October 13, 1992

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Kelly Ford
          Trace Research and Development Center
          University of Wisconsin-Madison
          1500 Highland Ave, Room S-151
          Madison, WI  53705
Phone:  (608) 262-6966

DOS-ABLEDATA provides information on thousands of 
products for people with disabilities
With the help of a new database, anyone who has an IBM PC can 
look up information on any of 17,000 products for people with 
disabilities.  The database, called DOS-ABLEDATA, provides a 
single reference source on assistive products for consumers, 
family members, disability advocates and health care 
professionals.
The database covers the full range of assistive technologies, 
including wheelchairs, telephone devices for deaf people, 
image magnifiers, daily living aids, etc.  More than 3,000 
different types of devices are listed.
The software for DOS-ABLEDATA was developed as a cooperative 
project between the Trace R&D Center at the University of 
Wisconsin-Madison and three organizations in Arkansas:  
Learning Express, the University of Arkansas and the Arkansas 
Technology Information System Project.  The software provides 
a simple, easy-to-understand interface for novice computer 
and database users.  Users can search for products by product 
name, by manufacturer name, or with an expanding outline of 
search terms based on the intended use of a product.  The 
program has also been specially designed to work with the 
screen reading software used by many blind people to access 
PCs.
"Availability of information is one of the biggest barriers 
to people with disabilities when they are trying to locate 
products that can help them," said Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden, 
Director of the Trace R&D Center.  "DOS-ABLEDATA allows the 
user to directly access the information on their own PC."
DOS-ABLEDATA makes use of information from ABLEDATA, a 
database funded by the National Institute on Disability and 
Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), U.S. Department of 
Education.  Macro International of Silver Spring, Maryland 
currently maintains the information in ABLEDATA, under a 
contract from NIDRR.  No fee is charged to companies for 
their listings, and the product information is written to be 
comprehensive and objective.  Products currently on the 
market are included, along with past products which are 
retained in the database for reference purposes.
DOS-ABLEDATA is included on the new Co-Net CD, available 
from the Trace R&D Center.  Also included on the CD are 
Hyper-ABLEDATA--a Macintosh version of the database--and a 
"Text Document Library" of disability-related information.  
The Text Document Library contains several documents related 
to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including the 
text of the law as well as regulations and interpretations 
for the law from various federal agencies.  The Text Document 
Library also contains several sets of guidelines for making 
computer software and hardware and consumer electronics more 
accessible to people with disabilities.  
"The goal of the Co-Net project is to bring as much 
information to as many people as possible.  Having DOS-
ABLEDATA on our newest CD is a another significant step in 
that direction," said Dr. Vanderheiden.
Co-Net stands for "Cooperative Network," and the Co-Net CD 
has been a key component of the Trace Center's effort to 
build a network of cooperating information providers and 
consumers in the disability arena.  DOS-ABLEDATA makes its 
debut on the fifth edition of the Co-Net CD.
"With this CD we are able to support Macintosh and IBM 
users," said Dr. Vanderheiden.  "The two ABLEDATA programs 
are entirely separate but when you purchase the CD you get 
them both."
Future editions of the Co-Net disk will contain more 
information, including databases of service providers and 
consultants, as well as information on publications and other 
resources on disability topics.
"The potential for using CD-ROM is tremendous because of the 
large amounts of information that can  be made available at 
low cost," said Dr. Vanderheiden.  "So far, the technology of 
CD-ROM has been under-utilized when it comes to distributing 
disability-related information."  A single CD can hold the 
contents of 400 to 800 floppy disks, and CD-ROM drives are 
now available for as little as $200.  
The information on the Co-Net disk is all in the public 
domain, and the software, though copyrighted, can be copied 
and given to others free of charge.  The CD includes a 
program for creating copies of DOS-ABLEDATA to distribute.  
The Trace Center distributes the databases on a single CD, 
which sells for $27, or $50 for a two-issue subscription.  
DOS-ABLEDATA and Hyper-ABLEDATA can also be purchased 
separately as floppy disk sets, for loading on to a hard 
disk.  
The Co-Net CD is available from the Trace R&D Center, S-151 
Waisman Center, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, 
phone: (608) 262-6966, fax: (608) 262-8848.