In fact, many blind people use touch-screen smartphones every day.
Screen readers work on desktop computers as well as mobile devices.
you might usually find the screen reader in parameters under accessibility.
On iPhones, the screen reader isVoiceOver.
However, a badly designed website or utility will be rendered invisible to a screen reader.
We areresearchers who focuson technology designthat is usable for people with all kinds of disabilities.
Its not just a matter of fairness and inclusion.
Accessible technology is generallybetter for everyone.
User interface design best practices have longincluded users in the design process.
Including users with disabilities results in more accessible technology.
Yet many technologies are still not accessible out of the box to users with disabilities.
One way to make apps and websites more accessible is to have people with disabilities designing the technologies.
But the design process itself is not very accessible to those very people.
Few tools in the user interface designer toolbox are themselves accessible.
This software is instrumental to the field.
Examples includeBalsamiq,Adobe XDandUXPin.
We found that most popular prototyping software is not compatible with screen readers.
Therefore, the prototyping software is not accessible to blind designers who use screen readers.
A better future is accessible
Accessibility is an issue that touches everyone.
Providing access to technology is legally required in most cases.
In the past, organizations that failed to provide adequate accesshave faced lawsuits.
But accessibility is also a hallmark of good technology.
Building accessibility into the design process is crucial.
