Digital Accessibility and AI, How far?
Automated software aimed at improving digital accessibility for people with disabilities has limitations, as it can be challenging for individuals to rely solely on machines for tasks like navigating websites. Tina Pinedo from Disability Rights Oregon emphasizes the need for developers to better understand the experience of those using screen readers, as the current lack of consideration can be exhausting for users with visual impairments.
Persons with disabilities and those who regularly test for Digital Accessibility problems say
that AI and automated software that promises to make the web more accessible can only go
so far.
Tina Pinedo, communications director at Disability Rights Oregon, said “It’s a lot to listen to a
robot all day long, but listening to a machine is exactly what many people with visual
impairments do while using screen reading tools to accomplish everyday online tasks such
as paying bills or ordering groceries from an e-commerce site”, she said.
“There are not enough web developers or people who actually take the time to listen to what
their website sounds like to a blind person. It’s auditorily exhausting,” said Pinedo.