With a program specifically addressing the needs of disabled people and several existing technologies - for overcoming speech, hearing, visual, tactile and cognitive impediments - IBM is positioned to offer baby boomers, tools they need to stay productive and connected as they age.

The latest in the series of assistive technology are the Home Page Reader, WebAdapt2Me, ViaScribe, and CaptionMeNow. These serve aging workers as well as people with disabilities.

The Home Page Reader allows blind people to access the web. Not only does the system use speech synthesis, it changes the voice when it reaches a hyper link, giving a visually impaired something that grabs their attention, (the way a blue, underlined word grabs the attention of those who can read the text on a screen.)

WebAdapt2Me is designed for people who are visually impaired, but not blind, and those who have cognitive and motor difficulties. WebAdapt2Me allows users to increase font size, get rid of wallpaper and jumping icons, reduce clutter and change the spacing of words. IBM has also developed a ‘mouse’ that can cope with tremors, a ‘ThinkPad’ with ridged keys to help blind users find their place and laptops that can be opened with one hand.

There is also a, keyboard optimiser that uses artificial intelligence to figure out what someone is trying to type when they can't lift their finger from a key quickly.

And lastly, there is “ViaScribe”, which allows people who can't hear to read presentations, and which can capture visual information, including video and slides for multimedia Webcasts