Accessibility for People with Disabilities: Where Technology Helps and How Certain Disabilities are Being Left Behind

Abstract

Considering the number of people with disabilities and also the increasing size of the aging population that will encounter age-related impairments, it becomes important to address the extent to which public places and workplace environments are made accessible and usable for people with disabilities. To address this issue we conducted practice-oriented research to gain an understanding of different tools and services that are available to people with disabilities in public places and typical work environments. Our goal is that by gaining an understanding of the current availabilities and missed opportunities, we will be able to identify the areas of potential improvement for enhancing accessibility. Our research suggests three areas in which to improve accessibility in public places and workplace environments: electronic/information technology (i.e., Section 508, WCAG, etc.), physical access (i.e., ADA), and physical design of equipment and tools (i.e., Section 508). The results indicate two major areas that cause the most problems for people with certain types of disabilities. One problem area is the design of equipment and other consumer products. The other is Web pages that are not designed in accordance with the accessibility requirements. These cause serious problems for people with mechanical and visual disabilities.