Assistive Technology Is Around Us Everyday!

For example, have you ever used a drinking straw with your favorite beverage? What about your favorite cooking utensils with the over-sized grips? Do you have an automatic garage door opener?

Assistive Technology Has Been Around For A Long Time!

Some older examples include, the typewriter, a toothbrush, braille, rulers, easy-open jar lids, and the bell that signals the arrival of the elevator.

For over a decade, people with limited dexterity have been running software that lets them use their voice to communicate with their computer, and blind users have listened as their computers talked to them. Historically, people with disabilities have always been among the first few willing to try out new Assistive Technology.

Today, many Assistive Technology devices have been refined to the point that they're ready to be marketed to the mainstream consumers. And then there's the onscreen keyboard, a technology developed initially for those who could not type but who could point. Today, it seems as if every other corporate executive carries around a little palm-sized computer with an onscreen keyboard.

"When new technology is first introduced, it is often pretty cumbersome. Mainstream audiences aren't willing to try it and quickly give up in frustration because the inconveniences outweigh the benefit it provides them. Microsoft relies on early adopters, such as people who love computer games, people in the computer industry, and people with disabilities to teach us how to make our products more usable," Greg Lowney, Director of Accessibility and the Accessibility and Disabilities Group at Microsoft.

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