Broadband for people with disability - PTSFS-ER-2004:33

28/09/2004

According to the assignment, PTS should no later than 1 October 2004 present the final report and an evaluation of the trials conducted and propose appropriate measures.

The assignment was divided into in total seven trial projects. 

• Broadband for people who are deaf-blind – service centre
• Broadband for people with intellectual impairments – daily information and communication
• Broadband for people with visual impairment and others with reading disabilities – distribution of digital talking books to students in higher education
• Mobile broadband for people with disability
• Distance education for people with mild aphasia
• Distance education in sign language via broadband
• Winning Communication – distance occupational guidance

The final reports on six of these trials are presented in this report. The trial with mobile broadband for people with disability will be reported to the Government no later than 1 May 2005. PTS has cooperated with the University of Linköping, Center for Medical Technology Assessment, with the trial operation, regarding a socio-economic evaluation of services for people with disability.

The trial projects that were conducted during the years 2002 to 2004 have been successful. Two of the trials, broadband for people with visual impairment and others with reading disabilities together with Winning Communication, are in the process of being established as services in ordinary operation. The education arrangers for the distance education projects have positive experience from the trials and are in the process of introducing distance education in their ordinary range of courses.

The trials implemented show that broadband creates great opportunities for people with disability. Broadband facilitates communication in pictures, text and audio for those who would otherwise have very limited opportunities to communicate, for example deaf-blind people. This creates opportunities for guidance and service at a distance by engaging expertise via video communication. It creates opportunities for people with disability who are otherwise not a part of the IT society to participate on equal terms. It creates opportunities for distance education in situations where video communication is particularly important, where the student may have difficulties in getting to school or have a long way there. It creates opportunities for many people to make use of limited resources by utilising central archives, digital distribution and decentralised management, that are used for talking books in this trial operation. People with disability generally gain great benefit from broadband and broadband services. Perhaps greater than the population as a whole, as it creates completely new opportunities for communication. This trial operation has primarily provided the participants with enhanced accessibility, first to the specific services that were evaluated, but also to public Internet-based services. As many people with disability today stand outside the IT society, a computer with broadband access enhances this. The trials show that increased accessibility creates benefits in the form of enhanced participation, freedom and independence, which promotes an enhanced quality of life.

Broadband and increased opportunities for distance communication also satisfy an important social function, a benefit that is not directly related to the actual service that is provided. Through broadband and better communication opportunities, access is gained to a greater social network. For many, this means that isolation is broken, one can communicate daily on one’s own terms with other people, with or without disability. Besides user benefits, the trials implemented show that broadband services can also provide social benefits in the form of savings and better utilisation of resources. Increased independence for deaf-blind and people with intellectual impairments can mean a reduced need for assistants. Distance education involves reduced travelling for the course participants and teachers and a more efficient utilisation of educational competence resources that are only available at specific places in Sweden. Distribution of digital talking books results in gains in the form of reduced physical distribution, environmental gains and a better utilisation of resources, as it is possible with small central resources to reach a large target group by an efficient digital distribution system. Distance occupational guidance results in shorter processing times, more efficient utilisation of expert resources and reduced travelling.

In the proposals for future work, PTS proposes the continuation of the trial operation with a service centre for people who are deaf-blind and people with visual impairment. The operation and development of the broadband service that has been built up for distribution of digital talking books should be safeguarded. One should also investigate the opportunities to broaden the service as a national digital distribution system for people with reading disabilities. The trials with streaming reading of talking books that were conducted on a small scale should continue and be increased. It is also proposed that the opportunities for a national initiative for distance occupational guidance should be investigated and that opportunities for distance guidance within other similar operations should be investigated.

Other proposals by PTS include, among other things, a deliberation on the subsidy of computers and broadband for groups of people with disabilities with weak financial resources, who are not covered by the Home PC Reform or receive computers prescribed as aids. PTS also proposes that funds should be devoted to preparing a central competence and resource centre for videoconference solutions and to stimulate distance education and other distance communication services. Continued broadband trials for people with disability with a special orientation towards mobility are also proposed, where for instance the opportunities with 3G and mobile broadband services should be investigated.