Book Review: Practical Help for the Disabled

October 1996 / Bits / Book Review: Practical Help for the Disabled

Rick Cook

Adapting PCs for Disabilities by Joseph J. Lazzaro; Addison-Wesley Publishing; ISBN 0-201-48354-8; $39.95
The personal computer is a powerful tool for opening the world to people with disabilities. How to make it h appen is less obvious -- and the subject of this book.
The focus and tone are relentlessly practical. Joseph J. Lazzaro (an occasional contributor to BYTE) is less concerned with theory than with what you can buy and use today. You'll find a surprising range of hardware and software to aid people with impaired vision, motor skills, or hearing. The descriptions that make up most of the book (and the shareware and demo programs on the accompanying CD-ROM) summarize the capab ilities of each product well enough to let you make a preliminary judgment on its usefulness.
Software developers aren't forgotten. The book includes a developer's guide for writing accessible software; it's full of tips on how to design programs that don't shut out people with disabilities. As Lazzaro demonstrates, a little thought in the design phase can make the difference between software anyone can use and software that excludes people using nonstandard I/O. If you know someone who is disabled, or if you are disabled yourself, Adapting PCs for Disabilities is invaluable.

Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it is theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.

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