EyeGaze

There are a number of basic premises upon which the ‘Design for All’ ethos sits.

• a product and/or service should be developed so that the largest possible number of people can use it if they so wish
• a product and/or service development cycle MUST include representatives of disability groups to ensure that requirements are met - this would include early product/service design, prototyping and testing
• all products and/or services must be developed using existing ratified standards to ensure maximum interoperability
• by establishing ‘best practice’ in product development businesses will profit from being able to access a ‘new’ market

One example of this approach which has direct relevance to the Deaf community and other groups, has been the development of a ‘Total Conversation’ client by a Swedish company, Omnitor. AllenEC allows users to use either speech, text, video or all three mediums at once, depending on individual preference. By developing a single client with three mediums for communication the software developers claim that this PC-based conferencing tool allows equal access for those who are;

• D/deaf
• Hard of hearing
• speech impaired
• D/deaf blind
• Aphasia sufferers

Information concerning ‘Design for All’ can be found here: http://europa.eu.int/information_society/policy/accessibility/dfa/index_en.htm