Seizures+and+Social+Computing

Seizures and Social Computing
Imagine a student in your classroom, sitting at a computer working on a project using a Web 2.0 program, and suddenly experiencing a grand mal seizure. The student is not known to have had a seizure before, and he is evaluated by the doctor to determine the cause. The diagnosis is photosensitive seizure disorder. Abnormally excited electrical signals in the brain can result from flashing images or certain patterns like stripes or checks on the computer screen. These images can cause various types of seizures from mild absence seizures where the student simply stares absently, to the tonic-clonic seizure which is the most common. About 1 in four thousand people have this disorder. Unfortunately, people do not know that they have this condition until they experience their first seizure.

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of engineering, the Trace Center has made great strides in addressing this problem. They developed the first set of web content guidelines which were eventually incorporated into the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. They then developed a built-in video capture capability, called Photosensitive Epilepsy Analysis Tool, or PEAT, which is a practical tool for web developers. This device allows developers to seize the screen contents, analyze them, and determine whether they could potentially cause photosensitive seizures. PEAT is available via a free download at this site []

Individuals who create wikis, blogs, or other social networking content may not know about this condition, and include content on their sites which may inadvertently trigger seizures in their readers. As Web 2.0 users, we need to be cognizant of this disability, and design our content to avoid flashing images and repetitive images which are unsafe for certain readers. We can also educate others who are utilizing Web 2.0 content about the risks of certian images which can trigger photosensitive seizures.

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