12 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2016
    1. Over the last several decades, scholars have developed standards for how best to create, organize, present, and preserve digital information so that future generations of teachers, students, scholars, and librarians may still use it. What has remained neglected for the most part, however, are the needs of people with disabilities.

      People with disabilities have been neglected for a long time. But I think that inventors are improving to make devices that are accessible to non-disabled people also accessible to disabled people. They made a huge improvement with wheelchairs. Before, it was people who were sitting on wheelchairs had to manually roll the wheels for the wheelchair to move. They still make this kind, but you are seeing less and less of these. Now with a press of just one button and the turning of a small cylinder-like stick, people can move when they want without having to move the wheels by themselves. I believe that if inventors keep trying to make these kind of improvements, then everyone will be very satisfied.

    2. Blind computer users, for example, have no use for a screen, and they most often use an interface that is either tactile, in the form of refreshable braille devices, or audible, in the form of screen-reading software or digital books.

      Blind people can't use any device with a screen. Since they can't see, a screen is basically useless to them. They would have to use devices that have a braille or audio transcribed in it. I think that digital inventors should start thinking of some way to improve devices with screens, so that blind people can start using them too. Blind people might also want to use touch screen. They want to fit in, and not want other people to think that they are different from anyone else. Blind people don't want to be judged just because they are blind.

    3. And the growth of touch screens, primarily but not exclusively available on mobile devices, bring the possibility of a mouse-less future ever closer. Both of these technologies are extremely useful for people who are disabled, but they are used for the most part by people who are not.

      Touch screens are bringing more of the possibility of people just having to use their finger to touch. Mouses are beginning to be useless. In this section, it says that touch screens help the disabled. But, what about people who are blind? How do they use touch screens? Blind people can't see the screen, so how can they use it. I believe that blind people would find the mouses more useful than touch screen. With mouses, the innovators can put braille on them so it would be easier for them to use it. Innovators can't really put braille on the touch screen. But, it think that digital inventors can start thinking about how they are going to put braille on touch screen. This will make it a whole lot easier for blind people to use. Therefore, I do not agree when this section says that, "Both of these technologies are extremely useful for people who are disabled..."(Williams).

    4. As we observe contemporary computing devices proliferate and diversify, we need to plan for a future in which our current digital resources continue to be not only useful but usable.

      I don't quite understand this section of the article. Don't useful and usable mean the same thing? If something is usable, should it not also be useful? Usable means something that is available or convenient while, useful means something that is helpful or of good effect. When inventing a device, we should focus on it being usable because, if it is usable then it should also be useful. Usable is for short term, while useful is for long term. Innovators should first think about making the device or tool usable, and then think about how to make it useful. Because, if the device is available or of convenience, then it should also be of advantageous or helpful.

    5. People with disabilities will benefit significantly if the digital humanities community pursues projects such as these and begins to take seriously the need to adopt universal design principles.

      I also agree that people with disabilities will be at great advantage if digital people continue to work on projects that take on the concept of universal design principles. Even though it might be time consuming and take a lot of hard work from the digital innovators, but people with disabilities really need this help. Working for disabled people, could also help the innovators rethink about invention whether it really helps everybody or just a particular audience. For example, how can tools in the kitchen be reinvented to help not only non-disabled people but also disabled people? Are there even tools in the kitchen that help disabled people who like to cook food? These are some questions that innovators might be thinking of to help the disabled people.

    6. The Center for History and New Media is currently developing a promising online tool named Scripto, which “will allow users to contribute transcriptions to online documentary projects” (“About,” Scripto).

      I feel like this online tool will be able to help a lot of disabled people. The users of this tool will be able to read aloud what is on the screen, while the people who have low vision or are blind can just listen to what is on the screen. People who are hard of hearing or are deaf can read the captions that people have transcribed using the tool. Scripto is a "user-friendly interface"(Williams) that allows people to contribute their own translations to an online source.

    7. Blind people who use the web are in need of a digital humanities project that either extends Anthologize or creates a similar tool so that RSS feeds may be converted easily and automatically into XML formats that work with digital talking book devices or with braille output devices.

      So, does the anthologize tool help the blind people? If so, how? I don't quite understand what this anthologize tool does. According to a previous section in this article, anthologize "transforms WordPress 3.0 into a platform for publishing electronic texts"(Williams). So, it converts texts into readable versions? Anthologize can transfer texts into a format called XML that "work with digital talking book devices or with braille output devices"(Williams). This tool makes it easier for blind people read a book or text. But, what is an XML format?http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_whatis.asp This link shows what is an XML format, what is does, and how it does it. XML is a software and hardware tool that is used for storing and transporting data. It stands for Extensible Markup Language. XML simplifies a lot of things like data sharing, data transport, platform changes, and data availability.

    8. This situation would be much improved if more projects embraced the concept of universal design, the idea that we should always keep the largest possible audience in mind as we make design decisions, ensuring that our final product serves the needs of those with disabilities as well as those without.

      I agree with this statement. I believe that people who are thinking about innovating new things that they should always think about everyone instead of just focusing about a particular audience. For example when making new phones, the inventors should think about the people who are semi-blind or fully blind and make phones where both the screen and the words on the screen are big enough for those people to see them. We should always refer to the biggest audience possible in our minds when we are making new designs on new objects. This is one way that we can improve the world, so that people with or without disabilities can live in harmony.

    9. According to the NCSU College of Design, the term “describe[s] the concept of designing all products and the built environment to be aesthetic and usable to the greatest extent possible by everyone, regardless of their age, ability, or status in life” (“Ronald L. Mace”).

      This is a definition for universal design. Universal design is the idea of designing all products for people despite their age, ability, or status in life. I believe that we need to focus a lot on this concept. Everyone should be able to have access on a product without having to worry about what their age is, what they are able to do, or how wealthy they are. Innovators should develop more products that are accessible to everyone instead of just a particular audience.

    10. Something created to assist a person with a disability—to make their environment more accessible in some way—might not be affordable or aesthetically pleasing even if it is usable and helpful. Something created using universal design principles, on the other hand, is designed “for a very broad definition of user that encourages attractive, marketable products that are more usable by everyone” (Mace).

      This section of the article is very interesting. It is saying that something that is created to assist a disabled person to make their life easier may not be pleasing or may not help people who are not disabled. And something that has a universal design, is made for everyone. Everyone can use a universal design, but the design that is made for disabled people might only be usable for them and not for everyone. This part of the article is stating the difference for a design that is specifically made for the disabled and a design that is made for everyone.

    11. Second, universal design is efficient.

      I agree with this statement. Universal design is not only efficient to those people who are disabled; it is efficient for everyone to use. An example of an universal design mentioned in a previous section of this article would be the automatic garage door. It is affordable and easily accessible for people with or without disabilities. With a click of just one button, the garage door will close by itself. You don't have to walk up to the garage door and use your hands to push it down. The automatic garage door is efficient is that it closes your garage door for you without you having to waste any of your energy. It's productive without you having to do anything for it.

    12. Third, applying universal design principles to digital resources will make those resources more likely to be compatible with multiple devices. To create an online resource that only works with a desktop or laptop computer is to exclude people who would prefer to access the resource with a smart phone, a tablet, or some other mobile device.

      This reason states that applying universal design principles also helps digital resources more suited with multiple devices. Some online resources in the world only work on a desktop or laptop computer. Universal design principles can make online resources compatible with not only your computer, but with a phone, tablet, or any other mobile device. This way you can go to the online resource without having to bring a laptop. You can just search it on your phone or tablet.