Former Senator Tom Harkin, the Chief Sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, spoke at a National Press Club headliner news event on September 4, 2019 plus other leaders to discuss employing the disabled by providing assistive technology. Senator Harkin discussed how using assistive technology and adopting an inclusive mindset will make it possible to drive economic growth and gain access to a new talent pool.
According to the recent Accenture https://www.accenture.com report “Getting to Equal the Disability Inclusion Advantage,” companies could achieve on average 28 percent higher revenue, double the net income, achieve on average 28 percent higher revenue, and 30 percent higher economic profit margins over the four year period analyzed if more disabled were hired. The same report found that the GDP could get a boost of up to $25 billion if just one percent more persons with disabilities joined the U.S. labor force.
Gregg Vanderheiden, Director of the Trace Research & Development Center at the University of Maryland https://trace.umd.edu, and the Principal Investigator of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on IT Access, discussed how the Trace Center is developing research-based technology strategies and solutions to increase the accessibility of information and communication technologies (ICT) for people with disabilities.
As he explained, “Current work is focused primarily on continuing to develop the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII)” https://gpii.net. Providing more IT access to the disabled is focused on several areas. One area is to develop the GPII concept to evolve with the changing technology landscape based on discussions with the different accessibility and mainstream stakeholders.”
The next step is to move GPII from a concept, to the field where the GPII concept can be tested with real world conditions by users with limitations in the real world. This will include developing and testing a package for GPII to be deployed to public libraries so that users with a wide range of disabilities can view the information. The disabilities can include individuals with cognitive, memory, and digital-literacy related barriers.
Also, the intention is to develop and test a decision support tool based on the GPII Unified Listing that can provide users and clinicians with a new capability for tracking and selecting ever changing solutions for users. This would include not only providing comprehensive information on assistive technologies but also not previously available information on access features that are built into mainstream technologies.
The Trace Research & Development Center is excited about their Morphic-enabled computer research https://morphic.world which will make it easier for the disabled to discover and adjust settings and features so the computer is easier to use. Settings will be saved in a secure and private cloud vault, and Morphic will be able to instantly apply the settings when the user logs into any Morphic-enabled computer.
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) https://acl.gov within the Federal government plays a key role in developing assistive technologies that include software, devices, equipment and products to improve the functioning of individuals with disabilities.
ACL released a “New Issue Brief” discussing Assistive Technology and ACI also funds several state grants for Assistive Technology programs. The first program is the “State Grant for Assistive Technology Program” which supports state efforts to improve access to and acquisition of assistive technology for individuals with disabilities of all ages through comprehensive statewide programs responsive to consumers.
The second program “Protection and Advocacy for Assistive Technology” (PAAT) supports grants to provide information, advocacy, representation, training, technical assistance, and general guidance to help increase access to assistive technology devices and services.
There are public sources of funding for older adults and people with disabilities which includes Medicare Part B which covers up to 80 percent of the cost of assistive technology for the program’s beneficiaries.
Also, many states cover assistive technology to support the functioning and independence of Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities through Medicaid Home and Community Based Services programs.
Go to https://acl.gov/news-and-eevents/announcements/acl-releases-new-issue-brief-assistive-technology to view the ACL Issue brief on Assistive Technology.