Promoting Strategic Research on Inclusive Access to Rich Online Content and Services
This work tackles the problem of ensuring full online participation for people with disabilities, but it is incremental as it calls for organizing existing research efforts rather than presenting new solutions.
The paper addresses the need for inclusive online access for people with disabilities, highlighting that research across computer science areas like recognition technology and natural language processing is required to achieve benefits in education, employment, health, and social participation.
Access to content and services online is increasingly important for everyone, including people with disabilities. National commitments, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, and international resolutions, including the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, call for work to ensure that people with disabilities can participate fully in the online world. Gains in education, employment and health, as well as in civic engagement, social participation, and personal independence will follow from enhanced inclusion online. Research in many areas of computer science, including recognition technology, natural language processing, personalization, software architecture, and others, is needed to secure these benefits. Organizing this research calls for partnerships among academic researchers, federal agencies, and commercial organizations, as well as effective division of labor and cooperation between computer scientists, behavioral scientists, advocacy groups, and consumers.