What is digital assistive tech? Why is it so critical?
Digital Assistive Tech (digital AT), according to the GSMA, are “frontier technologies and applications of ICTs that support persons with disabilities to live independently and fully participate in society. These include digital technologies that do not require a mobile phone as well as those that rely on mobile.”
Digital AT is vital because the events of 2020 have demonstrated ever more clearly that being digitally connected is critical, sometimes just for survival.
As COVID-19 cases continue to peak and trough on global charts, access to daily health information is paramount. Being able to call for assistance when you physically can’t touch anyone or video message someone who is isolated continues to be of upmost importance.
There are still those without daily digitally access, and this is especially true for the estimated 15% of the world’s population who live with some form of disability.
An estimated 12% of people in the world have a moderate to severe visual impairment or are fully blind. While, approximately 5% of people globally have a hearing impairment or are deaf. These are not the only form of disability of course, but imagine the complexity of new social distancing rules when you cannot see 2 metres away from you? Or trying to lip read when everyone is wearing a mask?
Recently, the OHCHR representative, Ms. Bachelet highlighted the importance of technology during COVID, saying it “presented an opportunity to rethink and expand working methods to have more impact and visibility on the ground”, while also “addressing the need for language interpretation and other technical challenges of working online”.
There are no quick fixes, and so much more investment and advocacy still needs to be done on digital AT. However, one key barrier can be tackled with relative ease. This is because many people with a hearing or visual impairment simply don’t know how they could use accessibility features, for example, getting the latest COVID-19 health information in an accessible format on their phone.
Mobile phones usually have built-in or added ‘accessibility features’ which allow you to tailor your experience to suit your needs. (Go to your phones settings and look for the icon).
To name a few:
- Those with visual impairment are able to use ‘magnification’ to make things larger on the screen.
- Screen readers like ‘TalkBack’ makes the phone speak aloud.
- A person with a hearing impairment might use ‘captions’ to see words on a screen while watching a video, or perhaps ‘live transcription’ which turns a someone’s speech to text while you talk.
Much work still needs to be done to ensure the affordability of mobile phones and that skills and knowledge gaps are met, especially today. The GSMA Assistive Tech programme is working to address these challenges and we welcome your support to spread the word.
