International Coalition of Access Engineers and Specialists
2001 International
Access Engineering Awards
Program
Table of Contents...................................................................................................... 2
Greetings from the Awards Chairman............................................................................... 3
The purpose of the Awards........................................................................................... 4
Eligibility................................................................................................................ 4
What the winners receive............................................................................................ 4
Judging the Submissions:............................................................................................. 4
Notification of Winners:.............................................................................................. 4
Judging Criteria:....................................................................................................... 4
Definition of Universal Design (UD):................................................................................ 4
The Principles of Universal Design................................................................................... 4
Principle One: Equitable Use....................................................................................... 4
Principle Two: Guidelines.......................................................................................... 5
Principle Three: Simple and Intuitive Use........................................................................ 5
Principle Four: Perceptible Information.......................................................................... 5
Principle Five: Tolerance of Error................................................................................. 6
Principle Six: Low Physical Effort................................................................................. 6
Principle Seven: Size and Space for Approach and Use......................................................... 6
Entrant Eligibility...................................................................................................... 6
Award Categories...................................................................................................... 6
Access Integration Award.......................................................................................... 7
Innovative Access Award........................................................................................... 7
Policy and Process Award........................................................................................... 7
Collaboration and Coordination Award............................................................................ 7
Outreach and Communication Award............................................................................. 7
Eligibility................................................................................................................ 7
Nomination Process................................................................................................... 7
Citation................................................................................................................. 7
Rationale for Nomination............................................................................................. 7
Award Nomination Deadline.......................................................................................... 8
Nominee Information:................................................................................................. 8
Nominator Information:............................................................................................... 8
Other rules and deadlines............................................................................................. 9
Submission of nomination forms.................................................................................... 9
Notes.................................................................................................................... 9
Dear Reader,
As developer, organizer, and past Chairman, of the first two US-based "Excellence in Access" awards programs it gives me great pleasure to have been asked to Chair the first International Access Engineering Awards Program. This awards program is being sponsored by the International Coalition of Access Engineers and Specialists (ICAES) 1 and the Information Technology Technical Assistance And Training Center (ITTATC) 2. As you may be aware ICAES was formed by the past Board of Directors 3 of the Association of Access Engineering Specialists to more effectively facilitate collaboration between industry, consumers, research organizations and the government, on a global basis, with respect to access engineering.
Our information infrastructures - local, national, and global - are connecting people to other people, businesses and government; and more generally to sources of information, art, entertainment, and much more. Persons in one country are being provided the opportunity to serve customers from other countries.
Technological developments are changing our everyday lives and changing them very rapidly. The Internet, and many other Electronic and Information Technologies (E&IT) are no longer just tools to connect people, businesses and information together. They are driving the creation of new economies and communities that are altering the way people live, learn, work and play.
As our world's 21st Century information infrastructures evolve we need to take care not to isolate consumers if it is technically feasible, economically possible and reasonable to do so from a business standpoint.
Isolated consumers refer to individuals:
· living within low-bandwidth information infrastructures (2 billion worldwide);
· 65 years of age and older (420 million worldwide);
· who have never been afforded the opportunity to learn to read (1.5 billion worldwide);
· who only speak, write and/or understand the language native to a particular piece of E&IT as a second or foreign language (4 billion worldwide);
· who interpret the cultural meaning of certain colors variously (every culture is slightly different) or are, to some degree, colorblind (500 million worldwide); and,
· with disabilities (550 million worldwide).
Everyone is different from everyone else, as are his or her individual wants, needs, preferences and abilities to access information infrastructures. In fact, this was the catalyst that sparked the evolution of today's one-to-one marketing philosophy. Markets of billions have evolved into billions of markets of one. In order for our businesses to succeed in a culturally, technically and economically diverse world we need to meet the demands of this incredibly diverse global marketplace. It is to this end that we dedicate this awards program.
Sincerely,
Steve Jacobs, Chairman
2001 International Access Engineering Awards Program
sjacobs2@columbus.rr.com
The purpose of ICAES' 2001 International Access Engineering Awards Program is to recognize significant innovative technical contributions to the access engineering profession.
Any product feature, process or service; by any company, individual or organization; in any industry, worldwide, which makes a significant contribution to the advancement of access engineering.
The winners will have their products and/or services featured exemplars, in the course materials being developed by ITTATC. The award ceremony [location to be announced in May] will be live Webcast [with captions] by AbleTV.net [http://AbleTV.net] and TVWorldwide.com [http://TVWorldwide.com]. Publicity will also be issued to the media and follow-up articles written and submitted to publications.
The judges will include a panel of acclaimed designers, researchers and consumer advocates who are recognized experts in universal design.
All nominators and nominees will be notified of the results of this award program by no later than June 10, 2001.
All entries will be judged on innovation, creativity, scope of benefit to consumers and the universality of the product and/or service based on the adherence to universal design principles (if applicable).
UD is the design of mainstream products and/or services that are accessible to, and usable by, as many people as reasonably possible on a global basis, in a wide variety of situations, to the greatest extent possible... without the need for special adaptation or specialized design.
The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.
Principle One: Guidelines
· Provide the same means of use for all users: identical whenever possible; equivalent when not.
· Avoid segregating or stigmatizing any users.
· Provisions for privacy, security, and safety should be equally available to all users.
· Make the design appealing to all users.
Principle Two: Flexibility in Use
The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.
· Provide choice in methods of use.
· Accommodate right- or left-handed access and use.
· Facilitate the user's accuracy and precision.
· Provide adaptability to the user's pace.
Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.
Principle Three: Guidelines
· Eliminate unnecessary complexity.
· Be consistent with user expectations and intuition.
· Accommodate a wide range of literacy and language skills.
· Arrange information consistent with its importance.
· Provide effective prompting and feedback during and after task completion.
The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities.
Principle Four: Guidelines
· Use different modes (pictorial, verbal, tactile) for redundant presentation of essential information.
· Provide adequate contrast between essential information and its surroundings.
· Maximize "legibility" of essential information.
· Differentiate elements in ways that can be described (i.e., make it easy to give instructions or directions).
· Provide compatibility with a variety of techniques or devices used by people with sensory limitations.
The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.
Principle Five: Guidelines:
· Arrange elements to minimize hazards and errors: most used elements, most accessible; hazardous elements eliminated, isolated, or shielded.
· Provide warnings of hazards and errors.
· Provide fail-safe features.
· Discourage unconscious action in tasks that require vigilance.
The design can be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue.
Principle Six: Guidelines
· Allow user to maintain a neutral body position.
· Use reasonable operating forces.
· Minimize repetitive actions.
· Minimize sustained physical effort
Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of user's body size, posture, or mobility.
Principle Seven: Guidelines
· Provide a clear line of sight to important elements for any seated or standing user.
· Make reach to all components comfortable for any seated or standing user.
· Accommodate variations in hand and grip size.
· Provide adequate space for the use of assistive devices or personal assistance.
The competition is open to everyone. Entrants may submit more than one entry; however, each entry must be entered and packaged separately. A family of products used together may be submitted as a single entry.
Deadline: Entries must be postmarked no later than May 15, 2001.
(please select one of the following award categories)
This award covers new or newly integrated access features like voice activation on cell phones or voice output TV remote controls or newly added features to computer games.
This award covers new, never before seen, products. It could include products that have incorporated significant access features, like a video telephone that also provides real-time sign language capability, a talking ATM, or kiosk that is accessible to persons with disabilities. Assistive technology (AT) which shows strong promise of being migrated into mainstream marketplaces, like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and the telephone, may also be nominated in this category.
This award goes to companies that have made significant efforts to address accessibility for customers or employees with disabilities. This could mean integrating universal design into a product, the integration of universal design topics into college course curriculum or training customer care representatives on how to communicate respectfully with people with disabilities.
This award recognizes national, international or industry efforts to prevent, resolve, or address compatibility and interoperability. For example, an effort to address TTY standards, develop a common IR access interface, or to develop a HAC neck-loop that will work on all phones.
This award is for marketing, advertising, or other outreach efforts and could be received by companies or organizations for efforts to encourage use of technology by people with disabilities, develop new products or communicate the concept of accessible design and disability in a positive or innovative way.
Membership in ICAES is not an eligibility requirement for being a nominator or nominee.
All award nominations must include a fully completed Nomination Form, Citation and a Rationale for Nomination.
A brief statement, not to exceed 100 words, giving the major accomplishments for which the award is being made. This will be used if the nominee is selected as an award recipient.
A statement, not to exceed 700 words, on why the candidate is being nominated for the award.
Nominations should not include voluminous materials or numerous recommendations. Clear, concise statements of achievements are of more value. Information from public sources such is helpful, but should be supplemented by information as to specific contributions.
All award nominations must be received by ICAES no later than May 15, 2001
This section must include the following 16 pieces of information:
1. Name of product, individual or company being nominated:
2. Name of Award being nominated to receive:
3. Individual's name (individual being nominated or representative of product and/or company):
4. Organization/Institution:
5. Department/Office:
6. Address:
7. City:
8. State:
9. Zip:
10. Country:
11. Phone:
12. Fax:
13. TTY
14. E-mail:
15. Citation: A brief statement, not to exceed 100 words, giving the major accomplishments for which the award is being made. This will be used if the nominee is selected as the awardee.
16. Rationale for Nomination: A statement, not to exceed 700 words, on why the candidate is being nominated for the award.
This section must include the following 12 pieces of information:
1. Name:
2. Organization/Institution:
3. Department/Office:
4. Address:
5. City:
6. State:
7. Zip:
8. Country:
9. Phone:
10. Fax:
11. TTY:
12. E-mail:
You may submit more than one nomination. All nominations must be received by 5:00 PM, May 15, 2001.
Completed nomination forms and accompanying documentation should be sent to ICAES via one of the following three methods:
1. E-mail to: sjacobs2@columbus.rr.com
2. U.S. Postal Service: ICAES Award Nomination, Attention: Steve Jacobs, 2809 Bohlen Drive, Hilliard, OH 43026
3. Fax to: +1 (212) 618-0205
Note 1:
About The International Coalition of Access Engineers and Specialists (ICAES)
ICAES invites participation from individuals and organizations dedicated to the research, development and deployment of accessible technologies. Our activities and goals include:
· Promoting technology accessibility, usability, compatibility, and interoperability
· Facilitating an ongoing and international dialog among the disability, research, industry, government and public sectors regarding the accessibility and usability of technology;
· Providing a forum and coordination point for discussions regarding access and usability related issues, problems, developments, recommendations and solutions;
· Fostering liaison between the disciplines involved in accessible and usable technology, and to connect developments in other areas of science, technology, and service delivery.
· * Facilitating the creation of a body of knowledge for the design, development and deployment of usable and accessible[1] ok to use accessible and usable? If it is usable first, it must already be accessible..... technology
· Encouraging the development of techniques and standards, where appropriate
For information regarding membership please send an e-mail with your name and contact information to Jim Tobias, ICAES Secretary, tobias@inclusive.com or visit our website at: http://www.icaes.org.
For further information on our organization, activities and calendar, we encourage you to visit our website or to write to any of our board members directly. Here is a listing of ICAES Board Members and their e-mail addresses:
1.
Judy Brewer
jbrewer@w3.org
2.
Christian Buehler
Cb@ftb-volmarstein.de
3.
Alexandra Enders
enders@selway.umt.edu
4.
Gunnar Hellstrom
gunnar.hellstrom@omnitor.se
5.
Steve Jacobs
steve.jacobs@ncr.com
6.
Bill LaPlant
blaplant@census.gov
7.
Linda Nelson
linda.nelson@verizon.com
8.
Susan Palmer
susan.palmer@cingular.com
9.
Paul Schroeder
pws@afb.net
10.
Jim Tobias
tobias@inclusive.com
11.
Gregg Vanderheiden
gv@trace.wisc.edu
Note 2:
Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center (ITTATC)
The ADA has resulted in many changes in access to employment, to public accommodations and to the built environment, but it has lagged behind in creating access to the rapidly changing electronic environment. Sections 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended in 1998, are the two most significant legislative measures that address this realm. They have the potential to ensure that people with disabilities will have full access to the information tools that others rely on for more productive lives.
The effective implementation of both Sections 255 and 508 will require more than addressing the engineering and design departments within information technology companies. The engineering and design professionals within technology companies will need to understand how people with disabilities function in many ways and in many contexts. In a corporate environment, some of this basic understanding should come from interaction with consumers and employees with disabilities.
Many companies do not know how to create a corporate culture that is "disability friendly". It will be important to investigate and document the best practices of those companies that have embraced this culture and build this knowledge into the training and technical assistance provided by the ITTAT center.
A priority of the center is to assist corporations in management of marketing, design, engineering and manufacturing so that the project design process is broadened to include consumers with differing abilities. We will develop training directed at senior management and marketing managers that informs them of the needs and market potential of the aging and disabled population. The aging population is the fastest growing segment of the American population and has the largest disposable income. We all will most likely become disabled, be it temporarily or permanently, as we age. Even if accessibility is not an issue for ourselves, a growing number of us have concerns regarding an aging family member and their continued independence.
CRT and the Information Technology Association of American will organize three conferences each year for ITAA members and others who represent 400 of the largest information technology and communications firms. These training sessions will cover a broad spectrum of trans-generational and accessibility issues that can impact product design and service delivery ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and product sales. Our workshops will include a capacity building opportunity that will team each manager with a consumer so that the managers and consumers can learn about various issues surrounding product development and service delivery from divers perspectives. Consumer advocates will be trained by the DBTAC's in techniques of working with managers to create new understandings that will lead to a culture that produces better products and services.
ITTATC project partners:
1.
Georgia Institute of
Technology
http://www.gatech.edu/
2.
Georgia Institute of
Technology Center for Rehabilitation Technology (CRT)
http://www.arch.gatech.edu/crt/crthome.htm
3.
Trace Center at the University
of Wisconsin (TRACE)
http://www.trace.wisc.edu
4.
World Institute for Disability
(WID)
http://www.wid.org/
5.
Community Options Inc.
(COI)
http://www.comop.org/
6.
Inclusive Technologies,
Inc. (ITI)
http://www.inclusive.com/
7.
Information Technology
Association of America (ITAA)
http://www.itaa.org/
8.
Department of Education's
Disability & Business Technical Assistance Centers (DBTAC)
http://www.adata.org/text-dbtac.html
Note 3:
AAES Former Board Members:
1.
Judy Brewer
jbrewer@w3.org
2.
Christian Buehler
Cb@ftb-volmarstein.de
3.
Alexandra Enders
enders@selway.umt.edu
4.
Gunnar Hellstrom
gunnar.hellstrom@omnitor.se
5.
Steve Jacobs
steve.jacobs@ncr.com
6.
Bill LaPlant
blaplant@census.gov
7.
Linda Nelson
linda.nelson@verizon.com
8.
Susan Palmer
susan.palmer@cingular.com
9.
Paul Schroeder
pws@afb.net
10.
Jim Tobias
tobias@inclusive.com
11.
Gregg Vanderheiden
Note 4:
The Principles of Universal Design are Copyright © 1997 by The Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission.