless RERC submitted reply comments to the FCC in response to their Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry in The Matter of Amendment of Part II of the Commission’s Rules Regarding the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts [PS Docket No. 15-94; 15-91]. In our reply comments, we indicated support for expanding the Presidential alert class to allow activation by FEMA. By expanding the alert class, agencies responsible for detecting the threat have the authority to issue the alert. We also concurred with CTIA and NYCEM’s recommendations to relabel the alerts “Federal” instead of “Presidential” or “National” because of news response regarding public perceptions of this label. We also agree that the term presidential is unfortunately inflammatory and may elicit responses contrary to the intention of the emergency message specifically (e.g., protective action) and the system entirely (i.e., public trust) because a small qualitative study of Georgia Tech personnel in 2018 showed that mobile phone users mentioned a preference for receiving the WEA test without the title "Presidential Alert" and would like to have seen the notification titled along the lines of "National WEA Test." As asserted by CTIA, "the effectiveness of emergency alerting will be lost if people simply ignore or opt-out of receiving these critical messages." Finally, the WirelessRERC supported previous recommendations to alert the public about new alert labels based on our survey data on WEA response based on user knowledge.

Date of Publication:

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Revisions to the CVAA Rules in Response to Changing Technology

dbright7@gatech.edu — Mon, 03 May 2021 15:20:20 +0000

April 7, 2021 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Public Notice requesting stakeholders’ commentary on whether updates are needed to the rules outlined by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA). The Commission is requesting, specifically, comments relating to access to video programming, audio description, closed captioning of Internet-protocol (IP) delivered video programming, accessible emergency information, and accessible user interfaces. Moreover, the Commission also encourages comments on their rules regarding access to interconnected voice over IP (VoIP), non-interconnected VoIP services, electronic messaging services, and interoperable video conferencing services), the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, and accessible internet browsers on mobile phones. Comments are due by May 24, 2021 and reply comments are due by June 21, 2021 [Source: FCC].

Revisions to the CVAA Rules in Response to Changing Technology

Date of Publication:

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Document Accessibility Education At 2021 Technology Conference

dbright7@gatech.edu — Mon, 03 May 2021 15:15:26 +0000

March 4, 2021 – Toronto, Canada. Crawford Technologies, a leading provider of document solutions that streamline, improve and manage customer communications, participated in the 36th Annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, the world’s largest event dedicated to technology and disabilities. The conference was held virtually March 6-14, providing participants worldwide the opportunity to learn about the latest accessible innovations, research and technology solutions. Crawford’s presentations included “Effortless Microsoft Word Remediation and Compliance”, “Inclusive Documents: Find, Validate & Remediate”, and “Automated Remediation, Validation and Tracking Process.”

Crawford also featured its AccessibilityNow platform during the conference’s Virtual Exhibit Hall where they conducted a live question and answer session. The platform is a comprehensive solution for creating and managing accessible documents and includes software solutions and tailored services to meet the document accessibility needs of large and small organizations, private sector and the government. The company leverages AI to support both high-volume transactional documents and static documents of all kinds [Source: Crawford Technologies, What They Think].

Document Accessibility Education At 2021 Technology Conference

Date of Publication:

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Google Announces New Version Of Talk-Back Screen Reader

dbright7@gatech.edu — Mon, 03 May 2021 15:13:35 +0000

March 1, 2021 – In a blog post, Google announced what it described as an all-new”version (officially, 9.1) of its TalkBack screen reader. Android accessibility product manager Brian Kemler wrote that the new software includes “some of the most highly requested features from the Blind and low vision community”, including multi-touch gestures similar to VoiceOver on iOS. Google says the new gestures “make it easier for you to interact with apps and let you perform common actions, such as selecting and editing text, controlling media and finding help.”

Another gestural command involves using voice to drive TalkBack. Swiping up then right will cause TalkBack to stop reading and await verbal instruction. The feature supports over 25 different commands such as “find” to locate particular text and “increase speech rate” to have TalkBack speak more quickly. Google has also added the ability to customize TalkBack’s controls and menus to allow users a more personalized experience. Arabic and Spanish have been added to the Braille keyboard’s list of supported languages.
 The new TalkBack was co-developed with Samsung, and TalkBack is the default screen reader on all Galaxy devices running One UI 3 and later. A tutorial for the new TalkBack feature can be viewed on YouTube here. Google is also providing a “test pad” on which users can practice gestures. [Source: Nelson Régo, Cool Blind Tech].

Google Announces New Version Of Talk-Back Screen Reader

Date of Publication:

Monday, March 1, 2021

Emergency Broadband Benefit - Providers Listing Now Available

dbright7@gatech.edu — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 19:12:23 +0000

April 7, 2021 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a new Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) resource last week. The EBB tool allows partners and consumers to view the providers that will be participating in the Emergency Broadband Benefit program by state or territory. Each listing includes the type of service offered, whether it’s “fixed” or “mobile”, and whether the provider offers connected devices as part of the program. The listings will be updated daily to include newly-approved participating providers [Source: FCC].

Emergency Broadband Benefit - Providers Listing

Date of Publication:

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program

Mz22 — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 14:01:14 +0000

February 25, 2021 — The FCC unanimously voted for an immediate subsidy for low-income households to receive high-speed internet via a Report and Order [WC Docket No. 20-445] that adopting the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBBP). The program is a $3.2 billion federal initiative to reduce the digital divide especially as the pandemic continues to require virtual interactions. This new regulation will provide up to $50 a month to low-income households and up to $75 a month to households on tribal land for broadband service. The FCC’s subsidy will also provide a one-time subsidy of up to $100 towards the purchase of a computer or tablet. The FCC aims to roll-out this program within the next 60 days, but they must first coordinate the logistics, such as identifying internet service providers to participate in the EBBP and a system to register, approve, and track recipients of these funds. The digital divide is one of the most pressing issues of our time as at least 14.5 million Americans do not have broadband. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this gap, as many public and private services, including schools and healthcare, have limited to no offering of in-person alternatives. Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel hopes that this program “will help those at risk of digital disconnection.” Eligible recipients include, but are not limited to, families who have children that receive free or reduced school lunch, Pell grant recipients, and individuals who have lost jobs or had reduced income over the last year. [Source: FCC]

FCC Adopts Report and Order for Emergency Broadband Benefit Program

Emergency Broadband Benefit Program February Open Meeting Presentation

Date of Publication:

Tuesday, March 9, 2021