New technologies and new professional outlets
by Pascale Isel
The aim of this paper is to give a brief overview of the latest developments in technology (principally in the area of computers and communication) and try to analyse the consequences on the range of professional outlets available to the visually impaired.
By "professional outlets" my intent is not to list the various jobs that are or might become accessible but rather to look at trends in terms of their evolution.
First, a history of major developments in the past 15 years
In the tertiary sector, computers made their first appearance some twenty years ago, revolutionising professions such as secretarial work where typewriters were soon replaced by word processors, the old telephone switchboards were coupled to internal networks, etc. These kinds of changes were a challenge for visually impaired people seeking to enter the world of work, and for those already in employment who wanted to stay working in that job.
Then a little over 15 years ago the arrival of Braille terminals, voice synthesis and character magnification software opened up new horizons: the blind, like their colleagues, could also now use computers (subject to certain conditions). This meant that professions such as secretary or telephone switchboard operator were still open to them and others, such as analyst-programmer, became available.
In those days, people worked mainly in text mode in the MS-DOS environment and changes came about slowly. However, the arrival of graphic interfaces and Windows in particular gave little respite to the developers of technical aids. As we entered the graphic mode the techniques in which the skills of the visually impaired prove particularly valuable (dexterity on the keyboard, good memory for shortcut keys, etc.) started to lose ground in the face of the new, visually intuitive software and the use of the mouse.
10 years ago we were all terribly pessimistic and convinced that the computer era, for the blind, was over! How very wrong we were to think that way! And thank goodness!
The environments used now are mainly graphic and our technical aids provide us comfortable access to some major applications.
Two trends, however, can be seen
Iconography increasingly supersedes the written word not only in software interfaces but also on equipment (portable phones, for instance). Rather than the word "directory", a book is designated by pages flicking through automatically; the help system is designated by a picture of a little man. All of these "user friendly" devices are obviously more difficult to interpret using technical aids.
More positively, though, accessibility problems are now taken into account much earlier in the design stage. The Windows system includes accessibility tools for developers; the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) through the WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) has devised and set forth applicability rules for the accessibility of WEB sites and thus to corporate Intranet sites.
Furthermore, the increasing power of the machines have enabled integrating more performing analysis systems, and better quality voice synthesisers.
Lastly, the major revolution in the last 5 years is the increasingly widespread use of Internet, access to the WEB and to information and above all the massive use of email. For sighted persons, email is synonymous with speed, flexibility, efficiency; for the blind it additionally allows access to greater independence than ever before and virtually perfect mastery of correspondence, as paper is no longer needed. No longer is it necessary to scan piles of documents, you just have to launch Word and hear the voice synthesiser read the attached documents…
And now as computer technologies and telecommunication are gradually merging, there are portable phones offering WEB and email access, personal assistants include a modem and a telephone. This tendency along with the miniaturisation of the equipment will probably be confirmed in the forthcoming years.
The consequences on professions accessible to the visually impaired are
More multi-tasking
A secretary no longer just types but also has to file, distribute mail, receive faces, make photocopies, tasks which are more difficult for a blind person to do,
A telephone switchboard operator also handles the physical reception of visitors, has to consult computerised folders, use internal messaging systems, electronic mail, handle scheduling, etc.
A webmaster, in addition to designing and programming sites, will have to manage graphics and animated sequences.
Flexibility and adaptability
The tasks, work organisation and also the techniques and the software change very quickly, hence requiring constant updating of skills. The old days, when a person stayed in the same job for 20 years as a switchboard operator until retirement, are over.
It is therefore capital for the visually impaired to realise these changes and a) accept to continually learn new skills in the course of their career and b) admit that they may not be capable of accomplishing all of the tasks normally assigned to a person with their qualifications.
For instance, at a time when I was working on special arrangements for workstations, I had to deal with the case of a male secretary who had managed to pass a competitive examination to become an administrative assistance and had joined a team of secretaries. Unfortunately, the tasks entrusted to them were varied in nature and he could not accomplish all of them however well we adapting his working conditions. His line management found him a more appropriate position as a telephone receptionist providing information to the public; the agent could access the databanks in real time using a specially adapted workstation. The blind agent, though, refused that job, arguing that it did not correspond to the job profile for which he had been recruited. After several unfruitful attempts and a few job changes the agent found himself sidelined. I think it is fair to say that this outcome was chiefly of his own doing.
Definition of the professions to which we can reasonably orient the visually impaired
In view of the above, we should continue to develop and inform employers of the strengths of the visually impaired, generally an excellent mastery of oral communication, use of the keyboard, good memory, analytical ability and writing skills.
Among those professions, we can mention: telephone receptionist, telephone counsellor, telemarketer, remote secretarial work (for instance handling appointments in doctors’ off