And the ranks of the disabled are much wider than you might think. That was the message hovering in the room this week as thousands of computer software designers descended on Seattle--in part to deliver the message personally to Microsoft's Bill Gates.
For the 18th year, experts in human-computer interfaces gathered to complain about the current state of software design, and to present research on radical changes to the way people and machines might manage to just get along.
There were the usual radical interface ideas, such as a personal digital assistant with a mouse pointer that moved around the screen by tilting it - akin to the way an egg slides around a frying pan, according to its designer.
But in Seattle this year, alongside booths bragging of better wireless Web browsers, were demonstrations of just how difficult the digital world can be for a less-than-perfect human. The Trace Center from the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin revealed just how problematic a simple design flaw can be: try opening up a laptop with just one hand. If the latches are on the side, as in many laptop cases, you'll never get it open.
But the idea that computers should be politically correct is not new; what was new at this year's conference was the emphasis on just how many humans worldwide are being left behind in the digital age.
Turning heads
The theme of this year's Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems was "Anyone, anywhere," deliberately echoing Microsoft's corporate slogan of "Anytime, anyplace, on any device." (MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture.) Computer interface experts are more and more turning their attention away from basic usability in software and toward those left behind by the computer revolution. The group is wider than the poor, who can't afford computers. It also includes the uneducated, the elderly, the disabled, and often, regular office workers who are confused by software that seems only to work for young technophiles.
Ben Schneiderman, director of the University of Maryland's Human Computer Interface laboratory, quoted startling statistics to make his point - a recent survey of 6,000 workers said they waste an average of 5.1 hours per week with computer problems.
"We waste more time on computer problems than we do in traffic," he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Microsoft's chief software architect Bill Gates had appeared for the first time at the designer's conference, promising the software giant's renewed efforts in usability. Schneiderman led an informal group of experts at a luncheon meeting who expressed both optimism at Gates' attendance and skepticism that the maker of Windows would do all it could to make computing easier for everyone.
"He complained in his talk that PCs are still to hard to use. It's peculiar for him to be complaining about that," Schneiderman said, noting Microsoft's dominant role in creating the PC paradigm. "We have to ask ourselves, 'What's been going on all along?' "
A necessity?
Making PCs easier to use isn't just a luxury; the Trace Center booth noted that over 60 percent of those over 75 years old have some disability.
"I get more and more motivated each year around this aging bit," joked Greg Vanderheiden, of the Trace Center. "Our whole population is shifting in this direction, so there is a market incentive to do something about it."
And particularly in an age of multiplying digital devices, such as cell phones and personal digital assistants. It will be harder and harder to survive without being able to use these technologies, panelists noted.
The good news, Vanderheiden said, is that the extreme design restrictions of smaller devices are actually forcing interface builders to choose simpler designs. He thinks overall usability is on an upswing - and general awareness of disability issues deserves some of the credit.
"It turns out, when you're looking at problems for people who are older or have disabilities, that allows us to look at options that turn out to be better alternatives for everyone," he said.
For example, the digital book reader shown by Microsoft at the show had simple, obvious methods for increasing font size and readability. While the feature was designed for those with poor eyes, even those with perfect vision like being able to adjust type size. Software designed for the blind often has very simple menu choices because users have to rely on voice prompts. It turns out, average users do better when presented with simplified menus, too.
"There are people who are able, your young programmer types. And there are people who are disabled. And then there are a whole bunch of us who are in the middle somewhere," Vanderheiden said. "When we design something well for the disabled, it just turns out we take all those people in the middle and make them 'able' as well."
Microsoft on trial
The show's arrival in Seattle this year, just across Lake Washington from Microsoft's corporate headquarters, gave designers a chance to air some opinions about the software giant. It's not unusual for Microsoft to be the object of criticism at a meeting of computer designers.
But Tuesday's session was tamer than might be expected, in part because the firm sent several heavyweights along with Gates to contribute to the conference. Craig Mundie, Microsoft's senior vice president, took the criticism of Microsoft's design efforts to date in stride, pointing out the firm has 142 usability advocates who consult with software engineers on every product. He said the company does its best to incorporate feedback from customers when re-engineering its products - during his talk, Gates joked about PCs with yellow buttons that could be pushed if a customer is irritated and a red one if the user is really angry. But he complained that efforts to get accurate data on user frustrations is stymied by privacy concerns.
"Every time we try to collect data, somebody screams there's a privacy problem," he said. "We try to walk a tight rope every day."
Intelligent agent debate
Microsoft's current efforts at adapting computers to real human needs were on display at the show - senior researcher Eric Horvitz demonstrated an intelligent e-mail filter that was smart enough to learn while watching a user, sending only top priority messages from an e-mail inbox to a pager or cell phone. The point: To make the software smart enough to know when to interrupt a user and when to leave him or her alone.
"I foresee some day where interactions with a computer are much more like a back and forth conversation with a person," Horvitz said.
That led to spirited debate with Schneiderman, who represents a sect of the design community that is against any use of so-called "intelligent agents" in computer design. He doesn't think a computer will ever be able to make good enough decisions to act as such an intelligent agent for people. And allowing a computer to choose which e-mail is important is a dangerous line to cross.
"What happens when your daughter is in a car accident, and how all your priorities have changed, and all you want to see are notes from your family, the doctor, the hospital," he asked.
Still, Mundie said computers that learn how people work will be better equipped to enable users of any kind.
"My dream is that we will write programs that will let the computer do what I would have done in a given situation," Mundie said.
While the group argued well into the afternoon about the merits of agent technology, Schneiderman insisted the real point of the conversation was developing a new generation of computer software that was accessible to anyone with a physical limitation - and they should be simple enough to use even without training.
"This community has the chance to be remembered for speaking up for those who can't speak," he said. "When your grandchildren ask 'What did you do?' we can say, 'We made computers that anyone can use.' "
