A quarter of a century ago, only the exceptional employer hired a person with a disability. Most execs felt the disabled worker would flounder at even the simplest of tasks. And change has been slow. Even today, only 1 in 4 disabled adults have jobs--despite strong laws prohibiting employment discrimination and the tightest job market in modern history.
But a revolution in the development of specially adapted machines--known as assistive technology--is creating some dramatic changes. Spearheaded by the likes of Microsoft (MSFT), Intel (INTC), Pitney Bowes (PBI), Toshiba, IBM (IBM), and Apple Computer (AAPL), as well as niche players such as HumanWare and Dragon Dictate, this effort includes new products that can help disabled people better see a computer screen, hear a telephone call, talk to others when they lack speech, and do word processing when they cannot type. ''Accessibility is a fundamental part of our software design process,'' says Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steven A. Ballmer.
These breakthroughs expand the universe of opportunity for the 54 million disabled people in the U.S.--a group the Americans with Disabilities Act defines as having a physical or mental impairment that limits life's major activities. Companies that make these products are banking not only on an exploding market for the disabled but also on an aging workforce. As baby boomers grow older, they are discovering that one-third of all Americans will have a disability at some point in their adult lives. As they remain in the workforce longer, they, too, will benefit from the innovations being cranked out today. Over time, the new technologies could make the workplace of the 21st century a lot more diverse.
Assistive-technology gadgets range from the most basic to machines worthy of a William Gibson sci-fi novel. Among them: computers displaying information in extremely large print for the sight-impaired or in braille formats for the blind; software that converts text into computer-synthesized speech; telecommunications relay products for the deaf that allow them to read what is spoken on the other end of the phone; improved prosthetics that replace a lost limb; and eye-gaze programs that allow paralyzed individuals to type on a computer screen simply by gazing at different points on the monitor.
All this hasn't been lost on companies looking to find fresh talent and keep the people they already have. After Joseph Martin, special counsel to Bank of America (BAC), was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in 1994, the company purchased the $16,000 Eyegaze System made by LC Technologies Inc. to enable him to keep working even though he had lost control of his arms and legs.
Simply by looking at control keys displayed on a computer monitor, Martin is able to direct a laser beam to various points on the screen. The laser prompts commands, whether to type a letter or a number. This enables him to dial a phone number, operate a PC, or log on to the Internet. All he needs is control of one of his eyes and the ability to keep his head still. For giving speeches, Martin downloads what he has written to a portable voice synthesizer made by Sentient Systems. He operates the voice synthesizer with a simple click-switch with the help of the one finger on his hand that he can still move around.
Phone services are also taking on new dimensions. Deaf author Frank Bowe, who writes about the disability movement, does his research and interviews with a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD). These kinds of interpretive and speech-to-speech services that enable communication between a deaf and hearing person now offer special operators who will read the message typed by a deaf person to a hearing person who doesn't have a TDD. Bowe uses coded signals transmitted through a wire or radio communications systems to type in a telephone number. The message is relayed by liquid-crystal display to the operator. Bowe then types in his message, and the operator makes the call. TDDs can now store messages, record them, and leave them. There are even wireless TDDs that perform like cell phones.
Then there's voice recognition technology, which is still plagued with glitches, though systems are improving every year. When it's running smoothly and widely available, this innovation will go a long way toward empowering those with disabilities to compose on a PC using their own voices.
Even the good old photocopying machine is getting a disability face-lift.
One of the most versatile products in years is Pitney Bowes Inc.'s Universal Access Copier System. The sleek, braille-labeled machine is outfitted with speech recognition and has oversize graphic-user interface and copy selector buttons that can be controlled with a mouse, fingers, or pointing stick. For wheelchair users, the copier is lower to the ground than conventional machines, making it a cinch to wheel right up to.
NET POWER. Of all the new technologies, though, it's the Internet that has the greatest potential for empowering the disabled in ways never before imagined. MCI WorldCom Inc. (WCOM) Senior Vice-President Vinton Cerf, who is partially deaf and is one of the founding fathers of the Net, anticipates the day when people with poor sight will be able to navigate an audio page that in some respects will be better than today's visual page. ''The potential is there,'' says Cerf. For people with cognitive impairments, such as learning disabilities, the Net will soon offer simpler appliances that require less technical knowhow than what's required today to boot up a typical PC.
The bottom line: The Internet and other technologies are removing many of the can'ts that kept disabled people out of the office for so long. For worker-starved companies, the breakthroughs come not a moment too soon.
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