Use services without barriers
Although there are examples of good practice in Lithuania in increasing digital accessibility, there is still a lack of attention and faster changes, especially for people without disabilities, it is often difficult to understand and appreciate the importance of digital accessibility. It is much simpler to understand the importance of physical accessibility, especially in public spaces or buildings. Comfortable and capacious elevators, stair railings, ramps, automatically opening doors, special road surfaces have already become a standard today, which is tried to be followed both when building new and renovating old buildings or designing the environment.
As Telia telecommunications company experts commented, more and more businesses understand that not only the physical environment, but also the digital space must be adapted to people with different disabilities, so the digital accessibility situation is definitely better than a decade ago. However, it is not enough.
For faster and smoother changes, the European Accessibility Directive, which will enter into force in June 2025, was adopted, the aim of which is to ensure the accessibility of digital products and services to everyone, including people with different disabilities. The requirements of the directive are relevant for many businesses, although some have started preparing for the changes in advance, while others are delaying the preparation, waiting for the deadline.
The company “Telia” takes care of each of its customers, so last year it started a program to adapt services for people with disabilities and is successfully implementing it.
Makes it easier to talk
Smart devices, without which everyday life is unimaginable, are today fully adapted to people with visual impairments. They have built-in screen readers and video magnifiers: Talkback on Android phones and Voiceover on iOS. It is true that screen reading programs are useful not only for visually impaired people, but also for those with dyslexia, reading or comprehension difficulties.
People with hearing disabilities especially often use the video calling function in their daily life, and communicate with each other using sign language. They also like the Skype app, where you can get a sign language interpreter service if you register in advance.
There is usually no need for special phone adaptations for hearing impaired people, but smart devices have specific functions that some people actively use, while others, on the contrary, turn them off. For example, most smartphones can be connected directly to hearing aids via Bluetooth, thus ensuring a smoother use of the device. Smart watches can also be a great help to not miss calls or important messages – the device vibrates or sends visual notifications.
When it comes to people with hearing disabilities, one of the app’s adaptations is subtitling audio elements or transcribing text in real time. The app automatically converts audio to text. One such app is Live Transcribe&Notification. Some apps warn of events or received messages with LED lights or a flashing screen.
A particularly valuable function is sound level adjustment, when the app helps you adjust the level of different sounds, increase the volume of speech, but reduce background sounds. It should be kept in mind that Lithuanian is not the native language of the deaf, their native language is sign language, so it is much more difficult for them to understand Lithuanian than for native speakers of Lithuanian.
Therefore, even written language should be as simple as possible – long sentences and complex words can be an obstacle for deaf people who want to use the app comfortably.
In order for apps to be accessible to people with visual impairments, it is important to think about this at the development stage and ensure that it will be readable by screen readers right from the programming stage. It is equally important to take into account contrasts and fonts – both in the app and on the website. You can find more tips on what a digital space accessible to all looks like here.
Smart technologies are in everyday life
For people with disabilities, smart technology is often not a matter of convenience, but of necessity. Visually impaired people can be independent with the help of apps in their daily life. For example, using the “Be my eyes” app, count money, choose a shirt, pick up a package or even apply makeup.
The app has both artificial intelligence and sighted calling functionality, so users can choose the method that is more convenient for them. If you don’t want contact with a person, if you point the phone’s camera at the thing you want to recognize, it will be described by artificial intelligence. If you want to get help from the person on the other side of the screen, after calling, the visually impaired person will be connected to a sighted volunteer who will be happy to answer the question.
When a person calls, they can ask for help to understand whether they have the right medicine in their hand, or whether a bus in the right direction has arrived at the public transport stop. Milk and kefir packets usually look the same on store shelves, so using the “Be my eyes” app, a visually impaired person can successfully shop independently.
People without disabilities sometimes have the false impression that visually impaired people don’t use technology at all, and Andrzej Ravan busts this myth in this video clip.
There is also no shortage of apps for children with disabilities – a detailed map of relevant apps has been prepared by researchers at the University of Edinburgh. It can be found here. The apps marked on the map are available on the iOS platform, but most of them are also available on the Google Play platform.
2024-09-10 09:49:12