When was the last time you went through the settings on your phone or computer? If you did then you might have spotted some of the new features that are perfect for disabled people.
What are assistive technologies? Assistive technologies are helping to transform the way disabled people live their lives. From smart mobility scooters to accessible websites, there are a host of ways that assistive tech is moving with the times.
Here is some of the best accessibility technology and how it can be used.
Voice Over and Audio Description
Voice over and audio description is a great way of ensuring that those with visual and audio impairment do not miss out on movies or on reading books. There are options for an audio description of most movies and television.
This is where a voice describes what is happening on the screen so that those who cannot see can understand what is happening. The interjections take place between dialogue so that you don’t miss out on vital interactions and can hear as much of the movie as possible.
Voice over will read text or descriptions on the screen of a computer or phone. It means that no content is off-limits for those with disabilities.
Cars for the Blind
This might sound like an idea that will never take off but driverless cars make this possible. At the moment driverless cars generally operate with someone at the wheel to take over in the case of an emergency.
In the future, that will change as they become more popular than taxis. Google’s driverless car can take advantage of Google Street View as well as live imagery to ensure a smooth ride.
But what about if a visually impaired person wishes to drive themselves? At the moment, most disabled people drive folding scooters that only drive quite slowly.
Some newer models of driverless cars include a load of horns and alert systems so that a visually impaired driver can be notified of traffic and when to break.
All of this will require a major rethink as to how cities are constructed to make driverless cars and assistive tech of the future viable.
Assistive-Friendly Websites
Disabilities are not always obvious like learning difficulties. One way assistive technology helps to resolve this is to ensure that websites are written and presented clearly and concisely that can be easily understood.
Many content writers are now under instructions to ensure that what they write does not go beyond an allocated reading age.
The text must be organized into digestible paragraphs and the color scheme must also be appropriate. European Union law has changed to reflect this and the U.S will soon follow.
Assistive Technologies Are Evolving Every Day
Assistive technologies are the key to accessing the modern world for a lot of disabled people. This is why they are evolving all the time.
From driverless cars to cars that can be driven by visually impaired people to websites for those with learning difficulties, there is nothing that disabled people cannot do.
The changing and fast-paced nature of technology means this is an industry always changing and where there are always new developments to improve disabled people’s lives.
If you want to read more about the impact of assistive tech, be sure to check out the rest of our site.
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