When tech companies roll out new products, they’re not always thinking about making them accessible to people with disabilities. This shuts millions of people out. Thankfully, more organizations and events like Global Accessibility Awareness Day are shedding light on this issue, pushing tech giants like Apple, Google and Netflix to make their offerings available to everyone. There’s been significant progress over the last several years, but disability advocates like Zach Anner and Tatiana Lee note there’s a long road ahead before everyone is fully included in product designs and rollouts.
Zach Anner:
Tatiana Lee:
Global Accessibility Awareness Day:
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When you have a disability your life
often moves faster than your body does.
This is Zach Anner, he’s a comedian host and
writer and he recently started doing tech reviews on YouTube.
As someone with cerebral palsy, he’s
making these videos to show just how important
tech can be for people with disabilities. But there are many people with disabilities who
aren’t able to use tech that many of us take for
granted. I’m Abrar Al-Heeti and we’ll be exploring
just how accessible apps and modern technology
really are; and what can be done to improve them.
Just about every element of our lives takes
place online now, from where we shop, to what
we watch, to how we communicate. But for people
with disabilities these everyday tasks can be
especially difficult when platforms and services
aren’t designed with their needs in mind.
Accessibility isn’t always top of mind for
developers or engineers which is why it’s often
overlooked. Twitter recently faced backlash when
it launched its voice tweets feature. People in the
disability community were quick to point out that
it didn’t have closed captioning, so people who are
deaf or hard of hearing couldn’t use it. Twitter
later said it would add transcriptions but that
was only after people called it out. When you’re
thinking about uh introducing like a new product
category or feature it’s just like get the
feedback from the disability community first and
not like an afterthought. People with disabilities
often worry about whether they’ll be able to use
new devices and features. When the first iphone
came out in 2007 its functions weren’t fully
accessible to everyone including people who are
blind. It wasn’t until the iPhone 3Gs came out
two years later that apple introduced voiceover. A screen reading technology that’s part of iOS.
Now people who are blind can more easily check
their calendars send emails and follow maps.
Outlook email body multi-line text field google
has also been working to make its products more
accessible. Some of the apps it’s recently launched
include sound amplifier and live transcribe. Which
help people who are deaf or hard of hearing follow
a conversation. There’s also the lookout app, which
helps people who are blind or visually impaired
use their phone’s camera to read food labels
find objects around a room or scan documents
and money. Kind minis caramel almond and sea
salt minus 0.7 ounce. Wearables like smart
watches are also incorporating accessibility ,
google recently launched a feature called sound
notifications which alerts people with hearing
loss about critical household sounds like dogs
barking appliances beeping or water running. Still
many companies haven’t put as much effort into
making their products and services more inclusive .
Overlooking accessible design from the start shuts
millions of people out. To me tech is the most
exciting uh area because there’s so much that
you can do around accessibility to create
universal access for people. Tatiana Lee is an
actress model and activist with spina bifida,
meaning her spine and spinal cord didn’t
form properly at birth. She says when she
was born the hospital and doctors asked her
mom if she wanted to institutionalize her.
Thankfully her mom said no but many other parents
took that option. Where we need to get to is this
idea of people with disabilities being a part of
a social model and the social model is there’s
nothing wrong with people with disabilities the
problem is the lack of accessibility and access
that is a burden on the person with a disability
to be able to fully live out their lives.
Americans with disabilities are nearly
three times as likely to never go online.
They’re also around 20 percent less likely to
subscribe to home broadband and own a computer
smartphone or tablet. A whopping 98% of us websites
aren’t fully accessible and you may be thinking if
so many americans are being left out why haven’t
lawmakers tackled the issue? Well it’s a bit more
complicated than just passing legislation when the
americans with disabilities act was passed in 1990
it helped make physical spaces more accessible by
requiring accommodations like wheelchair ramps and
elevators. But it hasn’t been as effective
at making digital spaces more accessible.
That’s because so much has changed since the
law was passed. 30 years ago we didn’t have
smartphones or widespread access to computers we
didn’t rely on the internet to handle everyday
tasks the way we do now. Digital accessibility
compliance just hasn’t kept up with the times.
We think about other laws that have been put into
place um back some years ago that have literally
allowed society to put people with disabilities
into institutions. And so because of that people
aren’t thinking about us, they aren’t thinking
about us as consumers, they aren’t thinking about
us as positive representation because to them, we
need to be eliminated. Web accessibility became a
hot topic after Domino’s Pizza asked the supreme
court to review a case involving a blind customer.
Guillermo Robles sued the restaurant in 2016 after
he wasn’t able to order a custom Domino’s pizza
online, even with screen reading technology. The
appeals court in the 9th circuit sided with Robles
ruling the A.D.A. does in fact apply to apps and
websites of businesses with physical locations.
The supreme court declined to hear the case in
2019 meaning the lower court’s decision stands.
So, while the courts have ruled that the
internet is covered under the A.D.A.
it’s typically up to us to report any issues.
Experts say there isn’t enough accountability at
higher levels to make sure digital information
from federal departments and agencies is fully
accessible. This includes information on important
processes like voter registration or covid19 data.
Accessibility challenges have also forced
streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu
to rethink how they show content. In 2016 and
2017 after being called out by the American
Council of the Blind, Netflix and Hulu said
they would add audio description, so that
blind and visually impaired people can better
understand what’s happening in a show or movie.
Both companies also said they would make their
sites and apps accessible through screen readers.
Thankfully more organizations are stepping
up to promote digital accessibility.
There’s actually an entire event dedicated to this
in may called global accessibility awareness day.
Jenison Asuncion is GAAD’s co-founder. The
purpose of GAAD was really to get your everyday
developer, designer, product
manager to spend some part of that day
thinking about, learning about, discussing uh
all aspects of digital access and inclusion
for the over one billion people with
different disabilities or impairments.
To celebrate global accessibility awareness day’s
10th anniversary this year the co-founders are
launching the GAAD foundation. Which includes a
series of initiatives designed to incorporate
accessibility into products and services. What we
are doing and what we will do is create a platform
for the average designer, developer to just
go online and immediately connect with
someone with a disability or impairment. And just
have that conversation; ‘Hey what do you do to
use the internet? What do you do to use the mobile
app? what assistive technology do you use?’ and just
have that open conversation. The internet has also
opened the door for people to share their thoughts
struggles and experiences through blogs and
social media just like Zack does on YouTube.
This shows just how important it is to make sure
these platforms are fully accessible to everyone.
What most people would consider a convenience
becomes actually kind of life-changing for someone
like me. It makes it so i can spend less time
on logistics and more time just living my life.
Thank you so much for watching. If you want to
learn more about tech and accessibility visit
cnet.com where we just kicked off this year’s
series of tech enabled stories linked in the
description below. Also, be sure to like and
subscribe to cnet for more on all things tech.
And finally follow me on twitter
at @al-heeti_3. See you.
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zero karl
May 20, 2021 at 12:31 pm
Not a first comment. appreciate it 🙂
E39 Purist
May 20, 2021 at 12:33 pm
Loved Zach Anner in rooster teeth content and his own.
E39 Purist
May 20, 2021 at 12:33 pm
Question: How did Twitter change the world?
STE Show
May 20, 2021 at 12:35 pm
Stay tuned to find out
PSYCHO
May 23, 2021 at 12:40 pm
Find out on the next episode of DRAGON BALL Z……
Luz Rodriguez
May 20, 2021 at 12:34 pm
😊😊😊😊😊😊
STE Show
May 20, 2021 at 12:37 pm
One day, tech will take us over completely
Leon Newhall
May 20, 2021 at 12:49 pm
This is an ignorant video this stuff wasn’t accessible in the beginning because handicap people are a small percentage of the Salesforce this country is driven by sale not my feelings.
Manny
May 20, 2021 at 1:07 pm
You’re the ignorant one here. What if it was your mom, your sister or daughter? Wouldn’t you want them to be able to experience and enjoy the same things? You’re lucky if you don’t need assistance.
Gary Korzelius
May 20, 2021 at 2:28 pm
But for the grace of God go I
Kady H
May 20, 2021 at 4:12 pm
Your going to regret that if you become disabled in your life.
nobrainerneeded
May 20, 2021 at 5:27 pm
And yet you still posted this r/wooosh comment…
Bryan Merton
May 20, 2021 at 12:49 pm
Excellent video!
Yathuprem S
May 20, 2021 at 1:29 pm
Nice video. Well done
Zakaria Ali
May 20, 2021 at 1:52 pm
Finally a hijabi!! Alhamdulillah
First Name Last Name
May 20, 2021 at 2:21 pm
Lmao, Alhamdulillah
Steven Mancera
May 20, 2021 at 1:55 pm
As a normally abled person, I’m able to benefit from these accessibility features too. As simple as AI closed captions for some moments on videos that I myself cannot fully recognize, or object recognition to searching an object that I myself don’t know, or voice typing or dictations when situations like I cannot physically interact with my device, a brief inconvenience that some disabled people live by their whole life.
Remington Howell
May 20, 2021 at 2:10 pm
That is my life every day as a vision impaired and hard of hearing
Drew Bottorff
May 20, 2021 at 2:17 pm
great video!
Gary Korzelius
May 20, 2021 at 2:27 pm
I think it is time for an amendment to ADA. Tech companies should be jumping at the chance to grab up all these users. Think of the ratings boost, and revenue if you can’t just do it to be humane.
Mujtaba Suhrawardy
May 20, 2021 at 2:28 pm
ABRAR! Good to finally see you in a CNET video!
juan diego serrano cardenas
May 20, 2021 at 3:51 pm
Very important topic and we’ll explained. Would be great to see Abrar reporting more on camera at CNET.
Patrick Taillon
May 20, 2021 at 4:51 pm
Agree.
Youngken
May 21, 2021 at 5:15 am
Agree 🙏🏼
Dzhumanazarov Tilek
May 20, 2021 at 4:29 pm
Making Products accessible for everyone is very important. As a beginner UX designer I always try to make the experience of interacting with my prototypes as pleasant as possible.
Dzhumanazarov Tilek
May 20, 2021 at 4:29 pm
Making Products accessible for everyone is very important. As a beginner UX designer I always try to make the experience of interacting with my prototypes as pleasant for everyone as possible.
SP
May 20, 2021 at 9:25 pm
Well done, Abrar.
thumbtak
May 20, 2021 at 10:31 pm
I don’t use iphone. I don’t use twitter. I don’t use netflix.
JM Ulan
May 20, 2021 at 10:42 pm
Thanks, CNET Team! This message is powerful and meaningful
Abdennacer Ayeb
May 21, 2021 at 1:29 am
I don’t use twitter and netflix and i think there is no need for them to me and a lot of people in my country at least for the next years.
Michael b
May 21, 2021 at 2:57 am
Yes..and lately ppl with any type of physical disabilities have been taken a back seat..especially now since every little thing is labeled as disability
Nekminute
May 21, 2021 at 5:06 am
it puts the lotion in the basket
PSYCHO
May 23, 2021 at 12:41 pm
The Silence of the Lambs. 👍
Tango Cash
May 21, 2021 at 7:04 am
Really important topic and nice host.
B2
May 21, 2021 at 3:24 pm
Good work cnet 👍
John Gyver
May 22, 2021 at 11:17 am
It’s all about the money. When someone makes an app/website etc, making it disabled-people-friendly often requires some additional effort/time/money and possibly some aesthetics sacrifice – e.g. large buttons that would be better for visually-impaired may look ugly for the rest of us. And as a software/website developer I’ll ask myself: “Is it worth it?” “Will enough disabled people use my product and generate the money to compensate me for making my product disabled-people-friendly?” If the answer for that question was “yes”, we’d have more disabled-friendly products…
Maybe some government incentive program is the solution, I don’t know.
平和
May 22, 2021 at 5:12 pm
Excellent video!
Jon
May 22, 2021 at 6:54 pm
It should be a legal requirement for all corporations to include disability access in any product. To exclude people shows an ignorant arrogance. None compliance should incur hefty monetary fines without court rulings.