Love, Compassion, Tenacity and a Desire to improve his Sister’s Life: A story about Eric Zeiberg

By Debra Ruh, CEO and Founder of Ruh Global Communications

What can we accomplish when we put our minds to it?  Eric Zeiberg of Connecticut believes we can accomplish anything even helping his big sister learn to communicate with him.

It is always interesting when a friend or family member creates a product to help another friend or family member.  This is a cool story about a young man that wanted to make a difference in another child’s life.  At the time Eric was in the 6^th grade and 11 years old.  One of Eric’s family friends has muscular dystrophy and has trouble speaking. She is practicing physician and writes on a simple notepad that she wants to say, and shows to people to communicate. Eric was fascinated as she wrote something on paper and showed it to others. “It could have been so much better if she could write on iPad and iPad would “speak” for her,” Eric thought.

Eric was intrigued and did some research to discover there were no handwriting-to-text applications.   He decided to create one because he knew it could help his friend but also could help his sister Julie.  Julie now 23 was born with Autism and has speech impairments.

Eric says “Julie was my inspiration for the whole project.  She can’t communicate, and it’s really hard for her to get words out.  This is a starting point for helping her.”  The app was finally ready on Dec. 2 with the debut of HandySpeech at Apple’s app

store, the only handwriting-to-speech iPad and iPad Mini.  The application can help anyone with speech problems including  people with Autism, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, CP, stroke, muscular dystrophy, and post-operation voice difficulties.

Plus it is easy to use.  All it takes is a finger or a stylus to write in the yellow section at the bottom of the iPad screen, then hit the speech button, and the writing turns into a male or female voice.

Was HandySpeech easy to produce?  “I started from scratch,” Eric said. “I didn’t know anything about the programming languages you use. I just had experience with computers. First I had to learn how to build the application — all the technologies and the Internet and how to code, and I used tutorials and websites to help me build it.”

Eric also gained two partners — text-to-speech software company iSpeech and handwriting recognition software maker PhatWare.

The app provides for automatic corrections, learns user writing patterns, and allows simple finger gestures to insert special characters such as space and return.

Eric has a new version with several new features including:

• Phrases: you’ll be able to scroll down a list of phrases such as “Please wait while I am writing” or “How are you?” and click on any one, and a voice will say it.
•  Speech speed control, so you can slow down or speed up the voice.
•  Ability to upload the app to an iPhone.

As you can imagine Eric’s father Boris is very proud of his son’s tenacity and desire to help not only his sister but millions of other people around the world.

“I am very proud of him because he put his mind together, saw it through, and did something significant, but mostly because he shows that he cares about people.” Boris Zeiberg

The App sells for $29.99 and can write and “speak” in 13 languages, including Dutch, French, German, Danish, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Italian, U.S. English, British English, and Portuguese as spoken in Brazil and as spoken in Portugal.

For details, call 860-874-8212, email info@iSpeak4u.com, or visit www.iSpeak4u.com

Many people are surprised to learn just how much of the world’s population is affected by a disability, and how valuable accessible design of electronic and information technology (E&IT) also known as Internet, Communications and Technology (ICT) is to local, state, federal and government, private industry, and educational institutions across the globe.

Making technology usable for all has become imperative for unleashing the potential of all and is critical for any organization wishing to remain relevant in the 21st century.  Technology is accessible if it can be used just as effectively by people with disabilities – including the elderly and veterans with disabilities – as it can by those without. Half of the world’s population is impacted by a disability in some fashion, making accessible design critical to private industry, government, and educational institutions.

To understand the impact one has to look no further than the World Health Organization which indicates that people with disabilities are the world’s largest and fastest growing minority group.  With the population of the United States aging, and the likelihood of developing a disability or other mobility limitations increasing with age, the growth in the number of people with disabilities can be expected to rise dramatically.  Also impacting this formula is the growing population of veterans with disabilities.

The World Health Organization (WHO, 2003) indicates that people with disabilities are one of the largest and fastest growing minority groups. Public and private entities that make their technology accessible can reach and better serve an untapped and underserved market, a demographic that represents both spending and voting power, a population that exhibits a strong desire to learn and improve despite facing physical and developmental challenges (The Solution Marketing Group, 2007).

Around the world more than 750 million people with disabilities are gaining recognition as a significant and growing market for products and services, and they are making their needs and expectations known to governmental bodies, organizations, and businesses.  Using information and communication technology that is accessible is the fastest way in which to reach and serve people with disabilities and the elderly in an equal fashion as those without disabilities.

Millions of people with disabilities regularly travel, shop, go to school, and eat out with family and friends.  A study by the U.S. Department of Education found that one in three households in the U.S. is affected by a disability. The 2000 U.S. Census reported that almost 42% of older adults (65+ years) have one or more disabilities. In fact, in the US the percentage of people with disabilities is larger than any single ethnic, racial, or cultural group.  At 19.3%, the number of people with disabilities exceeds the next largest group — Hispanic people (14.9%) — by a fairly wide margin (U.S. Department of Justice, 2005).

Harmonization of state, federal and international accessibility legislation, regulations and standards offers the promise of constraining the cost to vendors to test and certify E&IT product compliance to diverse sets of otherwise similar accessibility guidelines. Consumers of all abilities benefit from the reduced cost of bringing accessible E&IT products to market when harmonization of accessibility laws, regulations and standards is embraced.

An inclusive and universal design approach to technology is critical to both government agencies and private industry wishing to anticipate future needs of this growing population.  By recognizing the importance of the protection and promotion of the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities through assistive technology, the world is just beginning to strengthen policies, strategies, and programs along with an increase in awareness of the public at large of the importance of the issue of disability and assistive technology.

Where environmental and privacy issues are more homogenous, issues around E&IT tend to be more disparate.  Due to the many types of disabilities and age-related impairments, one size accessible product solution does not fit all.

Providing accessible E&IT products, web and non-web-based information and services also benefits the growing population affected by age-related impairments, in addition to people with disabilities.

“Underlying the legal and practical realities of the ‘information age’ is the recognition of the vast capacity of accessible technology to unlock human potential, to tap into great reservoirs of intellect and ability that have gone largely untapped until now, and to maximize productivity and performance for all,” says John Kemp, a leading disability law expert and CEO of Abilities!  A NY based non-profit that supports people with disabilities.  www.abilitiesonline.org

Nations across the world are currently adopting new laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, as well as increasing the protection of civil rights for people with disabilities and expanding freedoms for all.

Demand for accessible technology and services will continue to rise as well as the public’s understanding of, and requirement for, technology that is usable by every citizen.  (Forrester Research 2003.)

To comply with guidelines and to include this valuable group of consumers, it is important that all diversity and HR processes, information, communications and technology (ICT), product development and service touch points are fully accessible to everyone.  This includes mobile technology, kiosk, software, documents, social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.), websites, and other forms of communications.  The need to be accessible grows as our reliance on technology and use of social networks increases.

For further information about TecAccess and their current endeavors, visit their website at SSB Bart Group

Why Is Apple Embracing the Community of People with Disabilities?

By Debra Ruh, CEO and Founder of Ruh Global Communications

Apple is said to be taking steps to make its iPhone and iPad more user-friendly for people with disabilities. Since the products all use touch screens, some with visual or mobility impairments can have trouble with the devices; however, in a recent filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple has said it is seeking to patent a method for connecting its products to accessories that could act in place of a touch screen. I know their products have always been thoughtfully designed, with assistive technology included in all of their devices as a standard feature. Now it looks like they are planning to take it a step further – raising the bar for accessible mobile technology.

So why does Apple care so much whether or not people with disabilities can use their products?

I recently joined the legions of Apple users by buying and falling in love with my iPad2. My son, a senior in VCU Arts College, has been a long-time fan of Apple products and encouraged me to give them a try. At first I was all thumbs and couldn’t even figure out simple things like cut and paste. I was a programmer for many years, and because of that I think the problem was that I was trying to make everything so complicated. I had been training myself for many, many years to navigate around my Windows based PCs, and I wasn’t expecting my iPad to be so intuitive. Don’t get me wrong I am still a big fan of my PC and Windows, but I do adore my iPad2.

I didn’t have to go to Apple to get a tablet – there are some amazing tablets on the market that use Windows based operating systems. Still, I am a technologist and I have been reading all the amazing articles about how accessible the iPhones and iPads are for my community – the community of people with disabilities.

My husband and I have two children, Kevin 23 and Sara 24. Sara was born with Down syndrome and she has inspired me every day of my life. Sara took to the iPad2 like a fish to water. I was so surprised because as I fumbled along trying to make my PC brain work on the iPad she was just zooming along. Flipping on movies, eBooks, podcasts and music, and let me tell you she is an expert at purchasing items from iTunes. It was amazing to watch and I wondered how much better her education would have been if she would have had access to a device like the iPad.

As a parent, I am grateful to Apple for including her in the wonderful digital movement. She is saving her money to buy her own iPad so she can have full access. Now if only I could figure out how to lock her out of iTunes! (Guess I will have to ask Sara how to do that…)

Okay, so why does Apple care about someone like me – a middle aged, working mother of two children-one of which happens to have Down Syndrome?

Well, according to She-conomy, an online guide for marketing to women, women account for 85% of all consumer purchases, including everything from autos to health care.

Plus, like my own, 1 in 3 households in the US are impacted by someone with disabilities. Likewise, the 2000 U.S. Census reported that almost 42% of older adults (65+ years) have one or more disabilities. In fact, the percentage of people with disabilities is larger than any single ethnic, racial, or cultural group. At 19.3%, the number of people with disabilities exceeds the next largest group – Hispanic people (14.9%) – by a fairly wide margin.

In the UK, the numbers are also equally as large. For example — CSR Europe, a European business network of Corporate Social Responsibility, estimates that 8.6 million people (aged 16 and over) self-identify as having a disability, which translates into 15% of the population. Those over 50 years of age currently account for one fifth of the UK population, and they own more than 80 percent of the country’s asset wealth and are the group most likely to vote in general elections. Surprising to some, 33% of 50-60 year olds now have a disability.
In all of Europe it is estimated that at least 39 million people have a disability. It is also estimated that in every country 10 to 20 percent of the population has some form of disability, a number that is expected to grow.

On a global scale, the National Organization on Disabilities says that this powerful group controls over $3 Trillion in discretionary income worldwide, and the numbers are growing.

Why would a company as smart as Apple care about this segment? I would say that it’s because it is providing them a solid return on investment and they are making a profit for their efforts. My family will certainly continue to buy their products – not only because they are convenient and easy to use, but because we choose to support companies that make their products and services accessible to ALL people.

Kudos to Apple – I wish them huge success in all of their future endeavors!

For further information about TecAccess and their current endeavors, visit their website at SSB Bart Group