AbilityNet's Abi James to speak at BETT Education Technology show
Submitted by Annie Mannion on Mon, 13/01/2020 - 14:36
Abi James, principal digital accessibility consultant at AbilityNet, will be speaking at this year's BETT Education Technology show next week at London's ExCel centre.
You can catch Abi within three sessions on Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th January.
“I’m really excited to be talking about assistive technology at this year’s BETT show – the biggest Ed-Tech show in Europe. Over the past 10 years it has been great to see how assistive tech, such as text-to-speech are now built into practically all computers, tablets and phones. BETT provides a great opportunity to show how this can be embedded within education to remove barriers to learning and education," says Abi.
"It’s no longer a specialist, expensive package but available to anyone. At this year’s show I will be focusing on how schools and colleges can embrace accessible and enabling technology within their settings to provide an inclusive learning environment and ensure everyone can access qualifications," Abi continues. On Thursday, Abi will be talking about how candidates with special educational needs can use technology for access arrangements in GCSE and other qualifications, and on Friday she will be talking about the public sector accessibility regulations that require public service providers including many schools, colleges and universities to ensure their websites and digital platform meet accessibility standards.
Abi will also be discussing her personal and professional experiences of using technology to help overcome dyslexia.
Head along to the following sessions for Abi's expertise on digital accessibility and related topics:
Session Title: Using tech for exam success for SEND students Session Location: Professional Development Theatre (South Hall) Day: Thursday Date: 23/01/2020 Time: 12-12.30pm
Session Title: Are You up for the Digital Accessibility Challenge? Session Location: HE/FE Theatre Day: Friday Date: 24/01/2020 Time: 1.15 - 1.45pm
Session Title: Supporting dyslexic students in primary and secondary school Session Location: Schools Theatre Day: Friday Date: 24/01/2020 Time: 4-4.40pm
Submitted by Sarah Botterill on Wed, 08/01/2020 - 15:35
Researchers have developed a virtual reality world, which can help stroke survivors suffering from aphasia (a range of speech, language and communication problems).
The multi-user virtual work allows people with aphasia to practise their speech and to establish social connections.
“Aphasia is a language problem that's typically caused by stroke and impairs all aspects of language. It makes it difficult for the person to talk, to understand speech and also to read and write,” says Professor Jane Marshall, who leads the project.
“Aphasia is a devastating consequence of stroke, which can isolate the individual and, in many cases, lead to problems with depression, and low mood, and feelings of social isolation,” adds Professor Marshall who was awarded an OBE for services to aphasia in 2018.
How virtual reality can help aphasia sufferers
Professor Marshall was keen to explore ways in which technology could re-engage people with communication. “We had a collaboration going with colleagues in the school of math and computer science and engineering at City, where we were starting to explore different ways of using technology to support the therapy for people with aphasia,” she says.
One of the team members had seen Second Life being used therapeutically, which sparked the idea behind EVA Park, and City secured funding from the Stroke Association to build it.
The virtual city was co-created with aphasia sufferers.
“A big message from that process was that we should focus on social uses of language; that it should be a place which is all about getting together with others and meeting and having a laugh and having opportunities for different sorts of communication,” says Professor Marshall.
The platform allows people to create a customised avatar and to explore different areas of EVA Park including houses, a treehouse disco and the Town Square.
What’s next for EVA Park
City piloted EVA Park with 20 people with aphasia before winning the Tech4Good People’s Choice Award in 2014. “It [T4G] created a lot of awareness about Eva Park. We go to conferences where colleagues from Australia know all about Eva Park,” says Professor Marshall.
“It was a lovely validation for us, and I think it was very heartening for people with aphasia because it is a hidden problem,” she adds.
The team continues to evolve and test EVA Park today exploring how it can be used for delivering the different speech and language therapies, and to provide social support.
“We’ve had four different groups in different UK settings using Eva Park to meet every two weeks for social support and conversation and to reflect on how aphasia affects their lives [and] we've got some lovely positive feedback,” says Professor Marshall.
While EVA Park isn’t yet commercially available, 30 services are using it, and City continues to gather feedback and explore interventions to use within the virtual world.
Sign up for our FREE webinar for stroke survivors, and their carers
A stroke can impact in a number of ways. It is the commonest form of aphasia. People who are affected by aphasia, and can cause issues of cognitive and physical impairment and is a common cause of anxiety and depression.
Technology can be part of the solution. Our free webinar will showcase the Stroke Association's online tool My Stroke Guide, which offers information as well as access to peer support from other stroke survivors.
AbilityNet volunteer Lawrence King will be on hand to share his experiences of helping stroke survivors find solutions that can help them to adapt.
AbilityNet provides a range of free services to help disabled people and older people.
Call our free Helpline. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff will discuss any computer problem and do their best to come up with a solution. We’re open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm on 0800 048 7642.
Arrange a home visit. We have a network of AbilityNet ITCanHelp volunteers who can help if you have technical issues with your computer systems. They can come to your home, or help you over the phone.
We have a range of factsheets which talk in detail about technology that might help you, which can be downloaded for free. You may find our factsheets talking about voice recognition and keyboard alternatives useful.
My Computer My Way. A free interactive guide to all the accessibility features built into current desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Submitted by Mark.Gaddes on Fri, 03/01/2020 - 09:05
Learning accessibility considerations can help your organisation to shift left, preventing issues which can otherwise be costly to fix, both in terms of time and resources. Plus adhering to best practice will improve the user experience for everyone, including those with diverse access needs.
Embed accessibility within your organisation and upskill your team with training delivered by our experts. Throughout 2020 we will be offering a variety of courses which you can attend live or access the recordings of. Our first training courses in January and February will provide an introduction to the key aspects of web accessibility and inclusive design, relevant to web designers and web developers.
An introduction to the key aspects of web accessibility and inclusive design, relevant to web designers. As an attendee you will learn accessibility topics and best practices including use of colour and colour contrast, use of graphical text, scalable layouts, navigation design, icons, designing for mobile and much more.
Date: 30 January 2020 - 13:00 to 14:30 GMT
Location: Online - this course is delivered via the Zoom platform
An introduction to the key aspects of web accessibility and inclusive design, relevant to web developers. As an attendee you will learn accessibility topics and best practices including key techniques for developing accessible modal windows and custom widgets, progressive enhancement, WAI-ARIA and much more.
Date: 6, 13 and 20 February 2020 - 13:00 to 14:30 GMT
Location: Online - this course is delivered via the Zoom platform
Does your team have specific training needs? Along with our online training courses we also offer in-person training and can deliver sessions for your organisation - offering a tailored experience to meet your specific needs. Contact us about our bespoke training options.
Free Webinars
We also host free webinars throughout the year which contain useful information and advice for disabled people, their colleagues, families and friends, but also professionals who are looking to ensure their products and services are built with accessibility, usability and inclusivity in mind.
Submitted by Sarah Botterill on Mon, 30/12/2019 - 08:16
Fitness trackers are increasingly popular as a means of keeping active. Here are top tips for setting up, and troubleshooting if you’ve been gifted one this Christmas.
Fitness trackers are big business. Fitbit is still arguably the market leader although the Apple Watch is hot on its heels.
The latest models of the Fitbit include the Fitbit Versa 2 smartwatch, Fitbit Inspire and Fitbit Inspire HR trackers. Instructions are limited and so if you’re having trouble setting yours up, here are some tips to get you going.
1. Connecting your Fitbit to your phone
Fitbit devices connect to an App on your phone, so you’ll need to pair your Fitbit via Bluetooth. If you’re having trouble connecting, check your phone’s Bluetooth is turned on. For iPhone go to Setting and select General. Tap on Bluetooth and toggle the on/off button to on. Look for the name of your Fitbit tracker and tap on it to connect.
Android phones may vary. Look for Settings, and then tap Bluetooth. There should be an option to enable or disable it. Make sure it is enabled. You should see the Fitbit appear within Bluetooth devices, tap to connect.
If there are two of you with a Fitbit device in the house, make sure the other device is away from your phone as too many devices can cause confusion.
Our free tool My Computer My Way is a step-by-step guide to how to make individual adjustments to a computer, tablet or smartphone.
2. Change your stride length for Fitbit
Feel as if you're putting in the steps but your Fitbit isn't counting enough or is counting too many? Everyone's stride is different especially if you have a physical impairment. Fitbit trackers work out how far you have walked by multiplying your walking step and stride length. To work out your stride length go to a place where you are sure of the distance. Count your steps as you walk across it. Divide the total distance (in feet) by the number of steps to get your stride length.
You can change your stride length in the Fitbit app on your phone, or from within the online dashboard.
In the app, tap or click on the Account icon and then tap on the Advanced settings. Tap or click Stride Length, and adjust your stride. In the Fitbit dashboard, choose settings and personal information. Under Advanced settings, find Stride Length. Click Set on Your Own and adjust your stride length.
Do you have a new device you need help setting up? Or have you gifted a relative who needs help? AbilityNet's network of volunteers offers free technical support at home.
3. Fitbit not receiving notifications from your phone
Your Fitbit works best in tandem with your phone and can receive notifications including when you receive messages. Sometimes, notifications don’t come through but there are some things you can do to try and reconnect.
The first, and most obvious, is to ensure you’re within 20 feet of your mobile phone. You can also try turning Bluetooth off and on again (follow the steps in tip 1) and try restarting your Fitbit and your mobile device.
Where notifications are delayed, it may be that you have an unstable connection. From your Fitbit app, select Account and then select the tracker. Select Call and text notifications and make sure that the Enable Notifications Widget is turned on.
4. Use Alexa on the Fitbit Versa smartwatch
Fitbit's Versa 2 smartwatch has Alexa built-in. It enables you to speak to your watch and to connect to a smart home, or to get news, weather and other information on the go but you'll need to turn on the function first.
You'll need to do this on your phone in either iOS or Android. Open the Fitbit app on your phone. Click on your profile icon in the top-left corner, and tap on the name of the tracker. Tap on the Amazon Alexa tile and then click login with amazon. This will redirect you to the Amazon app. Tap 'Get started' and give Fitbit permission to access the Alexa Voice service.
Tap on 'Use location'. to share your location if you'd like more personalised results, and then hit continue.
Fitbit devices come with a good range of apps but you may have a favourite you'd like to sue with the device, too. It's possible to set this up.
It is possible to have a different app if there's one you're more used to as there are quite a few that use Fitbit's API. You can set these up to sync with the Fitbit app.
Click on the Account tab in the Fitbit app and tap Compatible Apps at the bottom.
Find out about useful apps including those for people with MS, students and for mental health and wellbeing
AbilityNet provides a range of free services to help disabled people and older people.
Call our free Helpline. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff will discuss any kind of computer problem and do their best to come up with a solution. We’re open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm on 0800 269 545.
Arrange a home visit. We have a network of AbilityNet ITCanHelp volunteers who can help if you have technical issues with your computer systems. They can come to your home, or help you over the phone.
We have a range of factsheets which talk in detail about technology that might help you, which can be downloaded for free. You may find our factsheets talking about voice recognition and keyboard alternatives useful.
My Computer My Way. A free interactive guide to all the accessibility features built into current desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Submitted by Adam Tweed on Wed, 18/12/2019 - 09:35
It has been an incredible decade in the world of technology; machine learning, artificial intelligence, voice assistants, the rise of smartphones and the advent of smart homes.
Within the assistive technology (AT), we have seen some incredible innovations. We have witnessed the move from AT as an afterthoughtto the movement towards accessible-by-design. People realise that by building a product that addresses the barriers faced by some people all of the time, you also address barriers experienced by everyone some of the time.
This decade saw the start of the AbilityNet Tech4good awards, celebrating the very best of the tech world. Then, in more recent years, Techshare Pro; a coming-together of the technology industry to discuss how technology can enhance the lives of disabled people.
So what do we think are the best bits of AT from the last decade?
1. Apple's iPad (2010)
Any list of influential tech, influential design or influential assistive technology will include at least one product from Apple. Apple has made accessibility core (pardon the pun) to everything it does do. The iPad has opened up the connected world to a significant number of older people who would not see themselves as ‘computer users’.
Let’s also have an honourable mention for the introduction of Siri in the iPhone 4; still not itself a stand-out example of the emerging genre of the virtual assistant, but it undoubtedly raised the profile of AI in smartphones and opened the door to innovation. More on virtual assistants below.
Find out how to adjust your iPad settings in our free online tool My Computer My Way
2. Tobii Eye-tracking (2012)
At CES 2012 Tobii introduced affordable eye-tracking to the mainstream with devices that integrate with existing screens or are plugged in in the same way as you would a mouse, allowing for mainstream devices to be controlled by people with minimal movement or significant issues with skill. Another honourable mention for Apple’s full voice control in iOS 13 here too, but eye-gaze technology is still a must for so many with both motor and speech challenges that this transformative tech steals the day.
3. Google Glass (2013)
Arguably Google Glass was a fantastic idea in a world not yet ready for it. Google Glass provided an augmented view of the world around us with in-built voice commands “Ok Glass, take a picture”.
Glass is a lightweight, wearable headset that provides information independent from a mobile phone. Potentially Glass can provide support for people with visual- and physical impairments, and can offer help with dyslexia, autism and other communications issues.
Glass still exists but a lack of widespread acceptance, mainly down to the disquiet around their potential to film or photograph people without their knowledge or consent, has meant that their value in terms of ‘assistive technology’ is yet to be realised.
Watch this space, however, as we predict that smart glasses will feature large in the years to come.
The Amazon Echo, or ‘Alexa’ is now part of the family in many households.
News, weather, music, games, podcasts (including dot to dot – the daily Alexa skill demo podcast from AbilityNet’s Robin Christopherson), lighting, heating and other smart home control and the list keeps growing.
Sexy and convenient for everyone, but a real life-changing tech for people with disabilities.
5. Microsoft's Learning tools for Dyslexia (2015)
Microsoft's Learning tools are the result of a 2015 hackathon and is designed with dyslexic users in mind. The suite of tools enables a person to alter the way that text appears on the page; it has an ‘Immersive Reader' mode hides toolbars and other distractions and allows a person to change the font and line spacing without altering the original document.
It also contains tools to identify sentence components, page tinting options and a tool to aid line focus and tracking.
There is also has a ‘read aloud’ option which highlighting words as they are read. Unsurprisingly, it was a tool that transformed the experience of many people who struggle with reading, from people with dyslexia to children and foreign learners. Still, it also became transformative for proofreading, distraction, tired eyes, and so on.
6. Be My Eyes (2015)
Hans Jørgen Willberg, a Danish furniture craftsman who is visually impaired, recognised that blind and low-vision people often needed assistance from sighted people to carry out everyday tasks. The Be My Eyes app, as its name suggests, connects blind or low-vision people with sighted volunteers who, using the phones video camera, can assist with the visual aspect of any task.
Tasks could include reading items in the home, assisting with navigation or orientation when out and about or by (more recently) providing specialist help from the helpdesks of Microsoft, Google, Lloyds Bank and even Clear Blue (the pregnancy testing company).
7. AV1 Robot (2015/6)
The AV1 robot is a telepresence robot from No Isolation; a company that uses technology to address the issues of isolation and enables children and young adults to participate in everyday school life and socialisation where a condition or long-term illness might have excluded them.
The AV1 robot is slightly shorter than a ruler, has a camera, speaker, microphone, WiFi antenna, 4G connection, and battery and weighs less than a kilogram; light enough to be picked up and carried around and so can always be part of the group.
8. AirPods (2016)
Symbolising both the miniaturisation of wireless audio tech and the inclusion of enhanced assistive features for those with a range of impairments, Apple’s AirPods embody a revolution in the mainstreaming of sound with an AT twist.
The lack of wires is an excellent convenience for all, especially those with disabilities who may find dealing with tangled wires challenging. Going wireless without the drawbacks of earlier BlueTooth solutions was a significant step forward.
Apple's Airpods set a new bar for audio accessibility. The headphones allow for stereo to be mixed to mono for those with hearing in only one ear, or to allow for one ear to be open to the environment.
Combined with features such as ‘Live listen’, the wearer can use their phone's microphone instead of that built into the AirPods. There is an ‘active noise cancellation’ mode where you use both AirPod microphones to filter out extraneous background noise while still directionally passing through the voice of the person you are facing).
The earpod may also open the way to some exciting healthcare applications as measuring pulse, blood flow and other health-related data are more accurate from a skin surface like the ear as opposed to the wrist through a fitness band or watch.
9. Microsoft's Seeing AI (2017)
Microsoft's SeeingAI is an app (currently only available on iOS) that turns your iPad or iPhone into a smart scanner; identifying currency, text, (some) handwriting, colours, light levels, people and objects. It was designed by a team led by Saquib Shek (a programmer who is himself blind) and was driven by his desire to address the barriers he faced with the technology he already knew existed within Microsoft.
10. Xbox adaptive controller (2018)
Microsoft’s Xbox adaptive controller opened the door to gaming for disabled people. Even it’s packaging was designed with accessibility in mind, coming apart with a series of cardboard tabs rather than impenetrable plastic wrapping.
The Xbox Adaptive controller has large control pads, but also a series of connectors that allow other switches and controls to be added according to the gamer's preference. Not only does the controller enable disabled people to game alongside disabled and non-disabled players alike, but it also enables co-piloting with players playing in cooperative pairs.
11. RNIB Orbit Reader (2018)
Braille displays are complicated and expensive (prohibitively so for many blind and low vision people) and yet they are vital to gain access to written information - especially where an audio alternative is either impractical (due to noise, say), not an option (such as people who are deafblind) or simply not the mode of choice. The Orbit reader is a small, portable braille reader for around £500 – representing a new, radically lower entry-point for blind Braillist everywhere.
12. Google Live Captioning (2019)
A decade after auto-captioning was introduced to YouTube; Google has developed live captioning of any audio on your phone; video, podcasts, messages, any audio file you may have. The service is currently only available on Google's own Pixel hardware and does all processing on-device (meaning no data needs to be sent to 'the cloud' for processing). On more general release is Google's Live Transcribe app that enables live transcriptions of conversations; a fantastically simple 'subtitling for everyday life' and Microsoft's multi-featured Translator app.
What about the next decade?
The 20's (still feels odd saying it) hold even more excitement; the potential of AI (as well as the concerns) the benefit of big data versus the desire to protect privacy, the Internet of Things, ubiquitous computing; technology that runs out-of-sight, out-of-mind.
I may be slightly bitter that I'm not writing this telepathically from my flying car whilst my robot butler scurries around after me as Tomorrow's World assured me. Still, I can turn on my lights without getting up from the sofa, I have a music library available on request, and I'm regularly disturbed by the thump of my robot vacuum cleaner running full speed into a closed-door; so baby-steps.
For more views and commentary on this dynamic decade of tech with a disability twist, why not listen to the latest Tech Talk podcast; co-hosted by AbilityNet’s Robin Christopherson.
A letter to the tech giants from a lone voice in the wilderness
Submitted by Guest Blogger on Tue, 17/12/2019 - 11:37
Guest blog: Colin Hughes
As someone living with a severe physical impairment it may not be popular to express the opinion that Apple is failing its most severely disabled consumers but it has to be said. Despite the recent introduction of Voice Control, the company's new voice recognition application, the tech giant has come up short when it comes to providing comprehensive voice access for users with physical disabilities whose only option is to control their Apple devices with their voice.
I am quadriplegic, as a result of muscular dystrophy, which means I have difficulty using a MacBook keyboard, iPhone screen, and Apple Watch face for sending a message, writing an email, posting to Twitter and Facebook, or controlling my smart home. Rather than typing on to a screen or keyboard, as many people do, I rely on voice recognition technology to get things done.
Now that iOS 13, macOS Catalina, watch0S 6, Watch Series 5, iPhone 11 and new Airpods, have been released in the past two months these are my conclusions on how effective and extensive voice access is on the Apple's flagship devices and operating systems.
As I will explain, I am literally pulling my hair out with frustration every day as I struggle to write an email, send a text message, hang up a phone call, and post to Twitter and Facebook on my Apple devices. It doesn't have to be like this. All major tech companies could and should be doing more to make their products both accessible and affordable for disabled people.
Voice Control
Voice Control is Apple’s biggest accessibility initiative ever. It is designed for people who may not be able to use traditional methods of text input on a Mac computer, iPad, or iPhone and it has two main features; firstly, it allows people to dictate emails or messages with their voice, and secondly navigate their screen with commands such as "open Safari" and "quit Mail".
Voice Control is good for navigation by speech commands but hopeless at accurate dictation, which makes it frustrating and not productive to use. It does not, as Apple claims, allow you to dictate seamlessly into any text box. It’s a sad indictment that as a quadriplegic I do not use it all. It would take me several hours if I tried to dictate this article with Voice Control dictation as the application constantly fails to convert my spoken words into text on the screen correctly. It doesn’t come close to Dragon Professional Individual 15, the leading speech recognition software on the market, in terms of accuracy and productivity.
Some of Voice Control dictation’s poor performance may be due to the fact that only US English is powered by the Siri speech engine for more advanced speech recognition at the moment. Apple hasn’t said when UK English will be added.
Voice Control needs to develop if it is to be useful for people. It feels like Apple is only at the beginning of developing truly productive voice recognition technology, which will reliably transcribe the words you speak. For the company that has a reputation for nailing it with almost every new product or application it releases it is disappointing to see how mediocre Voice Control dictation is at the moment. It is not the game changer many people hoped for.
AirPods
One of the most useful Apple product releases this year is not an accessibility initiative at all, not as far as Apple is concerned. It is the second generation AirPods with built in Siri, the company's upgrade to its ubiquitous and iconic wireless earbuds.
Access to intelligent assistants like Siri is key to their mainstream consumer appeal nowadays, and for physically disabled users being able to get things done hands-free with help from Siri brings a real freedom from confinement. For anyone who has difficulty handling an iPhone or an Apple Watch the hands-free voice capabilities that wireless in-ear headphones are now offering is just so liberating.
This wearable on-the-go product lets me take Siri and her voice control abilities with me all day. I can go out alone in my electric wheelchair and feel secure by being able to make phone calls from my iPhone or Apple Watch with a Siri voice command. I can check the time by asking Siri via my Airpods. I can play my favourite music and podcasts. I can send family and friends a text message. In all these small but significant ways Airpods with built in Siri has allowed me to interact with my iPhone and Apple Watch almost like anyone else. The benefits for me are both in terms of personal safety and social interaction. I also wear the Airpods around my home and use them to turn on connected lights and and set the thermostat.
However, significant obstacles in the road to full accessibility remain. You still can't use a Siri voice command to end/hang up a phone call. You can place a call hands-free by a voice command but you can’t end it. How ironic is that. This unfortunate state of affairs gets me into a lot of trouble every day, as I get stuck in people’s voicemail boxes when they don’t pick up my calls because I am unable to touch the iPhone screen and Apple Watch face to press the red button to end a call. It reminds me of the Blondie song; Siri, why do you keep me hanging on the telephone! If I am unfortunate enough to receive a nuisance call, or heaven forbid an abusive one, there is nothing I can do to end it. Come on Apple, this situation can’t be allowed to continue!
It is my understanding you can hang up calls by a voice command with Google’s forthcoming second-generation Pixel Buds and Amazon’s new Echo Buds though I am yet to try them.
Announce Messages with Siri
Announce Messages with Siri is another great new feature new in iOS 13 this autumn. Again, Apple does not bill it as an accessibility feature but by enabling anyone with Airpods to have their messages read out to them by Siri automatically, and the ability to transcribe with a reply, it clearly has a lot of use for people who have difficulty interacting with their iPhone screen. I find the feature incredibly useful and it will become even more useful when other messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger become integrated with it.
Auto-Answer
Auto-answer is a little known feature buried deep in the accessibility settings on iPhones that enables phone calls to be answered automatically without the need to touch the phone screen. It is really useful for anyone who can’t easily reach for their iPhone and touch the green answer icon on the screen when a phone call comes in.
However, the problem is that for the people who rely on it as the only option for handling phone calls, you still can’t toggle Auto-Answer on and off by a Siri voice command, or create a Siri Shortcut where, every time you put your AirPods on, phone calls are answered automatically, and every time the earbuds are taken off they are not. This would be incredibly useful for many people, not least people in my situation. Most other accessibility features can be activated by a Siri command but, after a year of feeding back to Apple, my feature request for this has fallen on deaf ears at the tech giant.
Apple Watch
Apple Watch cellular, which allows you to make phone calls, needs the Auto-Answer phone calls feature added; the ability to toggle it on and off by a Siri command; the ability to hang up a phone call by a Siri voice command; and Announce Messages with Siri functionality.
I have been reading of someone who would like Auto-Answer on an Apple Watch for an elderly family member with dementia who does not remember to press the green button on the iPhone or Apple Watch to answer a phone call in the conventional way. The writer says Auto-Answer would be amazingly helpful for people who need to keep track of elderly loved ones who don’t like the idea of carrying a mobile phone, and refuse to wear GPS devices for elderly people likely to wander, but are still willing to wear a watch.
For me, with a physical disability, Auto-Answer on the Apple Watch will mean more independence and personal safety. I will be able to leave my home in my wheelchair without the need to pick up my iPhone, (which I am unable to do), and I'll be able to answer incoming phone calls from friends, family and carers.
If Apple can provide these features on the Watch they will offer a more enhanced and holistic voice control experience. Until they do there are large gaps in their voice offering on the Watch, which are really curtailing my independence, and many people like me.
My hunch is there aren’t any big technical or cost barriers to adding these features. During the summer there was an outcry demanding Siri control of Dark Mode and Apple promptly introduced the functionality. Accessibility isn’t sexy, may not move unit sales, Auto-Answer is a little known feature, so getting the company to focus on it is difficult.
More inclusive
Voice Control is a joint effort between Apple’s Accessibility Engineering and Siri groups. Its aim is admirable - to transform the way users with physical disabilities access their devices. You talk, it gets things done for you.
Yet on a broader level Apple chose to develop Voice Control as a dedicated accessibility feature, but it could have done very similar things by expanding the capabilities of Siri so voice control of devices could be mainstream for everyone. This would be more inclusive and an approach that I would have liked to have seen.
At the moment, companies like Salesforce with its Einstein technology, and Amazon Alexa, are really pushing the boundaries of what it is possible to do with voice recognition tech. Rather than developing a dedicated accessibility application like Voice Control Apple would have been better making voice recognition technology on their devices more ingrained for everyone.
There is a danger Voice Control could become a bit of a ghetto, not used by many, not updated and improved often, except on the odd occasion when Apple wants to show off its accessibility credentials.
The future of voice recognition features, wireless in-ear headphones, and mobile voice assistants will only grow. Wearables are a potentially huge technology sector, which Apple and its competitors clearly recognise. It is not just people with accessibility issues that will be driving growth and calling for ever greater voice capabilities, there is a growing appeal from general consumers as the voice first revolution grows.
I feel Apple needs to embrace the idea of inclusive design even more than it already does. If you make things easier for people like me to use you make things easier and more convenient for everyone. That is a strong selling point these days.
Hopefully, in 2020 we will see Apple address these gaps in its voice tech to the benefit of everyone who wants to control their devices with their voice.
The price of independence
The need for more accessible design and user-friendly features on devices is not the only issue disabled people face when it comes to technology. Apple products, in particular, are very expensive. The latest iPhone 11 Pro costs over a £1,000 and the Airpods Pro wireless earbuds £250. Yet for disabled people, especially, technology produced by Apple, and all the major tech companies, can be a great liberator. It can be the difference between holding down a job, or not. Keeping in touch with family and friends, or not.
All my life technology has played a big role in providing me with independence. By using the rapidly developing digital technology I have seen over my life time, I have been able to go from a small village in Wales, first to university in Scotland, then a long career at the BBC. Currently, my personal campaign is to highlight the case for as many physically disabled people as possible to have affordable and accessible technology.
Technology has helped create a level playing field despite the difficult cards I have been handed in life. I remember when I joined the BBC in 1990 they were still editing reels of tape with a razor blade, which was something I physically couldn't do, but once the digital revolution got underway in the late 1990s I was editing documentaries for Radio Four myself on the first digital editing platforms.
Today using the latest voice recognition technology I am able to have a wide range of tools at my command to run both my home and personal campaign office with just my voice. However, all this independence has come at great cost, which not all disabled people can afford.
Both Conservative and Labour parties announced plans to tax the tech giants more in the lead up to the election, but I believe both parties need to go one step further and ensure that the taxes raised do not just benefit the Treasury, but provide the tech giants with incentives to use their economic muscle and technological expertise for the wider social good. As a disabled person I rely heavily on new technology. It is a great boon to me and would be to many others if the tech multinationals did more to adapt their products to meet the needs of this significant group in society and make their products more affordable.
With features like Airpods with built in Siri, Announce Messages with Siri, and to a slightly lesser extent Voice Control, some good work on making technology more accessible is going on at Apple, and indeed other tech companies like Microsoft and Google, but it’s nowhere near enough in comparison to the vast resources at their disposal. When a decent smartphone costs more than £150, wireless earbuds with smart assistants built in from £130, a laptop more than £300, a smart speaker from £50, and when a much higher proportion of disabled people are living in poverty it is clear to see where the problem lies.
I have experienced directly through my life how technology can create employment opportunities for even the most severely disabled people, and jobs create taxes and so the Treasury and economy benefits as well. Now as my muscular dystrophy progresses voice activated smart home technology, produced by the likes of Apple and Amazon Alexa, has become even more important to my daily life: everything from communicating with family and friends, to turning up the thermostat and my lights on. It helps me get things, most people take for granted, done.
My vision is a world where physically disabled people particularly benefit in terms of independence, choice and control, from technical innovations in consumer devices produced by companies like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. Why is it that charities, businesses and students get discounts and tax breaks on smartphones, laptops and tablets but disabled people who need technology to lead more independent and productive lives do not?
It should be possible for the major banks, technology giants, and the government, in partnership, to devise a new scheme similar to Motability, which enables disabled people to own and adapt cars, to make the more expensive technologies affordable for the disabled end-user. This would widen access and encourage major tech companies to consider more how accessible their products are.
It's not just access to devices that is a problem, it is also access to websites and applications. There are laws in the UK, USA, and elsewhere that make businesses provide ramps and toilets to enable access for disabled people, but for some reason technology companies seem to get away with shirking their responsibilities on tech accessibility.
In the USA the singer Beyoncé, and Domino's the pizza company, have been sued over concerns about how accessible their websites are to disabled people. Device manufacturers like Apple and Google should ban developers whose websites and applications fail to meet accessibility standards. Google could go further and penalise websites in its search engine rankings if they don't meet certain accessibility standards. That would certainly concentrate minds.
I am using voice recognition technology to write this article but there are many text boxes on websites and apps across the internet where the technology I rely on simply does not not work because of thoughtless website design. Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Google and WordPress, household names on the internet, are all guilty culprits. This frustrates me, makes me less productive, and silences me. It should be a major concern for web democracy when disabled people can be shut out of substantial portions of the digital world and economy we all use.
Digital exclusion based on accessibility and affordability is a scourge of our times and should be the next major front in the battle for a more accessible world for disabled people.
In the digital world, as in the real world, accessibility should be a civil right.
Colin Hughes campaigns to make technology more accessible and affordable for disabled people and is a regular contributor to Aestumanda https://www.aestumanda.com/
Submitted by Robin Christopherson on Thu, 05/12/2019 - 18:45
A super pro-panel for a superbly pro event
There were so many great speakers and expert panel sessions at TechShare Pro that it seems strange to focus on just the one, but this article is all about the carrots and sticks of accessibility after all, so this panel discussion of the same name Is being singled out here – but for a much fuller coverage of all the digital goodness across the entire event programme, make sure you subscribe to the TechShare Procast in which, amongst many other topics, we feature a full-length interview with RNIB Chair Eleanor Southwood hot from chairing the panel, and another with Malin Rygg of the Norwegian government (more about her below) and Stuart Seaborn of the US not-for-profit Disability Rights Advocates – both of whom were expert panellists.
In this article I want to explore the carrots and the sticks in all their juicy, knobbly goodness – and there’s no better or more high profile place to start than the recent fiasco involving gavels, garlic bread and a whole lot of brand damage.
I am of course talking about the recent ruling of America’s supreme court in the case of Domino’s vs Guillermo Robles; a blind man who was unable to successfully use their website or mobile app to select his favourite pizza. The supreme court said “Hard cheese” to Domino’s and found in favour of the claimant.
Domino’s clearly don’t care for disabled customers
Despite it being a clear legal requirement under the American’s with Disabilities Act (1990) to make reasonable accommodations for people who use assistive technologies (like the built-in VoiceOver screen reader on your Mac or iPhone) or whose disability or impairment requires that an app or website considers their needs in its presentation and usability, Domino’s were having none of it.
A similar need for straightforward accommodations is very evidently enshrined in the statute books here in the UK, in the EU and across much of the developed world. So, it’s quite clearly been the law for numberless years to ensure that users with disabilities aren’t left out on the digital sidewalk and, I think we’d all agree, it just feels like the liberated 21st century sort of approach to take, right?
Domino’s disagreed and, when faced with defeat at lower legal levels, appealed it all the way to the supreme court. Pizzas may be their passion, but both the purple pound and the good favour of any right-minded American (or global citizen for that matter) obviously is not.
Is accessibility hard?
Do Domino’s have a case for being so intransigent when it comes to tweaking their website or app to make it inclusive for all? Is it unreasonable to accommodate us disabled customers (I’m blind too, by the way)?
Well, it is estimated that considering the globally-recognised and comprehensive Web Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG – currently v2.1) or their equivalents for mobile app development in any new project represents a possible 2-5% additional cost. Whilst that’s not peanuts (or should I say parmesan shavings?), it’s dwarfed by the spending power of customers with impairments (mentioned above as the purple pound and estimated to be circa £249bn - $304bn US – each year in the UK alone) and that of their family and friends so easily swayed by online reviews, Squashed Tomato ratings and the like.
This is because, if an app or website is easy to use by those with extreme requirements, then it’s extremely usable for those without. Thus, make it extremely usable for all and you give every customer a good experience and, voila! Good ratings, high customer satisfaction, increased revenue and repeat business. But Domino’s wants none of that.
And what about if you don’t factor inclusion in from the start? Well, it’ll cost more of course. Will it cost as much as the loss of custom and good will that comes with such lengthy legal proceedings? I wouldn’t have thought so. Not by a long way. In this case, by the way, the issue revolved around the simple ability to customise your toppings to get the pizza you actually want. Not on the scale of a manned mission to Mars, then, but still they dug their heels in.
Who is accessibility for?
So we’ve established that Domino’s don’t care about their disabled customers – that’s clear. Whilst this isn’t at all what their filing says, of course, it’s the obvious take-away from such an action (excuse the pun).
Their stated reason for going nuclear on a no-accessibility stance? It was to seek clarity from the law as to what is and isn’t covered. Bricks and mortar, yes. Clicks and mobile taps? Unclear. They were asking for a clear ruling along with clarity on which guidelines to use. Hopefully they’re now crystal clear on both – both of which we’ve covered above and which the vast majority of forward-thinking organisations have accepted as read for years. We’ve long had legislation the spirit of which is evident, and in-depth technical guidelines whose sole intention is to help put them into practice.
What Domino’s may not realise, however, is that turning their back on those guidelines and seeking to continue with the status quo (i.e. creating digital products that avoid the fiddly bother of inclusive design) ignores the very significant fact that it is no longer just disabled users that need accessibility. I’ll explain.
There’s no doubt that we’re living in a mobile-first world. The average daily traffic to any given website is predominantly mobile – well over 60% - and that’s not factoring in mobile app equivalents to those same websites which are, by definition, from users on the go. So the vast majority of any company’s users are accessing their services on small screened devices without keyboard or mouse and found in every sort of situation - they’re well and truly ‘computing on the edge’.
Someone trying to access a website without sufficient colour contrast or with poor font choices will struggle on a sunny day. For that moment they have exactly the same requirements as someone with a vision impairment. Using your phone one-handed (which I guarantee you’ve already done several times today) you are in very real terms temporarily motor or dexterity impaired. You needed the exact same design requirements as someone with Parkinson’s or a tremor does 24-7. Got less than a minute to squeeze buying a train ticket into your coffee break? You need extreme usability just as someone with a learning difficulty does. Ditto when ordering an Uber after a ‘good’ night out. Noisy, bumpy bus or train? That’s a hearing impairment and motor difficulty. I could go on and on. In fact, in many of my articles I have.
So who is accessibility for? It’s for everyone. Each and every one of us. We all slide up and down the scale of impairment on an almost hourly basis depending upon what we’re doing and where.
Domino’s needs to begin to wise up to the fact that turning your back on the widely recognised (if yet not universally adopted) guidelines for inclusive design doesn’t just hurt your disabled customers and your brand, they make your digital products and services frankly unfit for a mobile-first world.
Everyone suffers and (even if you don’t care about doing the right thing) that’ll really hurt your bottom line.
Out with accessibility – in with inclusive design
When we think of creating a digital world that offers everyone a pretty good experience regardless of their environment and what they choose to use, it might be best to turn away from the label of accessibility altogether. It has too much baggage. It’s always been thought of as being for those disabled people over there – a bolt on that, when push comes to shove, can be left off altogether.
Two decades of equality legislation on both sides of the pond have left us with a digital landscape in which 90% plus of websites don’t even meet the bare minimum of requirements when it comes to accommodating disabled users. It’s still a rampless world for many (nightmare CAPTCHA challenge, anyone?) and a simple but significant shift towards the idea that those same guidelines now benefit every user may make all the difference. So out with the idea of accessibility for those with disabilities being the reason why you’re doing the right thing – and in with the idea of inclusive design that benefits every user. That’s one tempting take-away that Domino’s has yet to digest.
Getting stuck into Domino’s with some teeth
So I’ve used this recent example of Domino’s and their appalling approach to accessibility as a vehicle to explore the carrots and sticks of digital inclusion; a sort of pizza delivery van of a vehicle that’s gone well and truly off the road and is now, wheels spinning, lying in the ignominious ditch of brand damage. This might have something to do with how much more I like pizza than carrots – I don’t know.
So, if you don’t want to follow the path of Domino’s and instead want to embrace best practice – best practice exhibited so clearly at TechShare Pro last week by every organisation represented – please come on the accessibility journey with us and become passionate about taking everyone with you.
Please make your websites and apps inclusive because you know it’s the right thing to do. Failing that, do it for the strong and very real business case. And for those like Domino’s that just plain refuse - really refuse to do the right thing – then let’s get stuck into them with some teeth. It’s vital that the law has teeth to make companies do the right thing regardless of their reluctance to do so. That’s right; a stick with teeth. I’m not shy of mixing metaphors. Goodness knows I’ve done it enough in this article already.
I’ve long called for the government to enforce the law when it comes to accessibility. We get a parking ticket if we stay a millisecond over time on a parking meter. Try to avoid taxes and the HMRC are down on you like a tonne of bureaucratic bricks (we all know the saying about birth, death and taxes), but block millions of users from participating fully in a flourishing digital future and the government looks the other way.
The funny thing is that it wouldn’t take an army of traffic wardens or tax inspectors to enforce the law when it comes to digital compliance. It’s a nice, comfy, desk-based task to ascertain whose being naughty and whose being nice. In a more recent post I outlined how several governments are taking their obvious obligation to a fair online world seriously and actually monitoring and fining offenders. Unsurprisingly, this has seen some startling results.
The Norwegian government is one that has chosen this proactive approach to enforcement. They evaluate websites for compliance and then issue a deadline and subsequent fines.
One example is their national airline; SAS. It was given a year to comply and, when it didn't, was given an additional week and simultaneously threatened with a tough €15,000 fine ($16,500 US) every day thereafter.
After no movement for a year (and lots of complaining about how hard it would be to remedy the issues), they then fixed the issues in 12 days to everyone's satisfaction.
You can hear from myself, representatives from Norway, and presenter Peter White on a recent BBC In Touch programme discussing enforcement and how a new approach such as this is actually making a difference. Alternatively, we have a full interview on accessibility the Norway way with Malin Rygg of their official enforcement body in the TechShare Procast feed.
There's still a long way to go, but Norwegian travellers can now at least browse and buy tickets with their biggest airline regardless of disability or impairment - along with many other sites too.
So that’s one example of how readily the law can gnash its teeth. Wouldn’t it be great if this was the last time a company like Domino’s was able to avoid its bite?
I like a slice of Domino’s pizza as much as the next person - so long as that person is both a really huge pizza fan (really huge) and who also loves Hawaiian but without the ham, that is - but, so long as I can’t customise it to meet my needs, I’m taking my purple pennies elsewhere.
So whether you like carrots on your pizza, or sticks of garlic bread on the side, please take a slice from the veritable buffet that was TechShare Pro and help make the digital world a tastier place for everyone.
Subscribe to The TechShare Procast - your audio guide to the conference, including highlights and interviews with some of the speakers at the event.
Watch the livestream from TechShare Pro 2019 to watch the main conference sessions online.
Join our mailing list to be kept up-to-date with the latest disability and technology news, plus more from TechShare Pro 2019 post-event.
Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations: your questions answered
Submitted by Mark.Gaddes on Wed, 04/12/2019 - 10:29
At AbilityNet we are committed to providing information and support to higher education (HE) institutions and public sector organisations that are impacted by UK digital accessibility regulations. On a recent webinar Abi James of AbilityNet was joined by Richard Walker of the University of York who shared how his institution is meeting the new legislation head-on.
Plenty of questions came through from attendees on the live webinar, these in addition to those posed during the HE and Public Sector Regulations session held at TechShare Pro 2019 last month - the UK's leading accessibility and inclusive design conference. We did our best to answer as many questions as possible on the live webinar, and there are further typed responses included below.
Join our mailing list to stay up-to-date with the latest news and information about the regulations.
Q: Where should the accessibility statement sit? How do we make sure users can find it?
A: Richard explains at the University of York they have placed their VLE (virtual learning environment) statement on an accessibility tab which is available pre-authentication, and this acts as an aggregate statement with links to accessibility guidance/statements for all related systems that students will be using. The plan is to have this also link up to their top-level institutional statement when that’s available.
Q: Do you think it's vital that third parties using University of York content, such as FutureLearn for example, where you run MOOCs (massive open online courses), strictly meet the public sector regulations? Or do they fall outside your immediate obligations or concerns?
A: "Absolutely yes - it’s a joint responsibility," says Richard. FutureLearn follow a rigorous QA process. "Most of the issues they flag on final review of MOOC materials pre-launch relate to accessibility and they pick up on very minor lapses or omissions, so it's something we know from experience that they take very seriously - not surprising given the variety of devices and countries learners engage from. FutureLearn are very particular with regard to full alt tag descriptions, as an example full explanations of graphs and charts are required, and transcripts for every video are mandatory, even third-party ones that we link to and don't host ourselves - where they insist we create our own transcripts and add to the course site."
Q: Do any HE institutions have a process for quality checking the accessibility of the content academics are providing? Whose responsibility is it?
A: Sharing how this works at the University of York, Richard explains that for fully online programmes they (the central elearning team and their commercial partner) do this. For blended courses it’s the academic’s responsibility, but they provide assistance (through Ally; internal support; guidance and review criteria support, etc).
Q: How can, or should, widening access outreach teams help to prepare students for a successful transition to higher education, particularly when considering active engagement on a digital platform?
A: The transitional skills sessions the University of York runs for schools engaged with Widening Participation and Student Recruitment projects don't cover digital skills - "perhaps this is something we can look into at some point," Richard comments. For confirmed, unconditional students making the transition to HE, they currently provide dedicated access to ’Preparing to Study’ transition sites (based on the student's department/discipline) prior to arrival at York. For fully online programmes, the student is encouraged to complete study skills modules before they begin their programme.
Q: We've heard about carrot and stick (referring to the offer of reward vs. the threat of punishment). I'm more in favour of using the carrot. However if the law isn't enforced do you feel that websites will become accessible?
A: "This is all about culture change through education and awareness," says Richard. "It will take time - and should be part of a general digital capabilities upskilling effort." Richard acknowledges the matter is complex and impacts on so many areas including staff recruitment, training, procurement, quality assurance, etc.
6 things we learned about accessibility at TechShare Pro 2019
Submitted by Claudia.Cahalane on Thu, 28/11/2019 - 02:19
TechShare Pro is the UK's leading accessibility and inclusive design conference, and this year's event was over two days, giving even more opportunities for connecting, sharing and learning.
Detailed below are 6 things we learned about accessibility at TechShare Pro 2019. Join our mailing list to be kept up-to-date with more of the latest news from TechShare Pro 2019.
1. How to motivate 145,000 ‘nerds’ to care about accessibility
How does Microsoft’s Chief Accessibility Officer encourage the company’s staff to care about accessibility? “When I’ve got 145,000 nerds to motivate here at Microsoft, there’s no bigger motivator than innovation,” Jenny Lay-Flurrie told the Accessibility Leadership session at TechSharePro 2019 last week.
“We’re all a little bit magpie-ish. For non-Brits, that means we like bright, shiny objects. Whether that’s what we build ourselves, like Seeing AI or the Xbox Adaptive Controller or (innovations with partners). As an example of such innovation, she quickly added: "In fact, an exciting thing is that we’re announcing today some new hardware through an amazing partner Logitech (find the Logitech story here).
“They have actually built some gorgeous boxes of switches and all manner of brilliant stuff that’s going to empower folks using the adaptive controller (i.e. gamers with physical disabilities) to figure out how best to make that work for them."
Addressing the audience at Google's London headquarters in St Pancras via video presentation, she said: "How can you innovate and take the bar higher every single time? And that’s really the goal."
The captioned livestream of this session is below:
2. Accessibility leaders were wannabe historians, vets and racing car drivers
Many of the expert accessibility leaders at TechSharePro, the likes of Apple, Google and Barclays, never dreamed of working in accessibility.
Christopher Patnoe, Head of Accessibility Programmes at Google, told delegates in the leadership session at TechShare Pro that he ended up in his role because he ‘screwed up’. “You learn by your mistakes; I got ‘button-holed’,” he says. “I was the lead TPM (Technical Programme Manager) on Google Play Music at the time before Google had made a commitment towards accessibility.
“One of our test engineers came into our meeting and she turned on VoiceOver and I heard ‘button, button, button, button’ (this is faulty labelling of page elements which means blind website users will be unable to use/understand/enjoy a web page or parts of it). I said, ‘What’s that?’ and she replied ‘This is Play music (the Google music app) for someone who’s blind’. I said ‘Well that’s stupid. How do they use it?’ to which she responded ‘That’s why I’m here’. That really affected me, I’d been in the industry for almost 20 years at the time… and I’d never heard the word accessibility.”
This started Patnoe’s journey into becoming an accessibility specialist. For Sarah Herrlinger, Director of Global Accessibility at Apple, the interest came alive when she worked with children with special educational needs while in Apple’s education division. “I started going to schools and talking to teachers and kids and quickly realised that it was the most important work I was going to do. This led to going back to product marketing to be Product Manager for everything we make, and from there going into the role I’m in right now, which is more about holistic accessibility across everything Apple does."
Did they ever think they’d end up working in accessibility? No. “I wanted to be a historian, and then a singer,” says Patnoe. Herrlinger says she always wanted to do a job which helped people. “I wanted to be a vet or something like that.”
For Paul Smyth, Head of Digital Accessibility at Barclays, a racing car driver was top of the list before he became an Accountant. As someone who is visually impaired, he started noticing ways that business could change to become more accessible to himself and others and kept progressing to his current role.
3. We’re on the cusp of an era of ‘universal design’
In Norway, where businesses can be fined up to 15,000 euros a day for not meeting accessibility requirements, accessibility is not referred to as accessibility. Instead, it's referred to as ‘universal design’, Malin Rygg, head of authority for universal design of ICT in Norway - Difi, told delegates at TechSharePro 2019.
“It’s like a management ISO, said Alejandro Moledo, policy coordinator at the European Disability Forum speaking at the conference. There are requirements for entities which are public or private to ensure they have a design for all approach. It states that they need to have leadership, staff training on accessibility and knowledge of different accessible requirements with the aim of addressing all users.”
Speaking on the first day of the two day conference in the session - Carrots v Sticks: A Global Perspective, Moledo also said that the upcoming European Accessibility Directive should encourage a universal design approach among businesses. He said the threat of losing business for those that didn’t practice universal design was huge. “We are talking about a market of 500 million people. If you don’t live up (to being accessible), the market authorities will be able to stop you selling your product.”
The captioned livestream of this session is below:
4. A wave of Freedom of Information requests is testing Public sector bodies and universities on accessibility
By September 2020, UK public sector websites are expected to comply with legal accessibility requirements (some are already required to do so). In the HE and public sector session at TechsharePro, we learned from George Rhodes, accessibility consultant at the home office, that the sector is already being questioned about its commitment to inclusive digital design for disabled people.
Rhodes said: “I’ve already seen an increase in the number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests emerging. I’ve been keeping an eye on the FOIs coming out and there’ve been many. Public sector bodies have started receiving questions about how they are moving towards becoming accessible,” he said. Anyone is entitled to submit a FOI request to a public sector body.
Find a captioned video of this session below:
5. Tech giants are gamifying accessibility for staff with challenges and rewards
First of all, don’t ask managers to nominate staff for your Accessibility Champions Network, advised Emanuela Gorla of Barclays in the session on Accessibility Champions at TechShare Pro '19. That doesn’t work. “People need to have a personal interest,” she said.
Google’s solution has been to turn accessibility practice into something staff can eventually earn an equivalent version of martial arts style ‘black belts’ for. They go through a series of five belts, ie levels of progression on accessibility. This does seem to work, said Chris Patnoe, head of accessibility programmes for the company. He also advocated lots of praise, recognition and freebies.
The companies speaking in this session run internal Accessibility Champions Networks which often consist of hundreds of staff.
Michael Vermeersch, chair of the Accessibility Employee Resource Group at Microsoft, announced that the tech company would be launching something similar to Google. He said there would be accessibility badges for staff with four basic levels to work through and the potential for more. Level one will be knowing basic methods of presenting and communicating in an inclusive way, level two is practical action around accessibility and encouraging others, three is knowing how to do accessibility within the job role and four is for those working fully in accessibility roles.
Find the captioned livestream video of this session below:
6. What big companies think about AI, accessibility and ethics
To what extent are the big data sets which are being collected for AI and Machine Learning potentially invasive in disabled people’s lives? And to what extent are they helpful? Should there be more regulation around what companies do with such information? These were some of the many questions being pondered in a deep and varied discussion on Ethics, Machine Learning and Disabilities, at TechShare Pro 2019.
One audience member asked whether machines should attempt to identify disabled people who are using assistive technology? Christopher Patnoe, head of accessibility programmes at Google said he could “See both sides” of the potential arguments for and against this.
He explained: “If we were able to determine if someone had a need for assistive technology and one they don’t know about … it would be really helpful for us to disclose in real time - did you know that you could have a magnifier in your operating system? But we don’t want people to be sort of tracked and identified and create a situation where we’re targeting you because of a disability. So being able to understand what someone needs and doing that in a private way to allow them to learn more about the technology (could be a good thing). It gives an opportunity to have a better experience to use the technology that is useful. But you don’t want them to have a browser tag saying this is a person using a screenreader (ie categorising the person as disabled),” he suggested.
The captioned livestream video of this session is below:
Businesses are missing out on the purple pound, says Scope
Submitted by Sarah Botterill on Tue, 26/11/2019 - 11:55
This blog has been updated in April 2023 with an infographic. Blog originally published November 2019.
This article is informed by Scope's session at TechShare Pro 2019 where it unveiled its Big Hack project to understand the role of Inclusive Design to meet the needs of disabled people.
Seventy-five per cent of disabled people think businesses are losing out due to poor inclusive design, according to research by Scope unveiled at TechShare Pro 2019. With 11 million of the 27 million households in the UK, or 40% of them, including at least one disabled member business is missing out on a potential £2.74bn.
“Disabled people in the UK, particularly those with mild to moderate disabilities, comprise a greater proportion of the population than ever before,” says Scope.
Under the umbrella of The Big Hack Scope’s research is part of a campaign to engage the tech community, and to bust through the barriers disabled people face.
Researchers surveyed almost 300 disabled people to find out how they spend their cash; and where they’re unable to spend it, why, and to establish the role of Inclusive Design.
1 in 5 people in the UK are disabled
13.3 million disabled people in the UK
40% of households have at least one disabled person
11 million households
£274bn, the value of the ‘purple pound’
“This is a big moment, and businesses are asking themselves the questions why, when and how do we tackle this promising market,” said Craig Moss, Research Manager for Scope. “Business leaders and designers increasingly recognize that their customers occupy a common spectrum of abilities and aptitudes across various areas rather than existing in two separate camps.”
An overspend on personal transport is matched by an underspend on public transport. The Big Hack research found that on average disabled people spend 31% less on public transports, and experience significant problems when travelling.
One respondent commented “my worst experiences with accessibility have been with public transport, which is the most important thing to someone with a disability. I would be happiest to spend more money on it if it were more accessible.”
Scope found on average 22% of disabled people wanted to spend more on public transport but were unable to do so because of accessibility issues.
Bad design is bad for business
A key focus of the Big Hack is to “understand Inclusive Design’s role,” in enabling or stopping, disabled people from spending their money.
Scope found that 75% of survey respondents felt business was losing out due to poor inclusive design.
What’s more, when faced with problems using a website or app, or an in-store device such as a self-checkout machine 50% of respondents didn’t complete the purchase; while 48% found an alternative place to buy – taking their business elsewhere.
“Inclusive design should be a priority for businesses of all sizes,” said Moss. “In a society where our differences are increasingly recognised and celebrated - and not to mention a society that is getting older - it is vital from both an economic and an ethical perspective that marketers respond to the changing design priorities that come with this."
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The onus is on designers of products and customer journeys to include disabled people in their business strategies, and that doing so will create a better product for everyone.
“This shift in emphasis has put onus on designers of products [to include] disabled people in their business strategies at the earliest possible point in the design process. It has also led to a greater sense of identification for disabled people, and a breakdown in boundaries between disabled and non-disabled consumers,” said Moss.
“Business leaders and designers increasingly recognize that their customers occupy a common spectrum of abilities and aptitudes across various areas rather than existing in two separate camps,” he added.
Put simply, Inclusive Design is good for business. “The business case is rooted in both economics, and in ethics. Users with a range of impairments will constitute a greater proportion of the market and various products and services,” said Moss.
Moss added: “Companies have a duty to respond to a changing world. They must prevent their customers from facing indirect discrimination through markets that isolate and exclude them. In fact, markets can play a significant role in the cost of living to a disabled person and that household, creating unnecessary extra costs and limitation on spending.”
Poor design means disabled people are underspending in key areas including education, and recreation. The survey found that households with disabled people spend, on average, 65% less on education and as a proportion of income. However, 33% said they’d like to spend more on education but are prevented from doing so because of accessibility issues.
Disabled people are also spending less (-25%) on entertainment and again would like to spend more.
2 Billion: Businesses lose approximately £2 billion a month by ignoring the needs of disabled people.
13 trillion: Families of disabled people in the UK spend an estimated £274 billion a year. Globally they spend $13 trillion.
16 billion: taking average per head, the online spending power of disabled people is estimated at over £16 billion.
73% - 73% of potential disabled customers experience barriers on more than a quarter of the websites they visited.
75% - 75% of disabled people and their families have walked away from a UK business because of poor accessibility or customer service.
3% - Only 3% of the internet is accessible to people with disabilities.
Research has shown that various sectors lose money each month by not being accessible:
High street shops - £267 million
Restaurants/Pubs/Clubs - £163 million
Supermarkets - £501 million
Energy companies - £44 million
Phone/Internet providers - £49 million
Transport providers - £42 million
Banks or building societies - £935 million
About TechShare Pro
Now in its third year, TechShare Pro 2019 is hosted by Google and supported by some of the biggest technology names on the planet. The conference offers two days to connect, learn and share with people from all over the world who are building a more accessible and inclusive digital world.
Panelists and workshop hosts include Apple, Google, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, Barclays, RNIB, Uber, Disability Rights Advocate (USA), Disability Rights UK, European Disability Forum, Aira, BBC, Sony, Scope, Fraunhofer, Verizon Media, Amazon, Netflix and Channel 4.
Subscribe to The TechShare Procast - your audio guide to the conference, including highlights and interviews with some of the speakers at the event.
Abi James, principal digital accessibility consultant at AbilityNet, will be speaking at this year's 
The multi-user virtual work allows people with aphasia to practise their speech and to establish social connections.
Accessibility for designers
Accessibility for developers
Fitness trackers are big business. Fitbit is still arguably the market leader although the Apple Watch is hot on its heels.
Feel as if you're putting in the steps but your Fitbit isn't counting enough or is counting too many? Everyone's stride is different especially if you have a physical impairment. Fitbit trackers work out how far you have walked by multiplying your walking step and stride length. To work out your stride length go to a place where you are sure of the distance. Count your steps as you walk across it. Divide the total distance (in feet) by the number of steps to get your stride length.
Your Fitbit works best in tandem with your phone and can receive notifications including when you receive messages. Sometimes, notifications don’t come through but there are some things you can do to try and reconnect.
Fitbit's Versa 2 smartwatch has Alexa built-in. It enables you to speak to your watch and to connect to a 
Fitbit devices come with a good range of apps but you may have a favourite you'd like to sue with the device, too. It's possible to set this up. 
It has been an incredible decade in the world of technology; machine learning, 
Any list of influential tech, influential design or influential assistive technology will include at least one product from Apple. Apple has made accessibility core (pardon the pun) to everything it does do. The iPad has opened up the connected world to a significant number of older people who would not see themselves as ‘computer users’.
6. Be My Eyes (2015)
The AV1 robot
Symbolising both the miniaturisation of wireless audio tech and the inclusion of enhanced assistive features for those with a range of impairments, Apple’s AirPods embody a revolution in the mainstreaming of sound with an AT twist. 
Microsoft's 
Microsoft’s Xbox adaptive controller
11. RNIB Orbit Reader (2018)
You can hear from myself, representatives from Norway, and presenter Peter White on a recent 
At AbilityNet we are committed to providing information and support to higher education (HE) institutions and public sector organisations that are impacted by UK digital accessibility regulations. On a recent webinar Abi James of AbilityNet was joined by 
This started Patnoe’s journey into becoming an accessibility specialist. For Sarah Herrlinger, Director of Global Accessibility at Apple, the interest came alive when she worked with children with special educational needs while in Apple’s education division. “I started going to schools and talking to teachers and kids and quickly realised that it was the most important work I was going to do. This led to going back to product marketing to be Product Manager for everything we make, and from there going into the role I’m in right now, which is more about holistic accessibility across everything Apple does." 
In 
Google’s solution has been to turn accessibility practice into something staff can eventually earn an equivalent version of martial arts style ‘black belts’ for. They go through a series of five belts, ie levels of progression on accessibility. This does seem to work, said Chris Patnoe, head of accessibility programmes for the company. He also advocated lots of praise, recognition and freebies. 
“Disabled people in the UK, particularly those with mild to moderate disabilities, comprise a greater proportion of the population than ever before,” says Scope.
The research shows that, on average, 