Technological Revolution and Accessibility for the Blind

The speaker shares his journey from childhood blindness to becoming an academic, highlighting the role of technology and volunteers in his education. He discusses the impact of braille, tape recorders, and adaptive technologies like JAWS on his life. Despite technological advancements, he emphasizes the ongoing barriers faced by blind individuals, such as inaccessible websites and restrictive copyright laws. He advocates for international cooperation to improve access to reading materials for the blind. The talk concludes with gratitude for the support received and optimism for future technological advancements.

What condition led to the speaker's blindness?

• Glaucoma

• Cataracts

• Macular degeneration

• Retrolental fibroplasia

What system did the speaker learn at school to help with reading?

• Sign language

• Braille

• Lip reading

• Morse code

Who were the volunteers that helped the speaker during graduate school?

• Prisoners at Collins Bay jail

• High school students

• Local teachers

• University professors

What was the name of the first blind computer the speaker used?

• Commodore 64

• IBM PC

• Apple II

• Keynote Gold 84k

Who invented the machine that could read any font using optical character recognition?

• Ray Kurzweil

• Russell Smith

• Ted Henter

• Bill Joyce

What is the name of the program developed by Ted Henter to read computer screens?

• JAWS

• VoiceOver

• Narrator

• TalkBack

What is one of the main challenges the speaker mentions about reading with machines?

• It is a lonely process

• It is too fast

• It is not accurate

• It is too expensive

What is the digital access system used for talking books?

• EPUB

• PDF

• DAISY

• MP3

What organization developed worldwide standards for Internet accessibility?

• World Health Organization

• World Wide Web Consortium

• International Telecommunication Union

• Internet Engineering Task Force

What is the speaker advocating for in terms of book accessibility?

• More braille books

• Cross-border treaty for book transport

• Cheaper technology

• More volunteer readers