John Cornelius De Witt, 1932–2014, Pioneer in Assistive Technology and Technology Training
John Cornelius De Witt, a pioneer in access technology and technology training for people who are visually impaired, died on June 28, 2014, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Passionate about empowering individuals who are blind or have low vision and the organizations that employ them, De Witt spent his career training people with visual impairments, as well as individuals who have learning disabilities, to become "equally skilled as their peers" in reading, writing, and communicating using modern computer-based products. In 1991, when the term "assistive technology" was still novel, De Witt defined it and described its application in an article for the "Americans with Disabilities Act: From Policy to Practice" supplement to The Milbank Quarterly. In describing technology's role in providing access to people with disabilities, he wrote: "Technology is a powerful force throughout American society. For people with disabilities [,] the application of technology is particularly powerful."
Born in Long Branch, New Jersey, on July 20, 1932, De Witt went on to earn a master's degree in choral conducting from Juilliard School of Music in New York City in 1958. He worked for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) as coordinator for its National Technology Center from 1978 to 1989, during which time he oversaw a national survey on the use of electronic devices by people who are visually impaired. He also became the first mentor for the Careers and Technology Information Bank (CTIB; which evolved into what is now known as CareerConnect), the AFB employment information resource that links job seekers with mentors who are visually impaired. After leaving AFB, De Witt went on to form De Witt & Associates, an access technology firm that offered technology training for people who are visually impaired, as well as those who have learning disabilities. As a charter member of the American telecommunications corporation AT&T Consumer Advisory Panel, De Witt evaluated numerous technologies including closed-circuit televisions and talking computers. Prior to his retirement and move to Mesa, Arizona, in 2012, De Witt's TrainingWare curriculum was used in 41 US states and 10 countries outside of the United States, and his customers and clients included federal, state, and local governments; school districts; colleges and universities; nonprofit organizations; corporations; and individuals. Memorial services for were held July 20, 2014, at Feeney Funeral Home in Ridgewood, New Jersey. For more information, contact: Feeney Funeral Home, 232 Franklin Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450, 201-444-7650.
[Information for this piece was taken from the article, "The Role of Technology in Removing Barriers," by John C. De Witt, published in The Milbank Quarterly, 69, Supplements 1/2: The Americans with Disabilities Act: From Policy to Practice (1991), pp 313—332.]
Share Your Experience Using Current Communications Technology, and Help AFB Gather Your Input for the FCC Report to Congress on the CVAA
AFB wants to hear about your experience using communications technologies, such as cellphones, tablets, or computers to access the Web, e-mail, and text messages. We also want to share your information with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC is currently preparing a report for Congress on the extent to which the communications industry is complying with the istoric Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), which became law in 2010. The CVAA requires technologies that provide so-called advanced communications services, such as electronic messaging, to be accessible either out-of-the-box or with inexpensive add-on tools. The CVAA builds on older requirements of law, specifically section 255 of the Communications Act, which requires that traditional telephone technologies also be accessible.
How You Can Help
To assist in the preparation of the FCC report to Congress, and to help us and the FCC know how well the law is working, we are asking you to tell us about your experiences, good and bad, with obtaining and using accessible advanced communications services, as well as more traditional telephone-like technologies. Please try to keep your comments focused on technologies you've tried to obtain and use in the last two years; we want to provide the FCC with good current information.
To participate, please send an e-mail with your comments to AFB Programs and Policy Coordinator Heidi Walters by Monday, August 11.
Don't worry about making your e-mail a formal communication, and feel free to write as little or as much about your experiences as you like. Be sure to include your name and physical mailing address. We hope you will help us develop a rich record of comments for the FCC to use. Identifying yourself as a real consumer of these technologies will make a powerful statement, but if you do not wish to be identified in materials we prepare for the FCC but want to tell us about your experiences anyway, please e-mail us your comments making specific note of your wish not to be identified. The comments we receive may be sent to the FCC in full on their own or as part of a combined set of comments that AFB may prepare.
What Your E-mail Should Include
Tell us about your experiences trying to obtain and use a mobile phone, tablet, or computer with Web, e-mail, text messaging, and telephone capabilities. Briefly describe your successes and/or challenges. Please focus on technologies you've tried to obtain in the last two years.
The kinds of technologies we're particularly interested in hearing about include:
- Apple iOS mobile devices
- Android mobile devices
- MS Windows mobile devices
- Blackberry mobile devices
- Windows-based laptop and desktop computers
- Apple laptop and desktop computers
- Google Chrome OS-based devices
- open source (e.g., Linux) devices
- other mobile and/or laptop/desktop devices you prefer
When you write about your experiences using your technology, be careful to talk about the experiences you have had using the following specific features:
- accessing the Internet/web
- writing/reading/editing e-mail
- writing/reading/editing text messages
- making and managing phone calls
- navigating to and activating apps
We look forward to your comments. Thank you!
For further information, contact:
Mark Richert, Esq.
Director, Public Policy, AFB
(202) 469-6833
IBM Appoints First Chief Accessibility Officer
IBM recently appointed Frances West as the company's first Chief Accessibility Officer. In this new role, West will guide IBM accessibility policies and practices. Additionally, she will lead IBM collaboration with business, government, and academia to advance accessibility standards and policy.
"IBM has long embraced accessibility to create an environment where all individuals can do their job[s] and reach their full potential," said West. "We believe that technology can bridge individual differences, enable a diverse pool of talent in the workplace and improve lives. We are at a crossroads where we can begin to personalize every experience and integrate technology in ways that will be very pwerful."
West will work with IBM teams around the world that are spearheading efforts to deliver accessible and access technologies to te market. For example:
- IBM Interactive Experience works with clients to embed technologies like text-to-speech, voice recognition, real-time translation, or location-based preferences to create more personalized experiences and to remove both persistent and situational barriers for their custmers.
- The IBM Bluemix cloud platform will provide an ecosystem of accessibility services, from development tools for design and testing to enterprise-wide compliance services.
- IBM will design for accessibility in the apps and solutions it creates to unlock the potential of enterprise mobility.
- IBM Watson will extend the abilities of individuals by tapping knowledge from vast stores of data, using natural language in areas as diverse as financial services and personalized medicine.
West joined IBM Research as the leader of the Human Ability and Accessibility Center. She has served on the board of directors of the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Assistive Technology Industry Association and the US Business Leadership Network, among others. She currently sits on the board of the World Institute on Disability, is a trustee at the National Braille Press, and is an advisor to the National Business and Disability Council.
CEA Contributes $1 Million to CEA Foundation in Honor of Industry Visionary Jack Wayman
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) recently announced a $1 million contribution to the CEA Foundation in celebration of the more than 50 years of achievements and contributions to the onsumer technology industry made by industry veteran Jack Wayman. Best known as the founder of the International CES, held in Las Vegas every January, Wayman is recognized in the consumer electronics (CE) industry for his significant public policy and tradeshow leadership and contributions, including his successful efforts defending the CE industry in the landmark Sony Betamax case. The CEA Foundation mission is to link seniors and people with disabilities with technologies to enhance their lives. This charitable foundation, affiliated with CEA, launched its first series of grants in 2012.
"The CEA Foundation reflects the best of the CE industry by using technology to increase opportunities for seniors and those wit disabilities," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. "We make this donation in celebration of Jack Wayman who has reflected the best of our industry by creating business opportunitis for technology professionals at the International CES and championing the critical policy issues impacting our industry over he past several decades. The CEA Foundation is helping the consumer technology industry ?give back' to those in need and this donation on Jack's behalf is a terrific way for us to honor him and what he has given to or industry for more than 50 years."
September 1 will mark 51 years that Wayman has been serving the CE industry. He created the first International CES in 1967, which has become the global gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies.
Wayman has received virtually every award and recognition in the electronics industry including the Electronic Industries Assocation's (EIA) Distinguished Service Medal, the B'nai B'rith Electronic Industries Award, the United Jewish Appeal Electronics Award and Dealerscope Merchandising Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the first class of the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame and has also been inducted into both the Electroic Industries Hall of Fame and the Video Hall of Fame. Named "Man of the Year" by several industry trade publications, Wayman was also chosen "Man of the Decade" by Audio/Video Magazine.
A US combat infantry company commander from the Normandy invasion to the Battle of the Bulge through the end of World War II, Wayman has received many medals including two Purple Hearts and awards from France and Belgium. Wayman is a graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina, and Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Washington DC
"CEA is a major supporter of the CEA Foundation and we're so thrilled to receive this donation in recognition of Jack Wayman's temendous service to the CE industry," said John Shalam, chairman of the CEA Foundation board. "Both the foundation and Jack Wayman have improved people's lives and made significant contributions. I thank CEA for its continued generosity with this donation, which will help extend Jack's vision and vitality to many worthwhile beneficiaries for years to come."
About the CEA Foundation
The CEA Foundation is a public, national foundation affiliated with the Consumer Electronics Association. It was established with the mission to link seniors and people with disabilities with technologies to enhance their lives. The Foundation is focused on strategic support of programs to impact these communities and has launched its first series of grnts in 2012. It also serves to facilitate dialog between industry, consumers, government, advocacy groups and other key stakeholders around important issues. For more information on the CEA Foundation please visit CEAFoundation.org.
About the Consumer Electronics Association
The CEA is the technology trade association representing the $211 billion US consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development, and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also owns and produces the International CES—The Global Stage for Innovation. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA industry services. Find CEA online at CE.org and DeclareInnovation.com.
Walgreens Launches Nationwide Program Offering Talking Prescription Devices for Customers with Visual Impairments
Walgreens announced the launch of a nationwide program offering talking prescription devices to customers with visual impairmens. The initiative introduces a new service that complements other accessible prescription information Walgreens currently provide.
Walgreens is the first in the industry to offer this exclusive talking prescription device, called the Talking Pill Reminder, at its retail locations chain wide. The device attaches to prescription containers and will be provided free of charge with prescription medications that Walgreen dispenses to its pharmacy customers who are blind or who have visual impairments. The Talking Pill Reminder can be recorded to speak the information on the customer's prescription medication label, and also has an audible alarm to remind patients when to take a medication.
The Talking Pill Reminder is available to customers of Walgreens retail pharmacies across the country and through Walgreens precription mail service. The devices also are available in Walgreens drugstores for purchase for a retail price of $9.99.
Adherence to medication can be critical in treating illness today, and this is an innovation that will help our visually impaired customers correctly identify and take medications as prescribed As part of our mission to help customers get, stay, and live well, we're proud to have worked closely with other leading organizations to make the Talking Pill Reminder available across all of ur more than 8,100 stores nationwide.
The initiative is the result of a collaboration among Walgreens, The American Council of the Blind (ACB), and the ACB affiliates in California and Illinois. All partnering organizations praised the Walgreens announcement.
Accessible prescription information is critical to people who are blind, and with this announcement, Walgreens assumes a significant leadership role in serving its customers with visual impairments.
ACB President Kim Charlson and Illinois Council of the Blind representative Ray Campbell commended the Walgreens initiative sayng, "So many of our members and ACB members across the country value Walgreens excellent customer service. The company's rollout of the Talking Pill Reminder gives them yet another reason to make Walgreens their pharmacy of choice."
California Council of the Blind President Donna Pomerantz said, "Standard prescription labels put customers who are blind at risk for mixing up medications or taking them incorrectly. For this reason, [the] Walgreens initiative is a matter of basic safety, and we congratulate the company on its efforts in this important area."
In addition to providing the Talking Pill Reminder, Walgreens also offers large print patient information sheets to customers who have visual impairments. The Walgreens accessibility initiative will help people with visual impairments who have difficulty or are unable to read a stndard prescription medication label.
