Assistive Technology
Assistive technology helps people access digital content, controls, and services when direct interaction is difficult or impossible.
Designers need to understand assistive technology because interface decisions affect what these tools can read, focus, announce, activate, or skip.
Examples
- screen readers
- speech input and voice control
- screen magnification
- virtual keyboards
- switch controls
- eye control
- text-to-speech
- captions and transcripts
Screen Readers
Screen readers can help:
- blind users
- low-vision users
- some users with cognitive disabilities
- people who need content read aloud
They depend on semantic structure, clear labels, meaningful order, alt text, and correct component roles.
Design Implications
A design is more assistive-technology friendly when it has:
- logical heading hierarchy
- meaningful link and button labels
- persistent form labels
- text error messages
- visible focus states
- keyboard access
- correct reading order
- useful alt text for meaningful images