Disabled people have long been denied access to the technology that others take for granted, and there is little evidence that this exclusion is dissipating. Despite this, the issue of access to technology is often obscured because of the undue emphasis placed on its potential for improving disabled people’s lot. (Roulstone, 1993).
This is a particular concern, since a new form of social segmentation is predicted between those with and without access to the new systems (Jouet and Coundray, 1991).
The disabled people participating in the study were deeply concerned about access, revealing a number of barriers that in the way of disabled people’s beneficial use of technology.
This research introduces the programme of the IBM European Support Center for Persons with Disabilities (IBM ESCPD) in La Hulpe (Belgium).
This relatively recent programme is designed to bring information technology to the attention of disabled people. There follows a description of IBM-supported projects on the placement and employment of disabled persons in Denmark, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. These four programmers reflect local initiatives in the host countries as well as the company’s commitment to “People Helping People through Technology”.
The Essay on Fahrenheit 451 People One Technology
As time in society goes on, less and less people think. Just like in Fahrenheit 451, people have more things done for them and stray further and further from their imagination. Today technology, mass media and education show some points of how people think less. Technology can be life giving and yet disrupting to all. That is not the only thing this essay is about however. Another point is very ...
For many years, several IBM national organizations in Europe have been supporting the disabled community. On the basis of this experience, and because personal computers (PCs) can greatly help disabled people in many ways, it was decided in 1988 to implement a structured programme within the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) organization of IBM, known as the European programme to support persons with disabilities and to promote their employment. This programme has three main objectives:
First, to make information technology available to disabled people by demonstrating to them how technology can help them at home, at school and in the office. Many disabled persons are still not aware of what information technology can do for them, and awareness is very often the first step to solving the problem; and
Second, to promote the employment of disabled persons. Disabled persons can perform productive work. Employing disabled people with the help of technology very often enables them to perform intellectual jobs and therefore to achieve higher productivity. Several surveys have shown that it makes good business sense to employ disabled people. Usually, their willingness to work hard and their loyalty to their employer are exemplary; and
Third, to help customers who to employ, or who have to employ, disabled persons. More than 70 percent of disabled people became disabled because of accident or illness. Employers are, or soon will be, faced with the problem that some of their employees may become disabled. Furthermore, in some countries employers are required by law to employ a given percentage of disabled persons. Other companies wish to employ disabled persons because they want to show their goodwill to the community in which they are living.
Thus far, IBM has taken four steps to implement its European programme; first, an advisory board for action in favour of the disabled community was set up in its European headquarters in Paris. The board meets every quarter to review past actions and to give guidance for the future.
Second, managers were nominated to take charge of this programme in 20 countries in IBM’s EMEA organization, and nine national support centers or joint projects with existing institutions were set up, it was planned to open two additional national centers during the first half of 1990.
The Essay on Genetic Engineering People Scientists Technology
The New Future Technology has been growing at a tremendous rate. From the telephone, to the car, to the airplane, to the computer, and finally the internet. This is just a very brief history of technology, but it shows how much it has benefited us. The sole purpose of technology is to improve the lives of society. The next addition to the technology time-line will be genetic engineering. Although ...
Third, the European Support Center in La Hulpe was established. Its mission is to drive and coordinate the programme and to organize the exchange of information between countries. The European Support Center is also responsible for ensuring liaison and exchanging information with a similar centre located in Atlanta, Georgia (United States) and with the Special Needs System Group in Boca Raton, Florida (United States).
The mission of the Special Needs System Group reads as follow :“ Enhance the quality of life and employability of persons with disabilities through the use of IBM value-added technology,” Two of its technology products for the disabled have already been announced in Europe, the Screen Reader fro blind people and the Speech viewer for deaf and speech-impaired persons.
Fourth, in most countries a substantial price discount was granted on the PS/2 product line for disabled people and for non-profit making institutions supporting the disabled community. Each country is implementing projects in cooperation with institutions supporting disabled people and involving the business community. Ideas and experience on specific projects are continuously exchanged between the European countries and United States and Canada. For most people technology makes thing easier, for a disabled person, it makes things possible.
Computer programmer training for severely physically disabled people (United States)
The IBM Programme to Train Disabled Persons currently has two major programmes: Computer Programmer Training for Severely Disabled Persons (CPT), and Personal Computer-Based Skills Training for Disabled Persons (PST).
CPT was initiated in 1972 as a result of a suggestion by a disabled IBM employee, who believed that the advent of computer technology had created opportunities for disabled persons which had not been previously available, and that IBM should lead in helping these persons to benefit from these opportunities. Investigations showed that computer programming provided an ideal opportunity for disabled persons to take up information processing, an ideal opportunity for job.
The Research paper on Computer Based Training Business Interchange
COMPUTER BASED TRAINING (CBT) BUSINESS INTERCHANGE Dallas Baptist University Spring 1999 MISM 6330, Section 01 Database Management Systems Instructor: Mary Braswell, MBA Mary L. Everitt 19 April 1999 Table of Contents Introduction Computer-based training (CBT) is an all-encompassing term used to describe any computer-delivered training including CD-ROM and the World Wide Web. CBT courseware ...
The requirements to succeed as a computer programmer were intellectual and not physical. Thus, physical limitations would not necessarily affect the students’ ability to succeed in computer programming. There also was a great need for computer programmers at that time, and programming careers provided excellent starting salaries and advancement potential. The high salaries were important for a disabled person who would most probably lose valuable medical benefits fairly soon after being employed.
For the first 15 years of this initiative IBM provided personnel at no cost to assist the local rehabilitation/training agencies in implementing their individual projects. A significant addition to the programme began in 1987, when the company began providing the classroom data-processing equipment required for training.
By about the same time the PC had made significant inroads into the business world and had become the chosen terminal for performing many tasks that previously had been mainly done manually (or had to be performed on a mainframe computer).
More people trained to work on PCs were needed in such skills as word processing, computer-assisted drafting, computer-assisted design, customer service representative, data entry, and personal computer expert. Although training was needed for these jobs, the requirements were not as demanding as those for computer programming.
In addition, since a large mainframe computer was no longer necessary, it was now possible to provide such training at reasonable cost for small numbers of disabled people. The Programme to Train Disabled Persons was consequently expanded by adding a second element, Personal Computer-Based Skills Training for Disabled Persons (PST), under which the training opportunities provided for students who could not qualify for or complete the CPT course. IBM provides the PCs required for training as well as some limited aid from the IBM Programme Office Staff Consultant. Primary responsibility for the project remains with the assigned IBM consultant.
The Term Paper on A Significant Milestone In Global History The Computer Revolution
A Significant milestone in Global History: The Computer Revolution Revolutions, world wars, fall of Communism, global warming, a man in the space, discovering penicillin, radio, TV, phones, computers, internet here are some of significant milestones have had a profound impact on global history. The series of great inventions preceded the wide use of electronic health records and, first of all, the ...
