MADISON, Wis. -- For nearly 40 years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Trace Research and Development Center has developed technology used around the world, with the goal of making technology accessible to as many people as possible, no matter their age or disability.

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The effort that began in the early 1970s by a group of UW-Madison engineering students has grown into a center with a worldwide impact.

The goal then was to help a child with cerebral palsy communicate better.

Today, the work is having a broad impact on the lives of people with disabilities and the elderly worldwide.

The center developed systems for more accessible ATMs, electronic voting systems and automated postal centers.

It has also developed computer accessibility options for people who are deaf, blind or have limited use of their arms.

Andrew Hasley, a UW-Madison graduate student, was born without peripheral vision. What he can see is about as good as seeing through two straws, but he said he values his independence.

His guide dog, Fletcher, helps him with everyday errands like going to the post office on campus. The technology available inside allows him to do something he's never done before.

"It makes you more independent because you don't have to be dependent on other people nearly as much," said Hasley, as he listened to the options on the automated postal center.

The Lake Street Post Office is one of four in Madison and 25,000 in the country equipped with an EZ Access package.

"It's amazing to think about some of this. I was definitely born at the right time, technology-wise," said Hasley, as he listened to the machine with his earphones.

It's technology the 24-year-old can also use on Election Day, thanks to the Trace Research and Development Center in Madison.

Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden was a UW-Madison student when he started the Trace Center in 1971.

"There wasn't a lot of information available and so we suddenly became the central resource for information about the field," said Vanderheiden.

In the decades since, the center has become a pioneer advancing technology to help others.

"We didn't set out to try to be No. 1. We just set out to do the best job we could," he said. "People with disabilities needed to not only do special things, they needed to do the same things as everybody else."

The early years of Trace were dedicated to developing Augmentative Communication, coined by the center, for the non-verbal and others with severe disabilities.

"And then the computer came along,” said Vanderheiden.

In the 1980s, Vanderheiden and his team shifted their effort to computer access.

"So that people with disabilities could use them in ways that the computer couldn't tell them from any other user," he said.

People Carl Durocher are benefiting from the technology, WISC-TV reported.

"Independence means everything," said Durocher.

Durocher’s independence was all but lost when he was 7 years old.

He said he remembers two things from that year: getting a new bike and a devastating illness.

"Polio was a huge story in and of itself, which goes back to the 1950s when I was in grade school," he said. "And it left a lot of people very severely paralyzed."

Polio left him unable to control his arms or hands. He uses a mouth stick on the computer.

"He was perfect candidate, if you will, for StickyKeys," said Vanderheiden about Durocher.

"One of the first things you'd encounter in a network setting like this, you need to press three keys at once "CTL ALT Delete" to get past this," said Durocher about the log-in screen of a computer.

With the help of the Trace Center’s StickyKeys application, Durocher’s problem is solved by pressing "shift" five times.

He’s also benefiting from another feature created by the Trace Center called MouseKeys.

"The mouse pointer on the screen is completely controllable with the keypad," he said.

The Trace Center's Accessibility Options features are in the "control panel" of most computers.

"Today, all of the major operating systems have accessibility features built into them that were developed here at the University of Wisconsin," said Vanderheiden.

As technology continues to evolve, the Trace Center in Madison does too, all in the hope of overcoming barriers and giving millions of people the ability to do even more on their own.

"You come in and do the same thing that everybody else would and that's the advantage I think this type of technology has. It makes everything accessible to everyone," said Hasley.

Vanderheiden is a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UW-Madison. More than 200 students have gone through the Trace Center, and many helped in the design of the technologies now available.

Because of Trace, Web designers now have guidelines that help them better meet the needs of users with disabilities.

One of the newest pieces of technology added is the EZ Access ticket kiosk at Amtrak stations.

The next phase of the Trace Center focuses on the Internet, WISC-TV reported.

"So much can be done on the Web and for people who have disabilities, or people who are older, it could be a very powerful way for them to get information, to communicate with others, connect with others,” said Vanderheiden. "We need to figure out not only how to make the Web pages accessible but make sure they get tools."

The center is funded in part by The National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education.

For more information on the Trace Center, visit http://trace.wisc.edu.