Digital accessibility, an emancipation and a significant market

Digital technology, a revolution and emancipation for disabled people

It was thirty years ago. Electronics and computing were bursting into every sector of human activity, profoundly changing the way we work and communicate. These technologies made it possible to overcome limits previously considered insurmountable. The case of disabled people is a particularly interesting illustration. There are many examples: the keyboard, whether physical or virtual, enables people with upper-limb disabilities to perform new operations; speech synthesizers (…)

This evolution has made many professions accessible to disabled people, and has rendered obsolete the so-called “disabled-only” professions. One of the most spectacular examples is that of mathematician and physicist Stephen Hawking, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Thanks to a standard computer equipped with a simple contactor, lexical prediction software and text-to-speech software, he was able to continue his research activities.

Internet, the gas pedal

Fifteen years ago, the Internet was in full swing: in 1996, 36 million computers were connected worldwide; four years later, 360 million! Parallel to this growth, efficient and scalable assistive software for the disabled emerged, enabling users to use the main software applications on the market, as well as e-mail, surf the Web, consult online encyclopedias – in short, to control the everyday environment of the information society. Thanks to these developments, and provided there are no technical barriers in the way, disability has in many cases become totally transparent.

This was followed by the creation of numerous online services, making certain administrative procedures easier. So it’s not surprising that, in a survey of disabled people in the USA, 48% felt that the Internet had significantly improved their lives, compared with only 27% of able-bodied respondents.

The immense potential of mobile technologies

Mobile telephony, wireless communication, geo-location (GPS) and radio identification systems, all make it possible to develop affordable “consumer” applications with a wide range of functionalities. Their usefulness for disabled people is considerable. A blind person can now use his or her cell phone to obtain information on the approach of a bus, be guided to an address, or manage appointments …. In this context, a Smartphone becomes much more than a telephone, it becomes a tool to assist daily life.

Removing barriers to quality and comfort for all

This potential – which many disabled people can already testify to – needs to be qualified, however. Indeed, accessibility is subject to compliance with rules that are all too often ignored. Only training in these standards will enable them to be disseminated and good accessibility practices to become widespread.

Applying digital accessibility standards right from the design stage of products and services improves usability far beyond the disabled. For a website, for example, accessibility is one of the touchstones of ergonomics. A home page designed to be easily understood by a visually impaired person, or by someone with reading difficulties, will better hold the attention of other categories of Internet users, starting with older people, and in general of anyone concerned with efficiency,…

For companies, a market to conquer

Finally, we must not underestimate the value of this market. According to figures from the World Health Organization, digital accessibility now concerns more than 600 million disabled people of all ages worldwide. In Europe, this figure is close to 100 million, including 12 million in France. A survey of more than 600 major American companies in 2013 showed that 31% of them consider this market to be interesting, and that 7% have already taken concrete action.

Accessibility opens up new uses. It is in itself a factor of innovation and a gateway to new markets that companies today cannot ignore!