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NEW TECHNOLOGY ENHANCES WWII MEMORIAL EXPERIENCE
28 May 2004 - University of Wisconsin-Madison
| Thousands of veterans and their families will attend the Memorial Day weekend dedication of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Those visitors can find their names and the names and service information of their friends and family members using touch-screen kiosks that incorporate accessibility technologies developed at the Trace Research and Development Center in the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. |
Thousands of veterans and their families will attend the Memorial Day weekend dedication of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Those visitors can find their names and the names and service information of their friends and family members using touch-screen kiosks that incorporate accessibility technologies developed at the Trace Research and Development Center in the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Virginia-based Eagle Collaborative Computing Services, Inc., a Vietnam-era veteran-owned company, developed the kiosks, which are located in the memorial's information plaza. ECCS implemented the Trace Center's EZ Access techniques. EZ Access is a set of simple interface enhancements that manufacturers can seamlessly integrate into electronic products and devices such as public information kiosks, ATMs and cellular phones, so more people, including those with disabilities, can use them. A product that has only a touch screen may be difficult or impossible for many people to use. With the addition of just a few buttons and voice output, it becomes usable by people who cannot see, read, reach the screen, or make fine movements with their arms, hands, or fingers. The addition of captions further extends the product to people who cannot hear. Trace Center staff trained the ECCS team how to design information systems that are cross-disability accessible and usable by the broadest spectrum of people. "It is especially appropriate that these kiosks will work well for members of the World War II generation who are being honored," says Gregg Vanderheiden, Trace Center director and a professor of biomedical engineering and industrial engineering. "Many of these veterans now have limited vision, hearing or physical abilities that might have made a less accessible kiosk very difficult or impossible for them to use independently. ECCS has done an excellent job-beyond what they were required to do." The Trace Center developed EZ Access over the past six years as an outgrowth of its ongoing research and development on how to design standard information systems and products so that they are accessible for people with disabilities. Funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Trace has worked in the field of disability and technology for 33 years and is the leading center for research in the area of accessibility of standard information and telecommunications technologies.
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About: University of Wisconsin-Madison
In achievement and prestige, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has long been recognized as one of America’s great universities. A public, land-grant institution, UW-Madison offers a complete spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs and student activities. Many of its programs are hailed as world leaders in instruction, research and public service.The university traces its roots to a clause in the Wisconsin Constitution, which decreed that the state should have a prominent public university. In 1848, Nelson Dewey, Wisconsin’s first governor, signed the act that formally created the university, and its first class, with 17 students, met in a Madison school building on February 5, 1849. From those humble beginnings, the university has grown into a large, diverse community, with about 40,000 students enrolled each year. These students represent every state in the nation, as well as countries from around the globe, making for a truly international population. UW-Madison is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Wisconsin System, a statewide network of 13 comprehensive universities, 13 freshman-sophomore transfer colleges and an extension service. One of two doctorate-granting universities in the system, UW-Madison’s specific mission is to provide "a learning environment in which faculty, staff and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and transmit the knowledge, wisdom and values that will help insure the survival of this and future generations and improve the quality of life for all." The university achieves these ends through innovative programs of research, teaching and public service. Throughout its history, UW-Madison has sought to bring the power of learning into the daily lives of its students through innovations such as residential learning communities and service-learning opportunities. Students also participate freely in research, which has led to life-improving inventions from more fuel-efficient engines to cutting-edge genetic therapies. Students, faculty and staff are motivated by a tradition known as the "Wisconsin Idea," described by UW President Charles Van Hise in 1904 as the compelling need to carry "the beneficent influence of the university ... to every home in the state." The Wisconsin Idea permeates the university’s work and helps forge close working relationships among university faculty and students and the state’s industries and government. |
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