AI offers powerful accessibility tools, but AI products must also be accessible themselves.
AI Helping Accessibility
- Captions and transcription for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
- Image descriptions for blind and low-vision users.
- Text-to-speech and speech recognition.
- Simplified language for people with cognitive disabilities.
- Sign language recognition and translation research.
- Predictive text for people with motor impairments.
Making AI Products Accessible
- Chat interfaces must work with screen readers and keyboard navigation.
- Offer voice and text alternatives.
- Don't rely only on visual outputs.
- Support adjustable text and contrast.
Risks
- Speech recognition performing worse for atypical speech.
- Automated descriptions or captions with errors in critical contexts.
- Replacing human support that people rely on.
Inclusive Development
Involve disabled people in design and testing. Measure performance across different users, including those with disabilities.
Standards
Follow accessibility standards such as WCAG for AI interfaces.