LaMondre Pough

HE'S A SPEAKER AND CONSULTANT. HE WAS SHARING WITH ME THAT HE HAS HIS OWN CONSULTANT BUSINESS, LTP CONSULTANTS, GRADUATE OF THE MIDLANDS TECH, AND HE GOT A LOT OF EXPERIENCE IN CONSIDERING HOW TO WORK WITH ACCESSIBILITY WHILE WORKING WITH AN INDEPENDENT LIVING CENTER, AND THAT WAS IN THE COLUMBIA AREA. AND HE HAS BEEN USING VOICE RECOGNITION FOR TEN YEARS.

HE'S GOING TO DESCRIBE FOR US THE USE OF VOICE RECOGNITION IN TERMS OF USING THAT WITH COMPUTER SOFTWARE.

>>WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. BEFORE I START OUT, I'D LIKE TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A PREFERENCE OR A POINT OF VIEW TO KIND OF CONSIDER THE ENTIRE CONTEXT OF THIS TELECONFERENCE TODAY, AND THAT SIMPLY IS, DISABILITY IS SIMPLY A POINT OF DIVERSITY OR A POINT IN WHICH THINGS DIFFER, SO WITH OR WITHOUT ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY OR WITH OR WITHOUT ANY KIND OF TECHNOLOGY, FIRST AND FOREMOST, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE JUST THAT. PEOPLE.

POINT BLANK, VERY SIMPLE, VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD. SO A LOT OF TIMES, WHEN WE START THINKING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY, WE BEGIN TO KIND OF THINK IN THE REALM OF, WELL, WE'RE PROVIDING THIS TECHNOLOGY TO ENABLE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO FEEL LIKE PEOPLE, OR TO EMPOWER THIS PERSON TO BECOME A PART OF THE HUMAN RACE OR TO INTEGRATE THIS INDIVIDUAL INTO OUR SOCIETY. WELL, I'VE GOT NEWS FOR YOU. I AM SOCIETY.

[ LAUGHTER ]

AND I DON'T NECESSARILY NEED TO BE INTEGRATED. HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME KEY THINGS THAT NEED TO CHANGE, THAT NEED TO BE MODIFIED IN ORDER FOR THERE TO BE AN EQUAL AND LEVEL PLAYING FIELD. SO TO KIND OF PULL OUT THE CONCEPT OF A HEROIC EVENT THAT WE'RE INVOLVED IN IN ORDER TO MAKE THINGS ACCESSIBLE FOR PEOPLE, NO, IT'S SIMPLY THE RIGHT THING TO DO, AND IT'S A SMART BUSINESS PRACTICE, AS MARK SAID EARLIER.

NOW THAT THAT'S BEEN SAID, I'LL MOVE ON AND GO FORWARD WITH THE TOPIC OF CONVERSATION. AS HE SAID, REALLY MY FIELD OF EXPERTISE IS MUCH MORE VOICE INPUT. AND AS SCOTT DEMONSTRATED EARLIER, HE USED A PROGRAM CALLED JAWS TO ACTUALLY READ THE INFORMATION THAT WAS ON THE SCREEN.

WELL, THE TECHNOLOGY THAT I USE SIMPLY PUTS THE INFORMATION THAT I'M GIVING THE COMPUTER, IT TYPES IT OUT FOR ME. THE PROGRAM THAT I TRADITIONALLY USE IS CALLED DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING. WHEN I STARTED USING THIS PROGRAM, IT WAS NOT NATURALLY SPEAKING. IT WAS DRAGON DICTATE. DURING THE TIME BACK IN THE EARLY '90s, LATE '80s, WHEN WE USED DRAGON DICTATE, IT WAS JUST THAT. IT WAS DICTATING. IT WAS AN UNNATURAL WAY OF SPEAKING. IF I WANTED TO DICTATE TEXT INTO THE COMPUTER, I WOULD HAVE TO OPEN UP A PROGRAM, AND THE ONLY PROGRAM IT USED AT THIS TIME WAS THIS DOS-BASED APPLICATION, AND IT WAS WORD PERFECT, AND IF I WANTED TO DO A SIMPLE SENTENCE, I WOULD HAVE TO SPEAK LIKE THIS. THE BOY WENT DOWN THE STREET PERIOD. NEW PARAGRAPH. HE BOUGHT A -- CORRECT THAT. HE -- CORRECT THAT. HE, CORRECT THAT, AND YOU WENT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, AND BY THE TIME YOU FINISHED A SIMPLE PARAGRAPH, FIRST OF ALL, YOU WERE DYING OF THIRST --

[ LAUGHTER ] -- BECAUSE YOU HAD TO DO THIS. YOU ALWAYS HAD TO HAVE A GLASS OF WATER BESIDE YOUR COMPUTER, WHICH WAS DANGEROUS, OKAY, BUT NONETHELESS, THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS, BUT THE TECHNOLOGY HAS EVOLVED.

NOW I CAN SPEAK NATURALLY, JUST AS I'M SPEAKING TO YOU TODAY, AND IT WILL PICK IT UP WITH A 95% TO 99% ACCURACY RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX ONCE YOU'VE TRAINED FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES. AND NOW LET'S LISTEN VIA VOICE.

THE TECHNOLOGY TO DO THAT IS RELATIVELY NEW. I GUESS IT REALLY JUST CAME ABOUT WITHIN THE PAST THREE YEARS. AND WHAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT IT IS MANY OF THE SAME ISSUES THAT SCOTT TALKED ABOUT AS FAR AS HAVING THINGS PROPERLY TAGGED ARE THE SAME ISSUES THAT AN INDIVIDUAL WHO'S USING VOICE INPUT COMES ACROSS, BUT IN A DIFFERENT SENSE BECAUSE UNLIKE -- UNLIKE WHEN USING JAWS WHERE IT'S READING IT BACK TO YOU, YOU KNOW, ALL YOU HEAR IS A CLICK HERE, AND IF YOU WANT TO CLICK ON THE LINKS, THE WAY I ACCESS LINKS ON A WEB PAGE VIA MY VOICE IS I'LL HAVE TO SAY, "CLICK, ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT."

LET'S SAY WE WERE ON AN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT PAGE OR CITY PAGE, AND I WOULD HAVE TO SAY CLICK, ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, AND IT WOULD FIND THAT LINK, AND IT WOULD CLICK AS IF I WERE USING A MOUSE.

IT WOULD CLICK ON THAT LINK. NOW, LET'S SAY THE LINK WAS REPRESENTED BY A GRAPHIC, AND IT WAS -- I DON'T KNOW, SOME MUSICAL NOTES IN A PALM TREE. I CANNOT TELL MY PROGRAM, OKAY, CLICK ON THE MUSICAL NOTE AND THE LITTLE GREEN PALM TREE WITH THE BROWN BOTTOM. IT'S NOT GOING TO KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

IT HAS TO BE PROPERLY TAGGED IN ORDER FOR ME TO ACCESS THAT VIA MY VOICE. ANOTHER THING TO CONSIDER WHENEVER YOU'RE USING VOICE INPUT WITH A WEBSITE IS THE SIMPLER YOU CAN MAKE THE WEB PAGE NAME, THE BETTER IT IS. I'M NOT SAYING THAT EVERYONE MUST MAKE BASIC AND SIMPLE WEB PAGES.

SOMETIMES THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE. BUT THE SIMPLER IT IS, THE BETTER OFF IT IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT TYPICALLY, VOICE RECOGNITION SYSTEMS ARE BASICALLY PATTERNED AROUND THE WAY THAT YOU TYPICALLY SPEAK. IT USED TO BE THAT THE MACHINE WOULD ACTUALLY BUILD A VOICE PROFILE IN WHICH IT WOULD KIND OF MAP THE WAY YOU SAY THINGS AND AS FAR AS THE PHONICS OF HOW IT SOUNDS, BUT NOW IT'S DIFFERENT.

IT'S ALMOST A GUESSTIMATION OF WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY NEXT. IF YOU HAVE A WEB SITE THAT HAS THIS UNUSUAL KIND OF THING, IT'S NEVER GOING TO GET IT. IT HAS TO GO BACK AND SPELL OUT WHAT IT IS THAT I WANT IT TO SAY AND GO BACK AND TRAIN IT, WHICH, YOU KNOW, IS COMMON.

YOU HAVE TO DO THAT A LOT WITH A LOT OF THINGS. THE EASIER YOU MAKE IT UP FRONT, LIKE SCOTT SAID, IF YOU FRONT-LOAD YOUR TAGS AND THAT KIND OF THING, IT MAKES IT SO MUCH EASIER FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO ACCESS YOUR WEB PAGE AND YOUR DESIGN.

ANOTHER THING TO CONSIDER WITH WEB PAGE DESIGN AS FAR AS VOICE INPUT IS CONCERNED IS THE CONTRAST OF THE COLORS OF THINGS THAT ARE ON YOUR SCREEN BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE TO READ THESE THINGS. AND IN MANY CASES,INDIVIDUALS WITH VARIOUS DISABILITIES, WE SIT IN FRONT OF COMPUTER SCREENS A LONG TIME, HOURS OUT OF THE DAY, AND EVENTUALLY, IT COULD BECOME STRENUOUS ON THE EYES, SO IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT A WEB PAGE WHERE THE CONTRAST IS NOT GOOD, IF YOU HAVE A DARK BACKGROUND AND DARK LETTERING ON TOP, IT MAY BE DIFFICULT FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TO SEE THAT, BUT THAT'S IN ANY ARENA OF WEB DESIGN, SO JUST KIND OF KEEP SOME PRACTICAL AND SIMPLE THINGS IN MIND.

YOU KNOW, THE THING -- JUST BECAUSE I HAVE THREE MORE MINUTES LEFT. I WANT TO LEAVE YOU WITH THIS THOUGHT ABOUT WEB DESIGN AND WHEN YOU'RE DOING YOUR THING ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY. THE THING TO REMEMBER IS THAT IT IS NOT THAT YOU'RE BEING HEROIC BY INCORPORATING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN YOUR VIEW OF THINGS, IT IS SIMPLY THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

BOTTOM LINE ACROSS THE BOARD. I HEARD MARK MENTION EARLIER,WHEN HE WAS TALKING ABOUT, WELL, THE SAME THINGS THAT MAKE THINGS ACCESSIBLE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE THE THINGS THAT ALLOW YOU TO ACCESS THE WEB WITH PALM PILOTS, CELL PHONES, AND, ERGO, THE WAYS OF THE WORLD.

WHEN CURB CUTS WERE PUT INTO PLACE, THEY WERE DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR PEOPLE WITH WHEELCHAIRS, AND I SEE BABY CARRIAGES, BICYCLE RIDERS, AND THEY ALL USE CURB CUTS. WHEN DRAGON DICTATE WAS INTRODUCED, IT WAS MARKETED TO INDIVIDUALS WITH MOBILITY IMPAIRMENT. AND NOW IT'S MASS MARKETED, AND YOU CAN GO INTO BEST BUY AND BUY DRAGON DICTATE FOR TEENS. YOU CAN BUY A LAWYER'S SUITE, AND YOU CAN BUY DIFFERENT PROGRAMS, AND THEY'RE GEARED FOR EVERYAY, PRACTICAL USE. SO THE IDEA HERE IS THAT YOU SIMPLY ARE MAKING YOUR WEB PAGE FUNCTIONAL AND ACCESSIBLE TO ALL. SO WHEN YOU CONSIDER DISABILITY, WHEN YOU CONSIDER ACCESSIBILITY, DON'T CONSIDER IT ON THE BACK END. CONSIDER IT FIRST AND FOREMOST, AND DON'T THINK OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES PER SE, BUT THINK OF PEOPLE IN THE BROADER PERSPECTIVE. THINK OF ALL PEOPLE.

I THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND ATTENTION, AND HEY, MAN, DESIGN SOME GOOD WEB SITES.

THANK YOU.

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