Technological advances in the past century have seen our world change beyond recognition and this rapid growth has seen a huge expansion in the development of assistive technology. This includes screen readers, braille displays and screen magnifiers, as well as more familiar equipment like mobility aids, hearing aids, walkers and wheelchairs, designed to make daily life easier for disabled people.
A number of formerly niche assistive technology applications have also developed into mainstream technologies. These include text-to-speech and verbal command functions on smartphones, which were originally developed for people with visual impairments. Improved captioning functionality has made the use of captions on digital content more widespread too. Verizon Media estimates that 80 per cent of people who now use captions on a regular basis are not D/deaf.
The strong link between assistive and mainstream technologies is not really that surprising, since all technologies are by their very nature, assistive. They all help people use their varied abilities to do the things that they want or need to do, from commuting to cooking and communicating. This includes people with disabilities.
But technology is not the only answer.
Even though advancements in assistive technology have significantly improved the inclusion of people with disabilities, there is a danger that technology will be viewed as a fix-all solution to the societal barriers and exclusion that disabled people face. Many of these technological solutions focus on the individual, and not on the environment.
For example, relying on wheelchairs that can navigate stairs like the Scewo Bro, takes the responsibility away from society to be more inclusive in the design of built environments, and places a burden on wheelchair users to possess the appropriate technology. This approach is exclusionary, because it expects people with disabilities to conform to society, rather than encouraging society to include disabled people.
The recent surge in remote working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed many more disabled people to enter the workforce and participate equally via video-conferencing services and digital communications technology. Prior to the pandemic, working from home was even considered a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).
However, as more businesses look to encourage workers to return to the office, there is a danger that continued use of this technology will substitute longer term accessibility measures for disabled employees. This issue is exacerbated by the lack of access to assistive technology.
New research by Samsung UK found that 70% of people with disabilities feel that their workplace could do more to provide tech that enables greater accessibility, showing the need for greater access and awareness of accessible technology features amongst employers.
Technology is only half the story. To embrace openness, we need to evolve and change workplace culture, and promote inclusion to be at the centre of an organisation to empower employees.
Technology can actually create barriers.
There are also problems with adopting accessible technology solutions that are still in their infancy. The development of automatic captioning services in recent years has led many businesses to rely on this approach, rather than invest in more accurate, human generated captions for events, meetings and online videos.
Lawsuits brought against The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University in 2015 said people who were D/deaf or hard of hearing couldn’t benefit from the schools’ online educational resources because they had inaccurate captions, forcing MIT to settle in 2020.
This case illustrates the importance from a reputation and risk perspective of businesses prioritising and investing in accessibility measures rather than relying on cheaper, automated solutions.
Further barriers to inclusion.
A reliance on assistive technology raises other issues, such as the cost and availability of these tools.
Most assistive technology is incredibly expensive, meaning that many products are inaccessible to the very people who could benefit from them. The Scewo Bro mobility aid costs an eye-watering $39K, while a Liftware spoon, designed to stay still in a shaking hand, will set you back $195.
This is just one component of what is known as the ’Disability Tax’. In 2018, Scope calculated the average additional monthly income a disabled person would need in order to enjoy the same standard of living as a nondisabled person, finding that on average, disabled adults face extra costs of £583 per month. For almost a quarter of families with disabled children (24 per cent), extra costs amount to over £1,000 per month. This means that even though appropriate assistive technology may be on the market, most disabled people cannot afford to buy it, making reliance on its widespread use a cause for concern.
The price gap between accessible and non-accessible products is definitely an issue. Take Liftware, a consumer would have to spend nearly $300 for a basic cutlery set. Comparatively, a person without the need for accessible cutlery could purchase a 16-piece cutlery set from IKEA for less than $4.
One of the reasons why assistive technology is so expensive is the lack of investment in it. There is inadequate funding for products and services, and a lack of investment in strengthening national assistive technology programmes and systems.
There is also a lack of awareness surrounding assistive technology. On the supply side, manufacturers and suppliers lack information to estimate demand. On the demand side, buyers from all sectors (i.e. public, private, non-profits) and users are not equipped with necessary information that allows them to compare product features and purchase products.
Many assistive products also require pre- and post-purchase services involving trained personnel that should be integrated into health, education or social services rather than being linked to the standalone purchase. All this can make it very difficult for people with disabilities to access and use the tools they need.
In general, there is a wider problem that developers and designers simply do not design with disabled people in mind. A review by Teach Access found that less than 3% of engineering and computing technology course descriptions reference “accessibility” or “people with disabilities”, and 60% of industry respondents said that it was difficult or very difficult for their organisation to hire candidates with accessibility skills.
But this lack of understanding is leading to a huge wasted opportunity for businesses. In 2019, Click-Away Pound found that UK retailers lose out on £17 billion every year by failing to meet the online needs of shoppers with disabilities, who click away before making a purchase. In order to capitalise on this market, businesses need to understand and accommodate disabled people, and this includes understanding the assistive technology they are using.
The way ahead.
Technology can provide answers when it comes to disability inclusion. The key to success is simply changing the way we use and think about technology, balancing the weight of responsibility more evenly between the individual and society as a whole. This involves avoiding an over-reliance on technology to provide quick fixes to complex problems.
In the digital environment, websites need to be designed and maintained in a way that is compatible with assistive technology so that people with disabilities can navigate them effectively. Built-in accessibility features should also be used to enable people without access to assistive technology to engage with online content. This will require a greater understanding of accessibility and assistive technology within the technology sector itself.
Businesses should also continue to invest in physical accessibility in the built environment. However, new technology can significantly improve the way we design and build spaces, to better accommodate people’s needs. Software can also be utilised effectively at a government level to enable people to plan accessible journeys through towns and cities.
For the widespread and successful application of assistive technology, disabled people need to have access to the correct tools at an affordable price. More needs to be done to make these products available and accessible to the people who could benefit from them most. It is hoped that the future will see greater investment in these technologies both from the private sector and from local and national government.
Most importantly, we should remember that innovating for disability inclusion has led to some of the most exciting technological developments of the last century, and it is an area that promises huge potential for the future.
If you want to find out more about this topic, download The Valuable 500 Global Trends Report – Issue 8 in association with GlobalData.
Sources: GlobalData, Apple, European Parliament, Verizon Media, ABC News, Disability and Remote Working report, Samsung UK, Scewo, Verdict, Liftware, Scope – Disability Price Tag report, AT 2030 Global Report on Assistive Technology, ClickAway Pound Report 2019, Teach Access, ArchDaily
Image credit: Envision
Envision website: www.letsenvision.com
