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| NEXT STOP ON PRESIDENT CLINTON?S "DIGITAL DIVIDE" TRIP: |
| DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY FOR AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES |
| September 21, 2000 |
| TODAY, PRESIDENT CLINTON WILL CONTINUE HIS "DIGITAL DIVIDE" TRIP IN |
| FLINT, MICHIGAN, WITH A FOCUS ON CREATING DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY FOR |
| AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES: President Clinton will visit Flint, |
| Michigan, as part of his ongoing initiative to bridge the digital |
| divide and create digital opportunity for all Americans. The President |
| will visit a Community Technology Center that will offer access to |
| cutting-edge technology for people with disabilities and other members |
| of the community. He will see demonstrations of advanced technologies |
| such as an "Eyegaze System" that allows people with disabilities to |
| operate a computer and send e-mail using only their eyes; an online |
| physics course that is accessible to people with disabilities; and |
| electronic talking books that are accessible to people with |
| disabilities. |
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PRESIDENT CLINTON WILL MAKE ANNOUNCEMENTS AS PART OF 5 KEY GOALS TO EMPOWER
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE INFORMATION AGE: At a speech at Mott
Community College, the President will announce concrete actions by the
Administration, companies, universities and non-profits to help ensure that
people with disabilities are full participants in the Information Age by:
1. Increasing the accessibility and usability of existing information and
communication products and services for people with disabilities;
2. Improving the state-of-the-art of assistive technology;
3. Ensuring that existing efforts to bridge the digital divide and create
digital opportunity are accessible to people with disabilities;
4. Using information technologies to increase employment opportunities for
people with disabilities; and
5. Increasing access to technologies for people with disabilities who
cannot currently afford it.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGIES:
Ensuring that information and communications technologies are usable by the
54 million Americans with disabilities is critical, since it can increase
their ability to participate in the workforce, allow them to gain new
skills using online learning, and improve their quality of life:
? Only 23.9 percent of people with disabilities had access to a computer
at home, compared to 51.7 percent of those without disabilities (Department
of Education, July 2000)
? Only 31 percent of Americans with so-called "severe" disabilities are
working (Census Bureau, June 2000)
? 48 percent of adults with disabilities believe that the Internet has
significantly improved their quality of life, compared to just 27 percent
of adults without disabilities (Harris Poll, June 2000)
PRESIDENT CLINTON WILL ANNOUNCE COMMITMENTS BY GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE
SECTOR TO CREATE "DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY" FOR AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES
? CEOs of over 45 high-tech companies ? including AOL, Hewlett-Packard,
Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems -- will pledge to adopt "best practices" on
accessibility, such as training their workers to develop accessible
products and services, and identifying and fixing accessibility problems in
new versions of their hardware and software.
? Presidents of 25 of the nation's top research universities will agree to
expand research and education on accessibility.
? SmartForce, an e-learning company, will provide $20 million worth of
free access to its online training material to at least 5,000 people with
disabilities per year for the next three years.
? President Clinton will create a task force to examine Medicare/Medicaid
coverage of assistive technology.
? Americorps will provide $9 million in grants to support 1,200 AmeriCorps
volunteers to help close the digital divide, including projects that help
people with disabilities.
? The President will call on Congress to reauthorize AmeriCorps and
include an "E-Corps" dedicated to bridging the digital divide.
? The Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) will provide over $16 million in grants to
promote the accessible information technology through research and loan
programs:
- $2.5 million, 5-year grant to the Web Accessibility Initiative to help
ensure that the Web is accessible to people with disabilities;
- $7.5 million, 5-year grant to Georgia Tech for a new center on universal
design;
- $3.8 million to expand or create loan programs for assistive technology
in six states;
- $2.8 million, 4-year grant for a University of Kentucky institute to
conduct research on assistive technology for children
? The Department of Education will provide $1.8 million for an initiative
by the National Center for Accessible Media and industry to develop
standards for accessible online learning.
? The Mott Foundation will help establish a blue-ribbon commission to
develop additional policy recommendations for expanding access to assistive
technologies.
? Microsoft, Community Options, and other partners will create a New
Jersey-based business incubator with an emphasis on the needs of
entrepreneurs with disabilities.
? Sun Microsystems will create a lab to make free, "open source" desktop
software accessible for people with disabilities.
? The President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities will
expand its High School High Tech program to 4 new cities and 3 new states,
including Michigan. This program allows students with disabilities to
explore high-tech careers through site visits, mentoring and internships.
? The Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunity Program will award a
grant that will help small community-based organizations provide Web-based
services to people with disabilities.
? CompTIA will partner with Compaq and the National Cristina Foundation to
provide scholarships and training for certification, with some resources
targeted to people with disabilities.
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