- Oct 2016
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dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu
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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. We might also reconsider our “essentialist” thinking about the keyboard and the mouse and not just because of the technologies that we perceive to be specific to disabled people. Speech recognition technologies, while far from perfect, are already accurate enough to allow writers—if that is still the correct term—to compose documents without the need for typing.
While skeptics may say this will up the cost, I will argue that it will lower. However, I think we might run into some problems with making audio voices more accurate to suit the needs of the blind. Also we may need a screen if the blind person is communicating with someone who can see.
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People literate in braille often prefer to read by that method rather than by listening to texts. Reading content through braille provides a deeper understanding of that content for many, yet producing well-formatted braille files is accomplished through one of two expensive methods
This reminds me that our library at GSU has braille paper available for print. I have seen it behind the desk. Though, I do not know if we have blind technology. I am sure we must have some, but it would be interesting to find out if we did.
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To embrace universal design, by contrast, is to focus “not specifically on people with disabilities, but all people” (Mace). 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
I can understand this to some extent but it sort of feels like he is saying, "All Lives Matter" in a response to "Black Lives Matter".
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All technology is assistive, in the end.
Very true. I think people don't understand that technology is tool, not a hand that is in every fiber in our being.
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“Technologies are artificial, but …artificiality is natural to humans”
I just really like this quote. I feel our need for the best and brightest, our impatience for the fastest loading speeds, and our general narcissistic attitudes create this ideal that plain is abnormal; and ugly, and that to be perfect we must fix. This is a very 17th century way of thinking, as philosophers during this time thought we were diamonds in the rough that need to go a polishing process in order to be naturally beautiful. In this age, we worship what we create and hate what has created us.
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n fact, I could not understand anything at all that she was doing. To accommodate me, she adjusted the settings to slow down significantly the synthesized speech, at which point I could understand the words but still found myself unable to orient myself on a given page or within a given website. This scenario caused me to reevaluate my understanding of what it means to be disabled, as she clearly was using abilities that I did not—and still do not—have: I had not trained myself to be able to process auditory information as efficiently as she could.
I am glad that Williams put a personal experience on how he first become aware of the depth of struggles people who are disabled have. I believe that often people who are disabled feel like they will not be understood, and therefore do not say anything when ableism gets in the way of them enjoying the world's opportunities, such as technology.
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We had no plans to include audio, so addressing the needs of people who are deaf or hard of hearing was not in our plan.)
While I am sure that the study meant no harm or anything, I am sort of confused as to why they didn't include sound. I mean, that would pretty obvious to me.
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Mark
I like that Williams states his thesis here clearly. Personally, I think theses help as a road guide for reader. The help resent the information that points the reader towards the author's purpose, instead of making the reader search for the purpose themselves.
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Mark selected text as
I think this really shows how disabled people experience technology on an entirely different scale. it shows that there is not a one way street to technology advancement, and certainly not a one way street to information.
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Mark selected text as
I had never thought of this before.
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