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Editorial
New IBM Interfaces Open Software Features For Impaired Users |
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Editorial notes
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Monday, 25 December 2006 |
 IBM has developed software interfaces that will make it easier to give impaired users access to advanced features in browsers and software -- such as editing functions, hyperlinks, charts and menus. Dubbed IAccessible2, the new interfaces are an open standard, available for all to use on almost any software platform. According to the World Health Organization, between 750 million and 1 billion of the world's six billion people have a speech, vision, mobility, hearing or cognitive disability.
Assistive technologies come in a variety of forms. Screen readers, for example, help the blind use computers by verbalizing on-screen text. Until now, assistive technology programs have needed constant, custom modifications to keep up with new versions of software, new document formats, new operating systems, and the latest interactive way to present electronic information.
With the standardized interfaces, developers of assistive technology now have a more consistent, less expensive way to update their software for new technologies and computer operating systems. Likewise, mainstream software application vendors will have an easier time having their programming interfaces communicate with assistive technologies.
"IBM's contribution of IAccessible2 will enable the Free Standards Group to extend the benefits of free and open technology to the overwhelming majority of computer users with disabilities, regardless of their OS platform,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Free Standards Group. “Users will have more accessible applications to choose from, developers will find it substantially easier to support multiple operating environments and institutional IT departments will find it easier to meet legal mandates for accessibility."
Mozilla has committed to incorporating IAccessible2 into its Firefox browser, and screen reader vendors GW Micro and Freedom Scientific will use it in their products. IBM will also use it in the productivity editors of its Lotus Notes product, which supports the OpenDocument Format -- a format which, until now, had little accessibility support. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 01 January 2007 )
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Movies Over The Internet: An Idea Before Its Time |
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Editorial notes
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Monday, 18 December 2006 |
Video content providers are salivating over the prospect of video downloads over the Interent. But an ABI Research survey of Internet users in North America found that only 5% of those who watch video on the Internet have rented or purchased a digital movie download, a lower overall number than indicate they have downloaded a movie free from a peer to peer sharing site. Movie downloads, both legal and illegal, remain the least watched genre of online video on the Internet, where short-form content such as sports and news clips is watched by nearly 7 in 10 of those that watch Internet video.
It’s not consumers lack high-speed Interent connections. Nielsen//NetRatings announced that 78 percent of active home Web users connected via broadband during the month of November, up 13 percentage points from 65 percent of active Web users a year ago. Broadband consumers are heavy Internet users compared to their narrowband counterparts. In November, with an average of 34 hours and 50 minutes per person, they spent 33 percent more time online than narrowband users, who had an average of 26 hours and 13 minutes per person. Among all time spent online during the month, 82 percent could be attributed to those connecting via broadband. In addition, broadband users viewed over twice as many Web pages as narrowband users, with averages of 1,574 and 681 Web pages per person, respectively.
"The vast majority of those watching content online are watching short-form content such as news and sports clips," said ABI research director Michael Wolf. "Older users in particular watch primarily news and sports, while younger users are watching more entertainment content, including viral media provided by sites such as YouTube."
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Last Updated ( Monday, 01 January 2007 )
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Read more...
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Employers Join To Provide Lifelong Personal Health Records For Employees |
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Editorial notes
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Monday, 11 December 2006 |
Big brother will soon be scrutinizing your health records. As the cost of providing health care continues to rise, Applied Materials, BP America, Intel, Pitney Bowes and Wal-Mart are funding an independent nonprofit institute to develop “Dossia,” a Web-based framework through which US employees, dependents and retirees can maintain lifelong personal health records. Together, the companies will provide this benefit to more than 2.5 million individuals across the United States starting in 2007.
“Dossia will empower individuals to manage their own health care, improve communications with their doctors, and ensure more complete and accurate information for health care providers than the current fragmented, paper-based system,” said JD Kleinke, chairman and CEO of the Omnimedix Institute, the non-profit organization with headquarters in Portland, OR that is developing Dossia. “With Dossia’s personal, private and portable personal health records, individuals will be able to maintain comprehensive, up-to-date histories for themselves and their families.”
The unique Dossia framework gathers health information on behalf of the individual from various sources and stores it within “secured” databases. Dossia’s open architecture will support multiple personal health applications, allowing users to organize and summarize their information in ways that are most useful to them. Health records will be secure and private, accessible only by the individual or by others to whom they have granted permission. Records also will be portable, enabling individuals to continue using the records even if they change employers, health plans or doctors.
“The leadership of these companies in offering personal health records is encouraging and I hope more employers will make similar commitments soon. We know that the use of health IT based on recognized standards leads to better health care for patients at lower cost and with less hassle, and I applaud this important step for consumers,” said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.
Dossia enables an individual to develop a personal health record via two means: entering the data themselves and enabling the system to search and securely aggregate their individual health data from various sources. Once Dossia is complete, it will begin drawing information from all available electronic sources within the health care system on behalf of each individual who requests it.
Dossia features stringent privacy and security policies and procedures, including a strong authentication system. Individuals opt-in to the system and then decide what information to share and with whom. No one can see an individual’s information without his or her permission. Additionally, since Dossia is hosted by an independent third party, there is an organizational barrier between the data and outside parties, including employers and health insurers.
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Editorial 
