Disabled Access?
The BBC recently reported concerns over whether modern technology would soon alienate disabled people unable to use multi gesture controls and applications. Interestingly it is technology that has allowed people like Jeff Hall (who suffered total paralysis following a stroke at 40 years of age) to communicate with the outside world. Yet he is worried that as phones and applications develop, the chances of the disabled being able to keep up will reduce drastically.
Smartphones are a good example of technology that is not widely accessible for people with limited movement in their arms and hands. The touch screen tech employed as standard across most phones nowadays is simply not useful for someone who can only move one or two fingers. The need for a different interface is required but mobile phone operators are not keen to invest heavily in a group of society who are a lesser percentage of the population as a whole. Discrimination? Possibly, but you would be hard pushed to prove it in a court of law simply because it is a reality.
Travelling abroad bears its own problems for the disabled user, but at least there is a wider array of options available for mobile phone use and charges. A lot of companies including abroadband offer all their customers flexible roaming options tailored to the individual’s needs. In fact a quick look at http://www.abroadband.com/en/GB/simonly shows the flexibility and cost effective services that are available. It is this kind of approach that needs to be adopted more when considering the needs of the disabled community.
Funnily enough it is the disabled community that has led to many technological advances in the past 20 – 30 years. Voice recognition and motion sensor technology have all grown through their application for disabled used. Just look at Stephen Hawking as a prime example of this. Rather then being concerned over whether or not technology will leave them behind, the disabled who are worried are more then likely to benefit from new advances in the next decade or so.
There are advances being made all over the world in robotics with ‘bionics’ in particular receiving a huge investment in time and resources from scientists eager to make a breakthrough. Bionic technology could replace missing limbs and body parts once the technology advances to a point of safe application. All the naysayers who warn of the dangers of technology outstripping humanity should rest a little easy for now as the one technological marvel we have yet to replicate successfully is the computer that is our brain.
The disabled have a lot more to look forward to then be afraid of in the 21st Century. In fact the rapid growth of technology could benefit someone in a wheelchair a lot more then someone who is able bodied. Bionics, superior voice recognition, Smarter-phones and more are all going to be a reality in the next few years and this writer for one cannot wait to see it all!
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