What we neglect when we talk about Accessibility
Internet Users
Look at the people on the Internet today. There’s 3.74 billion of them.
Smartphone Users
Who are the people buying phones today, using the internet for the first time in their village, who really need it to make their lives better? Have you met one of them?

Everyone who has a phone (est. 2.1 billion people in 2016)
- has something to say, but not everyone tweets
- likes to watch videos, but some can’t stream in HD
- likes to capture and share memories, but most can’t make sense of Instagram
- needs a better job, but many find LinkedIn too complicated
- loves to hear music, but not everyone can pay for Spotify
- adores movie stars, but some only see them in a cinema hall
- needs to go from place A to B, but most can’t use their phones for that
So what are these market-dominating apps lacking that’s preventing them from reaching their potential of billions of users?

Many who have phones could also use them to:
- find out about the latest administrative schemes that benefit them
- know the markets offering the best prices for their produce
- educate themselves and learn something new, even learn to read and write (or type?)
- skill-up and train for better jobs and socio-economic mobility
- know what to do about their medical ailments
- send money home
- solve the most basic problems and make their lives substantially better
But they can’t. Because the internet is not accessible for them, and it disregards their needs. It doesn’t have apps for their use, the existing apps don’t work with their poor network coverage, in their language, in a way they can understand, at a cost they can afford.
And not everyone who can buy an affordable smartphone does so, because it’s just a costly toy for them, it doesn’t help them in any real way.
We never talk about them when we talk about accessibility. We turn a blind eye to people we don’t know. We only make software for ourselves.



