SOCRATES: Barrier free communities of aphasics on the internet

Abstract

The barrier free internet is one of the greatest challenges for computer science in the future. While in the last years the growth of the internet was exponential, still many potential user communities can not use internet technology for their communication needs because of inappropriate tools and narrowly designed communication processes. These problems become obvious when transferring applications to communities of people with special needs. Many people suffering from aphasia are not able to interact with current chat tools while need for money for therapists could be eased by such virtual self-help groups in a geographically distributed setting. This is because massive word finding problems can sum up typing a simple sentence up to several minutes. We have designed, implemented and preliminary evaluated a new chat tool for such groups. By using the tool aphasics can constantly monitor their communication behavior and in case of difficulties switch to a synchronous talk mode where up to four people can monitor typing letter by letter. Proposal for phrases can be generated by the community to help their member. Therapists and linguistic researchers can also monitor online and offline conversations from automatically generated transcripts. © Springer-Verlag 2004.