Providing Assistive Technology Applications as a Service Through Cloud Computing.

Users with disabilities interact with Personal Computers (PCs) using Assistive Technology (AT) software solutions. Such applications run on a PC that a person with a disability commonly uses. However the configuration of AT applications is not trivial at all, especially whenever the user needs to wo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Assistive Technology Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 44 - 52
Main Authors: Mulfari, Davide, Celesti, Antonio, Villari, Massimo, Puliafito, Antonio
Format: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Spring2015
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:Users with disabilities interact with Personal Computers (PCs) using Assistive Technology (AT) software solutions. Such applications run on a PC that a person with a disability commonly uses. However the configuration of AT applications is not trivial at all, especially whenever the user needs to work on a PC that does not allow him/her to rely on his / her AT tools (e.g., at work, at university, in an Internet point). In this paper, we discuss how cloud computing provides a valid technological solution to enhance such a scenario.With the emergence of cloud computing, many applications are executed on top of virtual machines (VMs). Virtualization allows us to achieve a software implementation of a real computer able to execute a standard operating system and any kind of application. In this paper we propose to build personalized VMs running AT programs and settings. By using the remote desktop technology, our solution enables users to control their customized virtual desktop environment by means of an HTML5-based web interface running on any computer equipped with a browser, whenever they are.