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Forum Proceedings

Stakeholder Forum on Technology for Vision Impairment

Access to Text: Forum Data

The following information is the raw data collected during the T²RERC's Stakeholder Forum. It reflects the comments and needs as expressed by the Forum participants. The information within each category is presented in no particular order of importance.

Market Needs (unmet needs of consumers, researchers, etc.)

Market needs are separated into three broad categories including print media, electronic text, and text on consumer products. Two groups were run. Wherever discussion topics overlap, group data has been merged. Three categories of textual representation have been identified:

Print Media are the means by which printed matter and other textual information is conveyed to persons with visual impairments and blindness. A need for improved access to the following print media was identified:

restaurant menus;
mail;
books;
textbooks;
magazines;
forms, including:
- tax forms and instructions that are printed on low quality recycled paper in small print with poor contrast; and
- pre-printed forms (People with blindness and low-vision are often asked to provide immediate feedback on forms they receive in the community (e.g., Doctors' offices or post offices));
handwritten notes;
paper currency;
newspapers;
directories that can be found in the lobby of office buildings;
signs and other posted material found in buildings; and
environmental signage, street signs, etc.

Electronic Text is in a form that can be stored and displayed on a computer screen (e.g., laptop, personal digital assistant, cell phone, or e-book reader). A need for improved access in the following electronic text formats was identified:

websites;
e-mail;
electronic forms;
text documents;
portable document format (PDF) and other graphic-based documents;
text information on electronic devices such as pagers, telephones, cell phones, fax machines, and photocopiers;
on-screen menus on products such as kiosks, televisions, touch screens, etc.;
text content or "output" that is displayed on a computer screen whenever you are running a program or software application, word processor, or spreadsheet (could be on desktop computers, PDA's, LED devices, LCD devices, etc.);
electronic books.

Text on Consumer Products appears on the containers and labels of products purchased by the consumer, which may include labels for identifying the product and reading its ingredients, nutritional content, and directions for use and care. A need for improved access in the following consumer product labels was identified:

bottles (medications, sodas, or household cleaners);
jars (food or paint);
cans (dog food, soup, or insecticides);
boxes (cereal or board games);
bags (potato chips or noodles);
labeling of media (CDs, DVDs, or VHS tapes);
print instructions;
containers (of all surface types – flat, curved, ridged, smooth, rough, big, small);
deliberately disguised text (stylized, colored, with varying contrast, embedded in graphics – all will dictate what the technology must do to try to find the text to decode); and
text in your car (e.g., airbag location and directions)

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State-of-the-Practice (current technology, strengths, weaknesses, etc.)

General

Current Assistive Technologies include the following:

optical magnifiers (hand-held or stand mounted);
digital video magnifiers (CCTV);
hand-held video camera with zoom lens;
portable head mounted visual-aid (e.g., Joint Optical Reflective display® or "Jordy" glasses);
Low Vision Enhancement System (LVES) [Note: The LVES is a head-mounted optoelectronic device that allows people with visual impairments to see an image at a magnification level of 1.5-12 times. It also provides contrast enhancement. (Weckerle, Trauzettel-Klosinski, Kamin, & Zrenner, 2000)];
scanners and optical character recognition (OCR) (including Jaws with Adobe Acrobat);
handwriting recognition (pattern recognition);
money identifiers;
screen magnifiers;
hand-held scanners (a device that would allow the user to scan text by running a wand over type-written text and would provide access via speech output or magnification);
Reading Pen II produced by Quicktionary (surface scanner) that provides text or audio output when scanning 8-22 point fonts;
hand-held CCTV Array Spinner (surface scanner) that has the capability to read product
labels;
Optacon [Note: A reading machine that converts optical characters to vibrotactile characters using vibrating reeds as opposed to pins (Kent-Stein, 1998)];
screen readers (voice output – synthesized or digitized);
electronic books (including inaccessible CD-ROM);
audio books (books on tape);
portable reading device (e.g., note taker or personal data assistant that would allow you to take reading material, such as a newspaper, with you on your way to work by providing either audio output or Braille output);
Bookshare (communities providing libraries of print text in alternative formats);
refreshable Braille displays (including tactile displays);
Braille embossers (ASCII or Unicode);
compact Braille labeler;
products for people with cognitive impairments (e.g., WYNN™, TextHelp Read and Write®, or Kurzweil 3000® – products that highlight text as they speak or otherwise modify the text in a way that people can understand);
Virtual Pencil (from Henter Math);
MP3 (Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) – audio level 3) [Note: MPEG is the group responsible for generating standards for digital video and audio compression under the International Standards Organization. MP3 is an acronym for MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 audio level 3 which needs additional power to encode as compared to MP2 (Bouvigne, 2000)];
Talking Signs® (or Remote Infrared Audible Signage (RIAS)) [Note: RIAS provides an infrared signal from the system (e.g., the talking sign) to a hand-held receiver carried by a person who is blind or visually impaired. This technology enables the person to scan the environment for signs, much the way a sighted person would visually scan the environment (T2RERC, 2003)];
Signfinder is a camera based system that locates signs in the environment and uses algorithms to identify and convert text information to audio.
DAISY 3 and the ANSI 3986 Standards [Note: DAISY 3 is an acronym for Digital Accessible Information SYstems. It is defined as one or more digital audio files that have been marked-up and included as synchronization files to relate markings in the text file with time points in the audio file. Navigation control files enables the user to move smoothly between files while synchronization between text and audio is maintained (DAISY
Consortium, 2003)];
Extensible Mark-up Language or XML (text that has been translated for the benefit of the blind person as opposed to a blind person being able to use a device to access text). [Note: XML or extensible mark-up language is a language used to describe other languages or a meta-language similar to SGML. However, it is more limited in its flexibility than its parent mark-up language. As intimated by the word extensible, XML is not a fixed language. Therefore, it allows the user to customize a mark-up language to meet the needs of his/her own documents (Flynn, 2003). According to the W3C Schools (2003b), the goal of XML is to enable generic SGML to be served, received, and processed on the web];
talking tags (e.g., medicine bottles – bottle has an inset button to press to retrieve information. This technology could be extended for use in many other products);
portable electronic bar code readers [Note: These readers allow the user to associate a recorded message with a bar code. They will work with existing bar codes on products, or they can be created from self-adhesive, iron-on or banded labels. Messages can also be recorded on magnetic cards and then played back (Compusult Ltd. 2002). The next time the same bar code is scanned, the device recalls the stored verbal message and plays it through an internal speaker (EnVision America 2003)];
personalized labeling systems (e.g., Braille labels, Braille, large print, portable electronic barcode readers, radio frequency identification systems, etc.);
Vocorder (This technology, designed by Science Products, allows you to label an item using a piece of magnetic tape that is placed on the item of interest. When this magnetic tape is run through a reader, it provides you with information you have recorded for your label. This device requires you to have initial knowledge of what the product is so that it can be labeled correctly.) [Note: Ann Morris Enterprises, Inc. makes a product which allows you to record brief voice messages on magnetic cards for identification of clothing, food, etc. (Ann Morris Enterprises, 2003)];
latest versions of JAWS with Adobe Acrobat (e.g., manuals that are available for download from the internet often come with manuals created in PDF);
Uniform Product Code (or UPC Code) [Note: A UPC code is a 12-digit number that is used to identify specific products. This code may also used for random weight marking, coupon code marking, or in-store identification (Uniform Code Council, Inc.;™2002)];
radio frequency identification systems [Note: RFID technology uses a very small chip that requires no battery or power source. Instead, it is energized by a radio frequency signal from the reading device. It will then emanate its own radio frequency identifier that can be used to track items wirelessly. (e.g., grocery cart would stimulate tags in order to keep a running tally of what is in the cart to eliminate the need to check out at the grocery store. Another application may be RFID tags on nametags at a conference that would enable you to know who is in the room with you)];
talking "gadgets" (e.g., talking calculator, talking blender, etc.);
personal organizational system (recognition of canned goods made possible by location on shelf);
ViewPlus® Tiger embosser (allows the user access to scalable vector graphics (SVG) and other graphics as well. [Note: According to the W3C (2001), SVG is a language for describing two-dimensional vector graphics is XML. Fritze (2003) states that SVG is an XML language for manipulating, generating sophisticated 2-dimensional graphics];
emerging technologies (technologies that are currently in development or exist as intellectual property):
- electronic proxy website that would house a database to serve as an "electronic proxy" and provide information on all product packaging. This may eliminate the requirement to look up individual codes from multiple sources;
- 2-D Braille or graphics displays (access to graphics and labels on graphics). [Note: A 2-D Braille display allows people with low vision and blindness to get a visual image of a page of text by illustrating the top, bottom, and sides of the page. According to Sighted Electronics (2002), it also allows the user to locate misspelled words, links to a web page, or the placement of text on a page];
- personal accessor device (text is encoded in a fashion that is most accessible to each user. It is both a means of accessing consumer devices and text in your environment); and
- hand-held video for OCR (e.g., for images, snapshots, video – basically OCR of images that are not traditionally oriented or may not be flat).

Refreshable Braille Displays

Refreshable Braille Display strengths include:

works well for people who are both deaf and blind;
allows the user to listen to a phone call or colleague and look up information in Braille, as they use a "different channel" than voice output which promotes multi-tasking;
users can jump to the end of a line [Note: the navigation controls also allow users to move through a document with cursor control (ATRC, 2003)];
user can read privately in an office or other public environment;
can format text in the same way that it is displayed on the computer screen;
can spell unfamiliar words using a spell check feature;
displays information statically (e.g., not vibrating or transient);
tactile sensation of refreshable Braille device is superior to paper Braille;
provides compact access to text (e.g., refreshable tactile display can replace volumes of Braille text);
compact storage (e.g., in comparison to Braille books);
fairly reliable; and
provide (in principle) full access to online websites.

Refreshable Braille Display weaknesses include:

requires the user to remove his or her hands from the display during tasks such as writing, thus disrupting the flow of thought;
does not work well for people with neurological problems who have reduced sensation in their fingers and hands;
does not provide access to unexpected pop-ups or windows the way that speech output (screen readers) do;
lack navigational tools (e.g., facilitate moving from place to place within a page or screen or between pages);
six-pin Braille cells cannot display special characters such as subscript or superscript;
unable to display lines and graphs;
the size of the device is dictated by the size of each Braille cell;
quality of the Braille output depends on the quality of the source document. (e.g., this device may work well with edited documents or web pages. It will not be a useful interface for error filled text that has been scanned off a piece of crumpled paper);
very expensive;
highly complex with many mechanical components; as a result they have problems with fragility and robustness.
user must learn different Braille codes for different languages such as Nemeth Code for math, which makes it difficult to understand output;
some common text elements cannot be produced in standard Braille [Note: For example, the plus, minus, divide, equals signs or other symbols commonly used in math have no equivalent in Braille (Oregon State University Department of Physics, 2001)]; and
limited Braille character set. [Note: Each Braille character is made up of a pin combination of 1 through 8. A standard 8-cell Braille display allows for a maximum of 256 unique dot combinations (Oregon State University Department of Physics, 2001)].

Mark-up Languages

Includes extensible mark-up language (XML), hypertext mark-up language (HTML), and standard generalized mark-up language (SGML), web pages and other electronic media which includes major file formats like digital accessible information system (DAISY) and portable document format (PDF). PDF was defined by forum participants as a "mark-up of glitz" as opposed to an effective mark-up language for text presentation. [Note: SGML or standard generalized mark-up language is the parent language of both XML and HTML, and is considered the international standard for defining the structural elements of electronic documents (Flynn, 2003). SGML is considerably more flexible than XML, but also more expensive to implement (Cover Pages, 2002)].

The strengths of mark-up languages include:

the potential to even the playing field between sighted and non-sighted and people with other disabilities;
allow users to navigate by different levels of indexing [Note: Indexing is roughly analogous to chapter headings, sections, subsections, etc. Electronic indexing is a process by which texts are organized for easier navigation, much in the same way as a traditional written index. Indexes are also known as ‘concept maps' or ‘topic maps' (Bosak, 2001)] or Structured Navigation [Note: Structured navigation (or Navigation Control Definition (NCX)), which was introduced by the DAISY consortium, allows the webmaster to clearly represent the overall structure of the content of a document to the user. This allows the user to navigate easily within the document (DeMeglio, Hakkinen, and Kawamura, 2002];
allows representation of information in any way that is useful if you have a parser [Note: A parser is a software program or a piece of code embedded in a program that takes complex programming language and converts it to components that are easier for the computer to understand (Encarta, 2003)];
XML provides the ability to separate and work independently with structural (headings, lists, tables) and presentational elements (bold, italic, font);
tend to be non-proprietary or open source;
extensible languages (which include XML and SGML) allow for new information representations to be added as they are discovered;
XML code can be written with a line editor as opposed to a windows environment [From an employability standpoint, there is a broader array of devices for writing XML code. Further, XML is generic, unlike programs such as Corel Draw that require the user to be familiar with icons];
easy to represent information in a variety of output formats;
cost-effective [Note: XML has great value in e-business because of its ability to allow rapid and accurate data transfer between different systems (US Senate, 2003)];
compatible with screen readers, screen magnifiers, and other assistive technologies used by people who are blind or have low vision;
support machine-to-machine communications or "web services";
can be accessed through different media (e.g., cell phone, television, or PC);
the disability community has contributed a number of important developments. In particular, they have worked to get the Publishers Association Text Book Division to work with in creating accessible textbooks. The disability community is working to come to an agreement on a standardized mark-up language as a national file format for textbooks in the US, which could become a universal access method;
tag-set definition is proving attractive to mainstream industry [Note: According to Ricoh Innovations (1998), tag-set is the XHTML representation of an SGML Document Type Definition (DTD), augmented with additional semantic information that specifies the actions to be taken by a document processing system when it encounters certain "active" constructs in the document.];
XML tags can be flexibly defined.

The weaknesses of Mark-up Languages include:

not all mark-up languages are universally accessible (e.g., older PDF formats do not include structural elements for text; PDF was purely a presentational mark-up language. However, the newer version does offer some accessibility. More information is available from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_overview.html);
lacks conversion tools (e.g., from inaccessible mark-up formats [PDF] into accessible markup formats [XML]);
limited by the amount of material that is published in accessible mark-up formats. For example, while many documents in the public domain are available in PDF, these documents are often not available in HTML or XML;
DAISY format is used for a relatively small number of books;
limited number of open source tools to create DAISY audio books;
while DAISY supports structure, it does not support interactivity with devices other than a DAISY Reader;
a licensing fee is often required (e.g., DAISY's audio encoding, Acrobat Reader, etc.);
a lack of public domain (free) products that support the DAISY file format;
Adobe Reader 6.0 is designed for use with screen readers [Note: so called "Tagged PDF" files contain information on both content and structure, which makes them accessible to screen readers (Adobe Systems Inc., 2003)];
PDF is not accessible with screen magnifiers [Note: Adobe Acrobat does support the basic screen magnifier capability to view documents at multiple resolutions];
additional authoring software is needed in order to make corrections in a PDF document;
document type definitions (DTD) vary in each mark-up language, making reading and interpretation difficult when decoding [Note: DTD define the grammar of the mark-up language (W3C Schools, 2003a)];
sourcing DTD by Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI) [Note: Uniform Resource Identifiers are simple text strings that refer to internet resources (W3C Schools, 2003c)]. Access to URI information requires that the user is on-line (stand-alone devices cannot use URI information);
difficult to find one machine that supports all possible mark-up languages;
permutations of possible mark-up languages results in poor interoperability (e.g., different devices support different mark-up language subsets. This is exacerbated by the lack of markup translation tools);
Digital Rights Management (DRM) issues do not set standards for interoperability [Note: DRM is concerned with the ‘description, identification, trading, protection, management, and tracking of digital materials' (Iannella, 2001)];
many documents are published in only one form of mark-up (e.g., PDF) and cannot be translated into another (e.g., XML or HTML).

Portable Reading Devices

[Note: Any device that allows you to take information from a source (e.g., the internet, computer, or server) and carry it with you, including PDA's or note takers such as the Braille Note. Discussion focused on text that has been obtained from some other source and how you would read that text.]

The strengths of Portable Reading Devices include:

offer functions other than reading (e.g., calendar);
some offer the ability to take notes (e.g., margin notes);
support a wide range of text materials such as books, newspapers, word documents, etc;
offer web connectivity;
some support alternative input devices;
are generally easier to operate than a PC;
are portable;
compact storage when compared to Braille books;
have a long battery life;
some are inexpensive;
audio output versions are very durable;
are easy to upgrade;
ability to add functions;
offer connectivity to and interoperability with various devices, such as computers, embossers, printers, and GPS;
easy to upload or download material into the device (e.g., from a floppy disk or from internet).

The weaknesses of Portable Reading Devices include:

user community not consulted when adding new features;
some do not offer the ability to take notes while reading;
some have minimal support for the interfacing they provide;
displays have six pin Braille cells;
displays have a single line of Braille with 20, 40, or 80 characters;
difficult (and costly) to repair;
Braille displays are fragile and may have short lives (months as opposed to years) if not cared for properly;
are all proprietary platforms, and therefore, third party software developers cannot write applications (e.g., limits the tools and applications available to the user);
do not support all mark-up standards (e.g., XML, DAISY);
do not support the US232 standard [Note: US232 standard provides for the testing of USB devices and drivers prior to design-in (Future Technology Devices International Limited, 2002)].

Digital Video Magnifiers (CCTV)

The strengths of Digital Video Magnifiers include:

can incorporate digital image processing (edge enhancement, auto-panning, auto-scrolling, image distortion (e.g., a moving window that is magnified);
have a wide field of view;
feature automatic gain control [Note: Automatic gain control enhances image detail in dark areas without compromising information in brighter areas of the screen (Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp, 2002)];
provide high levels of magnification (up to 60x);
have variable focus and working distance [Note: The magnification range allows you to use the device for both near and far vision (Adaptive Technology Consulting, 2003)];
some feature auto focus;
large depth of focus which allows the user to view text on curved or shaped surfaces with magnification (e.g., writing on cans or bottles);
are binocular (e.g., binocularity provides depth perception [distance] information);
offer contrast enhancement;
mature technology; and
some devices are portable.

The weaknesses of Digital Video Magnifiers include:

users get frustrated with devices that do not work right out of the box;
user training for these devices (by a knowledgeable specialist) is often not provided;
the lack of available training resources (few knowledgeable specialists are available to do the training);
are often over-prescribed (e.g., a DVM may optimize the user's reading speed);
lack of awareness of DVM technology, especially among the elderly population;
consumers often have unmet or unrealistic performance expectations for DVM;
inability to compensate for head movement (e.g., do not employ image stabilization as found on video cameras);
short battery lives;
too heavy to be worn for long periods of time;
are not aesthetically pleasing (while the device may be acceptable for individuals over the age of 25, it may be difficult to encourage a child to wear one);
when used for mobility, magnification of the field of view is sacrificed for portability;
often fragile because of inexpensive connectors (more common in the consumer electronics versions than in digital video magnifiers marketed as assistive technology).

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Unmet Needs (unmet needs of consumers, researchers, etc.)

Needs unmet by tools currently used to access text include:

a need for a resource tool box that would enable a visually impaired person to achieve functional parity with a sighted person (including refreshable Braille displays, portable reading devices, etc.);
a need to develop a device that features enhancements for people with cognitive impairments (e.g., TextHelp® Read and Write, Kurzweil 3000) that is also accessible to people with visual impairments;
a device capable of scanning multiple surfaces and environments (e.g., labels on cans, community signage, etc.);
a device able to intelligently shift attention to objects of interest;
a need to present the desired text target in a larger scale and leave the rest of the information at a lower resolution (e.g., focus visual attention without loss of broader context);
a need for a device that can transmit the image of the object of attention (generally magnified) super-imposed upon the Preferred Retinal Loci [Note: the PRL is the specific non-foveal retinal location the assists in retaining vision in people whose fovea is no longer functional (Legge, 1998)];
a need for a device capable of providing contextual information (e.g., magnification of desired items is not so great that the contextual location information is eliminated);
a need for a digital bioptic system that moves with your eyes (e.g., a device that can "look" where your eyes are pointing rather than having to turn your head);
a need for a system capable of screening out unnecessary information in the periphery in much the same way that a sighted person screens out items in the periphery (e.g., papers on a desk when focusing on computer screen);
a need for a device that would allow access to text in Braille for people who are blind and print media for those who have a visual impairment;
an aesthetically pleasing wearable ("socially invisible") system is necessary;
a need for a device that is durable;
a need for a light weight device;
improved portability;
a need for devices that provide supplemental help that do not require a network connection (e.g., auditory help menus);
the need for technology that allows the user to interact with content on the internet;
a need to make CD-ROMs containing PDF documents accessible;
a need to promote inter-operability of content and information accessed on the internet.

Needed Technology Systems:

Hand-held Video Camera for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Application

(Defined as a hand-held OCR or camera for digital displays (such as those found on appliances) or a hand-held camera that has the ability to extract numeric information, whether printed or electronic, and provide audio and/or visual feedback. Forum participants discussed adding a digital video magnifier to this system to create a universal tool that could access text in the environment and also serve as a tool for wayfinding. For additional information – please see wayfinding data).

Need Areas:

users should include people with low vision, blindness, deafness-blindness, cognitive impairments and multiple disabilities;
able to read arbitrary text in arbitrary environments (e.g., signs, books, cans, bottles, dry cleaning receipts, etc.);
able to read street signs or signage (separate text information from arbitrary background information);
able to localize and identify text in arbitrary environments [very advanced capability];
the solution to this ideal technology will:
- probably based on a digital camera with OCR capabilities;
- probably requires a dense matrix (high resolution) digital camera;
- probably requires advanced algorithms (signal processing, artificial intelligence, neural networks, etc);
- probably requires very high computational power (e.g., parallel processing);
low text recognition error rates;
able to filter out irrelevant information (background, images, graphics, etc);
able to read arbitrary text colors;
able to read text on arbitrary background colors;
able to read all font sizes;
ability to extract text from graphic (including labels);
able to recognize text at arbitrary distances and orientations;
able to recognize text on arbitrary surfaces (texture, background colors);
able to generate useful information quickly (requires efficient algorithms, good processing power);
control options for persons with multiple disabilities should include: eye-gaze, head-tracking, speech recognition, combined speech and gesture/eye motion, switch access, and sip ΄n puff.
controls for people who are deaf-blind should be integrated into a refreshable tactile (and Braille) display;
output options should include enhanced text, tactile, and audio;
output options for people who are deaf-blind should include a 2-D tactile and refreshable Braille display large enough to accommodate their specific needs;able to re-render text into formats accessible to persons with low vision (font size, style, contrast, color etc);
able to customize text enhancements to meet specific user needs (e.g., color substitution, contrast enhancement, edge detection, etc.);
must be portable (hand held, light weight, wearable);
must be compact (ideal size of the device for people who are partially sighted would be comparable to a pair of eyeglasses with a hip or back-mounted system for processing);
should have portable, un-tethered power supply (except perhaps when charging);
must have long battery life (preferably rechargeable);
should offer a sleep mode (power conservation);
must have good reliability;
must have good durability;
offer network connectivity for outside assistance (wireless access to remote databases or realtime help should be available via wirelessly with a 3G minimum for speed).

Two-Dimensional Tactile Displays (Definition: Instantly refreshable, 2-dimensional, large surface, multi-line displays).

Need Areas:

must accommodate both hearing impaired and visually impaired users;
must provide full access to text and graphical information;
must provide rapid access to text and graphical information;
must provide totally blind students full access to complex graphical information (e.g., physics and advanced mathematics);
need user control of display refresh rate;
must produce true (accurate, properly scaled) representations of drawings;
must enable user to differentiate between color, italics, bold, and hypertext;
must have low power consumption;
must be durable;
must support 20 pins per inch (tactile analog to dots per inch) which is near the optimal for tactile graphics;
must provide access to unexpected pop-ups and windows the way that speech output (i.e., screen reader) does;
must be easy to maintain.

Universal Browser for Text Access

(Definition: A universal browser for people with visual impairments that can translate a wide variety of mark-up languages and the large variety of standards into a standard accessible format for use with assistive technologies.).

Need areas:

should be fully accessible to persons with blindness, low vision and diverse disabilities;
should be easy to navigate within a document or website;
should support DAISY-like navigation;
should have similar functionality to mainstream browser products;
able to utilize accessible (e.g., HTML, DAISY) formats;
able to utilize currently non-accessible (e.g., PDF) formats;
able to download and convert arbitrary mark-up formats into accessible mark-up format (with correct content and formatting);
able to maintain structural (e.g., headings, formatting) features upon translation from one format to another;
able to support plug-ins (e.g., media players) for auditory or graphic material;
able to support any computer platform (e.g., Macintosh, UNIX, or PC);
must be transparent (easy to use "out of the box") to users;
must have an "override feature" that allows the user to interrupt downloads, etc.;
must protect intellectual property rights of translated documents (i.e., a document has the same owner regardless of the format it is presented in);
must protect the integrity of the source document by providing source document information in translated formats;
must define base-line accessibility requirements for documents presented on the web and make user agents familiar with these requirements;
must be extendable (as standards change, browser adapts or is automatically updated to accommodate these changes);
should have "open source" authoring tools to develop and extend browser application and extensions;
authoring tools should adhere to enforceable federal standards for interoperability;
possibly have "gateway model" capabilities - browser polls a "gateway server" via the internet and automatically updates translation capabilities (e.g., analogous to Windows' operating systems and anti-virus software);
possibly have "universal translator" capabilities - parse unknown mark-up formats employing artificial intelligence, neural networks, pattern recognition and adaptive control technology (to analyze exceptions to standard presentation of text). [Note: Neural nets are ‘composed of a large number of highly interconnected processing elements that are analogous to neurons and are tied together with weighted connections that are analogous to synapses' (Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (1997)];
possibly employ a "data turbine" – documents translated (trans-coded) by and stored (e.g., Bookshare) on a remote data turbine. Browser accesses the data turbine via the internet. Browser employs "artificial intelligence" techniques to find documents (analogous to internet search engines). Documents stored and linked in a path dependent manner to eliminate the need to retranslate.

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Barriers

What barriers will hinder the development and introduction of ideal products?

The technology required to recognize text and handwriting;
recognition of arbitrary surface technology may hinder development;
lack of legislation on standards and DRM;
lack of cooperation from the mainstream developers to develop a fully accessible web browser;
research and development capabilities and costs;
mark-up languages that are not perceived as "extensible," therefore they are not being used;
financing the technologies may be difficult;
reimbursement policies;
user and clinical training on the merged vision device will be very important;
a market would have to be identified prior to the creation of a camera for OCR vision device;
the societal costs of implementing standards may be to high;
algorithm development in the following areas will be necessary:
- text identification and localization, and
- OCR of text at arbitrary orientations and on arbitrary surfaces.

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Resources

What resources will facilitate the development and introduction of the ideal product?

IBM's Transcoding Project may offer insights into developing an accessible web format;
Adobe may be interested in developing a truly accessible internet format;
The Trace Center may be able to facilitate the development of an accessible internet format;
much of the hardware needed to develop the camera for OCR vision device is currently available;
ability to leverage mainstream technologies;
military applications similar to those needed for the camera for OCR vision device already exist;
push in public policy to develop consumer product requirements for tracking;
standards development in terms of labeling, orientation of labeling and fonts that work well with OCR;
a complete set of market data and terminology is needed (currently available market research results vary widely according to the definition of "visual impairment" that is used);
the component technologies found in the camera for OCR vision device have existing markets;
offer a pneumatic system which would reduce issues related to heat dissipation.

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References

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