Troy Wolverton: Technology companies need to do a better job in serving people with disabilities

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Those with disabilities are underserved by technology. (San Jose Mercury News, 2/14/2011)

Excerpt:    In preparing, I realized just how little I knew about the technology-related issues faced by those with hearing loss and other disabilities.

Technology in many ways has been -- or could be -- a boon for such people. The Internet, for example, has big benefits for those with certain disabilities. It's largely text based, which is ideal for those with hearing loss. The computers used to connect to the Internet can translate that text-based data into speech or enlarge it for vision-impaired people.

Despite these benefits, the Internet is underutilized by those with disabilities. While 81 percent of American adults use the Internet, just 54 percent of adults with disabilities do.

Advocates say that the expense of broadband Internet access and other newer technologies can discourage those with disabilities -- who tend to be less affluent than the population as a whole -- from using them. Other factors, such as a lack of standards for disability-friendly technologies tepid support for them from technology companies, can make new types of gadgets and Internet services frustrating to use or inaccessible for those with disabilities.

That's unfortunate, because there are a lot of folks out there with various disabilities. Some 25 percent of Americans have a disability that affects their daily life, according to Pew Research. Hearing loss alone affects some 17 percent of American adults -- about 36 million people -- according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

In many cases, technology companies aren't doing a good job of serving these people.