Accessibility Defined
My Blind Spot introduces new logo and trademark.
At My Blind Spot, we believe that access to the right tools, promotes ability and restores infinite possibilities. Access=Ability is the culmination of those thoughts and words that are now actions we dedicatedly take to advance our Mission and Vision for ability hinging on access to all things that promote ability and shatter antiquated perspectives on disability.
ACCESS
A means of approaching, entering, exiting, communicating with, or making use of: The ability or right to approach, enter, exit, communicate with, or make use of:
ABILITY
The quality of being able to do something, especially the physical, mental, financial, or legal power to accomplish something; A natural or acquired skill or talent; possession of the qualities required to do something; necessary skill, competence, or power;
Accessibility
Freedom or ability to obtain or make use of something; a way or means of access; easily approached or entered;
It is an unfortunate truth, but today, in spite of the laws, the technology, the intelligence and capabilities of engineers and designers alike, the blind and the print disabled are blocked from access and therefore have their ability compromised and diminished, which is what we are fighting at My Blind Spot.
Accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the “ability to access” and benefit from some system or entity. The concept often focuses on people with disabilities or special needs (such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) and their right of access, enabling the use of assistive technology.
Accessibility is not to be confused with usability, which is the extent to which a product (such as a device, service, or environment) can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.
Accessibility is strongly related to universal design when the approach involves “direct access.” This is about making things accessible to all people (whether they have a disability or not). An alternative is to provide “indirect access” by having the entity support the use of a person’s assistive technology to achieve access (for example, computer screen readers).
Accessibility Defined
An accessible web page is a web page that can be used as effectively and for the same purpose by a person with a disability as by a person without a disability.
True Test: Can people with a disabilities use your web page?
Disability Defined
Types of print Disabilities
- Cognitive Learning
- Auditory
- Visual (including blind, low vision, and color blind)
- Motor/Physical
- Speech
- Dyslexia
The web is a highly visual medium, so many accessibility techniques focus on users with visual disabilities, but you do need to remember all categories of disabilities.
How Many People with Disabilities?
- In the United States, over 58 million people – or nearly 20 percent of the population above the age of 5 – identify themselves as having disabilities.
- Globally, there is a population of 1.3 billion people with disabilities (PWD), constituting an emerging market the size of China. Our friends and Family add another 2.3 billion potential consumers who act on their emotional connection to PWD.
- there are 25 million people in the United States with a severe visual impairment
- 19 million people with a severe visual impairment are of working age, where the unemployment rate is nearly 70% of that number.
- Globally, PWD and their families control over $8 trillion in annual disposable income.
- In the U.S, Friends and Family of the disabled represent another estimated group of over 120 million. In the United States, PWD and their friends and family have nearly $4 trillion of disposable income.
Print Disabilities
My Blind Spot was born from founder Albert J. Rizzi’s experience as a blind individual facing many barriers to inclusion. Among the most significant of these barriers is the hardship of being print disabled. Those who are print disabled are lacking or limited in the ability to access the written word—on the page, the computer screen, or any other medium.
The term “print disabled” was coined by George Kerscher, Ph.D. around 1989 to describe persons who could not access print. He used it to refer to:
A person who cannot effectively read print because of a visual, physical, perceptual, developmental, cognitive, or learning disability.
My Blind Spot construes print disability as being unable to read standard printed material due to sensory limitations, such as blindness and visual impairment; physical limitations; organic dysfunction; and cognitive issues such as developmental delays, traumatic brain injury, and dyslexia.
Whatever the cause of print disability, the entire print disabled community depends on assistive technologies. All too often, members of this community find workplace opportunities reduced or complicated, and their efforts to live independent and fulfilling lives thwarted, due to technology that is not designed to bridge the divide that separates the print disabled from mainstream society.
My Blind Spot is focused on solutions and services that open doors of opportunity for the large segment of people who are print disabled.
Learn more about Dr. Kerscher and his coining the term and his life working to champion accessibility as a blind person and as a member of the W3C.