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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Fulfilling the Promise of the Personal Computer: The Development of Accessible Computer Technologies, 1970-1998 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History (Science Studies) by Elizabeth Petrick Committee in charge: Professor Cathy Gere, Chair Professor Kelly Gates Professor Tal Golan Professor Charles Thorpe Professor Robert Westman 2012 Copyright Elizabeth Petrick, 2012 All rights reserved. This dissertation of Elizabeth Petrick is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2012 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page…………………………………………………….……………………… iii Table of Contents…………………………………….………………….……………….. iv Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………..…….. vi Vita and Publications….………………………………………………………….……. vii Abstract of the Dissertation………………………….…….…………………………… viii Chapter 1 Introduction: The Development of Accessible Personal Computer Technologies……………….…….……………….………………….....….. 1 1.1 Terminology……………………………………………………………. 7 1.2 Theoretical Foundations………………………………….……..……… 9 1.3 Chapter Outline………….………………………………………………. 40 Chapter 2 Disability Rights and Technology before the Personal Computer…..…….. 45 2.1 Disability Rights Legislation and Enforcement…………………………. 47 2.1.1 Architectural Barriers Act of 1968.………………………..……. 50 2.1.2 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973……………..……. 53 2.1.3 Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975……..……. 59 2.1.4 Challenges to the Enforcement of Disability Rights………..…… 60 2.2 Computer Technology and People with Disabilities………………..…. 63 2.2.1 Blind Computer Programmers in the 1960s and 1970s…………… 64 2.2.2 Special Interest Group on Computers and the Physically Handicapped….………………………………………………..…. 69 2.2.3 Murray Turoff and Computerized Conferencing……………….…. 74 2.2.4 IBM and People with Disabilities……………….…………….… 80 Chapter 3 Early Personal Computer Accessibility, 1980-1987………….…………... 88 3.1 Computer Potential…………………………………………………..… 89 3.2 Johns Hopkins' Contest on Personal Computing to Aid the Handicapped 92 3.3 Accessible Personal Computer Technology for Consumers………….. 100 3.4 Unicorn Engineering and the Brands.…………………………………. 109 3.5 The Disabled Children's Computer Group……………………………. 120 3.6 Computer Companies and Accessibility in the 1980s………………….. 126 3.6.1 IBM and Personal Computer Accessibility……………………… 129 3.6.2 Apple Computer's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation 135 Chapter 4 Building the Network: Corporate Philanthropy and The National Special Education Alliance………………………………….……………………… 147 4.1 Creation of the NSEA.………………….……………………………… 149 iv 4.1.1 NSEA Charter Members…………….…………………………… 157 4.1.2 Benefits for Resource Centers and Technology Vendors……….. 164 4.2 The Alliance Becomes Independent…….………………………….….. 167 4.3 The DCCG after the Brands, 1987-1991………………………………. 172 4.4 IBM Programs and Technologies for People with Disabilities, 1984-1991.…………………………………………………………….. 177 Chapter 5 The Growth of Disability Rights and Accessible Computer Technologies… 190 5.1 The 'Deaf President Now' Protest at Gallaudet………………………… 191 5.2 Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988…………………………………………………………………….. 196 5.3 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990………………………….. 204 5.4 The Alliance for Technology Access after the ADA…………………… 212 5.5 The ATA and IBM Partnership………………………….….………… 219 Chapter 6 Accessibility and Software Applications in the 1990s…………………….. 227 6.1 From Text to the GUI.…………………………………………………. 230 6.2 The Alliance for Technology Access and Brøderbund Software……… 246 6.3 Alliance for Technology Access Publications…………….…………… 255 6.4 The Center for Accessible Technology……………….….……….….. 267 6.5 Brand and Brightman Move On………………………………….…… 272 Chapter 7 Conclusion: The Promises of Personal Computers………………….…… 278 Works Cited……………….……………….……………………………….………….. 290 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the help and guidance of many people. First, I would like to thank my graduate advisor, Cathy Gere, for providing me with detailed feedback on the many drafts I went through to get to this point. She has done her best to make me a better writer, and I will always appreciate it. I also want to thank Charles Thorpe for making the time to run a dissertation workshop group with all of his students; his and their feedback has been invaluable, particularly in helping me to consider interdisciplinary views. I am also grateful to Tal Golan, Robert Westman, and Kelly Gates for their encouragement and feedback along the way. The graduate students at UC, San Diego–in History, Science Studies, and elsewhere– have helped me, throughout my time here, to bounce ideas off of and to provide necessary critique, in particular: Kevin Walsh, Monica Hoffman, Katrina Petersen, Krystal Tribbett, Bob Long, Emily Lee, Alexandra Vinson, and Jon Stern. I cannot thank my friends and family enough for their support, in getting me here and enabling me to finish. I want to thank Holly Zynda for her copy editing expertise and Kristofer Lee for endless conversations where I mulled over problems. Finally, I never could have done this without the support of my parents, who encouraged me to change disciplines entirely and work toward a goal that seemed a very long way off when I started. vi VITA 2003 Bachelor of Science, University of Michigan 2008 Graduate Advisory Editor, Science, Technology, & Human Values 2009 Master of Arts, University of California, San Diego 2006-2009 Teaching Assistant, Sixth College University of California, San Diego 2009 Graduate Student Researcher, Sixth College University of California, San Diego 2012 Graduate Student Researcher, History Department University of Oregon 2012 Doctor of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego PUBLICATIONS Kaczmarczyk, Lisa K., Elizabeth R. Petrick, J. Philip East, and Geoffrey L. Herman. “Identifying Student Misconceptions of Programming,” Proceedings of the Twenty- Second SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Milwaukee, WI, March 10-13, 2010). vii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Fulfilling the Promise of the Personal Computer: The Development of Accessible Computer Technologies, 1970-1998 by Elizabeth Petrick Doctor of Philosophy in History (Science Studies) University of California, San Diego, 2012 Professor Cathy Gere, Chair In this dissertation, I examine the historical development of accessible personal computer technologies for people with disabilities, within the United States. I discuss the creation of these technologies within large, mass-market computer companies and small, third-party developers, along with their promotion and dissemination by disability and technology advocacy groups. I argue that accessible personal computer technologies were a part of the struggle for civil rights for people with disabilities, which became enacted viii through technological accommodations that allowed for new abilities and new forms of social participation. I divide my analysis into five parts: First, the emergence of civil rights legislation for people with disabilities in the 1960s and 1970s, alongside the use of earlier computer technology by professionals with disabilities and computer researchers trying to benefit people through cutting-edge technologies designed for their use. Second, I examine the creation of early accessible technologies within the personal computer industry and their promotion by disability activist groups, who disseminated knowledge and expertise to potential consumers, while providing feedback on users' needs to developers. Third, as computer technology began to standardize in the mid-1980s, I study the role of corporate philanthropy in furthering the development of accessible technologies and in channeling resources to non-profit organizations and individuals with disabilities. Fourth, the revitalization of the disability rights movement, in the late-1980s, led to the passage of stronger civil rights legislation for people with disabilities; I examine these laws and their affects on disability and technology advocacy groups. Fifth, I conclude with an analysis of accessible personal computer software, in the 1990s, as computer technology stabilized and accessibility had become mainstream, while new challenges remained to ensuring personal computers could work with the needs of all users. The development of accessible personal computer technologies for people with disabilities involved a struggle to fulfill the promise the technology holds: to enact civil rights and allow for fuller participation in society, to augment human abilities and provide for new forms of social interaction, and to meet the needs of all users as a universal technology. ix Chapter 1 Introduction: The Development of Accessible Personal Computer Technologies “With regard to the major physical and sensory disabilities, I believe that in a couple of decades we will come to herald the effective end of handicaps. As amplifiers of human thought, computers have great potential to assist human expression and to expand creativity for all of us.” Raymond Kurzweil, 1999.1 Raymond Kurzweil, prominent computer technology