Accessibility Partners: Pushing The Limits Of Technology Use in The Disabled Community

Posted by Jonathan Koenig | 0 comments

Technology is ever evolving and rapidly changing in today’s business and today’s education. While to many of us the use of technology is something we use everyday, and also something we tend to take for granted, there are also people in our community that struggle to implement these technologies into their lives. One such community that has struggled with newer technologies is the disabled communities. There are a variety of reasons that certain disabilities would hamper the use of new technologies, but in order to really understand the gravity of the situation we decided to interview Accessibility Partners, one of the frontrunners in the implementation of technology into the disabled community.

This amazing company truly offers a unique perspective and business model in that they work to educate, and evolve technology in such a way that disabled individuals can use and interact with some of the newer models. This is of course no easy task, and requires a great deal of expertise, persistance and passion. Dana Marlowe Principal Partner of Accessibility Partners, and her team, have put forth a tremendous amount of effort into advocating the use of technology by the disabled to government agencies, IT development manufacturers, and employers. Read on to learn about what how the Accessibility Partners team is continuing to work to serve our disabled communities and where Dana would like to see her business in the future.

Can you tell us a bit about Accessibility Partners and what your business does?

No matter how big or small the product is, everyone is connected by technology. But I feel that the term ‘connected’ is a little misleading. Despite a lot of innovation and improvement, people with a variety of disabilities often have difficulty using items like computers, smartphones and tablets to their full potential. My company, Accessibility Partners, helps to make sure that information technology is accessible for people with all disabilities. Our focus is working with federal agencies, Wounded Warriors, and IT manufacturers (in both the public and private sector) to test and review all kinds of products for compliance. We’ll test things as large as desktop servers all the way to mobile apps.

What are some of the more common disabilities that your company tends to work with?

More often than not, Accessibility Partners works with individuals who are Blind or Low Vision. We test our client’s products using assistive technologies such as screen readers (text to speech software), screen magnifiers, or refreshable Braille displays, to ensure that all the information that is being relayed as text on a screen can be heard or transmitted in a way that someone who has a disability can discern. There is a rise of individuals who are Blind who are working in IT, and I’m really pleased to see this influx. When technology keeps up, these workers are destined for great success.

We also do a good deal of work for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. This is more interpersonal, and knowing sign language has been a real boon on these projects. Accessibility Partners also trains organizations in disability sensitivity and Deaf culture so that people who are Hearing can interact in a productive and respectful way with their co-workers.

Are there certain technologies that are specifically difficult for the disabled to use?

Right now, almost every mobile device has a touchscreen element. This is hugely inaccessible to someone who is either Blind/Low Vision or who has any sort of dexterity disability. Relying on touch and vision simultaneously can be problematic and frustrating because of the precision required. Even now, devices like microwaves, fitness machines, even washers and dryers, have touch screens. Sometimes, these pair up well with the assistive technology, but other time, the code is not programmed correctly. Certain elements are hidden this way because they can never be accessed. Also, buttons are frequently mislabeled and a screen reader on a touch screen will not be able to identify what the correct function is.

Can you explain to us what kinds of tactics and technologies you are using to change the way people with disabilities use newer technologies?

I’d say that one of the biggest growing technologies right now is mobile apps. Many companies are offering these instead of websites, or using these as their actual products. Or, they are your whole workplace platform.

Like the touchscreen issues, the high usage of web applications on a variety of mobile platforms, means that keeping up with accessibility is crucial. For instance, while there are no specific parameters calling out mobile apps, we have to test based on a typical user’s intended experience with a mobile app. We meld in website and software guidelines to understand the hybrid of mobile apps.

For instance, what if there is a media player? We look to see that buttons that designate play are actually relayed to a Blind user as meaning play. Those very same videos need captions for a user who is deaf. What if the app has flash or rapidly updating data? We’ve tested to make sure that the data is accessible so that nothing crucial is missed. This is especially important for apps that people rely on for work. Could you imagine if there is a graphical JAVA warning or a security breach that is only denoted by a sound? A user who is Blind cannot discern the image if it is not picked up by the screen reader, and a user who is Deaf will not hear the alarm. We always encourage accessible alternative ways to display information for our clients.

What are some of your favorite tools and technologies that you see being used in the work place and in business?

I’ve heard it said before, and I’ve adopted it as my own mantra, but work should be something that you do, not somewhere you go. I am energized by the rapid developments in technology that allows people with disabilities to work remotely and telework. This prevents missed days from work as people can make their own ideal accommodations. One of these is tandem screen readers, which allow for readable remote computers to a user who is Blind. This way, a user with a visual disability does not even have to be in the same room to access another’s computer remotely, and is not locked out of typical screen sharing software by just a static image.

Since I spend a lot of time traveling, I downloaded Splashtop Streamer on my office PC (for free) and then I purchased the Splashtop Remote Desktop application for my iPad 2. This software gives me that remote access to the documents and information I need quickly. It’s not an expensive app, and anyone with a tablet can benefit from its instantaneous access to desktop materials. It’s very intuitive, and I have to encounter any glitches.

I am also charged by accessible eLearning. More developers are making their course content and players accessible, and it thrills me to see this excellent flow of information and knowledge. eLearning and training are so crucial to workplace success, and it’s nice that it is progressing with accessibility in mind. It makes workers more competitive as they obtain the skills they need.

Where do you see Accessibility Partners in the next two years and what kind of innovations can we expect in the future from your company?

Down the path, I definitely see Accessibility Partners helping out more private sector corporations as accessibility gets rolled out in their corporate social responsibility. This is definitely not an issue that is being ignored, and more and more Fortune 500 IT companies are putting it higher and higher on their list of priorities for technology development. I’d like to have more business opportunities and I am exhilarated to see which new products will roll out in two years.

With the ever-changing legislation and refreshing of accessibility laws, I fully anticipate responding to more businesses in a B2B cycle to help their products compliant. I am eager to collaborate and work with additional federal agencies and states as accessibility continues to become more paramount the workplace.

Internally, I am always working to have more people with disabilities in our workforce, and I look forward to our growing staff. Their expertise will be necessary on the bigger projects when we require that unique perspective on technological usage by a person with a disability. I’d like to have more of a focus on testing the aforementioned mobile apps because I truly see them at the forefront right now.

Overall, I hope that my company can bring even more attention to disability advocacy and into the development phase for technology. It’s so important, and as there are more and more users of IT with disabilities, it’s necessary to address this now. I like to say that my passion for accessibility has placed me at the nexus where “disability advocacy converges with technology”, and I’m eager to leverage my position to help everyone.