BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : MARCH 20, 2000 ISSUE
SPECIAL REPORT Vinton Cerf on How the Net Aids the Disabled The cyber pioneer sees a whole new world opening up, especially as broadband becomes more common MCI-WorldCom Inc. Senior Vice-President Vinton Cerf, who is partially deaf, is one of the founding fathers of the Internet. With this year marking the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Cerf recently sat down with Business Week Online Assistive Technology columnist John Williams to talk about the Net's benefits for people with disabilities. Here are edited excerpts from their conversation: Q: What will the Internet do in the future that it's not doing today to help people with disabilities? A: I think the technology will improve in some dimensions -- not so much Internet technology, per se, as improvements in natural-language technology. Already, there's the potential for sending video over the Net adequate for signing. This is perhaps only a couple of years away at most, though it's only feasible when high-bandwidth connections are available. There will also be improvements in converting spoken word to text -- if the speaker works with so-called "trained" software, the probability is quite high that the translation from spoken word to written format will soon show 95% accuracy, even with a large vocabulary of words. Obviously, the Internet can also help to integrate e-mail, paging, real-time TTY [tele-typewriter, a device which allows people with hearing or speech disabilities to communicate through a special operator], and voice-to-text messaging. Q: How will the Internet aid people either with visual impairments or blindness? A: Improved standards for audible Web-page design may make it possible to navigate specially designed audio pages better than today's visual pages. Standards for Web-page design for enlarged formats, high-contrast formats, and so on, are also likely. Q: What about people with speech impairments? A: With trained speech [software that recognizes a particular speaker], I think it is entirely possible to produce good quality speech.... This would be the next step after today's text-to-speech capability, so well demonstrated by physicist Stephen Hawking [who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a muscular degenerative disease]. Q: How can the Internet benefit people with cognitive impairments, such as learning disabilities? A: I think you will see simpler Internet-enabled appliances that don't require as much knowledge to use as a typical PC. Q: And for people who have some form of paralysis? A: The additional development of eye trackers and a variety of alternative pointing and clicking devices will likely augment what is available today. Q: How about online teaching for disabled people? How do we judge its effectiveness? A: I think it highly likely that house-bound students will be able to achieve quality education over the Internet. Even field trips with appropriate portable Web-cams will be feasible. This will become mainstream, because even those without disabilities will find it valuable to be able to attend classes remotely. Of course, the individual must put the education to work. In some cases, it may not be easy, but I know from experience that perseverance pays off. Any education degree is a stepping stone to a higher plan or goal in life. Successful people never lose sight of their goals. They stay focused and motivated. Q: What's your latest project involving accessibility issues? A: The Internet Societal Task Force (ISTF). The initial focus is on accessible Web-page design for people who have various impediments [that don't allow them to] use conventional Web pages. Q: What would you most like to see the Internet and World Wide Web offer disabled people that's not there now? A: More consistent application of accessibility principles to Web-page design. More organized presentation of information about assistive devices. Better education in the use of assistive-technology devices. More information on availability of devices and services -- and application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to the Web. Q: Do you believe in the future that most communications will be done via the Web -- including telephoning, teaching, writing, entertaining, and e-commerce? A: I think we will see the Internet grow up to become the most important telecommunications substrate for the 21st century. That does not mean that the other media will disappear. But the Internet will adapt to and support and carry these media. I also expect to see a lot more interaction and integration among these various media by way of Internet-enabled devices and services. Q: Do you believe too much emphasis is put on communicating through the Web? A: You can never overemphasize the value of communication, Web-based or otherwise. Q: Does your own hearing impairment or your wife's former hearing impairment [she has had a cochlear transplant] motivate you to work on access issues for disabled people? A: Yes. I've worked to make the Internet more useful for people with disabilities -- particularly hearing disabilities, as a consequence of my own hearing limitations and my wife's, although she [now] hears astonishingly well. She is still profoundly deaf when the implant is not operating. Of course, my service on the board of Gallaudet University and participation in the ISTF offers opportunities to learn more about the challenges facing people with disabilities in their use of the Internet. Q: Do you think the Web offers entrepreneurial opportunities for people with disabilities? What are they? A: There is no question in my mind that starting a Web-based business is no harder for a person with disabilities than for someone who doesn't have them. The real issue is having a good business idea and a good business model in the first place! There are many places to get assistance -- banks, universities. There are even business plans available online. Stick to your goals, and somehow you will succeed. Have any thoughts on the Net and the disabled? Let us know at BW Online's Assistive Tech Forum. Or, if you have a question about assistive technology, write to John Williams at JMMAW@aol.com _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS The New Workforce TABLE: Where the Door Is Open Enabling Technologies Artificial Eyes, Turbine Hearts TABLE: Spare Body Parts for Tomorrow Commentary: A Kind Act Indeed ONLINE ORIGINAL: Vinton Cerf on How the Net Aids the Disabled INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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