This week in Tech and Disability news from around the world:

- AI Companions for people with dementia
-  New app released for people to crowdsource venue accessibility
-  English council adopts wheelchair crossing app

And more

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Looking at the stories I've picked out for this weeks News post I'm thinking I should deep dive a bit more on some of the topics presented here.Even before the current AI Hype cycle started we've had ongoing research into so called "Companion" apps and bots. Artificial services that would help the elderly or disabled to live their best lives. But what does this actually mean for everyone concerned? At the very least what does it mean for the privacy of the individuals concerned? What about effects on the human work force? Does the rise of the Companion Bot mean a race to cut costs?I'll try and do more deep dive articles as time permits.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/11/meet-viv--an-ai-character-fostering-companionship-for-people-wit">Meet Viv, an AI Companion for people with dementia</a>Initially based on the experiences of four women with dementia, Viv is an experimental, AI driven system that has been designed to communicate and be a companion to people who suffer from dementia. The researchers behind Viv &nbsp;(<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://feel-lab.org/about/">The felt Experience and Empathy Lab</a> based at the University of New South Wales) hope to build a tool that will provide support to dementia sufferers by easing loneliness and providing a calming effect to people in distress.Viv isn't alone of course, there's a lot of research being done into the role of companion apps and robots for aged and disability care, and it's only going to get &nbsp;busier/more interesting/controversial as question about even basic things like what IS companionship and can an artificial creation really provide it are asked and argued about.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/speaking-without-vocal-cords-ucla-engineering-wearable-tech">Wearable patch allows people to speak</a>A new patch has been developed that measures the movement of your larynx and sends the signals to a processor which converts the movements to speech.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.rollmobility.com/">New App to crowd source the best and the worst accessible locations</a>I came across this one via a couple of different routes. Firstly I saw it mentioned on TiktTok (there are a number of good Disability/Accessibility Advocates on the Tok) and then a family member mentioned it me.The Roll Mobility App is an app aimed at giving people with mobility and accessibility issues the ability to review and share their experiences with different locations. Essentially crowd sourcing an accessibility map for users.Originally launched last year with a focus on the Denver, Colorado area, it seems to have been picked up by a wider group and is continuing to gain users.<img class="image_resized" style="width:25.07%;" alt="Screenshot_20240317-150959.png" src="/uploads/Screenshot_20240317_150959_03ecb508d3.png" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_Screenshot_20240317_150959_03ecb508d3.png 72w, /uploads/small_Screenshot_20240317_150959_03ecb508d3.png 500w, /uploads/medium_Screenshot_20240317_150959_03ecb508d3.png 750w, /uploads/large_Screenshot_20240317_150959_03ecb508d3.png 1000w" sizes="100vw" width="1000"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/2024-March-149">The WHO is looking for experts to join their "Technical Advisory Group on assistive technology"</a>The WHO has put the call out for experts to join the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on assistive technology.Established in 2022, the TAG has the following functions:<ul><li>To provide independent advice to WHO on methodologies and review of evidence for the development of APL and accompanying tools such as the APS and TAP to support its implementation;&nbsp;</li><li>To provide recommendations to WHO on the use of the evidence in the aforementioned technical development;&nbsp;</li><li>To review and make recommendations to WHO on the APL based on available evidence and further identify gaps where more research is needed; and</li><li>As appropriate, to review and make recommendations to WHO on technical products in development.&nbsp;</li></ul>They're looking for people with experience in implementing Assistive Technology programs, developing AT standards or has worked in the development of AT workforce capacity<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-68350777">Portsmouth City Council adopts wheelchair crossing app</a>Portsmouth City Council has started installing new crossing buttons that make crossing the road a more accessible task.The new systems have been designed to be more accessible to people with disabilities. They are installed lower on the pole, allow users to wave their hands UNDER the box and are even blue tooth enabled, allowing users with an app to register a request to cross without even touching the system.I'd be interested to know if any of this technology has made it to Australia.Email: james AT angrybeanie DOT comMastodon: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aus.social/@purserj">@aus.social@purserj</a>Bluesky: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bsky.app/profile/purserj.bsky.social">purserj.bsky.social</a>Threads: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.threads.net/@purserj">@purserj</a>

Tech and Disability News from Around the World - 2024-03-17

Where I examine the intersection between technology and disability. The good, the bad and some of the very bad.

Tech and Disability

This week:

Accessibility and the Great AI Frenzy
Another NDIS service provider management platform folds. Where does the data go?
Two UK Councils trialling AI Voice Assistants
A toothbrush for your whole mouth
Microsoft Accessibility Summit 2024 

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So it's been a bit of a busy week in the world and the stories I'm presenting below are just a sample of what's going on.What I find particularly interesting is the fact that accessibility tech is being drawn into the "Great AI Frenzy". I mean I suppose it was inevitable, and (to the shock of some I think) there are actually genuine use cases for Machine Learning/AI both in the medical fields AND accessibility. The danger is when we start seeing "AI" being used where it's really not needed, or worse where it can do real harm.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/workplace/ndis-provider-goodhuman-forced-into-liquidation-owing-nearly-3m-20240308-p5fawd">Another NDIS Software Provider goes bust</a> (It's behind a pay wall)SAAS (Software As A Service) provider GoodHuman has been forced into bankruptcy with debts of up to $3 million owed to current and former staff. GoodHuman offered a range of services to NDIS Service Providers at the smaller end of the scale, including maintenance and storage of Customer Records, Digital Service Agreements and NDIS Budgets.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:72.82%;"><img src="/uploads/goodhuman2_20a6b0c7b1.png" alt="goodhuman2.png" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_goodhuman2_20a6b0c7b1.png 245w, /uploads/small_goodhuman2_20a6b0c7b1.png 500w, /uploads/medium_goodhuman2_20a6b0c7b1.png 750w, /uploads/large_goodhuman2_20a6b0c7b1.png 1000w" sizes="100vw" width="1000"><figcaption>A screenshot of the services offered by GoodHuman</figcaption></figure>If GoodHuman is sold off piecemeal or picked up wholesale one of the key questions is going to be what happens to that data?<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://attoday.co.uk/ai-voice-assistant-service-communicates-information-to-residents-in-richmond-and-wandsworth/">Two UK Councils trial "AI Voice Assistant" for community members receiving adult or social care</a>The <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/">London Borough of Wandsworth</a> and the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.richmond.gov.uk/">London Borough of Richmond on Thames</a> have partnered with an "Conversational and Generative AI" company called <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tovie.ai/">Tovie</a> to power a three month pilot of Generative AI powered Voice Assistants.The pilot will look at two use cases:<ul><li>In the first, they will be using an AI powered Voice Assistant to contact residents who are on waiting lists for different services (which services aren't specified) and inform them of their status and also gather relevant information.</li><li>In the second they appear to be pitching as a first level support service for people who are using devices provided by the councils.</li></ul><blockquote>The assistant will engage with them to understand their usage of the device, assist with troubleshooting should potential issues arise, and communicate any concerns back to the council team through a central mailbox.</blockquote>I'll see if I can follow up on this in three months time.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://newmobility.com/curaprox-samba-robotic-toothbrush/">New Powered toothbrush gives those with limited dexterity better cleaning power</a>&nbsp;It's amazing how doing something simple like brushing your own teeth can be both achingly frustrating and empowering at the same time. For people with low manual dexterity, brushing can be a chore, even a hazard.&nbsp;Now there's a new toothbrush on the market that's aimed at giving people with low dexterity back control. It looks like a beast but it seems to do the job.<img class="image_resized" style="width:50.52%;" alt="Samba-Product-Photo-1024x539.jpg" src="/uploads/Samba_Product_Photo_1024x539_e603a88488.jpg" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_Samba_Product_Photo_1024x539_e603a88488.jpg 245w, /uploads/small_Samba_Product_Photo_1024x539_e603a88488.jpg 500w, /uploads/medium_Samba_Product_Photo_1024x539_e603a88488.jpg 750w, /uploads/large_Samba_Product_Photo_1024x539_e603a88488.jpg 1000w" sizes="100vw" width="1000"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/03/07/ability-summit-2024-advancing-accessibility-with-ai-technology-and-innovation/">Microsoft holds 14th Annual Ability Summit</a>Microsoft has recently held its 14th Annual Ability Summit and announced a set of new tools and services coming to their platforms over the next few months.<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2023/03/08/create-inclusive-content-with-the-new-accessibility-assistant-in-microsoft-365/">Accessibility Assistant for Microsoft 365</a>: A tool that makes it easier to ensure that your power point presentations and word documents are as accessible as they can be</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/accessibility/seeing-ai-app-launches-on-android-including-new-and-updated-features-and-new-languages/">Seeing AI</a>: The MS visual description app has now been released on Android and has been expanded to support 18 languages with a target of 34 by the end of 2024</li></ul>Okay, that's it for this week. Let me know if this was helpful or if you have any stories or news or even just anecdotes around how technology either helps or hinders. You can get me on any of the links belowEmail: james AT angrybeanie DOT comMastodon: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aus.social/@purserj">@aus.social@purserj</a>Bluesky: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bsky.app/profile/purserj.bsky.social">purserj.bsky.social</a>Threads: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.threads.net/@purserj">@purserj</a>Twitter: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://twitter.com/purserj/">@purserj</a>

Tech and Disability News from Around the World - 2024-03-10

We're back with another look at technology and disability

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Apologies for missing last week, lack of spoons etc etc.Lets see what we have going on this weekAs always if you have any news, or recommendations for people, organisations, blogs etc to follow then please let me know at any of these:Email: james AT angrybeanie DOT comMastodon: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aus.social/@purserj">@aus.social@purserj</a>Bluesky: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bsky.app/profile/purserj.bsky.social">purserj.bsky.social</a>Threads: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.threads.net/@purserj">@purserj</a>Twitter: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://twitter.com/purserj/">@purserj</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://designtaxi.com/news/426337/Honda-Rolls-Out-Extended-Reality-Wheelchair-Meant-For-All-Disabled-Or-Not/">Honda Rolls Out ‘Extended-Reality’ Wheelchair Meant For All (Disabled Or Not)</a>What do you get when you give an engineering and design team a brief for a wheelchair without actually including wheelchair users?You get the Uni-One, a wheelchair and "extended reality" system that supposedly allows the user to drive like a Segway, gently moving along with a little shift of your balance here and there (provided that you've actually got the ability to balance properly).<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/how-india-can-emerge-as-a-hub-of-assistive-devices-for-people-with-disabilities-2438217-2023-09-20">Global South countries struggling to deliver accessibility tech benefits to population</a>One of the challenges facing countries in the Global South like India is delivering the benefits of accessibility tech to populations that simply cannot afford them.<blockquote>According to the 2011 Census, India had 26.8 million disabled people, accounting for about 2.2 per cent of the population. However, experts estimate the number of people with disabilities to be much higher, between 100 million and 200 million. A report by WHO-UNICEF, released in 2022, revealed that access to assistive technology in countries like India can be as low as 3 per cent.&nbsp;</blockquote>So with what appears to be a massively under reported population of disabled people and even amongst the recognised grouping only a three percent cohort that can access accessibility tech, what can be done?<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://newmobility.com/nathalie-mcgloin-a-driving-force-for-inclusion-in-motorsports/">Nathalie McGloin: A Driving Force for Inclusion in&nbsp;Motorsports</a>Nathalie McGloin isn't letting a little thing like a C6-C7 Spinal injury stopping her from driving. Or in fact competing in competitive racing. With driving mods, an automatic gearbox and a custom seat insert she's able to take to the track and compete with the best.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://newmobility.com/medicare-to-cover-personal-exoskeletons/">Medicare to Cover Personal&nbsp;Exoskeletons</a>This of course is an American article, however the use of exoskeletons in the US seems to be increasing. They're transitioning from being rehabilitation tools, to home use where the user can do things like potter around in their kitchen without a frame or chair.I really need to see what the situation here in Australia is. I don't think we're at the "hey you can get this on the NDIS and go for a walk around the block" stage yet. But possibly in the next years?

Tech and Disability News from Around the World - 2024-03-03

Almost didn't get this one out. A bit of a mix of low tech and high tech.

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Almost didn't get this one out today but managed to sit down for a few minutes and get it sorted.As always if you have any news, or recommendations for people, organisations, blogs etc to follow then please let me know at any of these:Email: james AT angrybeanie DOT comMastodon: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aus.social/@purserj">@aus.social@purserj</a>Bluesky: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bsky.app/profile/purserj.bsky.social">purserj.bsky.social</a>Threads: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.threads.net/@purserj">@purserj</a>Twitter: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://twitter.com/purserj/">@purserj</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/never-give-up-reno-man-with-cerebral-palsy-paints-emerald-bay-35x10-mural/">Man with Cerebral Palsy paints 35 foot Mural</a>So at first glance this doesn't look like a tech and disability story, except it is.Connor Fogal was born with Cerebral Palsy and has very limited control over his limbs. Instead he uses things like eye tracking and head tracking interfaces to interact with devices such as his Apple computer. To paint (a life long passion of his) he uses a frame strapped to his head upon which a brush is mounted.Tech doesn't have to be high tech to help people with disabilities to achieve their dreams<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://source.wustl.edu/2024/02/engineering-ot-students-work-with-patients-to-design-assistive-tech/">Engineering, OT Students work with patients to design assistive tech</a>Continuing the theme of low tech not being no tech, the St Louis Campus of Washington University, held an inaugeral Makeathon, where Engineering and OT Students worked together to solve the needs of people with a wide range of needs.People with disabilities were included in every step of the way as Co-designers. It was a diverse group, from a six month child with motor development delays who needed belly support while learning to crawl, to a man with severe facial pain who needed a hood to help protect him from the cold.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://attoday.co.uk/design-age-institute-at-the-royal-college-of-art-reveals-pathfinder-innovation-projects/">Design Age Institute at the Royal College of Art reveals Pathfinder Innovation projects</a>Based at the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://rca.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dc1596181e5b3a109fc14363f&amp;id=73cc1387e6&amp;e=e93fb2a840">Royal College of Art</a>’s Battersea campus, Design Age Institute was set up to provide design support for Pathfinder Projects, accelerating an innovative idea for healthy ageing from a prototype towards market. The institute provides and facilitates seed funding for design, user research, opportunity scoping and mentoring, as well as connecting projects with design experts.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://acrossthecloud.net/apps.html#list-talk-for-me">Talk for Me</a>This is one of the Remarkable Launcher cohort I mentioned in the last post, but I thought I would point it out specifically.Talk for Me is an app developed by Dr Matthew Berryman with the aim to allow people to better communicate post stroke. Built on his own experiences after a stroke left him unable to communicate, he hopes to further develop and refine the app to allow not just stroke patients, but others who have trouble communicating &nbsp;to better talk to the world. &nbsp;(Dr Berryman is the feature image for this post)

Tech and Disability News from Around the World - 2024-02-24

Robots, Launchers and Flying high for this update.

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Robots, Launchers and Flying high for this update.I've always wanted to learn how to fly (I blew an awesome opportunity when I was younger and if I could I'd still be kicking myself) so seeing that there are groups who can assist people with disabilities to get their feet off the ground is very cool.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://remarkable.org/introducing-the-launcher-2024-cohort/">Remarkable Launcher 2024 Cohort has been announced</a>Remarkable is a "startup venture arm of the Cerebral Palsy Alliance". It runs multiple programs aimed at assisting new and existing startups working in the Tech and Disability Space.&nbsp;This years Cohort features startups working in everything from navigation apps for the vision impaired, to communication assistants for people who have suffered strokes and much much more.At the end of the Launcher there will be two Customer Showcase events.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.aerobility.com/">Aerobility</a>This one's pretty close to my heart. Aerobility is a UK based charity that has a focus on giving people with disabilities access to the tools required to learn how to fly.I've been pondering this for myself and will write up a post about it, not sure if there is a similar organisation in Australia, will keep digging.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.iottechnews.com/news/2024/feb/08/robot-guide-dog-to-help-visually-impaired/">University of Glasgow develops Robot Guide Dog</a>Well I suppose it was inevitable and on the one hand it's nice to see a use for the Robot Dog like systems that isn't some sort dystopic field combat system, on the other, I don't think we're quite ready for the Guide Dog to disappear.There's a whole discussion about how Robots are going to help or hinder people with disabilities. I wonder if we're having the right ones?<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.usafa.edu/cadets-look-to-patent-gaze-assisted-wheelchair-technology/">Cadets look to patent gaze-assisted wheelchair technology</a>A project to develop a new user interface that will allow people with very limited mobility to control their mobility devices with a twitch of an eyebrow is nearing completion at the US Air Force Academy.It looks very cool and is part of a long history of involvement in assistive technology development by the US military.&nbsp;

Tech and Disability News from Around the Globe - 2024-02-11

So welcome to the first draft of Tech and Disability, a blog thingy that I’m going to be using to talk about … well, Tech and Disability?

So welcome to the first draft of Tech and Disability, a blog thingy that I’m going to be using to talk about … well, Tech and Disability?The plan is to not only talk about issues facing People With Disabilities (PWD) when using tech, or having tech developed for them, but also do reviews of the tech that PWD use.I also want to hear stories from other PWD about how they’re using technology, or how the tech has let them down.You can ping me on twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/angrybeanie">@angrybeanie</a>) or email me at tad at angrybeanie dot com

Welcome to TAD

So I figured before I would get into talking about the world of tech and disability I should actually list out the tech I use to get through my day.

So I figured before I would get into talking about the world of tech and disability I should actually list out the tech I use to get through my day.<h2>What is my disability?</h2>I am what’s called an incomplete paraplegic. I didn’t injure my spine in an accident, instead I had something called a “Spinal dural arteriovenous fistula”. This fistula expanded and blocked blood supply to my spinal cord, which caused me to lose the ability to walk without technological assistance as well as issues with losing sensation, toileting and so on. Basically if it’s below my waist it’s a bit buggered.Oh and to add to the mess I have a shoulder which likes to dislocate itself. I’ve dislocated it twice in my sleep and it used to be a cool party trick when I was a kid to pop it out and back in to gross people out.<h2>What I use</h2>Walking FrameAs I mentioned above, I can walk a little with a frame. The frame I use is a Coopers Non-Folding Walking Frame (Tall). One of the challenges I face is that when I stand up straight, I’m actually 194 cm tall. This means that the vast majority of frames are too short for me.<img class="image_resized" style="width:25%;" src="/uploads/IMG_9954_small_4219db3599.jpg" alt="IMG_9954_small.jpg" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_9954_small_4219db3599.jpg 104w,/uploads/small_IMG_9954_small_4219db3599.jpg 333w,/uploads/medium_IMG_9954_small_4219db3599.jpg 500w,/uploads/large_IMG_9954_small_4219db3599.jpg 667w," sizes="100vw">The woollen holder you see was made by my wife to help me carry bottles and other things around.Manual WheelchairGiven that I’m very limited in my ability to walk, I have a manual wheelchair to get me around. This allows me to do short trips around the shops and to the doctors. However due to my dodgy shoulder it’s meant to be more of a backup than an every day thing.<img class="image_resized" style="width:25%;" src="/uploads/IMG_9958_small_ecae6cd6e3.jpg" alt="IMG_9958_small.jpg" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_9958_small_ecae6cd6e3.jpg 234w,/uploads/small_IMG_9958_small_ecae6cd6e3.jpg 500w,/uploads/medium_IMG_9958_small_ecae6cd6e3.jpg 750w,/uploads/large_IMG_9958_small_ecae6cd6e3.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw">Power WheelchairMy power chair is what my OT would prefer I use in an every day setting. It’s a magnificent beast, able to travel up to 8km/h for a distance of around 16km. Sadly, more due to my height than my weight (though that does have to shrink), we can’t get it in the van. Because I’m 194cm tall, my chair has to be tall, this means that when I use a wheelchair cab, I need the Hiace models with the high ceiling, and even then I scrape my head on the boot door. So it gets out and about when I’m going around my neighbourhood, but for outings further afield it sits there.<img class="image_resized" style="width:25%;" src="/uploads/IMG_9969_small_6fc3361276.jpg" alt="IMG_9969_small.jpg" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_9969_small_6fc3361276.jpg 104w,/uploads/small_IMG_9969_small_6fc3361276.jpg 333w,/uploads/medium_IMG_9969_small_6fc3361276.jpg 500w,/uploads/large_IMG_9969_small_6fc3361276.jpg 667w," sizes="100vw">Power BedIt’s essentially a hospital bed but fancier. It moves into different positions (which really help when I have neuropathic pains and leg spasms), it vibrates and it even has usb chargers built in. There are times when the only time I get any relief from the neuropathic pain is when I’m lying down in this bed. It frustrates the hell out of me but there it is.I was going to post a picture but I haven’t made the bed yet&nbsp;ToiletingOkay this might be considering TMI, but this is a blog about tech and disability. One of the problems I have care of the fistula, is the inability to go to the toilet, so I am now dependent on what’s called Intermittent Self Catheterisation. That means I need to rely on single use plastic catheters when I go to the toilet. Without them I would need to rely on glass catheters, or a permanent indwelling catheter, both of which increase the risk of bladder infections.Don’t worry, I won’t be posting picturesGoogle HomeLastly I use a Google home device in the bedroom. I’ve connected up my bedside light with a Genio light bulb and use either the Google home app on my phone or tablet, or voice control to turn the light on or off. This may not seem like much, but moving in bed can be quite difficult so it does make things easier.All the restAside from the above I use every day technologies just like everyone else. I have a phone, a laptop, a smart watch and so on and so forth. My use of these items isn’t much different to an able bodied person (though I have to say, step goals just aren’t a thing anymore)So that’s a snapshot of what I use to get me through my day. It’s not everything, I also have an office setup, which allows me to work from home (I’ll detail that in another post), and I’m starting to get some tech to help in the kitchen and around the house. &nbsp;&nbsp;

My Tech 

Technology is bad, but what if it can be good at the same time?

When I was in the Prince of Wales Spinal Rehab Unit (awesome place by the way, professional staff, great nurses, terrible food) I noticed this sign up in all the rooms.<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="/uploads/IMG_20191030_104353_scaled_7a56e47d51.jpg" alt="A sign on a hospital wall. It features a smiling nurse with the text &amp;quot;Hey, I'm Alexa. I'm here to help. Need help with something? Just say 'Alexa tell the nurse...&amp;quot; and then a range of options" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20191030_104353_scaled_7a56e47d51.jpg 245w,/uploads/small_IMG_20191030_104353_scaled_7a56e47d51.jpg 500w,/uploads/medium_IMG_20191030_104353_scaled_7a56e47d51.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw">Above every bed in the ward there was a small Alexa device waiting for patients to ask it for help. You could ask it for the usual Alexa stuff, time, date play a free radio stream and so on. But they also custom commands set up. If you wanted to the nurse, you could either press the nurse call button or you could tell Alexa exactly why you wanted them.Usage varied. Some people ignored them or asked for them to be turned off (the ward was happy to do so), others were more than happy to use a system which meant that they didn’t have to mash a giant button to call a nurse.I’m not kidding about the giant button by the way. For people with limited upper body movement, the large buttons were much more practical to use than the normal nurse call system. They looked a bit like this but red.&nbsp;Anyway, people used the Alexa systems to call the nurses, check the time, listen to radio and a range of different things.I never really used it myself, upper body motion was fine and I had my own devices to entertain me.However it did get me thinking about how useful these devices can actually be for people with disabilities. I myself have one setup at home so I can use it to turn out my bedroom light, listen to the radio, play music and so on. As part of a home automation system it can provide a person with a disability an interface to their home that they may not have through a touch system. The potential is great.However there is an issue with the use of these voice assistants. Privacy. By their nature they are listening devices and they are always listening. What control do we as consumers have over the data they collect? At home they are privy to all conversations near their location, in hospital those conversations will include medical information.This is a big part of tech and disability. We have to find the right balance between the benefit and the cost. For these voice assistants, the benefit is clear, they offer a relatively easy interface for everyone to access systems and information. The cost (outside of the material cost) is of course something to be determined.The intersection between big tech and disability is a growing one and one that needs proper oversight, especially from PWD themselves. So part of my job I think is to try and shine a light on it.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Alexa, fix my disability

Google wants to be your complete health record

So, waaay back in 2008 Google played around with the idea of creating an<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/technology/20google.html"> all encompassing health record</a>. The idea was that it would be THE record that patients would carry with them, moving from provider to provider and ensuring that they had the most complete record of all their health interactions possible.That effort didn’t really<a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/2509515/why-google-health-failed--too-little--too-soon.html#:~:text=Google's%20online%20personal%20health%20record,failed%20to%20gain%20widespread%20adoption."> pan out</a>. Between a lack of take up outside of the geeky set and an inability to connect with major health providers, Google did what Google does and shuttered the service in 2012.Well they’re back at it. Announcing a<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2021/04/09/google-health-records-app-care-studio/?utm_content=buffer42abb&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=twitter_organic"> new program</a> to get user feedback on a potential new Health Record system being developed by Google. It’s a small program, only 300 participants at the moment, but given the amount of health data flowing into Googles data lakes via Google Fit and Fitbit, I really don’t see them backing away from this any time soon.Google isn’t the first to play in this area, Apple is doing it, there are literally dozens of startups all trying to get into this space. I mean even the Australian Government has given it a<a href="https://www.myhealthrecord.gov.au/"> red hot go</a>.Look, the idea of a single record that a patient can carry with them that contains ALL of their history is very attractive, especially for people with disabilities (who tend to have complex medical histories). The ability to say to a new doctor “here it is, now you have all the information at your fingertips” would smooth things over so much.But the dream is often very different from reality as can be seen from the roll out of the My Health Record project in Australia. Leaving aside issues around access and data sovereignty, the My Health Record system still suffers from a lack of medical sector buy in, with even some public hospitals not integrating with it.When evaluating any of these projects we need to ask ourselves these questions:Who or what is the product?Companies exist to make money. That is not a controversial statement (well at least it shouldn’t be in 2021). So how are these companies going to turn a profit? How are they going to pay for holding that data, working with all of the various different providers and above all ensuring that the data is held securely?This is really important because if you’re not paying for it, then the company offering the service is making money in some other way. Which leads into..Who’s data is it?The ownership of patient data is a tricky one, at least here in Australia. Technically, all patient records belong to the medical organisation that generates them, NOT to the patient. How does this affect us IF Google or another Health Record provider decides to pay for access?What rights do you retain over any data that you voluntarily put into the system? Can you leave with all of your data? What are the regulations around the storing of this sort of data?Where is the data stored?Different countries have different regulations about how and why different groups (such as law enforcement) can get access to data stored by private companies. Location will also have an affect on how much you can push back IF you find your data being misused.Like I said, the ideal is great. But we need to be really careful about who controls the record. Because if we lose control now, then we’re never going to get it back. There needs to be a much larger discussion around standards and the rights of the patients than I think there has been up until now.

Google wants to be your complete health record

“Good news, disabled Australians! You’ll soon be getting an app that will implement a welfare compliance regime designed by the people who brought you robo-debt. But don’t worry, it’ll have blockchain.” – Stilgherrian in <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/ndis-gets-a-government-app-with-blockchain-but-no-ethics/">Full tilt</a>Remember when I spoke about the need for disabled people to be front and centre for the development of technology which is nominally all about them?This is a great example of what happens when they’re not.According to tech journo Stilgherrian, the National Disability Insurance Agency is going to push ahead with rolling out an app they piloted in 2018. This app we’re told is going to use the magic bean known as blockchain to provide “smart money” that would allegedly make the whole process of dealing with service payments (including working out whether the service is valid under the user plan) much easier for everyone involved.The pilot was a partnership between the federal governments Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) and the Commonwealth bank. According to their <a href="https://www.dta.gov.au/help-and-advice/technology/blockchain/do-you-need-blockchain/blockchain-case-studies/blockchain-case-study-commonwealth-bank-and-ndis">case study page</a> the use of blockchain was an arbitrary decision based on the desire of the DTA to have a play around with it.“CBA and CSIRO’s Data61 had wanted to test the potential of blockchain to enable smart money for quite a while. We were also interested to see how blockchain technology may be able to integrate with existing payments technologies, such as Australia’s New Payments Platform. The NDIS contains highly personalised budgets and payments, making it a good case study for our project.”Leaving aside the fact that the use of blockchain in the app appears to provide no real benefit to the user.“We found that a centralised database and our smart money proof of concept could achieve a similar front-end user experience.” – <a href="https://www.dta.gov.au/help-and-advice/technology/blockchain/do-you-need-blockchain/blockchain-case-studies/blockchain-case-study-commonwealth-bank-and-ndis">DTA Case Study</a>The app itself has issues for people who self manage. One of the state benefits of self management is that you are not limited to NDIA approved suppliers for services. You pay out of your own funds or submit an invoice, connect it to your goals and then it’s verified by the NDIS and paid out. At the moment this is a bit of a clunky process not helped by the fact that the NDIS payment gateway isn’t the best designed system in the world.The app on the other hand, seems very much guided towards pushing self managed people towards NDIS approved suppliers only (especially as because it has a token based payment system). They even note this in the Commonwealth Banks <a href="https://www.commbank.com.au/content/dam/commbank-assets/business/industries/2018-11/making_money_smart_report.pdf">own report</a> (PDF)“However, general providers of services, such as home cleaning business, may have lower incentives to pre-register, as only a small proportion of their income may derive from the NDIS.To overcome this issue, it may be possible to establish a graduated registration process, whereby for small transactions, service providers and/or participants could register the service in the moment, by manually entering the details and providing the service provider’s bank account information. As service providers generate more revenue from the NDIS, or experience repeat custom from NDIS participants, they could then be required to more formally register their services.”Now don’t get me wrong. The NDIS plan management site drastically needs a rebuild. Its not obvious how much money you have left in each of your categories, attaching documents to payments requests means they appear to disappear into the ether and all in all it’s just slightly rubbish.However what we’re getting is UI/UX improvements combined with an experiment that even the DTA and Commonwealth Bank admit doesn’t give any real world benefit to the user, and appears to be borderline as to whether it gives any backend improvements over other approaches.Given the apparent desire to push self managed participants towards NDIS approved only and to in fact capture more providers in the NDIS token system, I really get the impression that the app and systems behind aren’t being built primarily with participants at the centre, but more the desires of the NDIS.Combine this with claims of <a href="https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2021/04/10/robo-debt-public-servants-now-shaping-the-ndis/161797680011420#hrd">robo-plans</a>, “NDIS Razor Gangs” and so on, and you’ve got a whole bunch of people worried that this is going to be the start of a process that is going to reduce people with disabilities to numbers on an excel spreadsheet to be pushed around as needed to make the bottom line look good.

Blockchain is never the answer

Striking a balance between Autonomy and Safety

<blockquote>InteliCare’s 24/7, in-home technology gives you smart insights, direct to your phone, that helps detect and prevent falls and health issues before they happen.</blockquote>That’s the pitch given by<a href="https://intelicare.com.au/"> Intellicare</a>, a five year old company that is hoping to use Artificial Intelligence and in-home IoT devices to create a sort of virtual care facility.The vision is to use devices that track a person around the house (via a pendant worn by that person) to build up a data set of “normal activity”, that they can then use to catch changes of behaviour down the track. Things like changes in bathroom activity could indicate the onset of a Urinary Tract Infection, or lack of movement in areas where there really shouldn’t be might indicate that the person has had a fall. This will allow the persons family or Care Agency to be more proactive in providing the care that an elderly person or person with disability might require in home, without the need for frequent visits from human staff.Combine this with a suite of tools for Agencies to be able to manage their clients and plans for ever more complex monitoring devices and you’ve got a recipe for the Virtual Care Facility of the future!On the face of it, it sounds pretty good. Let’s face it we want to keep our ageing and disabled populations in their own homes as much as possible. Developing a system that is unobtrusive and provides health data that can prevent escalation of issues that if left unchecked can lead to institutionalisation, can only be a good thing.On the other hand there are some issues that need to be addressed.Firstly there’s the subject of autonomy. If a person agrees to the installation of this service and is comfortable with their movements and activities being tracked, that’s one thing, but what if the system becomes mandatory? Intellicare is already talking about their system as being similar to a house alarm for Insurance Agencies. Will this or similar systems become requirements for health insurance in the future? Will In Home Care Agencies require this or systems like this?What ability does the person being monitored have to turn off the system if they do desire? The elderly and PWD might not want the system to know when they’re engaging in intimate activities.Secondly there’s the subject of what data is being captured and how it’s being used. Intellicare describes itself as “an AI company, coupled with healthcare”. Their services depend on a constant flow of data building up an intimate picture of the activities of the people being monitored. At first this will be via sensors that monitor when a person enters a room, (basically each room has a beacon that senses when the pendant gets to within a certain range). However Intellicare is already talking about expanding out their IoT range to include devices that they describe as “radar like” that can monitor heart rates remotely. This would remove the need for the pendant, as the “people radars” would be able track from second to second the exact location of everyone in range.The data generated is currently used to inform their clients (the families, Care Agencies or possibly Insurance Agencies) of the health and status of each person under their care. However what else could that data be used for? Does Intellicare intend to monetise the data further by generating insights that it can sell to third parties? What happens when a person leaves the scheme? Does their data remain or does Intellicare delete it? Is there provision for the use of this data in academic research?These are all questions that need answers if we’re going to be going to be placing ourselves into the hands of Machine learning. No matter how fancy the tech, Informed Consent should always be required for stuff like this.

Striking a balance between Autonomy and Safety

After I wrote about <a href="https://www.angrybeanie.com/news/striking-a-balance-between-autonomy-and-safety">Intelicares monitoring service</a> I thought it might be an idea to reach out to Intelicare and actually ask some of the questions I had posed in the post. So yesterday I sent them a list of questions. I wasn’t sure how long it would take them to answer, however I was pleasantly surprised to find an email from Jason Waller, the CEO of Intelicare, in my inbox this morning. With his permission I have included his answers (in bold) with the list of questions (in italics) I sent below.<ul><li>When a subject leaves the service what happens to the data collected on them?<ul><li>We keep our data segregated by type in discrete databases so that we can easily separate personal details from the behavioural data. Consequently, when a service is cancelled, the behavioural data is anonymised and stored. However, the data is owned by the individual so if they requested deletion, that is what we would do.</li></ul></li><li>Do you intend to use the data gathered to supply “insights” to third parties (ie not just to clients using your service)?<ul><li>We believe there may be opportunities in the future to make anonymised behavioural data available for clinical research, with prior permission of the client.</li></ul></li><li>Given you are actively looking at devices that track heart rates from a distance (Investor Presentation) what steps are you taking to ensure the data you gather is safe?<ul><li>We have extensive security architecture in place to protect health and other personal data. We recently engaged an independent security consultant to review our data protection. Security across InteliCare was found to be well managed and aligned with industry best practice and has been assessed to pose a Low risk from a management/procedural security perspective. It was also determined that the company has demonstrated full compliance with the thirteen (13) Australian Privacy Principals (APPs) which are regulated by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Additionally, we conduct ongoing automatic penetration testing to identify vulnerabilities.</li></ul></li><li>Do you have a Privacy policy?<ul><li>Yes, <a href="https://intelicare.com.au/privacy-policy">here</a>. We also have extensive internal data protection policies and frameworks.</li></ul></li><li>When a new service is activated do you require active consent from the person being monitored?<ul><li>Yes, and this must be obtained by the carer or family who are the users of the app.</li></ul></li></ul>Thanks to Jason Waller for the quick response.

Intelicare responds

Tech, Disability and RSS Feeds, oh my!

So as you may have noticed, I fell off the tech and disability blogging thing pretty quickly. Which is both bad and completely within character for me.So, sorry about that.Now that I've kind of got things under control with the site again (though there will be more changes of course) I do want to get back into it, both the blogging and the plans I had for other multi-media work (video, audio etc).The issues still remain, galloping tech innovation can both be boon and a bane to People With Disabilities (sometimes both at the same time). I want to talk about the issues and have a look at what People With Disabilities are doing themselves in this space, both in terms of activism as well as driving the innovation that happens.I won't promise that I'll be super regular when it comes to posting, but I will try and do better this time :)Oh and one more thing. I've added an RSS Feed for Tech And Disabilities articles. That's right we're going to party like it's 2009!You can find the feed here: <a href="https://angrybeanie.com/feed/tech-and-disability-feed.xml">https://angrybeanie.com/feed/tech-and-disability-feed.xml</a>

Where to for Tech and Disability

When you're someone with a mobility issue, finding a home to accommodate you can be nigh on impossible.

It may not register as a tech hot topic, but your home is by default one of the biggest and most important bits of technology you can interact with, and no I'm not going to be talking about smart home tech, just the tech that goes into the buildings that we live in.Just how important housing design is was brought home (hah!) to me when we started looking for a new place to live for when I would come out of hospital. At the time we were living in an early 2000s townhouse (bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs) just a few minutes from the centre of town and Dapto Station. It was perfect for the kids to get to school and we had been planning to stay for a long time (in fact we’d been there three years when I got sick).However a town house was not going to be suitable for me anymore. While I had managed to struggle up and down the stairs before my surgeries, afterwards it quickly became obvious that our perfect little townhouse was now mount everest as far as I was concerned. So my wonderful, awesome wife began the task of finding us a new home. One that not only was a single level but one that allowed me to get in the front door (or in fact ANY of the doors) in my shiny new wheelchair.84 houses later and she finally found a place that was the right combination of open enough AND with a landlord who was willing to allow modifications so that I could wheel into the house via a ramp in the garage.Housing and housing technology has such a huge impact on People With Disabilities. As an example. When we moved into our new place we asked for and got permission from the landlord to have a ramp built in the garage and the bathroom modified to have hand holds installed in the shower stall. The ramp was built without an issue, and I can happily wheel into the house in either my powered or manual chair.&nbsp;I still don’t have any hand holds 2+ years later because the house - a newly built, metal framed construction - can’t support them. There is literally nowhere that we can anchor the hand holds that won’t bend or buckle under use (and no, while I am a chunky guy, it’s not a weight thing, the individual frames do not have the ability ).Now luckily I haven’t needed them yet, and fingers crossed it’s going to be a while before I do. However for others who DO need handholds in the bathroom, the elderly, others with mobility issues, it presents a real and present problem. Because no hand holds means higher chances of falls. Higher chances of falls means more risk of injury, which could lead to permanent reduction in mobility.Fixing the hand holds problem in a new metal framed house becomes more complex and expensive. It means that what used to be a simple task of find the frame and attach handhold to it now becomes, remove the bathroom wall, insert new bracing, reattach bathroom wall, wait for that to settle, THEN we can attach the actual hand holds.Throw in other accessibility issues like corridors and doorways that are too narrow for a chair, toilets that are just plain inaccessible and even surprise stairs in otherwise single storey houses (that one knocked out otherwise great houses in our search) and you’ve got an uphill battle for people with any sort of mobility issue.There is a project called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buildingbetterhomes.org.au">Building Better Homes</a> to try and get some real accessibility standards included in the National Building Code. It succeeded in getting the changes (at least the Silver level requirements) included in the National Construction Code. These requirements are:<ul><li>At least one step free entry into the house</li><li>Internal doorways and hallways that “facilitate comfortable and unimpeded movement between spaces”</li><li>A toilet on the ground floor that provides easy access (ie not just tucked in behind the laundry)</li><li>A bathroom that contains a hobless shower (important as even small rises can be trip hazards)</li><li>Reinforced walls around the toilet and bathroom. This is so those hand holds I spoke about before can actually be installed if necessary</li><li>Stairways designed to reduce the likelihood of injury and provide for future adaptability</li></ul>Huzzah!Except not quite. Acceptance of these standards is up to the individual states. Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales have all refused to sign on to the new requirements, citing increased costs as the primary reason for doing so. Which means that new builds are still being thrown up that present challenges to people with mobility issues.Sigh.Let’s face it, finding a place to live in 2022, especially as a renter, is hard enough. Trying to find a place to rent as a person with a disability can be impossible.

Housing and technology

Abandonware sucks when it's your TV, imagine what it feels like when it's your Eyes

Waaaay back in february I saw this <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye-obsolete">article</a> and I always meant to get back to it, because it's a story that goes to the heart of the intersection of disability and tech.What happens when the tech people have become reliant gets abandoned?In the tech world, stuff gets abandoned all the time. Google is particularly famous for throwing a whole lot of tech against a wall to see what sticks, and if it doesn't stick they abandon it. Your average tech geeks house is probably filled with old devices that the manufacturer either doesn't support anymore, or in fact has gone completely out of business.&nbsp;It's one thing to find that your favourite tech gizmo stopped being supported ten years ago, because you feel confident enough to try and jerry-rig a solution when it starts playing up. How would it feel if the tech gizmo in question, was in fact your artificial eye?That's the story here. The company Second Sight was the manufacturer of a visual implant system know as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argus_retinal_prosthesis">Argus Retinal Prosthesis</a>. It was available across the globe and for many visually impaired people it provided an improvement to their vision that raised their living standards. Starting in 2002, Second Sight provided the Argus I and its successor to anyone who could pony the $150,000 USD.Things seemed to be going swimmingly for all concerned. Second Sight was providing support for the devices, more people were getting them implanted and so on. That is until 2020 when Second Sight hit the wall. They'd stopped installing new Argus Implants in 2019, but were still committed to supporting the existing devices, until in 2020, they suddenly weren't. Instead they were facing bankruptcy and so pulled the plug (so to speak) on support leaving the existing users of the implants high and dry.Second Sight is looking to merge with another company called Nano Precision Medical, however that new entity is investigating implants for drug delivery rather than implants for the visually impaired.So now there are several people out &nbsp;across the globe who are literally stuck with abandonware in their heads. There's a bit of a grey market where people are trading parts but the fact is that eventually every single one of those implants is going to fail at some point. They will then have to be removed at the users expense.I'm not super up with the protections offered to consumers of medical devices, however I'm not sure if we have a system to account for this sort of situation. What protections are there for consumers of these sorts of devices? Who is responsible for mapping out a plan to support them or migrate them to another system or no system in the case that their supplier goes poof?Like I said, it's one thing to have a cupboard full of old abandoned tech gear, it's another to lose your vision again because a company disappeared.

How do you deal with Abandonware?

Soooo, this has not been a good year for data leaks/hijackings/ransoming/etc in Australia.

Soooo, this has not been a good year for data leaks/hijackings/ransoming/etc in Australia.Of course the biggest by far this year was the Optus hack, with a purported 9.8 million customers and former customers possibly affected. The details nabbed by the hacker/s include names, addresses, date of birth etc. In fact for some Optus customers those details also included their Medicare, Drivers License and Passport numbers, forcing them to get new <a href="https://www.optus.com.au/support/cyberattack/medicare-card-number-information">cards</a>, <a href="https://www.optus.com.au/support/cyberattack/driver-licence-information">licenses</a> and <a href="https://www.passports.gov.au/news/optus-data-breach">passports</a> issued.Leaving Optus aside, there has been a rash of data breaches, both intentional and accidental. From iCare (the NSW Government Insurer) accidentally mailing out the details of 193,000 claimants to the <a href="https://www.governmentnews.com.au/icare-launches-systems-review-after-193000-claimants-affected-by-privacy-breach/">wrong companies/insurance brokers</a> to the deliberate hack of CTARS (a cloud based client management system for health related businesses) and the announcement that it considers all of its data <a href="https://www.innovationaus.com/sensitive-ndis-health-data-breached-in-client-platform-hack/">potentially compromised</a> (including the personal and medical details of the clients being managed by CTARS customers).Oh and of course there's todays announcement that someone is demanding that <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/medibank-hackers-threaten-to-release-stolen-health-data-in-ransom-demand-20221019-p5br2s.html">Medibank Private pay up</a>, or they'll start releasing the medical details of influential people gained through a recent hack.<blockquote>“We offer to start negotiations in another case we will start realizing our ideas like 1. Selling your Database to third parties 2. But before this we will take 1k most media persons from your database (criteria is: most followers, politicians, actors, bloggers, LGBT activists, drug addictive people, etc) Also we’ve found people with very interesting diagnoses. And we’ll email them their information.”</blockquote>The last one is interesting and concerning (well they're all concerning) for PWD. The actual threat is is to weaponise the information they claim to have stolen (the SMH hasn't been able to verify at this point whether they have the data). This means taking the most personal information about a person and releasing it in a manner that person has no control over.For a group of people who traditionally have NOT had great experiences with privacy in the past the thought of someone just dumping their entire medical history on the net for anyone to see is extra confronting.The CTARS incident also highlights something for me. The NDIS has spawned a mini eco-system of third party providers all aiming to help make things easier for either the participants themselves or those who look after them (CTARS being a good example as many of their clients are NDIS providers). These providers have access to so much information about the participants, from medical conditions, through to enough information on the participants NDIS plans that IF someone got hold of it, they could do some serious damage.I had a look around the intarwebs this evening to see if I could find anything about standards for data storage and security that the NDIS might impose on providers but I couldn't find anything immediately. I will keep looking, but the closest I've found is this - <a href="https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/healthcare-providers/cyber-security">https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/healthcare-providers/cyber-security</a> - which seems to be aimed more at the management level and definitely doesn't seem to hold a &nbsp;“You must do this” EXCEPT when referring to the various bits of privacy legislation.I've hammered this out late so might have to tidy up, but will definitely be following this up, because I KNOW there are a lot of PWD who are really worried right now.

Data leaks and PWD

What happens when someone stomps right through your community?

Sooo if you haven't been living under a rock for the past month or so, you would probably have seen the flaming dumpster fire that is Twitter at the moment.Thanks to a certain persons management style, there has been a steady flow of people leaving Twitter (or at least starting to look towards leaving) for alternative services like Facebook and I think the biggest winner, Mastodon.&nbsp;As with all event driven migrations, this has meant the breaking of communities. Twitter, for all its faults (and there is probably a tele-novella in listing all of its faults) allowed people to form communities within the greater community. We have <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Twitter">Black Twitter</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/queer">Queer Twitter</a> and the focus this post, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/disability">Disability Twitter</a>Each of these communities has grown over the 16 years that Twitter has been in operation. People found each other, found a space to discuss issues important to them, and yes found a space to advocate for themselves to a wider world. I mean the fight against Robotdebt started and was organised on twitter by people such as Asher Wolf. We have the Disability Royal Commission in Australia being live tweeted by dedicated people like <a href="https://twitter.com/bluntshovels">El Gibbs</a> and organisations like <a href="https://twitter.com/PWDAustralia">People With Disabilities Australia.</a>Even just a space to say “Well this sucks” and have someone else recognise exactly what you're talking about.Now, it's all under threat. As I said, people are leaving for other services. I setup a masto account ages ago and I find myself there more and more. I stay on twitter mostly to keep up to date with the news, and honestly to stay in contact with the disabled community there (there's a whole other post about me getting to the point where I need to do that).I've spoken to people who are tired. They don't have the energy to pick up and move their virtual lives to an unfamiliar system. Masto is great, however it's NOT Twitter, it doesn't have the same organic search and there are a whole lot of issues with how the federation works. There are people who aren't tired per se, but the learning curve for another system combined with community inertia means they're not going anywhere fast.&nbsp;So you end up with a split community. You end up with people missing out or having to spend twice the amount of energy to keep up with both communities.And that's not even throwing in the mental energy and burn out as an emboldened far right targets minority communities.Sigh.It's all perfectly terrible and I don't know the answer. I'll be on Masto AND Twitter for the foreseeable future, but really who knows what that's going to bring.

The Twitter Fracas and the Disabled Community

It's 2023 and people still aren't getting the message.You CANNOT replace human beings with any sort of chatbot for anything more complicated that a restaurant booking service and expect it to cope.You ESPECIALLY shouldn't think that firing the humans who operate your Eating Disorder helpline (for people with complex mental health issues around eating) and replacing them with an “AI Chatbot” is going to be anything other than an actual disaster.And yet, here we are: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/may/31/eating-disorder-hotline-union-ai-chatbot-harm">https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/may/31/eating-disorder-hotline-union-ai-chatbot-harm</a>If you don't want to read the whole article (and I think you should to get the full idea of how bad it got) here's the tl;dr:<ul><li>The humans who operated a help line for people with eating disorders decided to unionise.</li><li>The organisation offering the help line didn't like that, so they fired the humans and replaced them with a chatbot called “Tessa”</li><li>“Tessa” immediately started offering tips to people accessing it on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs1jp1pPkOs/">how to lose weight</a>. Yup, on an eating disorder help line.</li><li>The organisation offering the help line ended up pulling “Tessa” from service</li></ul>So now there is no helpline at all (a decision the organisation in question says was three years in the making).Can we please just make one thing very clear. So called “AI” isn't. Even the most advanced Large Language Model is a very fancy Auto-complete that can do very clever things, but is about as “intelligent” as a brick. It certainly is no where near capable of being empathetic or handling complex human emotions or motivations.Tech is awesome, tech is great, tech can do amazing things, one thing it absolutely cannot do is fix human beings mental health.

Eating disorder helpline fires humans, employs chatbot

Imagine getting on the plane with a pair of fully functioning legs, and then as you leave the plane, someone cracks you across the knees with a lead pipe

I haven't done a lot of non car travel since I got home from the hospital almost three and a half years ago, and I certainly haven't done any flying, but stories like this - <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-16/qantas-damage-wheelchair-akii-ngo-disability-activist-inclusion/102846034?utm_source=abc_news_app&amp;utm_medium=content_shared&amp;utm_campaign=abc_news_app&amp;utm_content=other">How a trip home on Qantas left disability advocate Akii Ngo stranded with a broken wheelchair</a> - give me the heebs.The tl;dr is Akii Ngo took a short flight from Canberra to Melbourne, on one end they had a functioning powered wheelchair that enabled them to move around and be part of society, on the other they had this:<blockquote>The entire left side of the wheelchair had become detached, with numerous mounting screws loose and missing, as well as a crooked guard cover and&nbsp;misaligned wheel.</blockquote>In essence if Akii had been a non disabled passenger, it's the same as if they came and knee capped her halfway through the flight.The sad thing is that this sort of story isn't unusual. Here's a sample:<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kvrr.com/2023/08/29/delta-airlines-replaces-moorhead-teens-electric-wheelchair-damaged-in-june/">Delta Airlines Replaces Moorhead Teen’s Electric Wheelchair Damaged in June</a> - Thanks to the airline breaking this teenagers chair she developed a pressure sore. That meant she was stuck in bed for 22 hours a day waiting for it to heal. You DO NOT WANT a pressure sore</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/wheelchair-damage-after-a-flight-is-a-major-obstacle-for-this-traveler-with-a-disability/ar-AA1g841W">Wheelchair damage after a flight is 'a major obstacle' for this traveler with a disability</a> - Bad handling by airline staff damaged this womans chair to the point where they're having to rely on gaffer tape and zip ties to repair it. Note no apparent attempt by the airline to fix the issues.</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/traveling-flight-not-great-idea-090351540.html">'Traveling by flight is not a great idea for me' with wheelchair damage risk, flyer says</a> - Bits of this ladies chair were left on the plane. Thankfully the airline stepped up to get repairs done</li></ul>I'm a long way off needing to fly anywhere, but I'm not seeing an industry that's putting the interests of their disabled passengers front and centre. Chairs should never be treated as "luggage", they are expensive tools, tailored to their users and the damage can have real health consequences, both physical and mental.&nbsp;Sigh.I really need to do more Tech &amp; Disability blogging don't I.

Come fly the friendly skies, we'll break your legs for you

NSW Electoral Commission looking to rebuild online voting capacity

So it looks like the NSW Electoral Commission is looking to have another go at building an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.innovationaus.com/online-voting-nsw-gets-the-ball-rolling-on-ivote-2-0/">online voting platform</a>.&nbsp;For those who may not be aware, the state of New South Wales used to have a somewhat controversial election tool called iVote. It was an online voting platform that was both pitched as an aid for those with Vision Impairment and touted by some as the way forward in integrating the online world and our basic democratic rights and duties.For many, iVote was controversial due to inherent conflict between a system that tracks a vote and could potentially allow a vote to be tracked back to the voter and the principal of a secret vote. For others it was closed nature of the system, which meant that a voter couldn't be sure that their vote was allocated correctly, they had to trust the operators, where the paper system relied on the ability for the public to scrutinise and verify that votes were counted correctly.What iVote DID do however was present the Vision Impaired with an alternative to either having a delegated election worker fill out the form for them or a dated telephone voting system. Braille voting slips have only just become available for Local Government Elections in New South Wales and aren't available for State or Federal elections.So everything was trundling along fine, iVote seemed to work for the State elections and then the NSW Electoral Commission decided to use iVote for the 2021 Local Government Elections. That's when the front fell off. &nbsp;Driven by much higher than expected demand (the 2021 elections were being held in the shadow of the COVID pandemic, with more people opting to vote online rather than in person) the system wasn't able to cope and crashed on election day. A number of elections had to be re-held due to determinations that the system crash had materially affected the outcome by preventing people from voting.In the ensuing furor it was decided that iVote would no longer be offered at all in future elections as the public trust in the system was irreparably broken.iVote was dead, and the vision impaired were stuck back with the telephone or asking someone else to fill out the form for them.This new attempt at an online voting tool appears to be starting with vision impaired people as the primary target.<blockquote>The NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC) on Friday <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tenders.nsw.gov.au/?event=public.rft.show&amp;RFTUUID=D7018DD5-9815-4027-C56D9F95280073B5">kicked off its search</a> for a new off-the-shelf internet voting system for elections that could be used by as many as 4,000 blind or low vision voters during the 2027 state election.</blockquote>So they're not looking at this being available until 2027 (at least they'll have braille voting slips for the 2025 Local Government Elections), and there will be all the challenges inherent in building an online election system. The tender put does require that the successful vendor adhere to the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ecanz.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-10/Eleven%20essential%20principles%20for%20an%20Australian%20internet%20voting%20service.pdf">Eleven essential principles for an Australian internet voting service</a> (PDF) so we'll see how well that tracks.Look personally, I'm not a huge fan of computer based voting systems. This may come from a very deep well of cynicism I've built up in the time in the industry and could be a personal failing. However the vision impaired deserve better than what they have now, and if we can ensure that the NSW Electoral Commission doesn't just get blindsided by the shiny tech (hush those of you I know who are rolling their eyes) then perhaps something useful will come out of it.

NSW Electoral Commission looks to revive Internet Voting

The first of what is hopefully a weekly dump of stories about Disability and Technology

This is the start of an experiment. I'm going to start doing a weekly round-up post of different stories that I come across about Tech and Disability. I hope this proves useful.I would love to get more stories, so if you know of any decent sites/feeds, could you please pass them on to me?&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/21/the-fight-for-disability-inclusion-in-australian-agriculture">‘I had to use the grain ramp’: the fight for disability inclusion in Australian agriculture</a>A story in the Guardian about the challenges faced by people returning to farming and agriculture after becoming paralysed.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.techpolicy.press/internet-privacy-is-a-disability-rights-issue/">Internet Privacy Is A Disability Rights Issue</a>A good deep dive on the conflict for People With Disabilities when they have to decide whether they're going to sign up for different services and technologies. A lot of the time they have to share deeply personal information to get access to services they would not otherwise be able pay for. The need for better controls over what information is gathered and how it's stored/protected is huge.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://attoday.co.uk/new-smart-house-enables-people-to-try-out-assistive-tech-that-helps-them-to-live-independently/">New smart house enables people to try out assistive tech that helps them to live independently</a>Sunderland City Council in the United Kingdom has turned a former Janitors residence into a showcase for Smart Home Technologies and how they can help People With Disabilities. I've touched on this idea a little <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://angrybeanie.com/news/striking-a-balance-between-autonomy-and-safety">before</a>. Really do need to follow up on both the tech and the privacy issues.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/laws-on-self-driving-vehicles-risk-creating-new-access-barriers-disabled-peers-warn/">Laws on self-driving vehicles risk creating new access barriers, disabled peers warn</a>As is often the case in these debates, the conversation around Self Driving Vehicles and what their worth is vs the danger they represent has been missing a disabled voice. While we can safely say that the current crop are generally not ready yet, we need to make sure that any final product is inclusive and accessible.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-high-tech-shirt-is-making-opera-more-accessible-to-hearing-impaired-people-180983303/">This High-Tech Shirt Helps Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Patrons Feel Music</a>There are many approaches to allowing people with hearing disabilities to engage with musical and theatrical performances. This jacked literally allows you to feel the beat.

Tech and Disability News from Around the Globe - 2024-01-21

The second Tech and Disability News from Around the Globe post is out

Welcome to the second Tech and Disability News from Around the Globe.&nbsp;For this weeks news we have everything from Stair Assists to new voices for Welsh children.Remember if you have a story you think would be good here, please let me know at james AT angrybeanie DOT com<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://attoday.co.uk/exclusive-mobile-stair-climbers-offer-budget-friendly-solution-for-wheelchair-users/">Mobile stair climbers for wheelchair users</a>Exactly what it says on the box. As much as we would like it to be, the world is not accessible. There are many places where, like the Daleks of old, we wheelchair users are faced with the challenge that is the staircase. Some of us are able to shuffle up and down on our bums, but this is both frustrating and humiliating.Where I can see this being useful is for accessing spaces where it is impractical (either financially or structurally) to include proper mobility access.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://unlocktheeveryday.org/">Unlock the everyday</a>Unlock the everyday is a "global campaign" to highlight the importance of Assistive Technology, especially for people in the Global South who don't have the same sort of access as those in the Global North.The campaign is being driven by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://atscalepartnership.org/">ATScale</a> through partnerships with other NGOs such as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.unicef.org/">Unicef</a>, the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.who.int/">WHO</a> and the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.walkaboutfoundation.org">Walkabout Foundation</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.augmental.tech/">MouthPad</a>No that's not a typo. Rather its a new device that allows people to drive their tech using their tongue. Consisting of a pressure sensitive pad held to the roof of the users mouth by a dental plate, it connects to your devices via bluetooth. Because it presents as just another generic human input device, it doesn't require any new software to be installed.Now it is important to note that this IS in Early Access, which means that it's not available for general retail, and given the vagaries of the bio tech sector, may never get to that point. So while it appears to be very cool, just be aware.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.gov.wales/young-welsh-voices-created-children-and-young-people-who-rely-technology-communicate">Welsh Children to get Communication Technology with Welsh Accents</a>Up until recently the only voices that Welsh children who use High Tech Communication aids (devices that allow the user to input text messages and have them read out by the device) have been able to pick have been either English or Scottish accented, and the only voices that could "speak" the Welsh language were adult ones.With funding from the Welsh Government, 16 new voices have been developed that have a combination of male and female, child and teenager and English or Welsh language speakers. This means that Welsh children can now sound like Welsh children regardless of how they communicate.

Tech and Disability News from Around the Globe - 2024-01-28

Well folks, Elon Musk and Neuralink have announced the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jan/29/elon-musk-neuralink-first-human-brain-chip-implant">first human implantation</a> of the device that they're calling "Telepathy".Now this isn't the full blown "you will become one with the internet and we will fix your brain" device that Musk has been touting, rather it's a step in that direction. Part of the Prime study, Telepathy is a more specific version of the device, allowing Neuralink to test the ability for the person with the implant to control a device using their brain.As Musk himself tweeted (or X'd or whatever it's called now).<blockquote>"It enables control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking," he wrote. "Initial users will be those who have lost the use of their limbs. Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal."</blockquote>The implantation into a human IS a big step, especially considering the rather spotty record up until now for Neuralink, what with allegations of animal cruelty and being pinged by the Department of Transport for transporting hazardous materials without the proper registrations.When I first heard the news, I had conflicting feelings. On the one hand, it cannot be a bad thing that we have another company working on technology that can enable people with varying levels of disability to re-engage with the world around them on their terms.&nbsp;On the other hand, the amount of bollocksy marketing cruft about Neuralink going to save the Quads that's been thrown around annoys the hell out of me.Neuralink is just one of a number of companies and organisations that are working in the brain interface space. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://synchron.com/">Synchron</a> is an Australian/US startup that's developing something called a "Stentrode". Instead of surgically implanting a device directly into the brain they run an electrode surrounded by a wire stent into a blood vessel next to the motor cortex. This takes the signals and then sends them to a device to be translated into signals for the devices being controlled. They're already running <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05035823">human trials</a>There's also large amounts of work being done in the space of brain/spinal bridges already. Just last year a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06094-5">study was released</a> confirming that a patient with a cervical spinal injury had started walking again thanks to an implanted device. It's cumbersome at the moment and involves a backpack but it is technically wireless.Look, I can completely understand why someone would want to take part in the Neuralink trials. At the end of the day it does promise to return some measure of independence to the participant, and that is actually really important. I'm just a little sceptical, given the history of the company until now.Let's see how it goes.

1st Neuralink Human Trial Announced

Welcome to the third instalment of the Tech and Disability News from Around the Globe blog thingy.I'm still on the look out for more feeds and places to get stories, so please let me know.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://angrybeanie.com/news/1st-neuralink-human-trial-announced">Neuralink starts human trials</a>It's been an interesting week, with the news that Elon Musks' Neuralink has started human trials. In this post I explore some of my feelings about it and highlight some of the work that others are already doing in this space.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://havewheelchairwilltravel.net/lagooni-traveller-travel-commode-shower-chair/">Lagooni Traveller Commode and Shower Chair Review</a>Over at Have Wheelchair Will Travel they have a review of the Lagooni Traveller Commode and Shower Chair.&nbsp;I'm loving the fact that it disassembles down into a flat pack. Makes it a lot easier to pack for going away.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://gozeen.com/products/the-zeen">Meet the Zeen, a cross between a wheelchair and a walking aid</a>Built for people who can walk somewhat but need that security that having a seat close at hand can bring. Pricey at $6200 USD though.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-02/bus-app-for-vision-impaired-passengers-trialled-in-adelaide/103419776">New See Me App helps the Vision Impaired catch the bus</a>The See Me app has been built on the experiences of Vision Impaired software developer Cassie Hames who has struggled with a public transport system built for the sighted.Now being trialled in Adelaide, South Australia and Port Macquarie, New South Wales. The app works with real time data and the bus network to identify when a passenger is waiting or when a stop is coming up so the user can notify the driver they want to get off.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://newmobility.com/disabled-teen-wheelchair-needs/">I’m a Disabled Teen. My Wheelchair Needs to Grow with Me as I Roll Toward&nbsp;Independence</a>A piece by teenage Disability Rights Advocate Anja Hermann about the need for her technology to keep up with her changing needs as she lives her life.