It's the Accessibility, Stupid - Issue 10-2024

Today, it's taking its toll that many providers of digital services have largely neglected the issue of accessibility. One example is the so-called third-party provider services. These are services that are needed for online shops or banking to work, for example: cookie services, verification services, package tracking, chat bots and much more. Some of them are essential for online services to work and must also be accessible. It is likely that those who are the fastest in making their services accessible will have the best market chances.

Interesting articles

In a longer article, the various options for accessibility testing are compared.

Tools for automatic translation or making texts understandable are playing an increasing role. This article shows how texts can be optimized so that they more easily and with lesser erros can be automatically transferred.

Accessible chatbots are currently rarer than unicorns. An article explains what to look out for.

The US method of investegating disabilities does not include many millions of people, according to a recent article. Temporary and mental disabilities in particular are not recognized due to the survey methods.

Interactive infographics are becoming increasingly popular. An article shows how to choose the right library and make the graphics more accessible.

The consulting firm Fable surveyed its accessibility testers with disabilities about their barriers in the field of finance. The results should of course be viewed with caution, because the persons conducting the test needs a certain level of technical competence. It would be more interesting to survey people who are less technically minded.

Good news of the month

Apple's new Airpods could influence the range of hearing aids available. They are designed to provide good support for mild to moderate hearing loss and cost significantly less than normal hearing aids. Perhaps more importantly, acceptance among users could be significantly higher.

The provider of BeMyEyes is very active. First, it took over AppleVis, a platform for blind Apple users. Apple Vis was threatened with closure because the original providers could no longer continue for health reasons.

A collaboration between BeMyEyes and Meta is announced. Meta offers smart glasses together with Ray Ban that are hyped among blind Americans.

inABLE and Microsoft are introducing blind people from Kenya to coding.

A Paralympic athlete could become an astronaut.

German article: The Nuremberg Museum of the Future is developing special tours for the blind.

The XBox introduces new features for accessibility.

Imagination Storybooks uses AI to produce accessible videos from children's books,

German article: Austria will soon have a standard for simple language.

Statistics of the month

German article: The consulting firm Captera interviewed companies from 11 European countries in the digital sector about digital accessibility. A total of 2,748 people were interviewed. Here are a few interesting findings:

• 74 percent believe that they have already lost customers due to a lack of accessibility.
• For 80 percent of companies, accessibility is a high or very high priority.
• 73 percent internationally and 79 percent in Germany say they have already implemented accessibility functions.

More articles

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• Designing for forgiveness: How to create error-tolerant interfaces
• WHO and ITU publish new guidance to make telehealth services accessible
• The Big Data Project collects data on blindness and visual impairment
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