I believe the term "disability" will eventually be relegated to the same status as "handicapped," despite the fact that most people currently use it to describe persons who have diminished or no abilities (in eyesight, speech, cognition, etc.). Although we have come a long way in the previous 20 years, we are still not there in terms of digital accessibility. For instance, the status of what it means to have a disability is elevated as more people become aware of the issues people confront and the necessity for digital equaliy. Despite the fact that the majority of people are unaware of what digital accessibility is, company executives, public servants, and attorneys are more conscious of the need to support those who use assistive technology in making meaningful and productive use of technology.
The gaps between persons with disabilities and those without disabilities are getting smaller as technology advances and takes on a greater role in our lives and as digital inclusion makes it simpler for everyone to use that technology. Even though we can't yet claim that specific technology has solved every issue a person with a disability might encounter, it has made dealing with challenges in daily life much simpler. Even while I believe that someday all or most impairments may be eliminated thanks to science and technology, I am aware that time is still very much on our side. While I might not be present to enjoy it, I can still imagine it.
Moving About
Let's examine what it was like for a blind person to converse, travel, and make purchases in the middle of the 20th century to get an idea of how far technology has advanced in the last 50 years (total blindness).
In the past, few Braille materials, typewriters, and landlines were available.
We communicated via landlines, typed our writing on cumbersome typewriters to produce legible print, and had limited access to books, periodicals, and newspapers thanks to special libraries for the blind that provided them to us via mail. Buildings lacked Braille signs, and we couldn't read the writing on soup cans or medication bottles. Although we could hear the TV, we were unable to see what was happening.
Few Options for Getting Around
If there were taxis accessible in your region, you had to spend a lot of money for them unless you lived in a large city with public transportation. There was no assurance that passengers would be able to travel by rail or by air. We lacked any navigational aids or gadgets that could inform us where we were. Large indoor settings were challenging to navigate, necessitating the need of specialized orientation services or governmental assistance.
Buying From Real Stores
You required assistance from the business or store owner you were shopping at in order to purchase goods and services, even if you were fortunate enough to have a job and be able to get around independently. This assistance wasn't always accessible. Some folks might be able to shop independently, although it might be quite stressful.
Technology has advanced significantly during the past 50 years!
The examples below demonstrate how good, accessible technology and several new concepts have helped us 50 years later by giving us more independence and advancing us up the equality ladder in numerous ways, regardless of whether you name it digital access, digital equality, or digital inclusion.
Technology that Facilitates Communication
We can now communicate on a variety of platforms, including mobile phones and computer workstations, thanks to Zoom. We create reports using word processors, emails, and text messages from any location with Wi-Fi or a cell signal. Almost any magazine, newspaper, or book that comes to mind can be read by us. Today, there are numerous ways to obtain prescription bottles as well as items from the grocery store in cans, cartons, and packages. All of this is possible thanks to excellent assistive technology, like screen readers, screen magnifiers, automatic captioning systems, and easily accessible digital content. Now that descriptive video service (DVS) has been developed, we can watch a wide variety of TV programmes. The majority of buildings now have Braille labels on room signage and elevator buttons because of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Making Travel Plans is Simple
In many parts of the world, access to rail and air travel is now safe, and using rideshare on a mobile device makes it simple to navigate around cities. GPS has increased our independence and made driving and walking more convenient. With the use of augmented reality techniques from apps like AIRA and Be My Eyes, we can stream live assistance from a sighted person to our smartphones and move around autonomously in unfamiliar environments like large buildings.
Shopping Moves Online
It has become considerably simpler to get what you want in the last five years alone thanks to the ability to have whatever you can imagine delivered directly to your door. We may now access products and services online that we might not have known about if we were shopping in a physical store, in addition to having our purchases transported to us. Additionally, I don't believe that grocery delivery will ever stop existing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although conditions have improved, they are still far from ideal. For accessibility to improve and become the norm, there is still much work to be done (expectation). Because they lack fundamental accessibility features, PDFs and web forms are frequently inaccessible to people with disabilities. If we had greater freedom to choose our destinations, we could make travel easier. It's still difficult to shop on many e-commerce sites. But even only twenty years ago, life was much worse than it is today.
Accessibility has improved.
We have come a long way thanks to all of these advancements in terms of being able to perform routine jobs that most people take for granted. Technology has facilitated a great deal of progress, but individuals have also worked hard to simplify life for the majority of people. A nice statement I recently heard goes, "One person's convenience is another's accessibility." Many people benefit from supermarket delivery, but those who can't drive or navigate a grocery shop because of poor vision must use it.
The gap between persons with impairments and those without disabilities will keep getting smaller thanks to technology. For instance, 5G networks, extremely quick AI (Artificial Intelligence), and ML (Machine Learning) systems will enable wearable technology to assist us in seeing, hearing, and comprehending what is happening around us. Web pages, multimedia, mobile apps, and standard office files are all easier to access, but research into access to other digital content is only now beginning. Every aspect of our life continues to be influenced by technology, from the climate controls in our houses to the touch screens on our appliances and workout equipment. If we wish to realize our vision of full inclusion, we also want complete access to various types of digital content.
True digital equality is still a long way off, despite the fact that advancements in technology have made life better for many of us. Digital access is here to stay, regardless of your perspective. Let's embrace it and keep improving it by bringing it to people's attention, teaching them, and cooperating so that it ceases to be an uncommon skill set that people want to avoid and becomes the standard for effective digital solutions that make our lives simpler and more enjoyable.
On May 19, 2022, we will observe Global Accessibility Day and discover how we can all make life a little bit easier for everyone by enhancing the accessibility of all digital technologies. For more information about Quality Logic's simple-to-use starter package for digital accessibility for your company right away, click here.