What Is Assistive Technology?

Assistive technology, also known as adaptive technology and access technology, covers products and services designed to help users with disabilities perform tasks or take part in activities. The category covers a wide range of technology, and it can be physical or digital.

Assistive technology supports independence and inclusion in daily living, education and employment — that’s why these technologies are a critical part of many users’ lives. The tech not only affects users with disabilities, but also benefits society, as its development has led to many great features now widely used in our day-to-day lives.

In digital accessibility, the focus of this blog, we aim to ensure that users who rely on access technology can interact with a website or application as expected. Comprehensive accessibility testing with Applause or another capable testing partner helps verify this outcome, determining how accessible the content is and how it functions. In short, assistive technology helps ensure access for all — as long as it works as expected.

Societal adoption of digital assistive technology

While assistive technology might intend to help users with disabilities, there are multiple examples of digital technologies that have been integrated into society for everyday use. Consider these assistive technology examples that help a broader audience:

• Captions allow users who are hard of hearing or deaf to access the audio portion of films or TV shows. This access technology is also widely used across society for enabling viewing where audio might not be possible as well as helping with comprehension and memory retention.
• Audiobooks were developed for blind users; it was even illegal for sighted users to access them between 1935 and 1948. In 2024, the global audiobooks market reached approximately $8.70 billion USD.
•  Voice input software was developed to help users with mobility impairments access digital technology. Now this adaptive technology is available in our phones, computers, cars and home for hands-free experience.
• Predictive text and autocompletes were initially conceived to help users with motor or communication impairments. Now this technology helps increase typing speed, reduce spelling errors and boost efficiency.
• Optical character recognition was developed to convert printed text to a digital format for blind users. Now this assistive technology serves functions like document and barcode scanning, translation, license plate checking and automated entry of data.

Examples of assistive technology for digital properties

Many different forms of assistive technology exist to help users with disabilities access and interact with digital experiences. Here are some common types and examples of assistive technology designed for various needs:

• Screen readers: This type of access technology helps those with visual impairments,  allowing them to navigate and interact with digital devices without needing to see the screen. The software converts visual information into speech and/or braille and informs the user of the screen content. It allows the user to fully control their device, navigate websites and applications, and perform activities such as interacting with the screen elements and input text. It can also translate the output into braille. It is critical to test conduct screen reader testing for your website and application to gain confidence that everything is working as expected. Common screen readers include JAWS, NVDA, Narrator, VoiceOver and TalkBack.
• Speech input: People with mobility impairments use this assistive device that allows navigation and interaction using speech alone. It can consist of multiple interaction methods and can be used to emulate mouse movements. Dragon, Voice Control and Voice Access are some of the voice input assistive technologies available.
• Screen magnification: An assistive device that helps users with low vision to better see parts of the screen and provides much higher levels of zoom, at a higher resolution, than native zoom features. Examples include ZoomText and SuperNova.
• Switch access: An input device and associated software that enables users with physical disabilities to navigate and interact with their computer, phone or tablet. A switch has an on/off state and can be activated in multiple ways: a hand press, a head movement, blinking, breathing and more. This type of assistive technology works in conjunction with these movements to allow the user to navigate and interact.
• Captions: Text overlaid on a video that displays important audible information so that users who cannot hear the audio can access the same information. Captions can be permanently embedded in the video (open captions) or can be a separate option that can be turned on or off (closed captions).
• Audio description: This feature includes narration on a video describing visual elements on the screen so the user is informed of what is happening visually. An audio description can be a separate audio track, or part of the current audio track.
• Alternative input devices: There’s a large range of assistive input devices that help provide access to a computer, phone or tablet. Some examples:

• Trackball or joystick: An alternative device to a mouse that aids users with physical or motor disabilities.
• Headmouse: Uses head movements to move the mouse cursor on the screen.
• Eye tracking: Used in conjunction with sensors or cameras, eye tracking  translates eye movements and activity into interaction and navigation.
• Head/mouth stick: Tools used by those with physical disabilities or motor impairments to tap on a keyboard key or touchscreen.
• Adaptive keyboards: A type of specialized keyboard that makes typing and interactions easier for different user groups due to its design or layout.

Assistive technology in action

Understanding assistive technology is easier when it is seen in use. Here are some short videos showcasing different forms of assistive technology that will help to see the real-world impact these tools can have on people’s everyday lives:

• macOS VoiceOver screen reader demonstration
• iOS Switch Access demonstration
• Dragon Naturally speaking demonstration

Verifying assistive technology compatibility through accessibility testing

Given the huge range and types of assistive technology available, and its importance for users’ experiences and equal access, it is crucial that websites and applications function as expected. To verify this, we test for accessibility and validate content against a series of requirements like Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) or EN 310 549. Accessibility testing also includes using some of the assistive technologies we have discussed. We file discovered issues with details of the problem causes and solution options.

Accessibility testing does not require an exhaustive check of all assistive technology available. Including a diverse group of users with varied disabilities in the testing process, however, helps uncover a wide range of possible errors. A broad series of steps for accessibility testing contains:

• Keyboard-only testing to verify access and interaction with controls in the expected order. This allows us to verify how accessibility APIs interpret and handle interactive elements and user interactions. If a website or application functions correctly when using only a keyboard, it will typically perform well with other access technologies.
• Testing flows with multiple screen readers to evaluate name, role and value/state, verify reading order, associations, structure, validate compatibility, and more.
• Automated tools help quickly identify issues and map those to end-user impacts.
• Various standalone testing tools to measure things like color contrast, flashing content and audio quality and more.
• Bookmarklets to perform quick checks for things like text spacing, target size, use of color and other visual checks.
• Zoom and text resizing.
• Visual review, content and interaction checks to cover the remaining requirements.
• Spot checking with other assistive technologies, such as magnifiers and voice input, as needed.

Applause’s commitment to supporting assistive technology

Assistive technology plays a vital role in the everyday lives of users, while also enriching society with innovations that can help enhance our digital interactions. Supporting this assistive technology in your website or application is essential. 

Applause provides comprehensive accessibility testing services to help ensure that your digital experience is accessible to all. We integrate seamlessly with your team, systems and processes, and work with people with disabilities, so you gain diverse, real-world accessibility insights — accounting for accessibility at each stage of the SDLC.

Learn more about our accessibility testing solution and reach out to us.