Disability adaptations

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Adaptations[edit | edit source]

Assistive Technology (AT) is a generic term for devices and modifications (for a person or within a society) that help overcome or remove a disability. The first recorded example of the use of a prosthesis dates to at least 1800 BC.^[1] A more recent notable example is the wheelchair, dating from the 17th Century. The curb cut is a related structural innovation. Other modern examples are standing frames, text telephones, accessible keyboards, large print, Braille, & speech recognition Computer software. Individuals with disabilities often develop personal or community adaptations, such as strategies to suppress tics in public (for example in Tourette's syndrome), or sign language in deaf communities. Assistive technology or interventions are sometimes controversial or rejected, for example in the controversy over cochlear implants for children. A number of symbols are in use to indicate whether certain accessibility adaptations have been made[2].

Accessible computing[edit | edit source]

As the personal computer has become more ubiquitous, various organisations have been founded which develop software and hardware which make a computer more accessible for people with disabilities. Some software and hardware, such as SmartboxAT's The Grid, and Freedom Scientific's JAWS has been specifically designed for people with disabilities; other pieces of software and hardware, such as Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking, was not developed specifically for people with disabilities, but can be used to increase accessibility.

Further organisations, such as AbilityNet and U Can Do IT, have been established to provide assessment services which determine which assistive technologies would best assist an individual client, and also to train people with disabilities in how to use computer-based assistive technology.

References[edit | edit source]

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