Enabling Equal Information Access to All Users
2012.05.22
Visionary : T.V. RAMAN [Research Scientist, Google]
The move to electronic information liberates the message from the medium.
When you write down your idea on paper, you assume that the reader can "see" what you wrote and "understand" the script and the language you used.
Separating the "message" (thoughts, ideas) from the "medium" (black marks on white paper) liberates the underlying information and makes it available to be consumed in a wide variety of ways.
Electronic information can be spoken out aloud, translated to different scripts like Braille and to different languages, and can be processed by machines, full-text search, concept-based search etc. This move has a profound impact on enabling equal information access to all users. This also serves to enable equality of access to users who are blind.
These advantages are even more significant in an age of cloud-based electronic information with ubiquitous access enabled by ever-powerful mobile devices. This talk will outline the profound impact that this evolution has on how we work and play, and on ensuring that the coming information flood raises all boats.