Forum Proceedings

The Stakeholder Forum discussions were based upon the information contained in four White Papers disseminated to participants prior to the meeting. Each of the White Papers was developed into a topic area for group discussion. Participants were organized into two sets of four groups based on their expertise or area of interest.

On the first day, participants were divided into their assigned groups to participate in focus group discussions on one of the four topic areas. The following morning each person participated in a second topic area. This method allowed everyone to be involved in two of the four topic areas and increased the number of people involved in creating each problem statement. Participants in each of the four discussion groups consisted of a representative from all stakeholder groups as identified in the project outline. The T²RERC has learned from experience that heterogeneous groups provide a greater variety of perspectives which helps to ensure that the technology needs identified will be accurate and complete. This method of information gathering is also helpful when evaluating issues that are important to product design, development, manufacture and distribution.

Trained moderators led the discussions in each of the four topic areas. The same moderator led the discussion in a given area on both days of the forum. The moderator's role was to ensure that the discussions remained relevant to the topic area with the ultimate goal of identifying technical barriers to the development of "next generation" technology for people with visual impairments. A script developed using information contained in the four White Papers and the information gathered during the interview process before the forum. This script was used to guide the discussion during the Stakeholder Forum focus groups. While each moderator used the script as a general guide for discussion, they were given flexibility to adapt their interview techniques to suit their personal style. In keeping with focus group philosophy, the moderator had the freedom to react to the dynamics of the group itself. A team of technical support personnel who had been involved in the initial research of material for the White Papers was also available to clarify key issues within the group's discussion. T²RERC staff transcribed the discussion to document relevant issues from each session. To ensure accuracy of the documentation, each group reviewed the outline before the session was completed.

The focus group protocols developed for group discussion included six steps:

1. Establish a common knowledge base for all participants. Issues discussed include personal experiences with products and technologies, human factors, environmental factors, safety, service, maintenance and other product related issues.
2. Identify current technologies that pertain to the topic area and discuss their limitations and advantages. For example, "What types of technology for vision impairment and blindness are on the market?" and "What are their benefits and/or limitations as they relate to the experiences in the discussion section above."
3. Converge on critical technologies needed to meet important end-user needs and address current industry limitations.
4. Identify specific design or consumer requirements to achieve the "ideal" product without the limitations of current technologies used in the industry.
5. Identify and define the technical barriers that currently constrain developing the ideal device.
6. Review notes from discussion to ensure participants agreed with conclusions.

On the final afternoon, representatives from each discussion group presented the results of their group to the full delegation of Forum participants. Participants were given the opportunity to contribute to the report if they had additional information or comments that needed to be included. The reports from each topic area were collected by the T²RERC and were used as the basis for writing the problem statements found within this publication.

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