Open Your Eyes To Accessibility Technology

I am so nearsighted that when I was a girl, my brothers used to hide my glasses just so they could watch me look for them. I am hypersensitive to how much I rely on my eyes and to how your other senses change to compensate.

So, I took a particular interest in spending time with the Llanes family of Bergenfield, N.J., the stars of last night's special two-hour Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. (The video tour is running on the Web site.) That's because four of the house's six occupants are legally blind. This was a big deal in both the design of the rooms in the house (very tactile and primary-colorful) as well as in the selection of the various pieces of technologies that were donated for the project (including a whole bunch of accessibility products that part of a donation coordinated by Microsoft).

Guen Llanes, the oldest of the three Llanes children and a sophomore at a nearby community college, told me that the portable "reading" devices included as part of the makeover have profoundly changed how she views the outside world. Simple things we take for granted, such as CRTs, actually make her condition worse.

In her words (which she e-mailed to me in conjunction with her father using one of the many pieces of software and hardware now at their fingertips):

"Whereas before I would have to roll around larger CCTV (closed circuit televisions) on a cart to be able to read in my classes, I am not using a handheld electronic viewer that magnifies text. Conveniently, I can also use this device to read titles, labels and prices at the library and when I am shopping. Even more importantly, the portable GPS system opens up great opportunities for me. I am unable to drive, but like to travel independently. I like to see new places and learn how to find my way around, for example, sight-seeing in New York City or just going to my job on my own via public transportation."

I met the Llanes family through Marc Harrison, president of Silicon East, a partner of Microsoft and SonicWall that coordinated all of the extraordinary home automation and accessibility technology in the home. There are way more products involved than I can mention here (but that WILL be covered in my feature about the project scheduled to appear in a couple of weeks). I can tell you, though, that when the house was first "revealed" to Vic Llanes, he got down on his hands and knees to explore the entire house -- from driveway to attic. So, the episode was extra tear-jerky.

There's a whole lot more going on inside that I'll talk about in my upcoming story, but given Guen's feedback, it is fitting that when Microsoft decided to award Silicon East with its first ever Partner Community Service Award, the $25,000 donation it presented to Marc Harrison went to Bookshare.org, an organization with which Guen's father, Vic, volunteers.