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This study set out to collect data from assistive technology professionals about their provision of speech‐driven environmental control systems. This study is part of a larger study looking at developing a new speech‐driven environmental control system. A focus group for assistive technology professionals was conducted. This focus group was recorded, transcribed and then analysed using a framework approach. The analysis suggested that professionals have a ‘mental model’ of a successful user of a speech‐driven system and that in general they consider such systems either as a ‘last resort’ or to work in parallel with another system as a back‐up. Perceived poor reliability was highlighted as a major influence in the provision of speech‐driven environmental control systems although there were also positive perceptions about the use of speech under controlled circumstances. Comparison with published data from end‐users showed that professionals highlighted the majority of issues identified by end‐users. Assistive technology professionals think that speech has potential as an access method but are cautious about using speech‐driven environmental control systems predominantly due to concerns about reliability. Professionals seem able to empathise well with the challenges faced by end‐users in use of these systems.

This paper discusses the opinions of people who use communication aids regarding the development of a voice input voice output communication aid (VIVOCA) using speech recognition technology. It uniquely combines the views of users of communication aids with those of speech and language therapists. Semi structured questionnaires were completed by 12 users of communication aids and 34 speech and language therapists discussed the concept of a VIVOCA in three focus groups. A thematic analysis of the information was carried out. Input, output and hardware requirements are discussed leading to specifications that therapists and users perceive would be required for a VIVOCA.

This paper seeks to identify the user requirements for an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based system to deliver care, support and information services to older people in the community.

A structured, mixed methods approach incorporating workshops, systematic literature reviews, surveys, and focus groups gathered user needs prior to a prototype being developed. This was then tested with users and their feedback used in further iterations of the product.

In total, five main user requirement themes were identified: information access; communication; self‐care; accessibility; and personalisation of services.

Details are provided of the user requirements for a health and care system to remotely deliver support. Additionally, the value of utilising a range of requirements gathering tools and prototyping is discussed.

Too often technology systems are developed which do not meet actual need. This paper reports the results of a formal user needs process and discusses the role of user requirements more generally.

It is generally believed that the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act (SHTA) of 1930 was an electoral response on the part of the Republican Party to Midwestern farmers’ concerns in the 1928 general election which via the legislative process (pork-barreling and log-rolling) was transformed into a generalized upwards tariff revision. There are, however, problems with this view, not the least of which is the fact that the farmers themselves were well aware of the fact that higher tariffs would not improve their lot, and hence favored the price support/equalization measures found in the Haugen–McNary Farm Relief Bill. This paper presents an alternative explanation. Specifically, it is argued that the SHTA had its origins in manufacturing states where the demand for a comprehensive upward revision of tariffs was transformed via the electoral process – and not the legislative process – into an omnibus upward tariff revision that included agriculture. The omnibus nature of the bill, it is argued, was intended as both (i) an electoral strategy and (ii) a hedge against near-certain revolt in rural America over anticipated higher prices for manufactures. We show that while successful electorally (i.e., in the 1928 presidential election), the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Bill fell apart in the legislature in the summer of 1929 when 13 Insurgent Republicans broke with the party to vote with the Democrats to lower tariffs on manufactures.

This paper investigates the extent to which U.S. trade policies during 1922–1962 impacted the Pacific Rim economies differently from the rest of the world. Empirical analysis demonstrates that U.S. trade with the Pacific Rim had consistently higher tariff barriers than U.S. trade with the rest of the world among import-competitive manufactures. This paper then analyzes the reasons behind this phenomenon from both a political economy and a historical perspective. On both fronts, the Pacific Rim was at a disadvantage, and its higher barrier to trade with the United States was by no means historically accidental.