Assistive technologies
What are assistive technologies?
Assistive technologies are devices and software that enable or enhance participation in physical or digital environments that may not otherwise match a person’s abilities.
In the physical world, technologies like wheelchairs improve mobility, glasses and hearing aids increase sensory acuity, and respirator masks allow the immunocompromised to access spaces where they may be at risk.
Digital assistive technologies
Assistive technologies also allow people to better engage with digital environments. These technologies may be physical equipment, software, or a combination of both.
Assistive equipment
Physical devices used to interact with digital experiences include the following:
- Braille displays: desktop devices using raised-and-lowered braille pins to communicate on-screen information.
- Mouth sticks and head pointers: lightweight tools allowing people to type, gesture, and perform other tasks hands-free.
- Eye trackers: camera-based devices that follow users’ eye movements to access computer functions.
- Adaptive switches: a category including buttons, joysticks, and breath controllers that can be used to interact with digital devices.
Some devices we may not typically think of as assistive technologies, like computer keyboards, operate as such when used in certain ways or when built with certain features. Keyboard-only users often need to perform the same tasks as mouse or touchscreen users, but do so via keypresses and shortcuts. Some keyboards also include braille dots or large print symbols.
Assistive software
Software-based assistive technologies available for computers and mobile devices include the following:
- Screen readers
- Screen magnifiers
- Speech input software
Screen readers
Screen readers provide audio and/or braille descriptions of on-screen elements and events—including those appearing and occurring in web browsers. Desktop screen reader users typically navigate and interact with experiences via keyboard, while mobile devices are typically gesture-operated.
Screen readers are often packaged with operating systems: macOS and iOS devices include VoiceOver, Windows includes Narrator, and Android includes TalkBack. Unix-like systems using GNOME come packaged with the Orca screen reader. Windows users can also install popular third-party screen readers, like JAWS and NVDA.
Visit our Accessibility QA and testing page for information on web browser and screen reader combinations.
Screen magnifiers
Screen magnifiers zoom in on parts of a screen to enhance its contents for low-vision users. Some magnifiers may bundle other features, too, like options to combine magnification with screen reading.
As with screen readers, operating systems may include on-screen magnification, like macOS’s zoom feature or Windows’s Magnifier. iOS and Android devices include zoom/magnification options in their accessibility settings. And Orca (the screen reader for GNOME) also includes magnification features. Third-party options also exist, like Freedom Scientific’s ZoomText (which can be packaged with their JAWS screen reader).
Speech input software
Speech input software enables hands-free control of computers and mobile devices via dictation.
Most modern operating systems include speech input features, like macOS’s Voice Control and Windows’ voice access (as of Windows 11, version 22H2) and Speech Recognition (for earlier versions of Windows). Popular third-party speech input software includes Nuance Dragon (formerly Dragon NaturallySpeaking).
Other software solutions
Some software can emulate physical assistive technology devices. An example of this is iOS’s Switch Control mode, which acts similarly to an adaptive switch. iOS also includes Magnifier, which uses a device’s camera and screen not only to zoom in on objects, but also to detect them, identify them, and enhance their on-screen representations (e.g., by changing contrast).
Assistive technologies may also be baked into software, like how online and offline video players typically include options to display captions. Creators will still need to supply these assistive technologies with source files or content: captions, transcripts, audio descriptions, etc.
