Pros And Cons Of Assistive Technology For Blind Adults

There are many new kinds of assistive technology for blind children and adults. Blind adults can struggle to work in a professional environment, or even get a job in the workforce. Modern assistive technology can help further a blind adults career, and aid them in a professional job. New assistive technology for blind adults, can include: screen-readers, voice synthesizer, braille printers and many different text-to-speech programs. Assistive technology can make the workforce more accessible for blind adults. There are many different kinds of new assistive technology for working, disabled people, but there are particularly many for working, blind people. There is a text-to-speech program that scans any document and reads it aloud. It can read, e-mails, newspapers, books, or any written document that can be accessed on a computer. The

The government passed an Act, called the “the Americans with Disabilities Act”,” that states that it is “illegal to discriminate against a disabled job applicant who is capable of doing the job,” (Filipczak 1). Before assistive technology was popular, employment for blind people, was lower than it is now, with assistive technology and the ACT. The government sponsored agency, EARN, helps people with disabilities find employment. They also evaluate the person, and find out how much the assistive technology, if needed, will cost, (Jossi 3). Companies find it difficult to pay for this expensive technology, but the government, and even health insurance, is very active in funding for this. Some people are offered the opportunity to apply for grants and loans from particular states, (Jossi 3). The program, Pathways to Independence, trains blind and other disabled people, and it allows them to work in a professional environment, independently. This program increased the disabled employment rate, from 6 percent to 52 percent, in 4 years, (Jossi