It is often said that the best way to ensure technology is accessible is to build in accessibility from the start. The process is called universal design. It sounds obvious, but it is easier said than done.
First off designers have to have disabled people in mind before they turn on their computer aided design software: something that is difficult if a designer, cocooned in his or her studio, has little experience of disabled people.
Second, those who develop new products need to have a clear idea of the requirements of people with very different abilities and how those requirements affect the things they develop.
Ability has come across two exciting initiatives recently that break down these barriers. One is aimed at everyone, the other is about changing the way professionals approach design.
In a darkened room in Atlanta in the US, visitors grope their way through a pitch black maze of rooms encountering everyday objects such as a park bench, supermarket shelves and a busy street crossing.
Helped by a blind guide, groups of sighted people are learning a bit about what it is like not to see in a setting that is realistic enough to include the feel and smells of familiar places.
Dialogue in the Dark exhibitions have been staged in some 30 countries and are intended to increase social inclusion and provide work for blind people. Sessions are also run for businesses and even include meals eaten in the dark.
Back in the UK, MiddlesexUniversity is also doing its bit to improve social inclusion. After research that has involved surveying 23 universities in Europe, Middlesex will open its doors this January to students taking a Master of Science degree in digital inclusion.
The first such degree in Europewill give students the technical knowledge and experience to solve accessibility issues in all kinds of organisations.
The move follows the publication earlier this year of a national plan for digital participation aimed at getting the 17m people in Britain who currently have no access to the internet.
Finally, our lead story this week concerns the setting up of the British Assistive Technology Association with the object of raising the profile of assistive technology companies.
Chairman Martin Littler argues that what is a small but successful industry will benefit from working together to promote both the use of assistive technology and the organisations that supply it.
Littler wants to get rid of the industry’s ‘men in sheds’ image. More power to his elbow.