Making Technology Easier for the Disabled
The USA's National Council on Disability (NCD) has released a policy paper that explores key trends in information and communication technology, highlights the potential opportunities and problems these trends present for people with disabilities, and suggests some strategies to maximize opportunities and avoid potential problems and barriers.
According to NCD chairperson John R. Vaughn, "The more reliant society becomes on technology to perform fundamental aspects of every-day living, how we work, communicate, learn, shop, and interact with our environment , the more imperative it is that people with disabilities have access to that same technology, and the more costly will be the consequences of failure to ensure access."
This paper discusses technology trends that present opportunities for universally designed products, and for improved availability, usability, and affordability of assistive technology that can have significant impact on quality of life for people with disabilities.
Many of the same technological advances that show great promise of improved accessibility, however, also have the potential to create new barriers for people with disabilities.
The report noted that devices will continue to get more complex to operate before they get simpler. This is already a problem for mainstream users, but even more of a problem for people with cognitive disabilities and people who have cognitive decline due to aging. Also, increased use of digital controls (e.g., push buttons used in combination with displays, touch screens, etc.) is creating problems for people with blindness, cognitive, and other disabilities.
Finally, a core issue for mobile phones - is that the shrinking size of products is creating problems for people with physical and visual disabilities."
Posted to the site on 3rd January 2007
