Disability Friendly

14Accessible Information and Communications Technology for All

You are thinking about going to dinner at the hottest new nearby restaurant. What is your first step? You are looking for a tailor and do not want to wait to ask your friends for a referral. Where do you look? You need to alert your 15‐year‐old child as to where you will pick her up after the afternoon movie. What device do you grab? Tornadoes are predicted for your area. What is your source of information and how do you keep updated? When the COVID pandemic hit the United States in March 2020, how did we keep working, attending classes, and buying goods and services? When you want to look for a better or different job, where do you look first?

Obviously, all the answers are technology‐based, whether it was search engines to tap into the internet and email systems, using computers of all types as well as cell and smart phones for virtual calling and meetings, or gamers and serious gamers of all ages that allow players and participants to engage without regard to geographic location. The ubiquity of digital access and productivity has been the revolution of the twenty‐first century and the evolution of functionality and ease‐of‐use has only just begun.

By using inaccessible systems and processes, we leave many, many millions and even billions of people behind and omitted altogether by neglecting the accessibility and usability of these information and communication technology (ICT) systems, services, and devices ...