Imagine you have poor eyesight and are using screen reader software to complete an online job application.
You're halfway through the form when you come across a question with a drop-down option that your screen reader can't access because the online form doesn't comply with accessibility standards. You're stuck. You can't submit your application, and your time is wasted.
Assistive technologies like screen readers can go a long way toward bridging the gap between people who are blind or have low vision and those with vision. But because these technologies are designed to process information, such as documents, websites, and software programs, they often run into obstacles that make information inaccessible.
There are 8 million people in the United States who are blind or have low vision. Of these, more than 4.23 million are of working age, yet only about half of those working age are employed. Employment rates for people who are blind or have low vision have historically been much lower than the general population.
The vast majority of jobs in every industry require digital skills, and assistive technologies like screen readers, screen magnifiers and Braille note-takers give people who are blind or have low vision the chance to succeed in school and the workplace.
Assistive technology is improving, and new technology is constantly being developed for people who are blind or have low vision. Technology currently being developed for the public by major technology companies often includes accessibility features such as text-to-speech capabilities, such as VoiceOver on iPhone and Narrator on Windows. These advances in assistive technology have expanded employment opportunities, and the proportion of people in the workforce who are blind or have low vision has increased over the past decade.
If you are blind, you are forgotten by those who can see.
However, despite the abundance of assistive technology, people who do not rely on it are typically unaware of how it is used in the workplace and the challenges users experience with it. My colleagues and I are conducting a five-year longitudinal study to increase knowledge in this area. We hope that this study will help unemployed people who are blind or have low vision prepare to join the workforce. The study is scheduled to run until 2025, with the final survey launching in late 2024.
While the majority of people surveyed said they were satisfied with the assistive technology they use at work, nearly all also reported challenges with it. The most significant challenges related to assistive technology centered around inaccessible digital environments, including documents, software, websites, graphics, and photos.
Digital content may be technically accessible but unusable for people who use assistive technology. For example, online job application systems often present accessibility and usability challenges. Inaccessible and unusable corporate software means that blind and low vision people are often left out of tasks that they could easily perform simply because their employer's software is not screen reader compatible.
Ross Birchacki, vice president of business development and strategic partnerships at Inclusively, told me that blind and low vision people have a harder time finding work than people with other disabilities because companies have difficulty using their software. The organization helps match companies looking to hire people with qualified job seekers who also have disabilities.
Digital Accessibility
While the Americans with Disabilities Act does not explicitly mention the digital environment, the Department of Justice has taken the position that Title III of the ADA, which provides for public accommodations for people with disabilities, applies to websites and mobile apps. Thousands of digital accessibility lawsuits are filed under the ADA each year, and the number has increased significantly over the past five years.
Digital standard setters are starting to take notice. The World Wide Web Consortium developed a standard for accessible web content, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which have been revised to version 2.2. The guidelines provide free guidance to developers to make their digital content accessible. Two relevant standards are the U.S. government's Section 508 and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute's EN 301 549. Global Accessibility Awareness Day was established in 2012 to encourage people to learn about and think about digital inclusion for people with disabilities.
Although accessibility in the digital environment is mandated by law and supported by guidelines, most digital content is still not fully accessible. The most recent annual accessibility review of the top one million websites conducted by nonprofit WebAIM found an average of 50 accessibility errors per page. Worse yet, nearly all home pages (96.3%) failed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.
What can you do?
Accessibility is easier to build in from the beginning than to add on after the fact.
To build accessibility in from the start, accessibility needs to be part of the digital developer curriculum, which is usually not the case.
Companies can require developers to create accessible software and refuse to buy software that is not accessible. Individuals can contribute by creating their own accessible digital documents. Inaccessible digital documents are the most commonly experienced challenge in the workplace. Microsoft has worked to make it easier to create accessible digital documents with the Accessibility Checker and new Accessibility Assistant.
An accessible digital environment is possible, which will expand employment opportunities for people who are blind or have low vision.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization that provides facts and trusted analysis to help people make sense of a complex world. By Michelle McDonald, Mississippi State University
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Michelle McDonal receives funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Studies. Grant number 90RTEM0007 funded the research discussed in this article.
