Assistive Technology Software

“For People Without Disabilities, Technology Makes Things Easier. For People With Disabilities Technology Makes Things Possible.”

-IBM training manual 1991

Image of wheelchair on a laptop keyboard

“Assistive Technologies for Physical Disabilities” by Inigo is licensed under CC by 2.0

According the Microsoft study mentioned under Needs, 60% (101.4 million) of working-age adults are likely or very likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology.  Assistive technology and Web Access Enables People to Lesson the Impact of their Disabilities:

• People with vision impairments can listen to sites
• People with vision impairment can listen to sites
• People with low vision can enlarge their screes.
• People with color blindness can distinguish content.
• People with learning impairments can read video.
• People with motor disabilities can use tools to operate keyboards
• People with cognitive disabilities can understand and focus better.

View: Everyone is Different: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ic8OO4ORI8 (Transcript Included)

Those living with a disability use assistive technologies such as the following to enable and assist Web browsing:

• Screen reader software, which can read out, using synthesized speech, either selected elements of what is being displayed on the monitor (helpful for users with reading or learning difficulties), or which can read  out everything that is happening on the computer (used by blind and vision impaired users).
• Braille terminal, consisting of a refreshable braille display which displays text as braille characters (usually by means of raising pegs through holes in a flat surface) and wither a mainstream keyboard or a braille keyboard.
• Screen magnification software, which enlarges what is displayed on the computer monitor, making it easier to read for vision impaired users.
• Speech recognition software that can accept spoken commands to the computer, or turn dictation into grammatically correct text-useful for those who have difficulty using a mouse or a keyboard.
• Keyboard overlays, which can make typing easier and more accurate for those who have motor control difficulties.
• Access to subtitled or sign language videos on the Internet for all deaf people.

For more information on Assistive Technology Software visit this link

Watch: Keeping Web Accessibility in Mind (Transcript located in description)