| "According to the World Health Organization, between 750 million and 1 billion of the world's 6 billion people have a speech, vision, mobility, hearing or cognitive disability which can preclude them from using one or many aspects of a traditional computer setup. " " Yet it's not only the disabled who have difficulty navigating software and technology; the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that one-quarter of the U.S. population will reach 55 by 2008, and about half will experience a disability after age 65, all of which is expected to create a surge in the modified, accessible-technology market. " "Despite these statistics, accessibility concepts are not often taught in the majority of computer science programs, which in turn fail to graduate developers who are ready to accommodate specific needs. A recent survey commissioned by IBM of more than 200, two- and four-year U.S. universities found that the majority of faculty respondents do not teach accessibility in the classroom due to a lack of familiarity with the topic and a shortage of learning materials to incorporate into existing classes. " "In an effort to address this, six universities—University of Illinois, California State University at Long Beach, Georgia Tech, University of Toronto and the Rochester Institute of Technology—announced March 23 that they are partnering with IBM to influence college students to learn accessibility concepts early. " "PC Magazine's live,
... read the whole article |