This Report required assistance from
dozens of people and organizations. In
many ways it was a collaborative effort between industry and consumers with
disabilities. Let’s hope that
this cooperation blossoms further and bears fruit as both parties seek in their
own way to improve access to telecommunications.
The Access Board’s selection of Inclusive Technologies for the first Market Monitoring Report was a statement of confidence in us that we much appreciate. Our thanks go to the staff of the Board, especially Dennis Cannon, David Capozzi, Laurinda Lacey, Susan Little, and Doug Wakefield, whose guidance and suggestions have improved the Report at every stage.
We would like to thank Pam Ransom of
Common Ground Solutions, Inc., without whose planning assistance, pragmatic
attitude, legal insight, clear prose style, and fine editorial hand this Report
and the research behind it would never have been done.
Dmitri Belser, MaryAnn Carroll, Russ Holland, and Susan Murn performed most of the arduous product research. By walking through malls, thumbing through catalogs, and clicking through websites they compiled the raw information that we needed for our “snapshot.”
Consumer organizations helped us develop
our surveys and reach out to individuals who had so much to say about what
worked and didn’t work for them. Jay
Leventhal, Janina Sajka, and Paul Schroeder of the American Foundation for the
Blind; Karen Peltz-Strauss of the National Association of the Deaf; Brenda
Battat, Barbara Kelley, and Bonnie Sporre of Self Help for Hard of Hearing
People, Inc.; Claude Stout and Carol Yeh of Telecommunications for the Deaf,
Inc.; and Gus Estrella, Susan Finisdore, and Nancy Flinn of United Cerebral
Palsy Associations, Inc. were particularly helpful.
Their organizations should be proud to have such dedicated advocates on
staff.
Drs. Judy Harkins of Gallaudet University and Gregg Vanderheiden of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as Directors of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Accessible Telecommunications, provided additional material for and timely and thoughtful comments on this Report at several stages. Their long-standing commitment and intellectual clarity have enriched the field of accessible telecommunications by making the thinkable, doable.
Grant Seiffert of the Telecommunications Industry Association worked extra hours to collect valuable industry input for this Report. Chris Law of the Trace Center provided excellent comments on an early draft. Susan Palmer of Pacific Bell Wireless made early suggestions that helped us orient ourselves in our search for consumer input. Scott Scalf and Percy Nikorwalla of Strategic Software helped untangle the spaghetti code for the telecommunications-based consumer surveys. Megan Springate performed data entry in the most intelligent manner possible. Ciro Petty assisted in data analysis and reporting; his forms and formats were always just and justified. James Cairns of Radio Shack of Aberdeen, New Jersey answered too many questions, permitted too many photographs, and never made a sale.
Other advocacy organizations provided support by commenting on survey text, sending material, and recruiting consumers:
Alliance for Technology Access
American Association of Retired Persons
Association for Late-Deafened Adults
Gallaudet University Technology Assessment Program
Learning Disabilities Association
National Association of the Deaf
National Federation of the Blind
President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
Trace Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Several industry organizations helped develop the report format and recruit manufacturers to contribute product information:
Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association
Multimedia Telecommunications Association
Personal Communications Industry Association
Telecommunications Industry Association
United States Telecom Association (formerly U.S. Telephone Association)