Innovation
Innovation is another benefit of accessibility. Both Microsoft and Google, as well as other organizations, have found business growth as a result of innovation related to accessibility.
According to an article in Forbes, "The Power Of Purpose: How Microsoft Unlocked Inclusivity To Drive Growth And Innovation," Microsoft's innovation approach looks at accessibility as an opportunity; Microsoft has prioritized and introduced many innovations over the years that have started with an eye towards accessibility. Most recently, their new app, Seeing AI, was developed to allow people with visual impairments to experience the visual word through their camera by providing translating the image into an audible description of an image. Google has developed a similar tool called Lookout, which allows screen capture and readback of any document or label.
Amazon focuses on inclusion and innovation to drive product development, as seen through their new Alexa Together. Alexa helps with day-to-day tasks such as playing music, purchasing items, or answering questions; Amazon introduced Alexa Together as a subscription service. The service allows aging customers to live more independently by providing daily reminders, linking them with their caregivers, and connecting them with emergency services if needed.
The following sections describe various other technologies that were first introduced because of accessibility but were then adopted more broadly.
Typewriter
In the 19th century, inventor Pellegrino Turri introduced the first type set so that he could communicate with his friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzano, who was blind. This innovation led to the modern typewriter, which impacted offices, newspapers, and businesses through the industrial revolution. After that came the development of the personal computer and keyboard used today in various forms.
Closed captions
Introduced to help the deaf community understand audio content in television programs in 1980, captions, often known as subtitles in some countries, evolved as televisions entered airports and other public locations. People could consume content in locations where noise prohibited listening to programs. Conversely, captions also proved beneficial in quiet locations such as libraries or study halls. With the expansion of online media and streaming video, the consumption of content through captions became much more widespread. Additionally, a study by the University of South Florida, along with 3PlayMedia, found that including captions and audio for video content increased student retention of the content for 38 percent of participants.
Suddenly, a technology developed for a seemingly small population benefited a much broader number of individuals because of the benefits it introduced.
Audiobooks
Audiobooks first emerged in 1932 with the establishment of a recording studio by The American Foundation for the Blind. They began with vinyl records and a few books, but eventually, as the medium evolved into cassettes and CDs, audio recordings became more popular and mainstream. Today, the value of the market is over USD4 billion and is forecasted to grow to USD30 billion by 2030.
Smart home devices
The introduction of Alexa, Google Home, and similar technologies that take action based on voice commands was revolutionary for everyone, especially people with disabilities. Show and Tell, a new feature of the flagship digital home assistant device, was designed to help users with vision loss more effectively navigate their cupboards. It also is found to have 94 percent accuracy in creating alternate text based on the recognition of an image.
According to Grand View Research, the global smart home market size was estimated at USD62.69 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.04 percent from 2022 to 2030.
As a result of innovations in accessibility, businesses are learning the broader benefits of designing inclusively.
Check your knowledge with the following interaction:
This Topic is available in the following Module:
Want to help us improve this content?