Michele McDonnall, Ph.D., CRC
The National Research & Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision began a 5-year longitudinal study about assistive technology (AT) use in the workplace in 2020. The main purposes of this ongoing study are to learn more about how and which ATs are being used at work and to identify challenges people experience when using AT on the job. This study will help identify any gaps in existing AT and what is needed to accomplish work tasks. We are sharing our findings with technology companies that can potentially address the gaps and challenges. For this report, we are focusing on the challenges with AT that study participants reported experiencing at work.
We have conducted two surveys with our sample of employed people who are blind or have low vision. The participants in our first survey were asked, “What work tasks are most challenging with the AT that you currently use?” They provided open-ended responses, which were coded into common categories by the research team. The results are available in a journal article published in Assistive Technology (McDonnall et al., 2023).
The top 15 categories were then included in the second survey as a checklist of possible challenges encountered. Participants were asked to select all the challenges they personally experienced on the job in the past year. After identifying the challenges experienced, they were asked to select from them the one challenge that was most impactful to their jobs. The results for both questions are provided in the following tables, based on responses from 313 participants.
Table 1:
| Challenges Experienced | Percent |
|---|---|
| Inaccessible digital documents | 77.3 |
| Software or websites that are accessible but difficult to use with my AT | 73.8 |
| Inaccessible websites | 71.9 |
| Inaccessible software/apps | 69.0 |
| Accessing images, graphs, photos | 64.9 |
| Reading printed material | 50.5 |
| Reading handwriting | 50.2 |
| Working efficiently (compared to sighted peers) | 45.4 |
| Formatting or managing the layout of documents | 45.1 |
| Technical issues with my AT that require troubleshooting | 43.5 |
| Using copier or other office equipment | 38.7 |
| Being able to afford the AT I need | 25.2 |
| Participating in a virtual meeting | 23.3 |
| Giving presentations | 19.5 |
| Travel, navigation, or wayfinding | 19.5 |
| I have not experienced any challenges. | 1.6 |
Table 2:
| Most Impactful Challenge | Percent |
|---|---|
| Inaccessible software/apps | 20.5 |
| Software or websites that are accessible but difficult to use with my AT | 14.1 |
| Inaccessible digital documents | 12.5 |
| Inaccessible websites | 11.2 |
| Working efficiently (compared to sighted peers) | 9.6 |
| Accessing images, graphs, photos | 4.8 |
| Formatting or managing the layout of documents | 4.5 |
| Technical issues with my AT that require troubleshooting | 4.2 |
| Reading printed material | 3.5 |
| Reading handwriting | 3.5 |
| Being able to afford the AT I need | 2.9 |
| Using copier or other office equipment | 1.9 |
| Giving presentations | 1.6 |
| Travel, navigation, or wayfinding | 1.6 |
| Participating in a virtual meeting | 1.3 |
Inaccessibility and poor usability were clearly the most common challenges experienced – the top four were all related to this and were experienced by 69% to 77% of the participants. The fifth most common challenge – accessing images, graphs, or photos – was also related to inaccessibility of external materials. Almost all participants experienced digital accessibility and/or usability problems – 95.9% experienced one or more of the top five challenges – and 93.9% experienced digital inaccessibility in one or more of the four areas (as opposed to only usability issues).
In terms of challenges that most impacted their work, the same four accessibility and usability problems topped the list, with more than 63% selecting one of the five as the most impactful to their jobs. Although many other challenges were identified, the biggest challenges experienced at work are clearly the inaccessibility or poor usability of digital materials rather than issues with the AT itself.
While most participants did not consider their AT to be perfect (many comments obtained in the survey related to improvements needed), the most important issue is inaccessibility and poor usability of websites, software/apps, digital documents, and images. This suggests that regardless of having the AT needed and the requisite training, people who are blind or have low vision will likely still encounter barriers at work when interacting with digital content.
These findings strongly support the advocacy that the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has undertaken to promote greater digital inclusion for people who are blind or have low vision. Creating accessible digital material is not necessarily more difficult, but it requires awareness on the part of software and website designers. To encourage change in this area, legislative action is needed. AFB has urged Congress to reintroduce and pass the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act; our findings provide support for the need for such legislation.
Reference
McDonnall, M. C., Steverson, A., Sessler-Trinkowsky, R., & Sergi, K. (2023). Assistive technology use in the workplace by people with blindness and low vision: Perceived skill level, satisfaction, and challenges. Assistive Technology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400435.2023.2213762
Acknowledgement: The contents of this manuscript were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIDILRR grant 90RTEM0007. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Health and Human Services and should not indicate endorsement by the Federal Government.
