Assistive Technology is any feature that makes the technology more accessible. This can include low-tech innovations like pencil grips, hardware like prosthetic limbs, or software apps that provide a more user-friendly interface.
Assistive Technology has been around for centuries, and it goes back as far as the 1800s, with the college of Gallaudet, the first higher learning institution for the deaf, opening in 1817. Many applications have built-in accessibility features for their users, and these can include magnifiers, closed captioning, or increased font size.
The benefits of Assistive Technology
While some of these features were designed with special needs individuals in mind, they benefit nearly everyone who uses the technology. Visit any pedestrian-heavy area and watch how many people use the ramps rather than the staircases in order to get around.
In the modern world, Assistive Technology goes beyond what is physically tangible and is a part of every computer's operating system and most applications. Most operating systems allow users to turn on and off their accessibility options to get the most out of the features they use heavily.
In Chromebooks, turning on and off accessibility features allows the user to engage the speech-to-text function, turn on keyboard shortcuts or change the contrast on the display. Users can even use a feature called "TalkBack" to surf the web without ever touching their keyboard to type anything in.
Being able to customize the way tech works allows the user to optimize their time by focusing on what is important to them.
Assistive Technology in education
In an educational setting, Assistive Technology features allow accessibility to a greater number of students, enabling them to succeed academically by overcoming hurdles they may have with the traditional pencil and paper methods of learning.
Google, as a company, invests a great deal into the research, education and design for its accessibility features, including for products such as Android OS, Chrome, Chromebooks, Classroom, Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Maps, YouTube and dozens of other applications and add-ons.
The accessibility features on all of these applications are free. Often, people think of Assistive Technology as being an added cost, but it is a built-in feature on nearly every device or application, so long as the user knows how to access it.
Going into the settings on an OS or app allows the user a great deal of customization in regards to the accessibility functions they can turn on and off.
Assistive Technology aids students
One of the big focuses on all of the platforms is the ability to have the computer read out text, or to allow the user to verbally respond and interact with the computer without the need for reading or typing.
For students who struggle with reading quickly or who have vision impairments, being able to interact with their computer in this way can make a great deal of difference when it comes to learning and keeping up in a classroom.
And who knows, this entire article might have been written with the speech-to-text function on an Android cellphone. For a student with dyslexia, being able to write, without having to fight their own mind to put all the letters of all the words in the right order can be an amazing freedom.
The ability to communicate and comprehend ideas effectively and unencumbered by a disability is extremely liberating. This is where Assistive Technology really helps.
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