EXCLUSIVE: Apple and Google are locked in an accessibility arms race. Here’s how to ensure that disabled users are the real winners.

Rebecca Rosenberg, Founder and CEO at ReBokeh, discusses how big technology companies like Apple and Google are finally recognising the prominence of the disabled community, and how this new race to deliver accessible products will lead to better outcomes for users with disabilities.

For more than a decade, big tech has underwhelmed when it comes to accessibility and assistive tech. Ever since smartphones became a staple in the hands and pockets of nearly everyone, those with disabilities have been stuck on the outside looking in. Users with a visual impairment, or those who are hard of hearing, for example, have been forced to make do with hardware and operating systems that were largely inaccessible or wait years for accessibility features to be added as an afterthought.

Over the last few years, though, Apple has emerged as a leader, releasing a stream of accessibility features for the iPhone aimed at making the device more accessible for people, like me, who live with disability as a result of an uncorrectable vision impairment.

Major players like Android, too, are finally catching up with their efforts; the recent release of Google Magnifier for Pixel smartphones highlights a new focus on creating products that are accessible to folks with disabilities.

It is certainly long overdue, but it appears that big tech – a sector that has traditionally positioned accessibility as an afterthought in its business model – is finally recognising the size and market power of the disability community and has begun vying for their piece of market share.

Does this big tech awakening mean that Apple and Google are now on track to create perfect products from an accessibility standpoint? Of course not. Recognising the prevalence of these communities is only the first step. The real test will be in proving that they can support and empower users with disabilities.

So how is this achieved?

Inclusion from the ground up

For one, it is important to recognise that accessibility is not an overnight fix, nor is it a means of checking the boxes in order to sell to a new demographic. Instead, it is a long-term, institutional change that involves every step of the product development journey.

Simply put, pulling in disabled users to beta-test a product isn’t enough. Instead, companies like Apple and Google need to prioritise the voices of disabled users at the earliest stages of product conceptualisation, in order to ensure that their needs are part of the blueprint for new technologies, rather than a bolt-on addition.

Too often, we’ve seen well-meaning companies miss the mark on accessibility, likely because they failed to solicit the perspective of the same disabled users they’re claiming to serve.

People like myself have been burned by companies pushing flashy, futuristic products as “potential ground-breakers” for accessibility – scoring a big PR win in the process – while ultimately failing to consider the realities, and humanity, of living with disability.

For example, smart glasses have consistently been positioned as “visionary” low-vision accessibility tools, with appearingly sexy features like the ability to call out text. However, they fail to acknowledge the nuisance of AR technology or the impracticality of wearing goggles on your face at the grocery store. These misaligned “accessibility” campaigns make it clear that companies are making decisions on behalf of disabled users, rather than letting people with disabilities drive the conversation. That’s precisely what needs to change.

Acknowledging diversity within disability

Another misstep we’ve seen from big tech in the past is a well-meaning effort to create all-encompassing, one-size-fits-all accessibility products. While these efforts often come from the right place, they fail to recognise the disabled community for what it is: a diverse spectrum of individuals with unique challenges, and unique needs.

For context, even within a disability group – like those with a vision impairment – there exists a very wide range of functional needs. Someone like me, who has plenty of functional vision, needs a very different set of features than someone who has very little residual sight. Too often, we’ve seen organisations try to build a “silver bullet” for accessibility by bunching an entire spectrum of needs into one tool. As a result, the end product often becomes too diluted or crowded to meet the needs of anyone.

Instead of building for “disabled people” in general, or even for “people with a vision impairment”, big tech needs to zoom in and recognise the need for tailored products, built for specific sub-groups of the wider population.

At ReBokeh, the assistive technology company I founded, we have succeeded tremendously with this approach. Our app-based assistive technology was designed by and for a specific community: people with moderate, uncorrectable vision impairment. By targeting this specific audience, we have been able to build out every aspect of our technology – from the functionality itself to the UX design – to fit the precise needs of our users.

ReBokeh was conceived by a low vision person (me) and informed from the outset by the low vision experiences of myself and others. The handprints of the low vision community were on ReBokeh well before it was finally released. Now, in just over a year, the technology has spread to 105 countries around the world, emphasising the global appetite for tailored accessibility tools.

I see light at the end of the tunnel

There is still much work to be done to achieve true disability inclusion in tech, but the conversations about accessibility happening front-and-centre in the big tech community are still a win.

As Apple and Google continue to build out their toolkits, these conversations will only get louder, drawing more attention to the needs, as well as the voices, of the disability community. This is important in and of itself, since giants like Apple and Google are responsible for setting the standard in the wider tech community. But as people like me know, talking about change is different than actually implementing it.

Still, recent releases by both tech giants indicate a renewed interest in serving those with disabilities, with tangible evidence that these words are finally being backed up by meaningful action. Through a commitment to long-term, structural changes focused on inclusion and audience-specific product development, both Apple and Google can ensure that users with disabilities are the real winners of the ongoing accessibility arms race.