As a person who is blind I am grateful I have the ability to leverage assistive technology to access and interact with digital technology (software, webpages& documents). When I experience digital technology that is accessible to people who are disabled including those who use assistive technology following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 it makes me very happy.
It is encouraging that some organizations have realized in order to compete successfully in the competitive global marketplace, accessibility for digital technology is becoming more critical as just one of many components in creating an equitable and inclusive environment for everyone.
Impact of Digital Technology with Accessibility Issues
Digital technology with accessibility issues not only creates barriers to equal participation for some users it also causes added stress and frustration. Accessibility issues also have these same effects on everyone who is in contact with the person who experiences these barriers such as co-workers, spouses, family, friends and others.
To heighten these accessibility issues not everyone may believe the user when they say that the issue they experience is a technical accessibility issue. One misunderstanding for example is when someone who is not knowledgeable in the technical aspects of accessibility and not knowing any better may tell a user who is experiencing an accessibility issue that their issue is not a technical accessibility issue. They may believe the issue is due to lack of training. They may also tell the same user that they are not experiencing a technical accessibility issue since they may be able to get past the issue by counting keystrokes. For example the user is told to attempt to get to a particular location in the digital technology and type or interact with it with little or no awareness of where they are. Or someone might say the user should attempt to activate hyperlinks on words or sentences that are not coded correctly for assistive technology users to know that they are hyperlinks until the user finds an active hyperlink that works.
This extremely challenging experience of hunting around and interacting with user interactions that do not work is like using a computer or mobile device with a shattered display or one that is extremely dim preventing someone from seeing the complete screen. Also it is like using a keyboard with some of the keys broken causing errors in typing.
No Time for Improvements
Fortunately I have been working in the accessibility field for many years and have been using assistive technology for over 20 years. I am also a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies by IAAP. I can explain and demonstrate the technical accessibility issues with the application or web page owner. However for those who have similar skills as I do certain application or web page owners might think it is too time consuming and not worth the effort to make a needed accessibility enhancement .
When someone is being excluded due to accessibility issues because no one has the time or wants to prioritize resolving the issues, it makes the person feel like they have two disabilities.
- For example a disability which requires assistive technology and the issue is caused by the digital technology not being accessible to the users of assistive technology causes a barrier. This is also true for people who do not use assistive technology and experience accessibility issues.
- Several people not understanding the broad range of disabilities people have and not taking any action to remove the inclusive or misunderstood barriers could be the second disability. This exponentially compounds the problem of just the initial accessibility exclusion and makes these people feel like they are not worth the effort to be equitably included.
Solving Human Exclusions for People with Disabilities is Difficult
Creating an equitable environment for all requires passion, empathy and a willingness to take the time needed to learn and understand everyone’s unique and beautiful differences .
This is just one reason why solving one aspect of inequalities of people in the world is more difficult than creating accessible digital technology. This reason is because we cannot force people to change attitudes or influence people to take needed time to understand people with disabilities using technology like we can do for solving the digital technology accessibility issues.
When we think about disabilities we need to be sure to include people with a broad range of visible disabilities as well as hidden disabilities.
This attitude or lack of knowledge regarding the people side of how and why to create equitable environments may be a result of the times we live in today such as the need to complete things more quickly with fewer people and less support. Also, another issue in today’s world there is very little or a complete lack of verbal communication between real people and doing more online without any verbal communication. However I know that on-line communication is extremely beneficial for people who may have voice disabilities, hearing disabilities, other disabilities or challenges.
Also unfortunately to save time I’ve noticed that people do not take as much time to talk on the phone and prefer to send instant messages. Not holding personal two way conversations does not have the same person to person interaction requiring interpersonal communication skills which can lead to solid friendships, partnerships or productive collaboration.
Fortunately These Exclusions Can Easily be Overcome
These exclusions can easily be overcome with consideration. I feel if everybody had the option to slow down, listen to others and care about what might be preventing every person from participating and having a happy and fulfilling life we would all be better off. I believe this kind of attitude would go further for making positive progress in this fast-paced world we live in today when peoples’ first thoughts are of how to cut corners, which can exclude certain people.
Although there could be many solutions to some of the equity issues one thought that comes to mind to help would be to get a Chief Accessibility Officer to oversee everything regarding accessibility if these issues were within a organization or company. Also if these issues were within an organization or company people would need to be trained on the technical aspects of digital accessibility so people experiencing accessibility barriers would not be falsely accused of doing something wrong when in reality the issue is actually a technical accessibility issue. Also if this is in a controlled environment such as an organization or a company providing detailed training on a broad range of disabilities and empathy is another solution to some of these equity issues.
If you are experiencing any of these obstacles in your career aspirations or personal life try to stay positive and assist where you can with improving equality issues for the disabled.
Does anybody have any thoughts or comments about how we can slow down and not exclude people because of time constraints or misunderstandings? Has anyone experienced similar interactions? Any recommendations on how to resolve exclusions for people with disabilities which is a problem that I believe goes far beyond accessibility issues with digital technology.
Thank you and stay positive, keep a smile on your face, slow down, talk to others, leverage accessible digital technology and most important utilize all peoples’ unique skills. Together we will spread happiness and understanding.
If you have any comments or feedback can you please send an email to Bill Tipton since unfortunately the comments are closed to my blog site.
Bill
Bill Tipton
Contributing Author,
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/
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