It also makes economic sense.

If a million people with disabilities could work, the British economy alone would grow by 1.7%, or $64 billion, according to the charity Scope.

Control through the eyes…

400 thousand people around the world, including the famous scientist Professor Stephen Hawking, suffer from motor neuron disease. 2.3 million have multiple sclerosis.

But the neurons responsible for eye movement are more resistant to degenerative diseases. This also applies to parts of the face, such as the cheek, which Professor Hawking uses to communicate.

LC Technologies, an American company, has invented a device that allows people to control a computer with their eyes alone.

HeadMouse Nano

HeadMouse Nano allows you to control your computer remotely using head movements

This technology requires the user to have a slightly wider range of motion, but it is cheaper than the previous one.

“Smart glasses”

According to the WHO, there are about 39 million blind people in the world. But 90% of them have at least some level of light sensitivity.

That’s why Stephen Hicks, a neuroscientist at Oxford University, has developed “smart glasses” that enhance the contrast between light and dark objects.

The closest object is bright, while the rest of the field is dark, and the contrast between them is cranked up to the maximum.

Smart glasses can highlight and simplify images that appear in front of a visually impaired person

Talking palms

Another technology can help even people who are both blind and deaf – there are 1.5 million of them in the world. One of the most famous of these people, Helen Keller, became the first deaf-blind person to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904.

Such people can communicate with the help of a tactile alphabet, the letters in which are indicated by pressing and tingling different parts of the palm.

Myoprostheses

Progress with 3D printers and bioelectronics is also contributing to the development of prosthetic limbs that add functionality to people with disabilities.

For example, in 2014, Thalmic Labs, an Ontario-based company, launched the Myo armband. It allows a person to control computer devices by reading electrical signals generated by skeletal muscles and then sending these signals to the device via Bluetooth.

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The importance of accessibility

Approximately 15% of the world’s population suffers from some sort of limitation or impairment. As mobile apps play an increasingly important role in our daily lives, you should think that about one in seven of your users may not have the same level of accessibility as other app users.

There is a common misconception that accessibility is an optional feature in mobile app development. The Android and iOS platforms offer developers tools for implementing accessibility to help them realize interfaces that work for all users (including those with disabilities or impairments). Obviously, it’s not just disabled people who benefit from good UI and UX: voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa have become very common, and haptic response (e.g. vibration) is part of Google’s Material Design guideline. Some may want to use an app while driving or doing laundry without touching their mobile device.

In addition to moral considerations, you can expand your user base by making it more inclusive. From a business perspective, it makes sense to try to reach 15% additional users. Last but not least, governments and public organizations are beginning to implement laws and regulations that require equal access for all users.

Since accessibility has a positive impact on applications, one might wonder why it is often forgotten. There are several reasons. Both Android and iOS have evolving ecosystems, which means that all platforms are creating new accessibility features. Many special features are available to developers, but they are still under development. Even when they can be used, accessibility features often take a lot of time and practice to implement, and developers, not to mention UX designers, often have no experience with them, making design and testing difficult. Finally, unlike the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for websites, there is no single document that defines accessibility standards for mobile apps.

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• Blindness
• Motor disability
• Impaired vision
• Auditory
• Speech Disability

Each entry includes the developer’s name, version number, description, system requirements, installation, customization and download information (including internal and external links) and a screenshot .

ooVoo

ooVoo is an online communication platform that supports text chats, video calls, and standard phone calls on public networks with a prepaid account. Users can also record and send video files and connect to non-ooVoo users via Internet Explorer . User registration is required.

MathPlayer

MathPlayer extends the capabilities of Internet Explorer to better display math notations. The math displayed on web pages is written in Math Markup Language (MathML). When used with Internet Explorer, MathPlayer converts MathML content into standard math notation such as you might find in a textbook. MathPlayer allows users to copy and magnify equations or hear them aloud using text-to-speech. The application requires Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher.

Ultra HAL text-to-speech reader

The Ultra Hal text-to-speech reader reads documents aloud. Users can from different reading voices. The screen reader allows users to write copies and open text files. Click “Read All” to hear full documents read aloud. Those with low vision can also read along. The application can also read what is copied to the clipboard, save text as a WAV file, and read all Windows menus and dialog boxes.

NVDA Installer

Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) is a free, open source Windows-based screen reader designed to bring computer access to blind and visually impaired users. NVDA’s built-in speech synthesizer allows users to interact with all components of the Windows operating system. Major applications that NVDA supports include Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox , Outlook Express and Microsoft Calculator, Word and Excel. A portable version of NVDA is also available.

Multimedia Calculator.Net

Multimedia Calculator displays an on-screen calculator that allows users to choose which function buttons are displayed. The numbers are displayed in a different color than the function keys to improve resolution. The calculator has a 21-digit display. Settings allow users to hear each keystroke and change the number.

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