Harry (Bud) Rizer, director of the Center, said that the majority of attendees were people in education and government who came to view new products and to develop additional skills.
"My goal is that more people will learn about the potential of technology for the disabled, and take that information back with them and immediately benefit the people they work with," he said.
Rizer said there was a new collaborative climate among participants in the conference such as the Liberated Learning Project, a technology-driven educational partnership among universities in Canada, Australia and CSUN.
As governments grapple with creating accessible Web sites and other electronic services, the costs can be high. State and local governments are now paying attention to accessibility since the federal government mandated that some of its agencies purchase only accessible electronic information technologies. Many states have created enterprise-wide policies but few have adopted standards as specific as the federal Section 508 rules.
According to Madelyn McIntyre, director of Microsoft's accessible technology group, building an accessible Web site can cost as much as $40,000 -- and substantially higher if there is a need to retrofit applications. With major IT players now integrating accessibility as a core function of their products, she hopes that will change.
"We want accessibility to provide a clear business value," she said.
Both Microsoft and IBM have been aggressively reaching out to smaller assistive technology vendors -- the companies that build technologies such as text-to-speech applications and voice recognition systems -- to ensure there is compatibility among the products. Once accessibility permeates operating systems and applications, McIntyre expects dramatic changes.
"Accessibility will be inexpensive and eventually be free because it will be built in from the start," she said.
IBM debuted a sophisticated multi-media exhibit that featured future technologies that allow wireless, voice-activated control of common household devices such as heating and cooling systems and lighting.
Such innovations that benefit mainstream populations will also dramatically impact the lives of people with disabilities, said Shon Saliga, worldwide director of accessibility of IBM.
