RE: Contextualized software, cost of download

Let's take some steps back. How was their life before Internet or
mobiles?

These people with hearing problems and/or speaking problems have been
around (I suppose) all the time. Before the Internet time, but during
the
land-line phone time, they used land-line phones with special
equipment, often donated or partially paid by government or some
one else. So the person got them free or with limited cost.

These people were happy, as they could communicate. But because
of the land-line phone technology, they can do it only when
they were in their home.

When Nokia Communicator 9000 was announced and shipped to users
1996, that changed their world. They could communicate now also,
when they are outside of their home.

The problem was, that Governments (or who were sponsoring them
earlier at land-line phone time) did not support Mobile solution.
So the person had to pay the cost of this new mobile solution
by themselves.

I remember one story in Nokia Customer magazine having a report
of such user, who was so happy that now communication worked
for them also outside home by this mobile technology.

Also we have today the technology in mobile phone to provide
text to speech synthetisation. This helps the blind people.
There are many services to blind people. Many of them can
be used by mobile phone. Helping their life.

An other small example, how mobile phone helps people with
hearing aids. These people can not use normal mobile phones.
But today there are accessories, which allows mobile phone
to be connected to their hearing aid equipment so they
can use mobile phone to communicate.

An other small example of solutions to people with hearing
problems: If you can not hear, you can not hear your land-line 
phone and mobile phone is ringing. There are now accessories to
mobile phones showing red-light blinking when mobile phone
is ringing (or receiving a text message). 

Also many mobile phones do now have vibrator, which give
physical signal, that mobile phone is ringing (or text message
has arrived). Also this type of vibrator can be purchased
as an accessory. (I have one, on my belt, so when my mobile
phone rings (even mobile phone is on a side table), I feel it 
in my skin by this vibrator on my belt.)

These are just some examples, how mobile can help people
with some communication handicaps.

Br. Lauri
 

>-----Original Message-----
>From: public-mw4d-request@w3.org 
>[mailto:public-mw4d-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of ext Stephane Boyera
>Sent: 30 June, 2008 15:43
>To: Janusz Lukasiak
>Cc: public-mw4d@w3.org
>Subject: Re: Contextualized software, cost of download
>
>
>
>>> 	- accessiblity for illeterate people 	
>> This keeps coming back.... Could somebody tell me (or point me to an 
>> appropriate source) how an illiterate person is supposed to use the 
>> internet (or browser, or SMS)? Ok, there probably are voice browsers 
>> for e.g. the blind, but are we talking about 'read/listen  
>only' internet use?
>> What am I missing here?
>
>I'm not sure i fully understand your question.
>Just about accessibility, thanks to the work of the WAI ([1]), 
>now it is possible to make web content accessible for those 
>with disabilities. But what is web content ? is it only static 
>pages to be read ?
>Web content includes e.g. filling forms.
>This is not because you don't know how to read or write that 
>you cannot describe the specific disease your tomatoes have no 
>? illiterate people in the real world can live easily, that 
>includes e.g. being able to go to the doctor and describe 
>their symptoms. So i'm sure that through e.g. 
>the use of voice, or through the use of  potentially animated 
>icons, it would be possible to design systems that help 
>people, without requiring
>  them to be literate.
>But exploring the eact frontier of what kind of services 
>applications on mobile phones could bring to illiterate 
>people, that surely need to be further discussed.
>
>Stephane
>[1] http://www.w3.org/WAI/
>
>-- 
>Stephane Boyera		stephane@w3.org
>W3C				+33 (0) 4 92 38 78 34
>BP 93				fax: +33 (0) 4 92 38 78 22
>F-06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex,		
>France
>
>

Received on Monday, 30 June 2008 19:14:18 UTC