In 1986, Section 508 was added as an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that programs and services that receive federal funding make those options available to individuals with disabilities and provide reasonable accommodations. Described below are several relevant federal laws in the United States. Some legislation is at the federal level and some is at the state level. Some guarantee the civil rights of individuals with disabilities others establish procurement requirements for specific agencies still others impose accessibility requirements on producers of products and providers of services. Legal IssuesĬongress has responded to the need to increase access to products and services for people with disabilities by passing legislation in a range of areas, including education, employment, transportation, assistive technology, and electronic and information technology.
Software for blind people software#
This publication summarizes key legal issues, accessibility guidelines, and resources for making software accessible to individuals with disabilities. Sixty-five percent of the remaining seventeen companies were not aware of accessibility as an issue, 100% were not currently addressing accessibility in their product development, and 88% had no plans to address accessibility in the future (Golden, 2001).Ĭlearly, much work needs to be done before software that is accessible to people with disabilities is widely available. For example, in a survey of twenty-five award winning companies who produce pre-college instructional software, only two of the nineteen that responded indicated they were aware of accessibility issues. To ensure access to all potential users, it is important that software producers avoid creating access barriers to people with disabilities and develop products that are compatible with assistive technology.ĭesigning products that can be used by people with a wide range of abilities and disabilities is called "universal design." In contrast, many software producers focus on the characteristics of the "average" user. This system enhancement provides access to text presented on the screen and to keyboard commands, but does not allow the person who is blind to view graphics or to access features that require the use of a mouse. For example, a person who is blind might use a screen reader program with a speech synthesizer to access the content and functionality of a program. Some individuals use specialized software and hardware, called assistive technology, to operate software products. And, a software program that requires an unnecessarily high reading level may be inaccessible to some people who have learning disabilities. Similarly, an educational tutorial program that requires the use of a mouse is inaccessible to a student who cannot operate this device. For example, part of a multimedia tutorial that uses voice narration without captioning or transcription is inaccessible to students who are deaf. Specifically, barriers to standard computer software limit opportunities in education and employment for some people with disabilities.
Software for blind people full#
People with disabilities continue to face challenges in accessing the full range of opportunities available to people without disabilities.