Accessible Technology
Accessibility in technology is, broadly, having technology be accessible to all people, regardless of physical and/or mental disability. Accessibility to technology is vital to the well-being and quality of life of those who are disabled. According to the World Health Organization, more than a billion people (around 15%) around the world have some form of a disability (“Disability and Health”). Major types of technology that are currently in use to help people with disabilities include: closed captioning, text-to-audio readers, cochlear implants, wheelchair technology, eye tracking software, and miscellaneous other technology (“Disability and Health”). All types of technology are vital to the well-being and quality of life of those who are disabled.
As said before, access to technology can improve the lives of those who are disabled. Although it may not always be the biggest
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As Eve Andersson, a person who utilizes Cochlear implants, says “a lot of the technology that ends up helping people with disabilities comes out of well-designed technology aimed at all consumers.” (Sydell). Andersson’s point is that it is better for both consumers and creators of technology if the needs of disabled populations are taken into account. The ability to change the size of a font on a webpage, for example, could be a significant help for people who are visually impaired and have trouble reading small font. It could also be useful for someone trying to read the webpage on their phone screen in bright light. Even though the intended purpose was to make it easier to read for people who are visually impaired, it had the unforeseen side effect of helping someone who was not visually impaired but needed a bit of help in one situation. Consequently, the technology became more usable for everyone all because the needs of a single population were