Technology for the Disabled

Announcer: Guido Corona is surfing the Web, and reading his favorite newspaper with his computer. So what's the big deal, right? Well, it's no big deal for most of us, but Guido is completely blind.

Guido: This is a tool that lets me, the blind consumer, access the world of the Internet, which was developed by the sighted and for the sighted. So, I can consider this a key to open the universe.

Announcer: Guido is demonstrating the IBM Home Page Reader, which was on display at the fifteenth annual Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference at the LAX Marriott Hotel. By using a simple numbered keypad, he can access everything on the Web. And the computer will read it back to him in English or any other language. The IBM Home Page Reader is just one of the many amazing products at the conference, but it stands out because it was created and developed by a person with a disability.

Guido: It's truly like opening the floodgates of information.

Announcer: Also at the conference is this space-age device for paraplegics and quadriplegics, so they can use a home computer too.

Man 1: I have an infrared device that follows this little reflective dot on my glasses right here, so when I move my head it translates my head movement into cursor movement, and then these fiber switches I wear on my cheek, I developed for my own use, but when I actually twitch my eye, that's my left click, that's my right click.

Announcer: The Track 2000 is completely wireless, allowing the user to come and go without help setting up. And that's the point of this conference. Ten percent of Americans have some sort of disability, but with new technology they can achieve freedom.

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