HP Assistive Technology Vendor News

When you view the Accessibility home page, you’ll see that we’ve made the section to “Find the technology, tools and services you need” very prominent on the page.  Customers can drill down here to find listings of assistive technologies sorted by impairment type , product type, or by partner name.

Drilling down through the partner name option takes you to the page where HP AT vendors are listed in alphabetical order.  You’ll see a very brief description of your solution, and a link that takes customers directly to your own Web site.

Customers also are able to purchase select assistive technologies through the HP small-medium business online store.  This link is found on the HP Accessibility Web site, too.

The HP Accessibility Web site is part of the world-class HP.com Web site, which has been recognized by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) through its Nonvisual Accessibility Web (NVA) Certification, making HP one of a handful of companies to be so certified. NFB has noted that “the scope of the accessibility has expanded with HP's homepage, gateway pages, and a representative set of over 40,000 public-facing Web pages demonstrating an expanded commitment to accessibility.”
 
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“Now, with the support of HP, we can implement complete accessibility solutions for our customers with direct support from one of the most respected names in computing,” said Nick Tostenrude, CEO, EnableMart. “With HP’s world-class technology solutions and our breadth of assistive technologies, customers can have confidence that they are getting the highest-quality complete accessible solution available.”

Customers are directed to EnableMart.com via a link on the HP Accessibility Web site. EnableMart customer service representatives can help buyers configure the computers to suit their specific needs. Each HP computer system is custom built and combined with the necessary assistive technologies so an organization can provide access options for those individuals who have alternative access needs.

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• Equipment discounts – Purchase various types of HP equipment for your development, demonstration, or testing purposes at a reasonable discount. You also can rent HP equipment for short periods, such as for a trade show spanning a few days.
• Strategic go-to-market planning – Enjoy help with planning and strategy development so you can focus your competitive efforts and stop wasting money on uncoordinated and/or unproductive tasks. The consultant-led Market Strategies & Planning sessions guide you through strategically evaluating your unique business goals and developing an actionable plan to address those goals.
• HP Solution Demo Portal – This portal acts as a virtual tradeshow so that prospective customers can see a “Flash” demonstration of your product. At this time, HP is offering free space on the portal for a year to the first 50 DSPP partners who sign up.
• Sales drivers – These drivers are turn-key direct mail pieces that can be customized and sent to the customer list of your choice. You provide the content, and we’ll do the rest to create the mailer.

To see what other business development resources are available to you, please visit the DSPP Web site. Be sure to log in to get detailed information about the program.

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The new Ease of Access Center provides a centralized location where you can get quick access to adjust accessibility settings and manage assistive technology programs.

Magnifier will magnify the computer screen up to sixteen times and has the ability to track the mouse, the keyboard, or text editing. Narrator, a text-to-speech tool, now reads Narrator menus without leaving the active window.  In addition, Windows Speech Recognition is fully integrated into Windows Vista, offering state-of-the-art voice recognition accuracy that is designed to improve as people use it, adapting to their speaking style and vocabulary.

Even with the increase in features built in to the new operating system, there still will be a need for specialized assistive technologies that work on the Windows Vista platform.  With Windows Vista’s target release date a half year from now, this is the time for partners to complete the development process to have products and applications available at “first customer ship.”  Earlier this year, HP and Microsoft jointly hosted a porting lab for AT vendors who are porting their applications to the Windows Vista platform on HP desktop and notebook computers.  According to Bonnie Kearney, Director of Marketing for Microsoft’s Accessible Technology Group, “We have received feedback from our AT partners that our porting labs reduced their development time up to two months.”  The Windows Vista development cycle represents the first time AT partners have had working beta versions of assistive technology products running on a beta version of Windows.  Kearney adds, “This was possible because of strong partnerships between Microsoft, HP, and AT partners.” HP and Microsoft began this partnership several years ago.

In addition, HP has added its support for a nationwide network of Microsoft Accessibility Resource Centers (MARCs). These centers provide much-needed accessibility consultation to businesses, schools, and individuals looking for empowering technology solutions.

Each center in the MARC network provides training and consultation on computer accessibility solutions -- including accessibility settings built right into Microsoft Windows, and guidance on selecting additional assistive technology products as needed. Each center soon will be equipped with a new HP desktop computer running Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007, and training materials. In addition, centers are supported with Microsoft accessibility video demonstration and tutorial CD sets they can distribute to clients. By early 2007, centers will start providing training and consultation for Windows Vista and new assistive technology products that run on Windows Vista.

"HP is committed to connecting people to the power of technology. The Microsoft Accessible Resource Centers with HP desktops running Windows Vista demonstrate how HP is working with Microsoft to deliver technology and information that is accessible to people with disabilities or age-related limitations,” said Michael Takemura, Director, HP Accessibility Program.

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As part of this effort, the Board also plans to update its guidelines for telecommunications products and equipment covered by the Telecommunications Act. Section 255 of this act ensures access to telecommunications products and services. Issued in 1998, the Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines provide operating characteristics and product capabilities necessary for access. Provisions in the section 508 standards for telecommunication products are based on these guidelines. However, the Telecommunications Act guidelines are not limited to technologies procured by the Federal government and apply to products designed, developed and manufactured in the U.S.

The Board has appointed an advisory committee to review its standards and guidelines and to recommend changes. In conducting this update, the Board will coordinate its work with international organizations, such as the European Union (EU), Japan, and other nations in order to advance global harmonization and standardization.

Section 508 and Section 255 impact many HP products and services, which are designed to conform to these guidelines.  We will be watching closely the U.S. Access Board's efforts to update the standards so that HP can take appropriate measures to incorporate the changes into our products and services. 

HP documents how our products conform to current Section 508 guidelines via Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) available online to assist customers determine which product meets their accessibility needs and requirements.  In developing our VPATs, we test various AT products for compatibility and interoperability.

Another resource for government agencies is the Buy Accessible Wizard, a web-based tool developed by the Government Services Administration (GSA) to help users determine and document Section 508 requirements that apply to a particular electronic and information technology (E&IT) acquisition.  Technology vendors are encouraged to enter their product information into the database that drives the wizard.  If you haven’t already, you should consider posting your AT product information here; it is one more way for potential customers to find you.

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The SWG-A has two task groups: one to determine the user requirements for accessibility, and the other to make an inventory of existing standards worldwide. The user requirements task force is chaired by HP and includes representatives from the U.S., Japan and the U.K.  The standards task force is led by representatives in France, U.S., Japan, U.K. and Canada.

The most recent meeting of the group was in Brussels in September 2006.   The two task groups presented their results at the CSUN conference in March 2006.

Once both studies are complete, they will be compared to develop a gap analysis between the user needs for accessibility and the standards that exist today.  Ultimately, the SWG-A hopes this work will lead to harmonized standards that consider user needs.

Harmonized accessibility standards will help your company by reducing the number of conflicting standards, and by specifying the accessibility needs of customers around the world.

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